Vigilantes: Myths

Vigilantes: Table of Contents

The Vigilantes of Montana:
1864 Revisited

Vigilante Myths

Montana authors have created and maintained a number of myths about the vigilantes and their victims. Starting with Dimsdale, then Langford, and down to Malone, Roeder, and Lang, they have repeated hearsay, unfounded assumptions, and plain tall tales, and in the case of the original two apologist, perhaps some wishful thinking. It took the painstaking research of authors R. E. Mather and F. E. Boswell to dispel many of these myths.

In this document you will find a succinct statement of a myth, followed by a link to a fuller statement of the myth with sources given, followed by the refutation, again with sources given.


Myth 1 North Idaho	That Henry Plummer was the leader of a gang of desperadoes who terrorized the mining camps of North Idaho from the spring of 1861 until his departure for Montana in the summer of 1862. Details of the myth Discussion


Myth 2 California	That Henry Plummer had seduced the wife of a man named Vedder in Nevada City, California, and when surprised one day by the husband, Plummer shot him and was convicted of second degree murder. Details of the myth Discussion


Myth 3 The Plummer Gang	That Henry Plummer was the leader of a gang of road agents which terrorized the mining camps of Montana in 1863. Details of the myth Discussion