The Man Who Moiled for Gold
by
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I felt a great leaden weight in my gut when I
realized what I must do. Somehow, I was
the one who must move for I didn’t want to again experience cowardice. Grabbing one of Plummer’s arms, I pulled him
forward. Another vigilante took the
other arm. We forced the condemned man
toward the gallows. He pleaded no
more. Henry Plummer seemed resigned to
his fate. Yet, as a third man reached
out to help him up onto the packing crate, Plummer protested, “Give a man time
to pray.”
The response came back from a vigilante, “Certainly,
but pray up there,” meaning the crossbeam of the gallows.
Plummer uttered no prayers, as he stood erect and
dignified under the gallows bar. Taking
off his necktie, he tossed it over his shoulder to a young man who had been
boarding with him. The young man
evidently had followed our group. To
this gesture, Plummer added, “Keep that to remember me by.” The young man took the tie, but fell to the
ground sobbing in grief. He had
evidently known the sheriff to be a good friend.
Plummer then turned to us, “Now, men, as a last
favor, let me beg that you will give me a good drop.”
With the noose adjusted, two of us raised Plummer’s
slender frame as high as we could reach while the crate was removed. On the count of three, we both let him
suddenly drop. Being a few inches from
the man as he fell, I plainly heard the sickening snap of Plummer’s neck bones
when the noose caught his full weight. Henry Plummer, sheriff of Bannack, died
without a struggle.
I pushed my way through the crowd to where I could
be sick in the snow bank. I had just
ended a human life.
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About the Book
The Man Who
Moiled for Gold draws its title from the Robert W. Service poem: The Cremation of Sam McGee. This popular work portrays the lust for
gold, the passion for the search, and the elusive success that brought men and
women to remote areas without laws or justice. The poem also tells of
suffering, loneliness, frustration, and ultimately death. Charley Martin experienced all of these
emotions along with love and success while becoming the man who moiled for gold.
Charley Martin, in 1912, is found mining the hard
rock of Butte, Montana. Years of breathing the fine quartz dust in the pits
have given Charley silicosis. Discovery of this incurable condition, by the
mine super, brought an abrupt change to the 69-year old miner’s life. Change
began with the decision to move to his mountain cabin, which involved a weekend
stay with Kathleen, his eldest daughter. Kathleen held a secret hurt and
bitterness, causing an estrangement between father and daughter.
Delighted by his teenaged grandson’s insistence to know
the grandfather’s pioneer adventures Charley recounts events that began 50
years earlier with the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. Charley realizes that revealing
family history might bring to surface Kathleen’s resentments so he continues to
tell details past the romantic parts.
Successful mining ventures are overshadowed by the
murder of Charley’s cousin Joe during a holdup. Kind and happy Charley becomes obsessed with finding the
roadagent who killed Joe. Other incidents of robbery and murder inflame the
Montana/Idaho mining camps into vigilante actions. Charley joins the Bannack
Vigilance Committee and participates in the historic hangings of the Sheriff
and his deputies he then travels with the Alder Gulch vigilantes to hang most
of the remainder of the Sheriff’s roadagent gang including the man Charley
considers to be Joe’s killer.
Charley had never before revealed to family that he
had been an active vigilante who had ended men’s lives. The daughter’s family is amazed but
accepting. Continued recollections helped Kathleen reveal her own bitter secret
and accept her father again.
About the Author
David Rasmussen weaves historic facts, individuals
and places into the lives of fictional but believable characters. For The Man Who Moiled for Gold, David draws
from his knowledge of Colorado and Montana gold rush history, his first-hand
place familiarity, and his actual mining experience.
David was born in Missoula, Montana near the scene
of some of the described vigilante hangings of the 1860s. David graduated from
Montana School of Mines in Butte as a geological engineer. Working as a
hardrock miner in several of the deep mines yielded additional background for
the characters and circumstances incorporated in this novel.
As a professional engineer, David authored several
published technical articles and handbook chapters. As a fiction author, David
has also published: Castizo, Xlibris
1999.