Helena: The Hanging Tree, Part ll

Hanging Tree

In Part l of this post the Lawless days during Helena, Montana’s gold rush era is recounted. The community had a Hanging Tree were more than eleven men were hanged by vigilantes in the mid-1800s.

In 1875, a Methodist minister, Reverend W.E. Shippen who owned the land where the large Ponderosa pine Hanging Tree was located arranged to have it chopped down.

Despite a public outcry, he followed through--most likely to get rid of this macabre symbol from a time when citizens in the community took the law into their own hands.

By the1880s homes were being built in this area.

In 1900, a workman digging in a backyard in the area near where the tree once stood discovered a grave. In 1931, yet another grave was found close to the first.

It is believed these were the bodies of two men who were hanged. The boots worn by one identified him as James Daniel who was hanged in 1866. It was his body, Mary ‘Molly” Sheehan (Ronan) saw hanging from the tree. Ronan’s account is shared in Part l of this post.

The hanging of James Daniel

Residents for the past 145 years who live near where the tree once stood state “intense emotions” linger. They feel that many of the men who were hanged do not rest in peace.

The earliest encounter with a ghost happened in September of 1872 before the tree was chopped down. A resident had stayed late to finish his work.

It was dark and snowing when he headed home. But a strong force compelled him to change directions, and he found himself standing in front of the Hanging Tree. What follows was published in a letter to the editor of the Rocky Mountain Gazette. It is a wordy account, so it is paraphrased.

"As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the trees stark and lifeless outline. He spotted the form of a man. He was hanging a few feet below a lower limb.

After a momentary panic, he regained his composure and moved closer to the tree. The figure was dressed in black clothing, and his back was turned away from the witness.

The man saw no rope extending from the limb. The figure was suspended in mid-air. He saw the form was not solid but instead was transparent.

Suddenly the figure raised its arms and changed position. He could now see its face--it was ghostly pale. The apparition spoke two words, “October 7^th and then disappeared."

With this initial sighting, some feel this set the other spirits that were hanged “free.” This is believed because for many years people have experienced strange events in the neighborhood.

One house along Hanging Tree Gulch Rd today.

Activity encountered includes: voices heard outside at night, footsteps in people’s attics and marbles found in homes as well as their gardens.

This last is connected to David Hilger and his friends playing marbles under the Hanging Tree--which is described in Part l.

The Jones family who lives in the area state they do not believe in ghosts but every time their daughter visits them she hears the voices outside.

One house in the neighborhood was remodeled recently. A crew of workmen who applied new drywall and plaster left soon after to let the walls dry. When they left the house, it was locked securely, and no animals were inside.

When the workmen returned, they found “claw-like” scratches marring every wall. The plaster had to be reapplied.

Herb Dawson, an architect, has experienced several odd things in his home located in the Hillsdale area. He, like many others, has found the mysterious marbles throughout his home and on his front porch.

One of his most frightening experiences occurred as he was stripping the paint from his parlor’s woodwork. A knife on the mantle behind him flew across the room and hit the wall inches from his head.

Hector Cano and his girlfriend live near Herb Dawson. He has also heard things he cannot explain. One night while lying in bed, a noise woke him up.

He saw his wife’s son from a previous marriage standing before him. This boy was saying, “Get away from me. Get away from me!”

Cano asked him what he was talking about and as he looked up he saw a tall bald man with four others standing behind him.

The tall man was trying to get hold of the young boy.

Hanging of Compton and Wilson
Click to enlarge

In Part l of Helena: The Hanging Tree, more information about the hangings is shared.

Helena: The Hanging Tree, Part l

Law was slow in coming to the Montana gold camps in the mid-1800s. The gold rushes brought a myriad of unsavory lawless characters into Montana territory.

Panning for gold/

With no law enforcement present “miner’s courts” were established but they were ill-equipped to handle the crimes that occurred in these wild camps and settlements.

The result was vigilantes took the law into their own hands. In the span of a few short months, from late 1863 to early 1864 vigilantes hung two- dozen men.

Helena in 1871.

Helena, Montana one of these early settlements was known for its Hanging Tree or "Murderer’s Tree" as it was known. More than 11 men were hanged on this tree from 1865 till 1870.

This ancient large Ponderosa pine stood east of the settlement at the head of Dry Gulch. Its bare massive lower branches--twenty feet above the ground-- reached out in a tangle.

Hanging Tree.
The Hanging of Compton and Wilson.
Click to enlarge
Montana Historical Society

Twelve-year-old Mary “Molly” Sheehan, later to become Mrs. Peter Ronan recalled coming upon one of these hangings on her way to school in 1865. At the age of 70, she described the sight--it being fresh in her memory--something she could not forget.

It was:

Mary Ronan's book,
Girl From the Gulches.

