Chapter 10
At eight o'clock in the evening of February 19, 1851 two men entered the store of Jansen, Bond & Company, in Montgomery Street, knocked J. C. Jansen, a senior member of the firm, unconscious with a slung shot, and fled with two thousand dollars in gold coin. This was the beginning of a set of coincidences that no one would believe.
The next day the San Francisco police arrested Thomas Berdue. They believed him to be James Stuart, and lodged him in the jail to await transportation to Marysville and trial there for the murder of Sheriff Moore. A man named Windred, who was found in Berdue's company, was also arrested, on suspicion of being involved with the crime. Berdue was recognized as English Jim by half a dozen men who had known Stuart well, and was also positively identified by Jansen as one of the two men who had assaulted him. Jansen also identified Windred, although not with such certainty. Berdue protested his innocence and attempted to prove that he was not James Stuart, but his protestations and evidence alike were in vain against the overwhelming physical similarity between himself and English Jim. In weight, height, color of eyes and hair, shape of feature, and in every other general characteristic, the two men were identical. But the resemblance went even further. The notorious Sydney Duck was known to have a small scar over his left eye. So did Berdue. In English Jim's left ear was a slit where he had been cut by a knife. Such a slit was also found in Berdue's left ear. English Jim's left forefinger had been amputated at the first joint. Berdue had suffered a precisely similar injury. Because of the positive identification of the prisoners by Jansen, there was scarcely anyone in San Francisco who doubted their guilt. There was, also, scarcely anyone who was not convinced that the two men would eventually escape punishment through the connivance of politicians and crooked officials.
Sam Brannan also didn't help the situation when he distributed a circular around the crowd of more than 5,000 men.
CITIZENS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
The series of murders and robberies that have been committed in this city, seems to leave us entirely in a state of anarchy. "When thieves are left without control to rob and kill, then doth the honest traveller fear each bush a thief." Law, it appears, is but a non-entity to be scoffed at; redress can be had for aggression but through the never failing remedy so admirably laid down in the code of Judge Lynch. Not that we should admire this process for redress, but that it seems to be inevitably necessary.
Are we to be robbed and assassinated in our domiciles, and the law to let our aggressors perambulate the streets because they have furnished straw bail? If so, "let each man be his own executioner." "Fie upon your laws." They have no force.
All those who would rid our city of its robbers and murderers will assemble on Sunday at two o'clock on the Plaza.
I went to the City Hall where I found that the mayor had called out the Washington Guard, a volunteer military organization who was waiting to defend the prisoners from the crowd. An attempt to seize the men from the courtroom was made by several hundred men but the Washington Guard managed to repulse the men while several deputies and I spirited the prisoners to the basement cells. Sam Brannan continued to agitate the crowd after the men were put in jail. Josie reported the short speech he made when some of the other prominent men in town wanted to hold a jury trial, "I am very much surprised to hear people talk about grand juries, or recorders, or mayors. I'm tired of such talk. These men are murderers, I say, as well as thieves. I know it, and will die or see them hung by the neck. I'm opposed to any farce in this business. We had enough of that eighteen months ago, ( Brannan referred to the affair of the Hounds, in July 1849) when we allowed ourselves to be the tools of these judges. We are the Mayor and the recorder, the hangman and the laws. The law and the courts never yet hung a man in California, and every morning we are reading fresh accounts of murders and robberies. I want no technicalities. Such things are devised to shield the guilty."
He continued to urge the immediate hanging of both men but finally the other leaders refused to follow him and they adjourned without a decision on what to do. The next afternoon between eight thousand and nine thousand men gathered in Portsmouth Square. At the suggestion of William T. Coleman, another committee was named to consider the matter and recommend a course of action. This committee advised an immediate trial, and accordingly the hearing of evidence was begun at once in the Recorder's room of City Hall, before a judge and jury chosen from among the town's leading citizens. They were unable to come to a unanimous decision and the crowd blew up. Cries of "Hang them anyway" and "The majority rules!" rang out and the leaders with great difficulty managed to keep the men from assaulting the jail. Most of the men went home but several hundred of them remained and several attempts to seize the prisoners were made.
Afterwards they were then tried according to due process of law, found guilty of assaulting and robbing Jansen, and each sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment. I had left by this time and later learned that Windred managed to escape while Berdue was sent to Marysville where he was identified as English Jim again, convicted and sentenced to be hung. Finally on February 21, Josie and I left on the trail of English Jim.
