lyons lynching true west
Illustration of Lyons’ lynching.

Hayes Lyons helped kill a man in Montana Territory in 1863—and for that, the Vigilantes came looking for him.  He had a chance to leave the area, but stuck around because he wanted to see his girlfriend.  The law caught him at Alder Gulch.

On January 14, 1864, Lyons and four others were hanged from the main support beam of a new building in town.  He had a last request: to see his girlfriend one more time.  The Vigilantes said no, afraid it would cause a scene.  They did give her Lyons’ gold watch.

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