L. H. Musgrove
Lewis H. Musgrave or L. H. Musgraves, known in history as L. H. Musgrove (1833 â November 23, 1868), was an outlaw of the American West who was sprung from jail in Denver, Colorado, and hanged by a vigilante mob. Over a number of years, he was charged with several murders and horse theft.
| Lewis H. "L. H. Musgrove" Musgrave
(Outlaw of the American West; hanged in Denver in 1868) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1833 Illinois Reared in Como, Panola County, Mississippi |
| Died | November 23, 1868 (aged 35) Denver, Colorado Resting place: |
| Spouse | (1) Catherine Fowler Harlan Musgrove (married 1856-1862, her death)
(2) Mary Musgrove |
Musgrove was born in Illinois[1] and reared in Como in Panola County in northwestern Mississippi, where his father, Thomas, also died in the same year as the hanging of Musgrove. In the early 1850s, he joined the Gold Rush to California. Musgrove killed several men in Wyoming, Nevada, and California. He is known to have traveled on the Overland Trail during the Civil War, when in 1863, he was arrested for murder at Fort Halleck, Wyoming. He was then taken to Denver, where he was freed on a legal technicality. Musgrove directed a network of horse and cattle thieves who raided government posts and wagon trains along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Many of the thefts were blamed on Indians, as Musgrove was known to disguise himself as an Indian to thwart law enforcement officers. Profits from theft were particularly lucrative, compared to wages that rarely exceeded $2 per day at that time. Musgrove established his headquarters in the previously abandoned Bonner Street stagecoach station, a natural rock fortress which provided easy access to northern Colorado and southern Wyoming.[2]
Captured horse thieves in the West were usually quickly hanged from a tree or a telegraph pole. Musgrove was apprehended, handcuffed, and taken to the Larimer Street prison in Denver. He predicted that he would soon escape, words which ignited the community. A vigilance committee of some fifty citizens encountered no resistance from prison guards as they removed Musgrove from confinement. Musgrove was stood on a wagon, a noose was placed about his neck, and the driver pushed away the wagon to bring forth the execution.[2]
Before the wagon was removed from under Musgrove's feet, he was allowed time to write some letters, and he was permitted to finish his cigarette, which said one source he "did in the most nonchalant manner."[2] Another source says that Musgrove "calmly puffed a cigar to its bitter butt."[3]
In 1955, in the final episode of the syndicated television series, Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis (1909-1981), Musgrove is portrayed by John Archer (1915-1999). In the story line, Musgrove steals horses from a railroad stockyard for use as collateral to purchase ranch land in Colorado. In the role of fictional railroad detective Matt Clark, Jim Davis tracks the stolen herd, while his co-star, Kristine Miller, (1925-2015) as Jonesy investigates a murder at the railroad telegraph office. The detectives soon suspect that both matters are related.[4]
Early in his career, the American artist and sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor (c. 1860-1950) did a drawing of Musgrove's lynching.
References
- â 1.0 1.1 Lewis H. "L. H. Musgrove" Musgrave. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2020.
- â 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hubert Howe Bancroft. Popular Tribunals, Vol. 1, p. 716. Google Books. Retrieved on August 21, 2020.Â
- â Reviews, p. 375. 14. jstor. pp. 375â376.
- â Stories of the Century. Classic TV Archive. Retrieved on August 21, 2020.