During this period and for some time after strenuous efforts were making for the discovery and arrest of two men, McGowen and Wightman, who had been indicted as accomplices of Casey in the murder of Mr. King. Great anxiety was felt for the arrest of McGowen not alone on account of his complicity in the murder, but because it was believed that he knew more of the operations of the ballot box stuffers and other political managers than any other person, and that if taken, he would be likely to expose many who had stooped to obtain office or position by his unscrupulous arts. Long and earnest search was made, but for some time, no trace of him could be discovered. At length in the latter part of June, it was learned that he left the City on horseback, disguised as a cattle drover, in company with an American and a Mexican, and had been seen in Santa Barbara, a small town on the coast about four hundred miles below San Francisco. Being recognized, he fled, and was pursued by a party from Santa Barbara. On receiving the intelligence, the Executive Committee immediately dispatched twenty resolute men in a fast sailing vessel to join in the pursuit. On the 16th of July an arrival from down the coast brought information of his probable escape. His condition was represented to have been such as to have excited pity for even such a criminal. When last seen he was dreadfully wearied and chafed by his long ride, was without a hat to protect him from the fierce rays of the sun, his face dreadfully burned and blistered, and oppressed with hunger and thirst; and thus the poor wretch, loaded with guilt, flying from the gallows, with hate and despair stamped on his face, spurred on in his mad flight.
In the first week of June, measures were taken by the State Authorities to frighten into submission, or to dissolve by force the Vigilance Committee. The Governor issued a Proclamation declaring the County of San Francisco in a state of insurrection, and gave orders to the Major General of the District to make all necessary preparations to suppress the insurrection. General orders were issued for all lovers of law and order to enlist, choose officers, and commence drilling. Recruiting stations were appointed in different parts of the City, and a considerable number of respectable citizens, and most of the gamblers, bullies and other notorious characters who had not yet fallen into the hands of the Vigilance Committee, but must have had very reasonable fears that they soon might, answered to the call. They mustered no such force however as led to a public exhibition of their number or condition. General Sherman, being unable to obtain from General Wood such arms as he deemed necessary for his purpose, soon resigned, and Volney C. Howard was appointed in his place. In the meantime the Committee proceeded quietly in perfecting their arrangements. The people, to the number of several thousand, offered themselves and were added to the already formidable force. The demonstrations of citizens not professedly belonging to, however in favor of the organization, were, at this and subsequent periods, very impressive. An evening meeting was held in front of the Oriental Hotel, the number present at which was variously estimated at from five to eight thousand. This great meeting was presided over by Hon. Baillie Peyton, formerly a distinguished member of Congress, and then City Attorney. He addressed the meeting, as did Judge Duer and other leading men. At the close of the meeting, the immense assembly was called upon to say whether they approved and would support the Vigilance Committee, and instantly such a thundering "Aye" went up as seemed sufficient to rend the sky. When the otherwise minded were called, two "No's" were heard, faintly breaking the profound silence. Several other meetings came to a like conclusion. Such occurrences, and they were frequent, greatly strengthened the hands, and encouraged the hearts of the Executive Committee. Their labors were various and unremitting. They issued notice to quit to numbers of persons whom it was neither for the interest nor credit of the community longer to retain. By their Police they were daily and nightly arresting disturbers of the public peace, thieves and desperate criminals, whom they quietly deposited in their strong rooms to be dealt with according to their deserts. To be prepared for any emergency their Head Quarters were made an armed camp. Barriers six feet in height, made of sand bags, with cannon planted in the embrasures, extended along the whole front of the building. Sentinels paced the roof day and night. Companies were drilling at all hours at Head Quarters or in their Armories. These defenses were strengthened from time to time; and others ingeniously contrived were placed in the interior; so that, at length, in the opinion of an officer of large experience, a very large force of regular troops would have been required to carry it by storm.
