This photo, taken from a Facebook post, reminds me of the stories from the early days of Montana – the explanation I heard years ago was that “Not all of the Vigilantes were Masons, but all of the Masons were vigilantes.” I think of the names I learned in Grade School – names that showed up in buildings when I started at MSU – Nathaniel Langford and Cornelius Hedges had dormitories named after them. Wilbur Sanders wound up with a county named after him. X. Biedler is probably best remembered for being X – but he also partnered in a Missouri River woodlot with “Liver Eating” Johnson.
On May 24, 1863, Henry Plummer was elected Sheriff – getting 307 of the 544 votes cast, to defeat Jefferson Durley. On January 10, 1864, Plummer was hanged in Bannack by the Vigilantes.
As Plummer shows us, there are times when the candidate who gets the most votes doesn’t produce the best performance. Montana’s political history begins with Henry Plummer’s election, and less than 8 months later proceeds to his removal from office by a group of annoyed citizens.
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