Thus died the last of Plummer’s famous band of outlaws, executing in his last moments the pantomime of grasping an imaginary pistol, cocking it, and discharging in rapid succession its six ghostly barrels.

 

Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated September, 2017.

About the Author: John W. Clampitt wrote this article for Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Volume 83, Issue 495, August, 1891. However, the  story, as it appears here is not verbatim as it has been edited for clerical errors and updated for the modern reader.  It has also been pointed out to Legends Of America by a reader that Clampitt’s story is lifted (some outright plagiarized) from “The First Vigilance Committees”, by Gustav Bergenroth, published in Charles Dickens’ Household Words, in November of 1856.

Also See:

Lynchings & Hangings of America

List of Old West Vigilantes

California Vigilantes by Emerson Hough