In the afternoon of Saturday, June 21st, the perfect quiet of the early part of the day was broken up by a tempest of excitement of rare occurrence anywhere. Between three and four o'clock, a Police Officer of the Vigilance Committee named Hopkins, being ordered with a party of men, to arrest a man named Maloney, having ascertained that he was then in the office of Dr. Ashe, Navy Agent, on Washington Street, entered the office alone, leaving the other officers in the street. A number of persons were in the room beside Maloney, amongst them Judge Terry, one of the three Judges of the Supreme Court of California. Hopkins was unable to make the arrest; and retiring from the room, collected his men, and kept watch in the street. The party in the room armed themselves and scattered into the street to make their way to the Armory of the San Francisco Blues. While passing up Jackson Street, Hopkins attempted to arrest Maloney. Terry opposed him with a double-barreled gun, which Hopkins attempted to or did, wrest from him, when Terry immediately struck him on the neck with a bowie knife, inflicting a terrible wound. Terry and his whole party then ran and placed themselves for safety in the Blues Armory. Hopkins was immediately taken into the Pennsylvania Engine House. The news flew with lightning speed over the City. The bell of the Vigilance Committee Rooms sounded; and instantly the streets were swarming with members obedient at all times to its summons. As the sound struck his ear, every man discontinued the work upon which he was employed. Draymen passing with loads, unharnessed their horses, mounted and rode off; engines in the great foundries were stopped, and employers and men started off on the run; builders, pressmen, shopmen, merchants, professional men, were alike hurrying to the Committee Rooms. As they arrived, they took arms, were formed in companies, and reported ready for duty. In a few minutes, a body of cavalry were thundering through the streets and surrounding the block in which was the Blues Armory. Then up every street poured companies of infantry at double-quick time, and took possession of every important point. So quickly was this done that only some thirty men of the so called "law and order" party had been able to assemble in the Armory. They were summoned to surrender, and alter some little parley, concluded to do so. Terry, Ashe and Maloney were placed in carriages and conveyed to the Committee Rooms. The other prisoners were then disarmed and they were kept in the Armory until evening, when they likewise were marched to the Committee Rooms.
While this was enacting, a strong force had surrounded the California Exchange on the corner of Clay and Kearney Streets, where some seventy or eighty of the "law and order" men had assembled, and where was a depot of arms. In front of this building, a battery of artillery was in position flanked by a detachment of infantry. The commander of the party in the building was summoned to surrender in five minutes. When four minutes and a half had expired, the cautionary order of "Artillery, attention" was heard, and at the same instant the doors were thrown open, and a surrender made. Every, man was made to present himself at the door, deposit his musket, strip off his accoutrements, and go back into the room. The arms were taken to the Committee Rooms, and the building left under a strong guard. All the other Armories of the "law and order" party were taken about the same time by other detachments. In less than two hours after the sounding of the alarm bell, the "law and order" party had surrendered; all their arms were secured; the leaders of their troops dismissed on parole; and the rank and file placed in safe keeping; without the shedding of a drop of blood. The people looked on with astonishment to see with what precision and dispatch the whole work had been accomplished. At eleven o'clock the next day, the prisoners, with the exception of a few, who, had hitherto escaped capture, were dismissed from the Rooms after having been cautioned against being taken' again. Their appearance as they marched out of the building and up the street, each man with his blanket strapped across his shoulders, some with looks of dignified disgust, and others with a most crestfallen or woebegone expression was ludicrous in the extreme, and caused hearty laughter and many jokes at their expense. In addition to the offenders those secured in the Rooms of the Committee, there were many others at liberty for whom a quiet but unremitting search was kept up. When any one was found, on the street or in any of his usual haunts, he was very sure to surrender at the first summons of the officer, probably for the reason humorously assigned by one of the most bitter opponents of the Committee, who, after an envenomed tirade against it, was asked, "Suppose, while talking on Montgomery Street, some one should tap you on the shoulder, and say, you are wanted at the Vigilance Committee Rooms, should you go?" "Of course I should," said he, "Indeed," said the other, "I should not, from your talk, have expected it." "Why," said he, "you don't think me such a consummate fool as to attempt to buck up against two thousand men." Sometimes, however numbers gave confidence to the rowdies, and they ventured, regardless of the lessons of experience, to indulge in their old practices in public. A public evening meeting was held in front of Montgomery Block to consider what action should be taken in reference to certain Officials believed to have been unfairly elected, and a part of whom at least were charged with maladministration of the affairs of the City. A Committee had been chosen to request these City officers to resign, and this Committee were directed to report at an adjourned meeting in the same place. Before the second meeting was held, it was understood that an attempt would be made to break up the meeting. The intended disturbers stationed themselves opposite the Montgomery Block, and by shouts, groans and noises of all kinds, endeavoured to interrupt the proceedings. This was borne as long as possible. At last a party of Vigilantes broke in from the extremity of the crowd, and bore straight down through it, leaving a clear space behind them, until they reached the point of disturbance, when they made a charge upon the rowdies, some of whom drew pistols but were afraid to use them; secured the leaders and principal bullies, and hurried them off to secure lodgings in the Committee Rooms. The work was done in a wonderfully short time and in the most skillful manner; and no further disturbance occurred.
The punishments prescribed for offenders by the Committee being only two, viz, death and banishment, and neither being applicable to the cases of some of the numerous prisoners now in their hands, these were discharged after being cautioned not again to offend. The rest, after trial of each one in the mode prescribed, were sentenced to banishment; were quietly embarked at night, and so "left their country for their country's good."