I found that when I concentrated on the dowsing rod I felt a definite pull to the north, so that's the direction that Josie and I headed. I followed the dowsing rod to Yuba City first. When we got there, we heard that English Jim had been seen in the area yesterday and had quickly left after several of the townspeople had formed a mob to seize him for the murder of Sheriff Moore of Marysville. Yuba City is directly across from Marysville on the Yuba River and rather rustic compared to the other town. As we followed English Jim across the swampy landscape we went through the Sutter Buttes. It's really weird to see this little mountain chain in the middle of the valley. At least we were able to sleep somewhere dry after we finally made it to the raised area between the mountains. I was surprised at how wet the Sacramento Valley got in the spring. I was used to the Valley after they built the dams to control the flooding. I don't see how anyone could live in this mud.
After that we followed him to Eureka where we almost caught him at the docks. I was surprised at how many ships I saw there. I found out that most of the goods for Northern California were shipped through here. One man made a move on Josie and before I could act she had him on the ground using Krav Magen. One of his friends started toward her but I discouraged him by shooting the heel of his boot off. At the end of our stay in Eureka I gave the sheriff there a copy of the wanted poster for English Jim and my federal warrant for his arrest. We managed to buy some provisions and resumed tracking English Jim. He was headed toward the Oregon Border, which surprised me. I almost walked into an ambush, but I was able to dowse his presence on the hillside. He shot at us, but we never really came into range. We kept close behind English Jim, often reaching the towns the day after he had. I continued handing out the wanted posters and telling everyone who would listen about the federal warrant. Even most of the people he associated with were angered by the white slavery charge and he began avoiding towns as his sources of food and information dried up.
English Jim kept moving and we kept following him. He started to become more desperate as he continued fleeing ahead of us. His trail was littered by robberies committed by a desperate man for nothing more than food. English Jim committed several murders on the trip, mainly men who had been trying to collect the bounty placed on his head. Josie and I hurried to catch up with him and came very close several times. Finding his fire shortly after he had left became commonplace for us. Every so often we would catch a glimpse of him in the distance just out of rifle shot and he would shake his fist at us before riding away. English Jim knew we were after him and we avoided several ambushes he set only by my ability to find him using the dowsing rod. We set counter ambushes several times but he avoided them and continued to run ahead of us. We went through most of Northern California and dipped into Utah and Nevada while we hunted English Jim. By late June we were exhausted and almost broke. We had to take a break to let the horses rest and get some money for food to continue the chase.
I managed to find some dust in a stream and that allowed me to dowse out more gold in a creek bed and we panned for three days, managing to take out some 8 ounces of gold. We returned to the chase and found that English Jim had managed to rob a miner and left him dead in his cabin after stealing his horse and provisions. We reported this to the nearest authorities when we replenished our supplies and then began the chase again. When we began to follow him again, I found English Jim was headed back toward San Francisco. We hurried as fast as we could but failed to find him before he reached San Francisco. I was surprised to find that English Jim had been seized while trying to rob an English ship in the harbor. The captain's wife wouldn't let him go when she found him ransacking their cabin. He had been seized by the crew and badly beaten before being handed over to the Vigilance Committee. They were determined to see justice was done this time, especially after the fourth fire in less than a year.
On May 4, 1851 a man recognized as an inhabitant of Sydney Town was seen running from a paint shop right before it burst into flames. Several other fires began at the same time in the downtown business district. The wind was blowing away from Sydney Town, as it had during previous fires, and within ten hours over two thousand buildings had been burned. Groups of looters from Sydney Town roamed the streets and took many valuable items from the burning buildings while the other inhabitants of San Francisco struggled to save what they could of the city. Citizens shot several of the looters while they were looting the buildings and they were later discovered to be members of the Sydney Ducks. By the time the fire burned out over three quarters of San Francisco was in ruins. This was the last straw for the citizens of San Francisco.
They were determined to find a remedy for a situation that had become unbearable. As a result of the fire and the lack of any law, a group of some two hundred prominent citizens held a secret meeting early in June 1851, in a building at Battery and Pine streets that was owned by Samuel Brannan. After many hours of discussion they formed the first Vigilance Committee. The following extracts from the committee's constitution summarize its avowed aims:
"WHEREAS, it has become apparent to the citizens of San Francisco, that there is no security for life and property, either under the regulations of society as it at present exists, or under the law as now administered:
"THEREFORE, the citizens, whose names are hereunto attached, do unite themselves into an association for the maintenance of the peace and good order of society, and the preservation of the lives and property of the citizens of San Francisco, and do bind themselves, each unto the other, to do and perform every lawful act for the maintenance of law and order, and to sustain the laws when faithfully and properly administered; but we are determined that no thief, burglar, incendiary or assassin, shall escape punishment, either by the quibbles of the law, the insecurity of prisons, the carelessness or corruption of the police, or a laxity of those who pretend to administer justice. And to secure the objects of this association we do hereby agree:
"1. That the name and style of the association shall be the COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE, for the protection of the lives and property of the citizens and residents of the city of San Francisco.
