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J.L. Compton and Joseph Wilson
Helena, Montana
April 30, 1870

Compton and Wilson were accused of shooting and robbing an old man in Helena, Montana, a mock trial was declared on the courthouse steps to circumvent the "tedious, expensive, and uncertainty, of the law. Law officers attempted to halt the proceedings and were imprisoned. The pair was sentenced and hung from "Hangman's Tree" by a thousand member vigilante committee.

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