During all this time the five men, two white men, the half-breed boy and the two Indians, were held under guard, the bar room of the hotel being used for the purpose.  When it became known that the prisoners were merely to be prosecuted for the smaller crime, the whole country became aroused.  Both Yantes and the Halls made threats of dire vengeance upon those instrumental in their arrest.  They declared they would get even as soon as they were free.  All knew the Indians and Yantes to be desperate men, and to turn them loose would be equivalent to applying the torch to their homes, if not the knife to their throats.  Accordingly at the hour of 1:30 on the morning of May 31st a rush was made by masked men, the prisoners taken from the guards and all five hung to the railing of the Pit River bridge.

The news spread like wildfire and created intense excitement throughout the county and State.  The great papers, in two column headlines, told of the “wiping out of a whole family.”  “An old man,” said they, “his three sons and his son-in-law,” were ruthlessly hung for a petty crime, the stealing of a few straps of leather.  In Modoc county the sentiment of nine-tenths of the people was that the leaders of the mob should be punished.  Young Banner had made a mistake, due doubtless to youth and inexperience, but it remained for Superior Judge Harrington to make a still more serious one.

Judge Harrington wrote to the Attorney-General asking that detectives and a special prosecutor be sent to investigate and prosecute the case against the lynchers.  He also called the Grand jury together in special session.  But there never was any evidence.

The Grand jury convened on June 10th, and a host of witnesses were in attendance.

The result of the Grand Jury session was the returning of indictments against R. E. Leventon, Isom Eades and James Brown.  As the case against Brown appeared to be the best, he was “brought to trial” November 21, 1901.  Assistant Attorney-General Post and Deputy Attorney George Sturtevant were sent from the Attorney-General’s office to prosecute the case.  The prisoner was defended by ex-Judge G. F. Harris, E. V. Spencer and John E. Raker.

Soon after the trial began Judge Post sent for a noted gunfighter named Danny Miller.  And during all those weary three months of the trial he could be seen trotting around after Post, his mustache turned up, a la William of Germany, like a rat terrier following a mastiff, to the infinite amusement of the small boy and utter disgust of sensible men.  Gibson, the noted San Francisco detective, was here, assisted by other detectives and a dozen or more local head hunters, who were after a share of the big reward.  District Attorney Bonner was pushed aside and completely ignored.  He was not even given an insight into what was going on.  In justice to Mr. Sturtevant I want to say that he had no hand in the high-handed measures adopted by Post and Harrington.  And had he been in control the result of the Brown trial might have ended differently.  Indeed, so favorably were the people of Modoc impressed with Mr. Sturtevant that members of both parties—­prominent citizens—­went to him and offered him the Superior Judgeship at the coming fall election.  For reasons of his own he declined, and before the end of the Brown trial left in disgust.