Lynch Law in California. one hand behind her, and rushing forward, she plunged a long knife, with all her strength, into Cannon's breast and killed him. "The news of the homicide spread like wild-fire. It took but a little time for an immense crowd to collect. They were not fully over the effects of their dissipation of the day before; but their excitement took a new direction; and it was now for vengeance on the murderer of Jack Cannon, who had been a jolly good fellow, and popular with everybody. On the first indication of this feeling, the woman had left her own house, and entered the saloon of one Craycroft for protection. But the crowd soon surrounded Craycroft's, and, seizing the woman, carried her to the main plaza of the town, where the stand erected for the exercises of the day previous still remained. Her Mexican friend continued with her, while the body of Can non was exposed in a tent near by. Upon arriving at the plaza, the first things done by the crowd were to select a judge and jury and appoint counsel for the people and the de fendant respectively. There was little for the prosecution to do; but the attorney for the defense received very bad treatment. Seeing that he could say nothing of import ance in reference to the killing, he confined himself to the enormity of hanging a woman, and put that enormity in so strong a light that the mob became maddened and kicked the barrel on which he stood, from under him —his hat going one way and his spectacles another, while he himself was carried at least a hundred yards, hustled from side to side, before he touched the ground. Next a doc tor, named C. D. Aiken, attempted to save the woman by claiming that she was about to become a mother; but, as is usual on such occasions, other doctors were found to ex press a directly contrary opinion; and the result was that Dr. Aiken was ordered to leave Downieville, and found it safest to do so. The infuriated crowd would evidently suffer nothing to be said or done in favor
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of their victim, and would brook no opposi tion to their predetermination to be avenged. The end was not long coming. The jury, in a very short time, returned a verdict of guilty; and the judge, without waiting to be prompted by the crowd, sentenced the woman to be hanged. She was given only an hour to prepare for death, while arrange ments were made on what was known as Jersey bridge for her execution. A rope was fastened on one of the projecting upper timbers, while beneath it a plank, six inches wide, was pushed out over the stream, and lashed to the floor timbers of the bridge. At the end of the hour the woman was brought to the place, and stationed on the plank. There were several thousand spactators present. The woman, of course, knew what was coming; but she appears to have been perfectly cool and collected. She surveyed the crowd, and spoke pleasantly to several of her acquaintances. She took off her hat and handed it to one of them, bidding him good bye in Spanish. She then took in her own hands the rope that was being thrown over her neck, and adjusted it beneath her black hair. A white handkerchief was fastened over her face; her hands were tied behind her; and at each side of the plank behind her a man, ax in hand, stood ready to cut the lashings. At the report of a' pistol, which had been agreed upon as a signal, down came the axes; the plank dropped, and Juanita fell three or four feet, and remained suspended. Consciousness was apparently extinguished instantaneously upon the fall; and death was rapid." Perhaps the best organized and least ob jectionable form of lynch law was that ex hibited by the Committee of Vigilance of San Francisco, organized June 9, 1851, and re-organized May 14, 1856. There had been vigilance committees in other towns in the State, yet that which was formed in San Francisco on the dates given above un doubtedly deserves the reputation of being the best conducted and most strikingly im
