The Life And Times Of Henry Plummer

Guilty or innocent? Historians have devoted much time and effort investigating whether or not Henry Plummer, the sheriff of Bannack, Montana, actually committed the crimes for which he was hanged by vigilantes on a bitter, cold January night in 1864. The question of his innocence has plagued Western historians for fifteen decades. In May of 1993, a posthumous trial was held in Virginia City, Montana, where a Madison County jury consisting of twelve registered voters split the verdict--6-6. The judge declared a mistrial and had Sheriff Plummer been alive, she would have told him, "You are free to go." Henry's life tells the tale of a lawless West and epitomizes many a man's experience in these untamed, violent mining towns of the 1800s where shootouts and duals rule and life is sometimes worth only a handful of gold or the dispute over a lady, proper or fallen. Henry, a well-educated and handsome man, delicate and consumptive, soft-spoken and refined, appears dedicated to the law and yet, is also capable of instantly shooting a man dead. Trouble follows him everywhere. By the time Henry Plummer becomes sheriff in Bannack in 1863, he has killed five men in self-defense and has loved and lost three women. Henry's time spent at the faro tables pans out better than his time spent as a miner or as a lover. The hunger for gold dust brings every manner of men from all corners of the country and beyond to enjoy the easy reaping, and with them come more robberies and murders. Rumors and suspicion become rampant, leaving no one untouched, including Henry Plummer, a man swept along by the tides of his time.

Guilty or innocent? Historians have devoted much time and effort investigating whether or not Henry Plummer, the sheriff of Bannack, Montana, actually committed the crimes for which he was hanged by vigilantes on a bitter, cold January night in 1864. The question of his innocence has plagued Western historians for fifteen decades. In May of 1993, a posthumous trial was held in Virginia City, Montana, where a Madison County jury consisting of twelve registered voters split the verdict6-6. The judge declared a mistrial and had Sheriff Plummer been alive, she would have told him, You are free to go. Henrys life tells the tale of a lawless West and epitomizes many a mans experience in these untamed, violent mining towns of the 1800s where shootouts and duals rule and life is sometimes worth only a handful of gold or the dispute over a lady, proper or fallen. Henry, a well-educated and handsome man, delicate and consumptive, soft-spoken and refined, appears dedicated to the law and yet, is also capable of instantly shooting a man dead. Trouble follows him everywhere. By the time Henry Plummer becomes sheriff in Bannack in 1863, he has killed five men in self-defense and has loved and lost three women. Henrys time spent at the faro tables pans out better than his time spent as a miner or as a lover. The hunger for gold dust brings every manner of men from all corners of the country and beyond to enjoy the easy reaping, and with them come more robberies and murders. Rumors and suspicion become rampant, leaving no one untouched, including Henry Plummer, a man swept along by the tides of his time.

With his storyteller's gift, Jameson relates episodes from early explorers through the colonial period, the Civil War, the settling of the West, and the roaring 1920s. As a professional treasure hunter, he has followed the trails of many of the lost mines and buried treasures he describes. Sample treasures include Sir Francis Drake Treasure, Benedict Arnold Treasure, Lafayette's Sunken Riches, Maryland's Lost Silver Mine, The Wandering Confederate Treasury, Lost Treasure of the Gray Ghost, Oklahoma Outlaw Cache, and Lost Spanish Gold in the Sandia Mountains.

In 1862 Edwin Ruthven Purple seized the chance to strike it rich in the newly discovered goldfields of the northern Rocky Mountains. With an introduction and thorough annotations by Kenneth N. Owens, Perilous Passage offers Purple's never-before-published, first-person narrative. On hand for the crimes that led to vigilante justice, Purple chronicled the story of a raucous, sometimes murderous life among bonanza miners.

Many nefarious characters have passed through Maine on their way to infamy, including the pirates Dixie Bull and Blackbeard (Edward Teach), and gangster Al Brady, who was gunned down by G-men in the streets of Bangor. The rogues and scoundrels assembled in this book, however, are either Maine natives or notorious individuals whose mischief, misdeeds, or mayhem were perpetrated in the Pine Tree State.

Shaker buildings have long been admired for their simplicity of design and sturdy craftsmanship, with form always following function. Over the years, their distinctive physical characteristics have invited as much study as imitation. Their clean, unadorned lines have been said to reflect core Shaker beliefs such as honesty, integrity, purity, and perfection. In this book, Henry Plummer focuses on the use of natural light in Shaker architecture, noting that Shaker builders manipulated light not only for practical reasons of illumination but also to sculpt a deliberately spiritual, visual presence within their space. Stillness and Light celebrates this subtly beautiful aspect of Shaker innovation and construction, captured in more than 100 stunning photographs.

Includes biographical information on 4,500 individuals associated with the frontier