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As Updyke's
"posse” left Boise City about 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon to carry out
the arrests, the thirty members of the
vigilante group were assembling in self-protection. When
Updyke
and his men reached Horse Shoe Bend, they failed to connect with the
country road agents and went on without them.
When the "posse” arrived at Payette River,
they were surprised to find themselves outnumbered two to one. Forced to negotiate with the
vigilantes, Updyke
complied with their demands. The
vigilantes agreed to go to Boise City to answer the warrants but they
would not allow Updyke
or his men to disarm them. After arriving in Boise City and
obtaining an attorney, the complaints against the
vigilantes were dismissed and they were discharged.
Afterwards, the
humiliated
vigilantes were obviously very bitter towards Updyke
and began to closely watch his every move. The public soon began to
believe the "Updyke
Gang” was behind nearly every theft, murder and robbery that occurred
anywhere in the area.
The next murderous
outrage, in which the "Updyke
Gang" was concerned, was the stage robbery in
Portneuf Canyon , where four of its passengers were killed.
On July 26, 1865,
Updyke,
along with three other
outlaws robbed a gold laden stagecoach of some
$86,000 in gold. In the melee, four of the stage passengers were killed,
and the stage driver and another passenger were wounded.
The
vigilante committee immediately went after the three other
outlaws but
David Updyke
was a different story. Having been duly elected as Ada County
Sheriff, the
vigilantes were more cautious and waited until the opportune time to
punish him for his suspected wrongdoings. On September 28, 1865, the
Payette River Vigilance Committee arrested him on a charge of defrauding
the revenue and failing to arrest a hard case
outlaw named West Jenkins.
However, Updyke
made bail and knowing the reputation of the Vigilance Committee, he
immediately left town, fleeing to Boise City where he had more influence. However, the citizens there too, were fed up with the criminal elements
and began to form groups for the purpose cleaning up the county. By the
next spring, Updyke feared for his own safety and accompanied by another
outlaw by the name of John Dixon, the two departed Boise on the Rocky
Bar Road on April 12, 1866. Unaware that a
vigilante party was following them, the two over nighted at an
abandoned cabin some thirty miles out of town.
During the night, the
vigilantes captured the unsuspecting pair and lead them some ten miles
farther down the road to Sirup Creek. The next morning as the
vigilantes prepared to hang the men, they questioned Updyke
about the whereabouts of the stolen cache. The crooked sheriff only
glared at them in contempt, refusing to respond. The
vigilantes then hanged both men under a shed between two vacant
cabins. Updyke
had only $50.00 on his person at the time of his death.
On April 14th, the bodies
were found with a note pinned to Updyke's
chest accusing him of being "an aider of murderers and thieves.” The
next day an anonymous note appeared in Boise that further explained the
committee’s actions. "Dave Updyke:
Accessory after the fact to the Portneuf stage robbery, accessory and
accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boise City in 1864, chief
conspirator in burning property on the overland stage line, guilty of
aiding and assisting escape of West Jenkins, and the murderer of others
while sheriff, and threatening the lives and property of an already
outraged and long suffering community.”
The gold taken in the
July, 1865 has never been found and many think it is buried somewhere in
the City of
Rocks.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated March, 2011.
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