gold dust. Let those who liked
bother about statehood and government and politics; the average man was
too busy digging and spending gold to trouble over such matters. The
most shameless men were those found in public office. Wealth and
commerce waxed great, but law and civilization languished. The times
were ripening for the growth of some system of law which would offer
proper protection to life and property. The measure of this need may be
seen from the figures of the production of gold. From 1848 to 1856
California produced between five hundred and six hundred million dollars
in virgin gold. What wonder the courts were weak; and what wonder the
Vigilantes became strong!

There were in California three distinct Vigilante movements, those of
1849, 1851, and 1856, the earliest applying rather to the outlying
mining camps than to the city of San Francisco. In 1851, seeing that the
courts made no attempt to punish criminals, a committee was formed which
did much toward enforcing respect for the principles of justice, if not
of law. On June 11 they hanged John Jenkins for robbing a store. A month
later they hanged James Stuart for murdering a sheriff. In August of the
same summer they took out of jail and hanged Whittaker and McKenzie,
Australian ex-convicts, whom they had tried and sentenced, but who had
been rescued by the officers of the law. Two weeks later this committee
disbanded. They paid no attention to the many killings that were going
on over land titles and the like, but confined themselves to punishing
men who had committed intolerable crimes. Theft was as serious as
murder, perhaps more so, in the creed of the time and place. The list of
murders reached appalling dimensions. The times were sadly out of joint.
The legislature was corrupt, graft was rampant--though then unknown by
that name--and the entire social body was restless, discontented, and
uneasy. Politics had become a fine art. The judiciary, lazy and corrupt,
was held in contempt. The dockets of the courts were full, and little
was done to clear them effectively. Criminals did as they liked and went
unwhipped of justice. It was truly a day of violence and license.

Once more the sober and law-loving men of California sent abroad word,
and again the Vigilantes assembled. In 1853 they hanged two Mexicans for
horse stealing, and also a bartender who had shot a citizen near Shasta.
At Jackson they hanged another Mexican for horse stealing, and at
Volc