Sumner Pinkham. Idaho City Historical Foundation. |
A native of Maine, Pinkham had joined the rush to California gold in 1849 and then knocked around the towns there and possibly in Oregon for the next decade. He moved to the Idaho gold camps in 1862. When Idaho became a Territory, Pinkham’s Radical Republican politics – he was an ardent Abolitionist –won him appointment as Boise County’s first sheriff.
However, a massive influx of Southerners had aligned the voter roles to favor Democrats, and the next election turned Pinkham out. Ferdinand “Ferd” Patterson was among those Southerners.
From Tennessee, apparently, he too had tried his hand in California, then in Oregon, and finally in Idaho. Records indicate that by the time Patterson reached Idaho, he had killed at least two men in gun fights, but got off on “self-defense” pleas. Moreover, charged for assault on a disreputable female companion in Oregon, he had simply skipped bail. Although he had done some prospecting, Patterson was primarily a professional gambler.
As the Civil War neared its end, Ferd complained bitterly about the South’s impending defeat. He and Pinkham had already exchanged hot words. Then, with the war over, the ex-sheriff rubbed salt in Southern wounds by staging a 4th of July parade in which pro-Union men marched through the streets, singing patriotic and anti-Secesh songs.
Ferd Patterson. Idaho City Historical Foundation. |
Who drew first was also in dispute. Patterson certainly shot quicker, before Pinkham got off one inaccurate response and then took a second bullet. Ferd fled to avoid any immediate retaliation, but quickly surrendered when officers caught up with him about fourteen miles away, on the road to Boise.
As usual in such affrays, witnesses gave muddled and contradictory testimony, and friend and foe alike expected an acquittal. After being freed by reason of “self-defense,” Patterson left the region for Walla Walla, fearing he wasn’t safe in Idaho City.
He did not, however, go far enough. The following February, a man shot Patterson full of holes while he visited a barbershop. Most in the region saw the shooting as vengeance for the Pinkham killing. The shooter claimed that Patterson had threatened him, and the first trial ended in a hung jury.
During the wait for a new trial, the man walked away from jail. Authorities arrested him a few months later in San Francisco, but he was released before he could be extradited (Idaho Statesman, November 1, 1866). He then disappeared from history.
References: [B&W] |
Boise County, Idaho. |
Bill Gulick, Outlaws of the Pacific Northwest, Caxton Press, Caldwell Idaho (2000). |
Arthur A. Hart, Basin of Gold: Life in Boise Basin, 1862-1890, Idaho City Historical Foundation (© 1986, Fourth printing 2002). |
N. P. Langford, Vigilante Days and Ways, Montana State University (1957). Original publication in 1890. |
ReplyDeleteComment from Bob Hartman - Close. Ferd didn't give himself up. He was run down by Orlando "Rube" Robbins , with a posse showing up a few minutes later.
· July 23 at 11:18am
Reply from Marcus Rogers - Thanks for the correction, Bob. I will pass that on to Southfork Companion.
Bob Hartman :-) i guess he did kind of give himself up in that he didn't shoot it out. By 1865 everyone in the territory knew that shooting it out with Rube was a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteGood points, guys. The old wording did imply that he "turned himself in," which he certainly did not. Now I've fixed it. I've never done a blog item for Rube because he is pretty well covered elsewhere on the web. Thanks for your help.
ReplyDelete