Welcome to Judge Lynch's Court!

"Becoming California, a series that brings the California Gold Rush
alive with the people who lived it."

by Don Baumgart

Citizens in Grass Valley and Nevada City in the 1850s didn't have a lot of faith that justice would be done to criminals they arrested and sent to Marysville for trial. So, a local and very unofficial court system came into being. It was referred to as "Trial by Judge Lynch." Helping out was the Mob Jury. If an incident wasn't immediately settled with a pistol or a Bowie knife, it ended up here. Rumor became probable cause for arrest, the accused were always convicted, and evidence could be anything in sight. Mules, for instance.

In March, 1851, a stranger with a string of mules used the covered bridge at Bridgeport to cross the South Yuba River. "Those mules are probably stolen!" went the buzz and soon he was before a miners court. "Miners Court" with Judge Lynch presiding quickly found the man guilty. Spectators came from neighboring counties to watch the man's hanging. A thousand men guarded the prisoner to prevent rescue. After all, the "mule rustler" might have accomplices! Placed on a wagon, his neck rope was tossed over a rafter in the covered bridge that had led to the uncovering of his terrible criminal act. The wagon moved and the stranger's body hung in the bridge for a half hour.

While hanging was a popular punishment, whipping was more often the sentence handed down by Judge Lynch. In Nevada City the year was 1852 and a man had just grabbed money off a gaming table in Barker's Exchange on Main Street. Bad manners, to say the least. By this time a "justice" court had been established and it found the man guilty. The sentence was 20 lashes, which were delivered on the lot overlooking town where the courthouse now stands. The convicted man was tied to a pine tree and Deputy Sheriff Bill Wilson swung the whip.

A huge fire had nearly wiped out the town of Grass Valley and everyone was jittery. In September of 1855 a man trying to light his pipe with a match was arrested by the town's night watchman. An angry mob seized the accused arsonist and set out to hang him. Nevada City had hanged a man convicted in Judge Lynch's court, but Grass Valley had not, and a lot of people thought it was time to catch up. To promote law and order, of course! Cooler heads prevailed and the smoker was hurried off to Marysville where he was tried in a real court...and acquitted.

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Copyright Don Baumgart, 2009