Perfect quiet now seemed restored to the City. But soon the people were again roused and horror-stricken by the deliberate murder of Dr. Randal, a large land owner in various parts of the State, while quietly conversing with the bar-keeper in the St. Nicholas Hotel, by one Hetherington who, four years before had been tried for murder, but by some means had escaped conviction. Several gentlemen were in the room at the time, and were in considerable danger from the shots fired by him. The alarm being given City Policemen who first arrived, arrested him; but he was immediately taken from them by Vigilance Policemen, and at once conveyed to the Committee Rooms. Two murderers, Hetherington and Brace, were in due time tried the counsel whom they selected, were procured; and the witnesses they named, obtained for them. They were condemned, and some time after publicly executed in open day and in presence of a great multitude in a public street in the lower part of the City.
The case of Hopkins so dreadfully wounded by Judge Terry, was, for a long time, considered desperate by the eminent surgeons and physicians in constant attendance upon him. But after long hovering between life and death; to the astonishment of all, he began slowly to recover, until, at length, after many weeks of seclusion and intense suffering, in the early part of August, he was able again to make his appearance upon the streets. And now that his recovery was assured, the question as to the disposition to be made of the author of his dreadful sufferings was one of the most difficult imaginable. It seemed at first impossible that the Executive Committee should reach a conclusion acceptable to the Board of Delegates, and in which the whole organization would concur. The meetings of both branches were frequent, long protracted and stormy. At length a majority of both Boards determined that though his guilt was unquestionable, under the circumstances the first penalty prescribed by the Code did not apply. The second, that of banishment, at first approved itself to a majority of both Boards, but, after anxious consideration, it was deemed to be impracticable to carry it out, and make it permanent. It was therefore decided to dismiss him with a public notice of their belief in his guilt, and that the people of the largest County in the State were of opinion that he should resign the Judicial Office he held, and for which they deemed him unfit. Accordingly at an early hour in the morning his prison doors were opened, and he was permitted to go at large. In the afternoon of the same day he took the steamer and returned to his home in Stockton. No sooner was the decision, and the action of the Executive consequent upon it, promulgated, than a wild storm of passionate excitement broke forth, which threatened for several days the very existence of the organization. But the Delegates met their respective Companies; explained the action of the two Boards; gave the reasons for it in full; answered all questions; urged every consideration likely to remove suspicion, allay passion, and inspire confidence; and finally, with infinite difficulty, the perilous crisis was passed, and acquiescence, if not entire satisfaction was secured.
A week afterwards, on the 18th of August a public Parade and Review of the entire force of the Vigilance Committee took place. The several Companies assembled at their Armories and marched from thence to the Head Quarters of their Regiments, and thence to Third Street, where the whole force of Cavalry, Artillery, Riflemen and Infantry, consisting of at least four thousand men, in black frock coats and pants and caps and white gloves, were formed in line in double rank, extending a full mile from Market Street some distance beyond South Park. The line was reviewed by the Commander and his staff and the Executive Committee, about forty persons in all, who thundered along it with heads uncovered, at full speed. The line then broke into columns of companies, and with inspiriting music from numerous bands, began their march through the City. The sidewalks, windows and roofs of buildings on the line of march were crowded with spectators. The scene from the upper part of Clay Street, when the Cavalry and Artillery, having wheeled into Stockton Street, the whole steep ascent of Clay Street, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets, was filled from sidewalk to sidewalk, with the dark moving mass of infantry, was most imposing; and to very many, of the spectators so touching from memories of fears, anxieties and terrors for their relatives and friends throughout, the eventful movement now so happily drawing to a conclusion; as to dim their eyes with tears of joy, and thankfulness. The march extended through the principal streets of the City, and was terminated and the line dismissed at six o'clock in the afternoon. This was the last public appearance of the Vigilance Committee.
In the last week of August, the Executive Committee caused the fortifications in front of the Head Quarters to be razed to the ground, threw open the doors and invited public inspection of their rooms, and disbanded the whole force; retaining however, as they stated in their Address, the power to defend themselves if attacked; to enforce the penalty against any banished criminal who should return; and to preserve the public peace, if it should become necessary. A tap of the bell would in future, summon the members, if any emergency should require it.
On the following third of November, the State arms which had been sent by the Governor from Benicia to be used by the "law and order" party in suppressing the Vigilance Committee, but which had been intercepted in the passage down the river, were restored; and the Governor then withdrew his Proclamation declaring the County of San Francisco in a state of insurrection.