The Vigilantes of Montana:
1864 Revisited

Victim 2: Erastus (Red) Yeager

Born in 1831 in Indiana, he grew up near Moscow, Iowa, where his parents settled. A studious, intelligent child, he attended the same school as Granville Stuart. In 1850 he joined his older brother William in Washington Territory, where he helped with the farming, and joined in a freighting business to mining camps. In 1863 he joined a party on its way to the Grasshopper diggings, arriving on August 30, 1863. He had never been involved in any violence, had never been accused of a crime, and, in fact had led a quiet life, a bit of a loner.

Red took a job as bartender at Rattlesnake Ranch, about 15 miles east of Bannack where the stage road crossed Rattlesnake Creek. His quiet ways and courteous behavior earned him a solid reputation among travelers. In fact, none other than Wilbur Sanders had reason to thank Red for settling an argument on November 13, 1863, at the Rattlesnake Ranch, when Sanders and Deputy Sheriff Jack Gallagher got into a tiff. But Red had a falling out with his boss Bill Bunton, who had sold out his share of the Rattlesnake Ranch, and moved to Deer Lodge (Cottonwood).

Six weeks later, after the Ives trial, Red started from Virginia City for Cottonwood. At the Dempsey Ranch (near present day Twin Bridges), the bartender, George Brown, asked him to carry a letter to Alex Carter, who was sought by the newly established Vigilance Committee. As George Ives was about to be hanged, he accused Alex Carter of the murder of Nicholas Tiebolt, for which he had just been convicted in miner's court. The vigilantes both hanged Ives for the murder, but also believed his statement that Alex Carter did it.

On the way to Cottonwood, the vigilantes met Red coming back. They had with them Long John Franck who had turned state's witness and who supposedly knew who the road agents were. He did not recognize Red Yeager as one of the gang members. At Cottonwood the vigilantes found Alex Carter had escaped, due to a warning. They connected Red with the warning, and came back to hunt him down.

He was told he would be taken back to Virginia City for trial, but instead the vigilantes under the leadership of James Williams hanged him and George Brown. He supposedly gave a confession naming the gang members, and naming Henry Plummer as the chief. There is no written record of this confession, and subsequent versions are in conflict, and in fact Granville Stuart had doubted that his former schoolmate, Erastus Yeager, knew the names of the outlaw band [assuming there was an organized band].

My opinion:

Erastus Yeager was not guilty of any crime during his short stay in Montana.