“All right,” he exclaimed, “good-bye!” and leaped from the ladder, with the utmost sang froid. The drop was long, and the rope tender. As the strands untwisted, they parted, until finally one alone remained.
Soon after the party which captured Zachary and Shears had left Hell Gate, intelligence was received there that William Graves (Whiskey Bill) was at Fort Owen in the Bitter Root Valley. Three men were sent immediately to arrest and execute him. He was armed and on the lookout, and had repeatedly sworn that he would shoot any Vigilante that came in his way. The party was too wary for him. He was first made aware of their presence, by a stern command to surrender, and a pistol at his heart. He made no resistance, and refused all confession. A rope was tied to the convenient limb of a tree, and the drop extemporized by placing the culprit astride of a strong horse, behind a Vigilante. When all was ready, the rider, exclaiming “Good-bye, Bill,” plunged the rowels into the sides of the horse, which leaped madly forward; the fatal noose swept the robber from his seat, breaking his neck by the shock, and killing him instantly.
In the meantime, the trials of Carter, Skinner, and Cooper had resulted in the conviction of those ruffians, and they were severally condemned to die. Scaffolds were hastily prepared by placing poles over the fence of Higgins’s corral. Carter and Skinner were conducted to execution by torchlight, a little after the midnight succeeding their trial. Dry-goods boxes were used for drops. On their march to the place of execution, Skinner suddenly broke from his guard, and ran off, shouting, “Shoot! Shoot!” Not a gun was raised, but after a short chase in the snow the prisoner was secured, and led up to the scaffold. He made a second attempt to get away while standing on the box, but a rope was soon adjusted to his neck, and the leader said to him,
“You may jump now, as soon as you please.” Carter manifested great disgust at Skinner’s attempt to run away. While he was standing on the drop, one of the Vigilantes requested him to confess that he had participated in the murder of Tiebalt.
“If I had my hands free,” he replied with an oath, “I’d make you take that back.”
Skinner, who stood by his side, was talking violently at the time, and Carter was ordered to be quiet.
“Well, then, let’s have a smoke,” said he; and, a lighted pipe being given him, he remained quiet. Both criminals, as they were launched from the platform, exclaimed, “I am innocent”—the password of the band. They died apparently without pain.
The party that arrested Zachary arrived with him the next morning. He was tried and found guilty. By his directions a letter was written to his mother, in which he warned his brothers and sisters to avoid drinking, card-playing, and bad company—three evils which, he said, had brought him to the gallows. On the scaffold he prayed that God would forgive the Vigilantes for what they were doing, as it was the only way to clear the country of road agents. He died without apparent fear or suffering.
Johnny Cooper was drawn to the scaffold in a sleigh, his wounded leg rendering him unable to walk. He asked for his pipe.
“I want,” said he, “a good smoke before I die. I always did enjoy a smoke.” A letter had been written to his parents, who lived in the State of New York. Several times, while a Vigilante was engaged in adjusting the rope, he dodged the noose, but, on being told to keep his head straight, he submitted. He died without a struggle.