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A Basket of Chips life, as he was the only witness to a very atrocious murder. A man's head was split open with an ax by one of the named out- laws? I have understood it was a worthless devil who was killed; he was under arrest but taken by force and murdered. I will never forget the sigh of relief that my father gave on reading of the death of the murderer." 7 From James Harwood's memoirs "In March [ 18 561 . . . I was elected County Constable . . . . Saturday, April 12, after coming from the field in the evening I saw a crowd of men around Alfred Bell's . , . . I stopped to find out what was wrong, when the Marshal [Alonzo D. Rhodes] came to me and gave in charge Jacob Lance. Said I must put him under guard as he was held for rape upon Mrs. Peterson. . . . he [Lance} said he would like to make it up with the woman for he expected he would be killed.. . . I took him over to my house.. . . the marshal came and took charge of the prisoner, putting on an extra guard . . . . I stayed with them it being my house and my bed was there . . . . [I] was tired, soon fell to sleep. Towards midnight I had a bad dream or nightmare . . . . so I got up for the rest of the night. Towards morning I was called out by a person. He asked me to go with him a short distance, when he stopped and said, `We are going to kill that cuss.' He said `we had all fixed to do it when you were on the bed asleep. We were afraid to trust you for fear you might say something, but you woke up and got up and stopped it. Now,' he said, `we are going to do it and if you do not swear to be silent you will die too.' I could do nothing. I knew the party and the only way to save my life was to keep silent and they did do it. Just before daylight a person came in the room with a bolt in his hand, struck Lance on the head and in a short time he was dead. The guard raised an alarm and when the inquest was held, testified that a woman or a man in woman's clothes came in the room, struck him on the head and immediately left the room . . . . Judge Cradlebaugh . . . . commenced holding court at Provo [Utah County seat] . . . . Amongst the cases, Lance's was investigated, Charges were made [that] the rape case against him was false and trumped up to find cause to kill him. That case was . . . held open for several weeks, but the guard and wit- nesses could not be found. Some of them came to me and insisted that I should go with them to the mountains to keep from being subpoenaed, saying that I was young and might be led to say something through fear, and they would have me leave. Being threatened if I did not willingly [go) . . . . I went with them. Stayed away quite a while, this was in the spring of `59. After court adjourned we came home. In a short time was in session again and I found I could have no peace, they were afraid the court would get hold of me, so I fixed up my wagon and myself and wife started north for Ogden, having friends there and I found that was the best thing I could have done. We stayed there until Judge Cradle- baugh gave up the case. . . . On the 8th of April, 1860, our first son was born [J. T. J ." Harwood, "Autobiography," 15-16, 18-19. s "No one suffered the notoriety of membership [in the Danites, an orga- nization believed to enforce the orders of Brigham Young], more than did . . . . Rockwell. Indeed, he went to his grave branded with the inglorious title of Danite chieftain . . . . [William] Hickman also was proclaimed chief of the Danites in the title of his published confession: Brigham's Destroying Angel; 104 |
