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Show THE HANGING OF GORDON. 57 The trial which ensued occupied three days. All business was suspended, and Judge H. P. Bennett, always a faithful and earnest advocate of the people's cause, did great credit to himself on this occasion. It was decided that Carl Wood should be banished from the country on pain of death if he returned. He was provided with a fleet horse, led out on the prairie and given the word "go," which he obeyed without any unnecessary delay. CHAPTER XII. THE HANGING OF GORDON. The damp morning newspaper so often brought tales of blood, that a "man for breakfast" became a common expression. The killing of Jacob Gantz by James Gordon in July, 1860, created the most intense excitement that ever agitated the public mind. Gordon was subject to periodical sprees. On this occasion it is said he was crazy drunk. He entered a saloon, and seeing Jacob Gantz seated on a keg in a corner, politely and pressingly urged him to take a drink. While standing at the bar, Gordon lifted his glass, sneeringly viewed Gantz from head to foot, threw the whisky in his face, struck him with his pistol and shot him dead. In the darkness he made his escape to Fort Lupton. The Fort was surrounded by his pursuers for twenty-four hours before he came out. At sundown the gate was thrown open and Gordon, mounted on a fleet horse, and a pistol in each hand, plunged through the crowd and disappeared in the gathering darkness. |
