A Condemned
Poet The only hanging to occur in Johnson County, Wyoming, took place on March 5, 1886, in back of the Courthouse. The principal character at this "neck-tie party" was a John Owens who was known locally only as Bill Booth. It seems that Booth had been convicted of bludgeoning to death an emigrant German settler named Jacob "Dutch" Schmerer. The sequence of events following the murder and prior to the hanging included flight, a trial, multiple jailbreak attempts, and a poetry writing effort. The following text will chronicle this unique event in Johnson County's frontier history. Owens, aka Booth, was born in Ohio in 1862. He left home at age 17 and drifted gradually westward, arriving in Buffalo during the summer of 1884. He was about 5'10" tall, had black hair and was generally a clean-cut young man. He hired on with Jacob Schmerer, who had homesteaded on Dry Creek, about six miles southeast of Buffalo, to help with haying and other chores. The following year, in March, Booth and Schmerer fought in the latter's cabin Booth's subsequent story was that their fight was over some deer meat that Booth had promised and then didn't deliver. Schmerer was angry, as he had already promised the Occidental he would provide them with the venison for their guests. The fight ended with Booth killing Schmerer by hitting him on the head several times with a hatchet. One of the Schmerer's neighbors, a Burrill Madden, noticed that Schmerer and his wagon were missing and that his stock was being neglected. He reported his concerns to Sheriff Frank M. Canton. Schmerer's body was subsequently found on May 2, 1885, within a mile or so of his cabin. A subsequent search of Schmerer's cabin revealed that a robbery had also occurred. Sheriff Frank M. Canton suspected the absent hired man Booth of robbery, murder and then flight with Schmerer's wagon and team. There was no telegraph or telephone available at the time so Wanted Posters were distributed by stagecoach and train throughout the area after a May 27th Warrant was issued. Law officers in Miles City, Montana, subsequently apprehended Booth and put him in their jail. Canton was notified and he sent Deputy Sheriff John McDermott to bring Booth back to Johnson County for Trial. On June 8, 1885, Booth was arraigned before Justice Burritt. He pleaded not guilty and was committed to jail to await trial. After the arraignment, the town blacksmith made shackles for Booths legs and then riveted them on for the time he was to spend in Buffalo's jail. Judge Jacob B. Blair presided over Booth's trial. Prosecution attorneys were Charles H. Burritt and H. S. Elliott and the defense attorney was J. H. Hinkle. After a three-day trial, July 8-10, 1885, Booth was found Guilty of Murder in the First Degree and March 5, 1886 was set as the execution date. Booth "...not even then showed a sign of being particularly interested one way or the other." (Big Horn Sentinel, July 11, 1885). Once in jail, Booth was persistent and very ingenious in his attempts to escape the forthcoming hangman's noose. The first attempt involved the steel pen nibs in use at that time. After asking for paper, pen and ink he later asked for more nibs saying he'd worn the previous ones to the stage they were unusable. What he was doing was tempering them with a candle and urine to a hardness and shape that he was able to "file" through the rivets holding his shackles. Canton was informed by a Crow Indian, "Big Belly," who was also being held at the time, of Booth's intention to overcome him with his now free shackle chains and then escape. Canton saw to it that the shackles were again riveted in place. A second escape attempt involved a fellow prisoner, Leo Lambrigger, in jail then on a minor offense. Lambrigger was allowed some free time and he managed to let Booth and another prisoner, Carson, out of their cells. The two then hid in a space between the top of the cells and the roof that held a water-supply tank. They were waiting there for darkness to complete their escape. Sheriff Canton was again informed by Big Belly where the two prisoners were hiding. When Canton found them Booth attempted to resist and was knocked out by a blow to his head with Canton's six-shooter. The third and final escape attempt was on January, 1886. Canton found a rather sizable hole in Booth's cell floor before he was able to use it. Booth had made the hole with a make-shift saw fashioned by nicking one side of a steel support strip from within the sole of his boot. A second "saw" was found hidden in Booth's coat collar and taken away from him. Sometime prior to his execution, Booth wrote the following poem: "Air of the Cottage by the Sea" Hon. Bill Booth, Buffalo, Johnson County, Wyoming The preceding poem was found among the papers in the sheriff's office years after the hanging was published on March 25, 1891, in the Buffalo Bulletin, under the caption: "Posthumous Poetry." Booth writes a very poignant poem even though some words are misspelled and capitalizing is done in a haphazard manner. About midway through when he mentions a man that "....got in a rage of pasion and said Ile [I'll] kill you if I can," he was referring to his defense story that Schmerer had attacked him in his cabin because Booth had earlier failed to deliver some venison. Booth's story that he'd killed Schmerer in self-defense was, of course, rejected by the jury at his trial. A gallows that was ten feet square and had 13 steps leading to a platform with a lever-controlled trapdoor was built behind the present-day Court House. Sheriff Canton served as hangman. Booth's last statement was, "What time is it?" When told it was 11 am, he replied "I wish you'd hurry up. I want to get to hell in time for dinner." Twelve minutes later, John Owens, a.k.a. Bill Booth, departed this life. |
