A Vigilante Hanging

Nevada City and the surrounding area, which included Virginia City, got their start when gold was discovered in Adler Gulch in 1863.

Nevada City was apart of Idaho Territory, until 1865, when it became the capital of Montana.

At this time, there was no law enforcement in the area—there was only a “miners court.”

Plummer Gang
robbing stagecoach.

So when George Ives, a member of the Plummer Gang * murdered a young Dutchman by the name of Nicholas Tibalt, in cold blood, it was vigilantes that responded.

Tibalt had been given gold by his employers, Burtchy and Clark, to buy mules. On his return trip, he was murdered, and the remaining gold and mules were stolen.

Ten days later, the body of Tibalt was brought back to Nevada City in a wagon. Ives, as he arrived in Virginia City, with the mules, had openly bragged, “the Dutchman would never trouble anybody again.”

Hearing about Ives’ boast, twenty-five men rode out to capture him. He was returned to Nevada City and put on trial. This proceeding, held outdoors, lasted three days as 2,000 area residents watched.

During his trial Ives’ “criminal friends”—including Sheriff Plummer of Virginia City-- tried to help him by planning his escape by intimidating witnesses—but neither worked.

Henry Plummer

Sheriff Plummer never arrived to lead the gang’s plan to help Ives, for he stayed away hearing vigilantes were looking for them, and the escape plan was thwarted because vigilante guards with loaded shotguns guarded Ives.

The miner’s court convicted Ives of the charges, and quickly arranged his hanging. A forty-foot pole was run through the window of an unfinished house, and a rope was draped over it.

Just fifty-eight minutes after he was found guilty, George Ives was hanged. He was buried next to his victim Tibalt—it was believed at the time that this would let Tibalt know his death had been avenged.

Outdoor museum Nevada City

Shortly after Ives’ hanging—the infamous Montana Vigilantes group was formed. Within the first month, twenty-four men found guilty by the vigilantes were hanged. Most of these men were apart of the Plummer Gang.

Just six years later, in 1869, the gold boom in Alder Gulch had ended, only a hundred people remained. By 1872, Nevada City was a ghost town.

During its heyday the placer mines of Alder Gulch yielded over thirty-five million dollars in gold.

By the early 1920s, many of the buildings in Nevada City had been destroyed.

In the 1950s a couple, Charles and Sue Bovey who collected Old Montana buildings bought Nevada City, and started to place other historic frontier buildings along the back streets of this ghost town.

They were careful to keep the original layout of the city intact.

In 1997, the State of Montana purchased the town. Today the Montana Heritage Commission runs Nevada City, as an outdoor museum. The last of the ninety historic buildings were placed on the site in 1978.

One hundred and fifty years after George Ives was hanged, three employees of the Montana Heritage Commission, Dan Thyer, Bill Peterson, and John Ellingsen were doing a research project at the site.

Historic Marker

Peterson took a photograph of Thyer and Ellingsen standing next to a historical marker that shows the spot where Ives was hanged.

When this photo was uploaded to a computer, the two men were not even in the shot. Instead, there is a mysterious, transparent figure of a man, who the three did not recognize.

They concluded this must be the ghost of George Ives.

The mysterious photo that was taken.

In the following short video Dan Thyer discusses the history of the Ives hanging, plus there is a clear shot of the mysterious figure that Peterson captured in the photograph.

* The Plummer Gang were Road Agents or highwaymen led by Sheriff Plummer. This was during the Civil War, and many wounded soldiers from both the North and South landed in Montana Territory. This made for a hostile atmosphere.

In May of 1864 Montana Territory was created by an Act of Congress and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. This insured Alder Gulch was under the jurisdiction of the United States—or the North.

The “vigilantes” were former wounded Northern soldiers who were there to ensure none of the 30 million dollars in gold mined in the Gulch in just 3 years from 1863 to 1866 reached the South.

So these vigilantes in remote Montana actually played a role in the outcome of the Civil War.

The Nevada City's Exchange Hotel

Nevada City, California first became a town during the Gold Rush years. 

The first “easterners” to come to the area built a cabin along Deer Creek. They staked a claim in 1849, just a year after the find at nearby Sutter’s Mill, which started the California Gold Rush. 

The town’s first name was Deer Creek Diggins.

By 1850, it was decided that the town needed an official name. The name “Nevada” was chosen--Nevada is Spanish for snow-covered--because it had been a particularly snowy winter.

Through the 1850s and 60s Nevada grew in prominence. It became a county seat in 1851 for the new state of California. At its peak, Nevada had 10,000 residents. 

But unlike most boom mining towns Nevada stayed lawful, in part because of the town’s leadership. 

This was also in part due to a caste system that was put in place. The town’s working miners lived in Grass Valley nearby while the prosperous mine owners resided in Nevada.

The town went through one more name change in 1864. The western part of Utah Territory was formed into the new state of Nevada. So the word “city” was added to distinguish between the two.

Nevada City Mine 1866

At one time, the stamp mills that surrounded Green Valley and Nevada City crushed ore from the underground mines 24/7 in search of gold. The last mines in the area were closed in the 1950s.

Ophir Quartz Mill 1866
Grass Valley

The town’s first hotel, saloon, stagecoach stop, and mail center were known as Bicknell’s Block. The original building burnt down but it was rebuilt. 

This building eventually became the Nevada Exchange Hotel. In 1977, this hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered the oldest continuously operated hotel west of the Rockies.

In 1985, the entire downtown area of Nevada City was registered as a national historic landmark. 

This small town’s charm and beauty make it a tourist attraction today. It has many buildings that reflect Victorian, Colonial, Greek Revival, and California Gothic architecture.

One attraction for ghost hunters is the National Exchange Hotel, just like the town this hotel has an interesting history. This structure is haunted.

One female ghost is seen in the hotel’s bar area and restroom. She was murdered in the hotel. It seems she owed a man some money--unfortunately, she refused to pay him. One night he broke into Room 48 and hid in the closet. When the lady returned, he slit her throat. She haunts this room as well.

Known as just "National Hotel" today.

Another ghost seen at the National is that of a little girl named Elizabeth. It is believed she died of a childhood illness--most likely mumps. She stayed in a room on the third floor, while at the hotel. 

Many guests have felt her presence in Room 78. Strange knocking noises are heard. Elizabeth is seen playing in the 3rd-floor hallways. She is seen riding a tricycle and skipping rope.

Yet another ghost at the National is that of a man. He is described as wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a black vest. He is seen walking up a staircase. Witnesses who have followed him mention they saw his profile clearly, but then he just vanished.