"2. That there shall be a room selected for the meeting and deliberation of the committee, at which there shall be one or more members of the committee appointed for that purpose, in constant attendance, at all hours of the day and night, to receive the report of any member of the association, or of any other person or persons whatsoever, of any act of violence done to the person or property of any citizen of San Francisco; and if in the judgment of the member or members of the committee present, it be such an act that justifies the interference of the committee, either in aiding in the execution of the laws, or the prompt and summary punishment of the offender, the committee shall be at once assembled for the purpose of taking such action as a majority of the committee when assembled shall determine upon...
"4. That when the committee have assembled for action, the decision of a majority present shall be binding upon the whole committee, and that those members of the committee whose names are hereunto attached, do pledge their honor, and hereby bind themselves to defend and sustain each other in carrying out the determined action of this committee at the hazard of their lives and their fortunes."
They posted these and several other posters and soon afterward hung the first man tried before them. He was an Australian convict named John Jenkins, known in Sydney Town simply as the Miscreant. He stole a small safe from George W. Virgin's shipping-office on Long Wharf, at the end of Commercial Street. When he was about to be captured he threw a heavy bundle he was carrying into the water. It was quickly raised and found to be the safe. He was taken in front of the Vigilance Committee where he was questioned and the evidence examined. He offered to have a witness to testify that he was elsewhere at the time that the crime occurred, but the professional witness was recognized as a member of his gang and the jury disallowed his testimony.
After considering the evidence he was judged guilty and sentenced to hang in two hours in Portsmouth Square. He was marched out in the middle of a group of heavily armed men. Several police officers tried to seize him from the committee members but were told any attempt would be met with gunfire. A rope was thrown over a wide beam sticking out from the front of an adobe house and the members of the committee ran him up to slowly strangle. In a sign of unity every member of the committee held the rope at least once until he was dead.
When English Jim was taken, the Vigilance Committee was unsure of what to do. They had thought that English Jim was being held in Marysville awaiting hanging for the murder of Sheriff Moore of Marysville. When I arrived, I testified about my tracking him through Northern California and the crimes he had committed while we had trailed him. At nine o'clock in the morning of July 11, 1851 the trial of English Jim was begun before the entire membership of the Vigilance Committee, which now numbered more than four hundred influential men.
It was necessary to present very little evidence, for English Jim at once confessed to a long list of crimes, including the murder of Sheriff Moore at Auburn and the assault upon the storekeeper Jansen in the preceding February. He glared at Josie and I, "I wish I'd never heard of you. You've been like a damned hound somehow following me everywhere. I would have never tried to rob the ship if I could have lost you. Damn you both to hell!"
He was sentenced to hang immediately and the decision was announced to cheers from virtually the entire population of San Francisco. Several members of the Sydney Ducks who were found in the crowd were beaten severely by members of the crowd. A derrick had been erected upon the Market Street wharf, and as the procession came in sight of it, English Jim finally lost his nerve. He collapsed, and during the last few hundred feet I and three of his guards supported him. Within a few minutes a rope had been looped about his neck, and a score of men jerked him to the top of the derrick—and the earthly career of the most notorious of the Sydney Ducks was ended. I reminded the committee members about the man in the Marysville jail waiting to be hung. Two members went immediately to make sure he was freed. Josie and I watched the hanging with mixed feelings. I had wanted to be the one to capture English Jim. Josie was more practical, "I don't care how he dies as long as he's dead."
During our trip Josie and I had become comfortable seeing each other in various stages of undress and became casual about our state of dress around each other. Josie had done her best to make sure I was fed and stopped me several times when I wanted to take chances to catch English Jim. Finally we could rest and get ready to return to our family. I was surprised that I felt that it was our family. Josie and I had never shared a bed for regular sex during this entire journey. We had given each other pleasure, but only by oral sex. I had to make a decision before we returned to the rest of the family. Did I want Josie as a wife? Or for that matter did Josie want me as a husband?
