On the night of February 26, 1866, James Hogan was lynched at Vermillion. It was one of those cases where the people of the community felt that their personal safety demanded that the desperado should be put out of the way of doing violence to others. However, after he had been hung it was said that this act was the most barbarous thing to do and not altogether necessary.
This was the first appearance of public lynching in Dakota Territory. By 1903 lynching statistics had dropped due to the decrease of hanging for the stealing of cattle and horses.
Hogan appears to have been a terror to the law abiding folks in the community. He was fond of drinking to excess. When influenced by drink, he became a desperate and ungovernable individual.
Dakota communities were at that time emerging into orderly, law abiding communities, but public order had not become the settled rule. Men of the Hogan type were endured as a necessary evil until patience was worn out and the gallows were called upon as the only effectual remedy.
There were no jails or places for confining vicious persons, though the courts were established. About four weeks before the lynching, a man named Hagan (not Hogan), had shot a hole through Herman Oleson’s leg, with a revolver.
This occurred at Vermillion, and created so much indignation that a number of the law-abiding citizens, without consultation, reached the conclusion that it would be necessary to make an example before they could put a stop to the disgraceful brawls and shooting scrapes which was injuring the peaceable citizens of the community.
Hogan was drinking freely on the 26th, and in the afternoon, while in the land office, made a violent attack on a young Norwegian, named Burgess, snapping his revolver at him several times. The cap did not explode. Hogan then walked out into the street, pointed the gun at a number of individuals and snapped it, but did no damage except to stir up a furious storm of indignation. He drove his span of mules down 3rd Street in Yankton and collided with a wagon coming from the opposite direction.
He was playing the bully and seemed to have pleasure in terrorizing the citizens. Finally Patrick Hand grappled with him, secured his revolver and gave it to Captain Miner, who locked it up in the land office. Hogan entered the office in an outright frenzy and demanded the weapon. He declared that he was going to shot Burgess.
Miner seized him and after a struggle got him into the street. About a dozen Iowa soldiers were quartered in the village, and Miner turned Hogan over to the detachment and requested them to tie him up and keep him until night. He was tied to a large tree in front of the quarters, with a rope wound several times around his body.
While Hogan was confined, General Todd went out and visited with him. He told the general that Burgess and his father had burned his cabin, about five miles below Vermillion and that he intended to shoot both of them. He was later untied and taken inside. Hogan demolished all the furniture in the jail, burned the prison clothing worn by prisoners, and smashed all the windows. He was eventually taken to police court where he was fined $15.20.
The cry of “murder” was heard several times about eight o’clock in the evening, and before ten o’clock several persons saw Hogan’s lifeless body hanging on the limb of a tree a short distance from the mouth of the Vermillion River. No attempt was made to disturb the body that night. The next morning the place of execution was visited by a number of citizens, and Hogan was found hanging by a half inch rope, with his feet squarely on the ground – his hands were tied behind him.
His body was taken down and the ladies of the village collected enough to purchase a coffin and shroud, and the body was buried under the tree whereon he was hung. While public sentiment condemned the lynching as unjustifiable because the man was in custody and the courts were currently in session. It was believed that he could not have been legally restrained of his liberty for any length of time. His hanging was justified by the statement that Hogan would have finally been hung anyway. It was believed that his lynching probably saved the life of one or two whom he had marked as targets for his revolver.
The jury took up the tragic affair, but was unable to secure any evidence that would justify an indictment. Whoever was engaged in the crime kept the secret well concealed and it was never divulged. At the time the offense was committed public sentiment in the neighborhood of the occurrence was not inclined to look upon the tragic occurrence as an unmixed evil.
In September of 1875, Texas cattle herders were camped on the Platte River in Nebraska. During the night their horses got into a farmers cornfield. He took their horses, and they promised to pay for any damages. But coming into town the cowboys got drunk and shot the farmer five times, killing him instantly. The citizens organized a pursuit and captured all the Texans. It was expected they would be hung that evening.
The Yankton Daily Press and Dakotaian on August 6, 1875 editorially asked:
“What is the matter with free Iowa. Within six months she reports twenty-two murders, seven lynchings, and sixty rapes?”
Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on June 25, 2025