At 11 A. M. crowds of people could be seen ascending the hill north of Helena, and not a small number of ladies were perceptible in the throng. The place of execution was chosen with a due regard to convenience and economy—a large pine tree, with stout limbs, standing almost alone, in a shallow ravine, was selected for the gallows.
At 11 A. M., the prisoner, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. McLaughlin, arrived in a lumber wagon. A dry-goods box and two planks, to form the trap, were in the same vehicle. The unfortunate victim of his unbridled passions sat astride of one of the planks, his countenance exhibiting the utmost unconcern, and on his arrival at the tree, he said: “My honor compelled me to do what I have done.” He then bade good-bye to some of his acquaintances. The wagon having been adjusted so as to bring the hind axle under the rope, a plank was laid from the dry-goods box to another plank set upon end, and the trap was ready.
At four minutes to twelve o’clock, the prisoner’s arms were pinioned, and he was assisted to mount the wagon. Standing on the frail platform, he said, in a loud and distinct voice: “What I have done, my honor compelled me to do. Slater run me from Salt Lake City to Virginia, and from there to this country. He slapped me in the face here, yesterday; and I was advised by my friends to arm myself. When Slater saw me, he said ‘There is the Irish ——; he has not left town yet.’ Then I commenced firing. My honor compelled me to do what I have done.” Here he called for a drink of water, which was procured as speedily as it could be brought to the top of the hill. He took a long, deep draught of the water, and the rope was adjusted round his neck. A handkerchief being thrown over his face, he raised his hand to it and said: “What are you putting that there for? Take it off.” Stepping to the end of the trap, he said: “What I have done to Slater, I have done willingly. He punished me severely. Honor compelled me to do what I have done. He run me from town to town; I tried to shun him here; but he saw me—called me a —— and smacked me in the face. I did not want any trouble with him; my honor compelled me to do what I have done. I am here, and must die; and if I was to live till to-morrow I would do the same thing again. I am ready; jerk the cart as soon as you please.”
At seven minutes past twelve, the wagon started, the trap fell, and Keene was launched into eternity. He fell three and a half feet without breaking his neck. A few spasmodic struggles for three or four minutes, were all that was perceptible of his dying agonies. After hanging half an hour, the body was cut down and taken in charge by his friends.
So ended the first tragedy at Helena. The execution was conducted by Mr. J. X. Biedler, and everything went off in a quiet and orderly manner. Many familiar faces, known to Virginia men in the trying times of the winter of ’64, were visible.
The effect, in Helena, of this execution was electrical. The roughs saw that the day had gone against them, and trembled for their lives. There were in town, at that time, scores of men from every known mining locality of the West, and many of them were steeped to the lips in crime. Such a decision as that now rendered by a jury of the people boded them no good. They saw that the citizens of Montana had determined that outrage should be visited with condign punishment, and that prudence dictated an immediate stampede from Helena. Walking about the streets, they occasionally approached an old comrade, and furtively glancing around, they would give expression to their feelings in the chartered form of language peculiar to mountaineers who consider that something extraordinary, unjust, cruel or hard to bear, is being enacted, “Say, Bill, this is rough, ain’t it?” To which the terse reply was usually vouchsafed, “It is, by thunder; —— rough.” Cayuses began to rise rapidly in demand and price. Men went “prospecting” (?) who had never been accused of such an act before; and a very considerable improvement in the average appearance of the population soon became visible.
A constant stream of miners and others was now pouring into the Territory, from the West, and the consequence was that thinking portion of the citizens of Helena began to see that a regular organization of an independent Vigilance Committee was necessary to watch over the affairs of the young city, and to take steps for both the prevention of crime and for the punishment of criminals. There were in the town a considerable number of the old Committee; these, with few exceptions, gave the movement their sanction, and the new body was speedily and effectively organized; an executive elected, companies formed, under the leadership of old hands who had mostly seen service in the perilous times of ’63-4. A sketch of their subsequent operations will appear in this work, and also an account of the terrible massacre and robbery of the passengers of the Overland coach, in the Portneuf canyon, near Snake river, I. T., together with an account of the capture and execution of Frank Williams, who drove the stage into the ambush.
As it was asserted by Keene that Slater had slapped him in the face, and otherwise insulted him in Helena, before the firing of the fatal shot, it is proper to state that such was not the case. Slater was entirely ignorant of Keene’s presence in town; in fact, the other, it will be remembered, had only just previously arrived there, riding with the witness who swore he crossed the Divide in his company. It is also an entire mistake to suppose that Keene was a man of good character or blameless life. The following statement of his previous career of crime, in the East, will be read with interest by many who are under the impression that the murder of Slater was his first offense. It is taken from the Memphis “Appeal,” of November 24th, 1865, and, of course, was written without any intention of being published in this work, or of furnishing any justification of the Vigilance Committee. If such had been the intention, it would have been a work of supererogation; for never was a case of murder in the first degree more fully proven. The homicide in broad day light, and the evident malice “prepense” were matters of public notoriety:
“Of the many strange circumstances born of and nurtured by the past war, a parallel to the catalogue of crime herein given has been rarely, if ever, met with.
“In this vicinity, near three years ago, the name of ‘Bob Black’ has, on more than one occasion, struck terror to the hearts of a large number of countrymen, cotton buyers and sellers, whose business compelled them to enter or make their exit from the city by the way of the Hernando or Horn Lake roads.