I picked up letters from my wives at the General Post Office window and found that Elizabeth had given birth to a son whom they had named Alex after me. The other children and my wives were all well as of the last letter and were anxiously waiting for our return. Elizabeth told me that she expected us to have the wedding soon after we returned. Nothing like a little pressure!
When I rejoined Josie I found her surrounded by many of the influential men of San Francisco's business community. When I approached I found myself regarded differently by many of them. I wondered what she had been telling them while I was gone. I stopped and looked at her standing there, in the new French gown that I had just bought her this morning. I didn't even notice the smallpox scarring anymore, unless someone else mentioned it. Even then it was recognized and ignored. She looked lovely in the gown that complimented her eyes.
I remained conflicted. My wives wanted Josie to join us in our marriage and I loved her but not as a wife. I loved her more like a sister. I considered her family but had little desire to have her as a wife. Still I had to make the offer. Gathering my courage, I approached. Josie watched me coming and then turned to a young man next to her, "Alex, may I introduce Edward F. Beale. He has been telling me about the lands he has been buying in California. Mr. Beale, this is my adopted brother Alex."
This threw me for a loop. Josie was introducing me as her adopted brother? How was I going to explain this to my wives? Mr. Beale turned to me, "From what your sister has told me you have done quite well yourself after coming out to Oregon. I understand you have an interest in a bank and a producing gold mine as well as a mile of improved land in the Willamette Valley?"
I looked at her and frowned, "Josie, you know I don't like to have that information spread around."
Beale turned to Josie, "He's quite right, my dear. It's better to leave the other person guessing about how much you can bring to the table during a deal." He turned to me; "Perhaps you might be interested in joining me in some land I am taking on speculation in Northern California?"
I thanked him for his offer but mentioned that I was concentrating on the Oregon Territory. I didn't mention that I had used the last three days buying land in San Francisco that in my time was worth millions. He reminded me of a used car salesman and I didn't trust him at all.
"Excuse me, Josie, would you give your 'brother' the honor of this dance?"
She nodded her head in a manner that a princess couldn't have matched and we went onto the dance floor. I blessed my mother now for making me take classical dance in high school and college. I was able to follow the music of the French quadrille and managed not to mangle it too badly. When we approached each other during the dance Josie whispered in my ear, "Get me away from him, he reminds me of a snake oil salesman. I'll make it up to you later."
I whispered back during our next approach, "Just leave it to your 'brother'. I'll get him away as quickly as I can."
After our dance, we returned to the table where Mr. Beale had taken a seat. I picked up a glass of wine from a tray that was being passed around and managed to trip as I reached our table. The wine, a dark red I observed sadly, flew outward following the direction of my fall and managed to land on Beale soaking his clothes completely. Of course I was apologetic and offered to have them replaced or cleaned. He gave me a look that seemed to wonder if I was really that devious then I could see his decision that it wasn't worth dealing with. I don't know what I looked like but Josie gave a shudder when she saw my face. "What would you have done if he had insulted me? Killed him?" she asked.
I had no idea what she was talking about. "Your eyes became hooded and flat like a black rock. You get an expression on your face that seems to say that you'd kill the person you're looking at with no mercy or regret. I've seen that look several times during this trip and Elizabeth told me to keep a close eye on you when you do. Alex, you can be really scary at times."
I thought she was full of shit, but since I never held a mirror to my face at times like this I had to accept her comment. All I thought I was showing was a blank face at most. We danced a couple of more times and then I escorted her to the room we shared. When I went in with her I was surprised when she gave me a hug and a quick kiss. I steeled myself and asked the question. I cleared my throat, "Elizabeth wants to know when we will have the wedding."
Josie stood still and then I saw her shaking. I was afraid I'd hurt her feelings and went toward her. I had almost reached her when I heard her laugh emerging. I stood there in shock. I had imagined a lot of reactions from my statement, but not laughter. She looked at me and completely broke down in laughter. I just stood there while she went from laughter to giggles and finally to snickers. She looked at me, "Alex I love you as a brother, but I have to say that I don't think I could ever marry you. You're a good man and I really like you, but I found during this trip that I'd go nuts if I was married to you." She came forward and gave me a kiss. "Alex, you and the others can get along with each other the way you all are. I need a man of my own and someone who makes all the decisions. I know that your wives want equality from you and society, but that's not what I want."
I stood still and then began to laugh myself from relief, "Josie, that's what I was thinking about earlier. I feel you're a member of the family, but I want you as a sister with 'privileges'. The only problem is what do we tell Elizabeth?"
Thanks Drahkan for your help in editing the story.