Anatomy of a Lynching

Abstract

The lynching of Z.A. Triplett and John W. St.Clair on February 1, 1873 is arguable the darkest episode in the history of Bozeman, and one of the more unsavory examples of vigilantism in Montana's extensive record of citizens who took the law into their own hands. As a brutal study in the application of extralegal justice, the Bozeman lynching offers details which allow an in depth examination of the incident, even though the town did its best to obfuscate the particulars as time passed.