Messrs. Smith, Richie, Thurmond and Colonel Wood were Ives’ lawyers, with whom was associated Mr. Alex. Davis, then a comparative stranger in Montana.
Col. W. F. Sanders, at that time residing at Bannack City, but temporarily sojourning at Virginia, was sent for to conduct the prosecution, and Hon. Charles S. Bagg was appointed his colleague, at the request of Judge Wilson, Mr. Bagg being a miner, and, then, little known.
In settling upon the mode of trial, much difference of opinion was developed; but the miners finally determined that it should be held in presence of the whole body of citizens, and reserved to themselves the ultimate decision of all questions; but lest something should escape their attention, and injustice thereby be done to the public, or to the prisoner, a delegation composed of twelve men from each district (Nevada and Junction) was appointed to hear the proof, and to act as an advisory jury. W. H. Patton, of Nevada, and W. Y. Pemberton, of Virginia, were appointed amanuenses. An attempt to get on the jury twelve men from Virginia was defeated, and late in the afternoon, the trial began and continued till nightfall. The three prisoners, George Ives, George Hilderman and Long John (John Franck) were chained with the lightest logging chain that could be found—this was wound round their legs, and the links were secured with padlocks.
In introducing testimony for the people, on the morning of the 21st, the miners informed all concerned that the trial must close at three P. M. The announcement was received with great satisfaction.
It is unnecessary to describe the trial, or to recapitulate the evidence. Suffice it to say that two alibis, based on the testimony of George Brown and honest Whiskey Joe, failed altogether. Among the lawyers, there was, doubtless, the usual amount of brow-beating and technical insolence, intermingled with displays of eloquence and learning; but not the rhetoric of Blair, the learning of Coke, the metaphysics of Alexander, the wit of Jerrold, or the odor of Oberlin, could dull the perceptions of those hardy Mountaineers, or mislead them from the stern and righteous purpose of all this labor, which was to secure immunity to the persons and property of the community, and to guarantee a like protection to those who should cast their lot in Montana in time to come.
The evidence was not confined to the charge of murder; but showed, also, that Ives had been acting in the character of a robber, as well as that of a murderer; and it may well be doubted whether he would have been convicted at all, if developments damaging to the reputations and dangerous to the existence of some of his friends had not been made during the trial, on which they absented themselves mysteriously, and have never been seen since. There was an instinctive and unerring conviction that the worst man in the community was on trial; but it was hard work, after all the proof and all this feeling, to convict him.
Prepossessing in his appearance; brave, beyond a doubt; affable in his manners; jolly and free among his comrades, and with thousands of dollars at his command; bad and good men alike working upon the feeling of the community, when they could not disturb its judgment—it seemed, at times, that all the labor was to end in disastrous failure.
The crowd which gathered around that fire in front of the Court, is vividly before our eyes. We see the wagon containing the Judge, and an advocate pleading with all his earnestness and eloquence for the dauntless robber, on whose unmoved features no shade of despondency can be traced by the fitful glare of the blazing wood, which lights up, at the same time, the stern and impassive features of the guard, who, in every kind of habiliments, stand in various attitudes, in a circle surrounding the scene of Justice. The attentive faces and compressed lips of the Jurors show their sense of the vast responsibility that rests upon them, and of their firm resolve to do their duty. Ever and anon a brighter flash than ordinary reveals the expectant crowd of miners, thoughtfully and steadily gazing on the scene, and listening intently to the trial. Beyond this close phalanx, fretting and shifting around its outer edge, sways with quick and uncertain motion, the wavering line of desperadoes and sympathizers with the criminal; their haggard, wild and alarmed countenances showing too plainly that they tremble at the issue which is, when decided to drive them in exile from Montana, or to proclaim them as associate criminals, whose fate could neither be delayed nor dubious. A sight like this will ne’er be seen again in Montana. It was the crisis of the fate of the Territory. Nor was the position of prosecutor, guard, juror, or Judge, one that any but a brave and law-abiding citizen would chose, or even except. Marked for slaughter by desperadoes, these men staked their lives for the welfare of society. A mortal strife between Colonel Sanders and one of the opposing lawyers was only prevented by the prompt action of wise men, who corraled the combatants on their way to fight. The hero of that hour of trial was avowedly W. F. Sanders. Not a desperado present but would have felt honored by becoming his murderer, and yet, fearless as a lion, he stood there confronting and defying the malice of his armed adversaries. The citizens of Montana, many of them his bitter political opponents, recollect his actions with gratitude and kindly feeling. Charles S. Bagg is also remembered as having been at his post when the storm blew loudest.
The argument of the case having terminated, the issue was, in the first place, left to the decision of the twenty-four who had been selected for that purpose, and they thereupon retired to consult.
Judge Byam, who shouldered the responsibility of the whole proceeding, will never be forgotten by those in whose behalf he courted certain, deadly peril, and probable death.