Digital Bob Archive

19 February 1980

JULY 29, 1883-The camp is in pandemonium. Guard A. H. Dennis is badly wounded and Major J. D. Givens is dead. The three prisoners escaped from the guard house. One has now been recaptured, one is dead and the third escaped into the woods near the mouth of Gold Creek. There are rumors of a general Indian uprising. Despite the fact that the rumors seem entirely unfounded, they have brought miners flocking down from Basin.

As nearly as can now be determined, this is what happened: Guard Dennis, after more than a week of duty with no untoward happenings, allowed the prisoners to roam around the jail without handcuffs, although the leg irons were retained. Early this Sunday morning, Dennis went outside the building for a short while and the Indians got a pistol out of an unlocked cupboard and, upon his return, shot him. The bullet entered his left hip and came out his right side. His condition is serious, according to Dr. McLean.

The Indians, taking the pistol with them, hobbled out of the building and down the far side of the hill, toward the Auk village. Dennis remained conscious and fired his own pistol several times to attract attention. Few citizens were up at that early hour, but Major Givens, a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil Wars, heard the shots and rushed to the barracks. Then, foolishly, without waiting for help, he plunged down the hill after the Indians. He found them in a house, trying to get rid of their leg irons. Cut Nose Jim had the pistol, and he shot Major Givens through the right lung. Another Indian, said to have been Boxer, then struck him in the head and face with an axe, killing him. Cut Nose Jim was then killed. One story is that he killed himself, another that he was shot by an irate citizen who followed Major Givens. Boxer ran into the woods and Charley Green was taken back to the barracks, where double guard was posted.

The Executive Committee at once selected a jury by placing 30 names in a hat and having 12 names drawn out. Those drawn for the jury were W. F. Reed, Henry E. Cutter, George Alexander, Nathaniel Hilton, Morris C. Orton, James Winn, Charles Reaky, R. E. Nowell, John Olds, Z. T. Wilcox, William Mulcahy and Fred Cushman. Green was charged with being an accomplice in the murder of Rennie, with escape from jail and with assisting in the death of Givens. He defended himself by stating that Rennie had struck him first, but he could show no bruises to support this. The testimony of Zackaloff, who witnessed the assault on Rennie, was heard. Green was found guilty as charged and a citizen?s meeting was called for tomorrow to determine the sentence.