A Group Of Robbers Gang of "Innocents"

Of robbers led allegedly by Henry Plummer, who had served as the sheriff of Bannack from May of 1863 until a year later in January when he was arrested and hanged for numerous crimes. There is however still debate whether or not he was truly guilty of the crimes they had originally charged and accused him of. He was the youngest of seven children. It had been expected of him to become a sea captain, following his father and his brother-in-law who were both captains themselves and involved in sea trade.

However in his teens, his father died suddenly and as his family began to struggle financially, Henry began to look for work. It was around this time that the California Gold Rush began in the west, causing Henry to migrate westward to what he believed at the time to be the solution to his and his family’s problems.

Who would have ever known that it was just the beginning of them? After being arrested in his twenty-fourth year for second-degree murder, Henry was transferred to California’s San Quentin prison, where he happened to met a mister Cyrus Skinner who was at the time serving a sentence at the prison for grand larceny.

He will play a key role in Henry’s life later on. After being released from prison Henry was known to be a frequent customer of brothels surrounding Nevada City and before long he was penniless and desperate. In his desperation, Henry joined a group of bandits who were known for robbing coaches.

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Everything was fine for a while, and then Henry was caught again and this time charged with multiple robberies. Even though he was released due to insufficient evidence, Henry’s life quickly took a downward spiral, in the way of sickness. Feeling the results of his disease Henry traveled back east towards his home and upon discovering the river that would take him there was frozen, decided to wait out the winter nearby. He was employed at a nearby ranch where he became smitten with the ranch owners sister-in-law. And after two months of courting, they were engaged to be wed. There was another suitor who had fallen in love with Henry’s fiance and despite any dislike they had towards each other, they both traveled to the Town of Bannack together. It was at this time that Bannock was the center of a gold rush fever and home to some truly terrible people.

Henry began to gather like-minded people to help him with his heists, and the Innocents gang was born. He and the gang waited near the roads going between the towns, praying on unsuspecting travelers and stealing their valuables and gold. The innocents’ gang was disbanded when a group called the ‘Vigilante Committee’ surrounded Virginia city and captures twenty or so of the members of the Innocents gang. They were hanged without trial. Many people believe that the Innocents gang members that were hanged without trial were the scapegoats for the Vigilante Committee own crimes. Some even say that the last person to be hanged that day was no more than a citizen speaking his thoughts that the innocent gang was, in fact, Innocent to begin with.