“A pitiful object, with bruised head, disarrayed vest and trousers, with boots so stiff, so worn, so wrinkled, so strangely the most poignant of all the gruesome details.”

This body was left hanging for three days as a warning to others.

David Hilger was a youngster when his family moved to Helena in 1867. He recalls climbing the Hanging Tree’s dead branches where rope burns were evident on the lower limbs.

He and his friends played marbles under this tree. One afternoon in 1870 as they played their game, it was interrupted.

Arthur Compton and Joseph Wilson were about to be lynched by an angry mob for robbery and attempted murder.

George Leonard, their victim, was a quiet German who lived near Bear Creek along the Missouri River. Leonard had traveled to Helena to buy supplies.

He stopped off in Reed’s Saloon for a few drinks. Compton and Wilson rented horses and watched and waited.

At 6:00 p.m., Leonard headed home on his horse. Compton and Wilson waylaid him at Spokane Creek. They fired seven times, hitting him only once in the hip.

When Leonard fell from his horse they pistol-whipped him around the head and left him for dead.

But Leonard did not die. David Hilger recounts an angry mob fueled by vigilantes approached the courthouse where the two men were confined.

The crowd forced their way in and took the two men to the steps of the courthouse where they conducted an impromptu trial.

“. . . All those in favor of taking Joseph Wilson and Arthur Compton and hanging them forthwith will signify by saying aye.”

Hilger remembered:

“I never in my life heard such a motion carried with such force and it seemed the ‘ayes’ could have been heard at the top of Mount Helena.”

The two men’s fate was sealed. They were marched to the Hanging Tree, where they were put in a wagon standing on a dry-goods box. Their hands and feet were bound together. Then they were asked if they had any final words.

Wilson remained silent, standing erect and motionless. Compton however, said, “Boys, goodbye. Don’t lead the life I have the past few days.” He had to be supported on the box because his knees were shaking.

Then the "all ready" was given and with a quick stroke of a horse’s back, the wagon lunged forward. The two men’s bodies were swinging in the air.

Compton’s neck was broken in the fall, but Wilson was not so lucky. The noose had slipped to the back of his neck, and he died of strangulation. Both men were pronounced dead after fifteen minutes.

The Vigilante hanging of Compton and Wilson.
Click to enlarge

The crowd did not disperse until the bodies were cut down and buried. Compton and Wilson were the last two to be hanged on this tree. Future executions were done on the gallows at the courthouse.

Afterward, David and his friends went back to playing marbles under the tree.

A photograph of this hanging hung in the hallway of the local Jefferson Elementary School for years as a reminder to the students “crime doesn’t pay.”

In Part ll of Helena: The Hanging Tree, the tree is chopped down, and a new eyewitness account of a ghost sighting is shared along with more recent sightings. All are scary.

Ghost Hollow’s Curse

Residents that live around the old settlement town of Ripley, Oklahoma, on windy nights state they hear some chilling sounds coming from a large old oak tree.

Ripley is near the city of Cushing in Payne County. This county was opened to settlement in the Oklahoma land run in April of 1889.

An old oak tree in this area was an ideal place to hang people. The hollow this tree still stands in is considered haunted and cursed. This place was dubbed Ghost Hollow for this reason.

In the late 1800s Payne County was still an untamed, lawless land. The only justice imposed was at the end of a rope, or from the barrel of a Colt pistol.

In 1899, three horse thieves were left hanging from the limb of this oak tree in the hollow. This was not the first or last time this tree had been used for this purpose.

The following tales are often told around a campfire.

One legend states that a young Indian girl, in spite of her father’s wishes, ran away to marry a white man.

The father found them and shot at the young man. But his bullet hit his daughter instead, killing her.

It is said in his grief and despair resulted in a curse on Ghost Hollow, where he found the two lovers.

His daughter was 17-years old at the time of her death. It is said every 17 years a death occurs in this hollow.

One victim of this curse was a gambler from Ripley. He was hanged from this tree when he was caught cheating at cards.

In the early 1900s, a human skeleton was found in the hollow. Yet another body was found in 1922. Then in 1939, there was a fatal car wreck on a nearby road. All 17 years apart.

Local witnesses state that on windy nights in Ghost Hollow, they have heard terrible moans coming from this old hanging tree. They say this sound raised the hair on their necks and made their hearts beat faster.

One Boy Scout troop passing through the hollow one night, stated all their horses were spooked when they entered Ghost Hollow.

Yet another legend that surrounds the hollow states an innocent man was hung from this tree in 1887. The next day, all of the bark from this tree, mysteriously fell off.

Since during full moons witnesses state, this tree glows brightly.

Of course, wind makes horses spook, and moonlight makes things glow, but I love these old stories...