.
True Case of Law in Oregon
By Rita Buday
In 1852 gold was found in
Jackson Creek, a half-mile or so from the present town of Jacksonville. That news brought a flood of miners as well as a less
desirable element. Oregon, like much of the American West at the time,
would soon be ruled by Territorial Law. Until it came, newly-populated
areas often elected an interim "Alcalde"--Spanish
for a minor official who acts as mayor, arbitrator, judge and jury. By
common consent, Alcalde's jurisdiction was broad; his decisions were
final--there was no appeal.
It was bare-bones law; public scrutiny kept
things on the straight-and-narrow, though once in a while the "no
appeal" provision allowed for injustice.
That was the case with Alcalde
Rogers. No one knew much about him, but more and more miners were
arriving; someone was needed now; Rogers was willing; he was elected Alcalde to serve until Territorial Law came. Turned out Rogers was not the best choice they could have made. For
several months his decisions were harmless; then came the Sprenger-Sims
dispute.
~
Two miners, Sprenger and Sims, were partners in a valuable claim. In
the Fall, Sims went to Portland for their Winter provisions, leaving
Sprenger to continue working the mine. While Sims was away Sprenger had
a serious accident that left him crippled, unable to work. Knowing Sims
was away, the other miners took turns looking in on Sprenger, seeing to
whatever he needed to help him keep going. When Sims returned, he saw
his partner was now a burden, not a help; he evicted Sims from their
cabin--bag and baggage--announcing that he--Sims--was sole owner of the
mine and whatever was--or would be--found in it.
Sprenger's hope
for redress was made to Alcalde Rogers by lawyer-turned-miner Kinney
who claimed it was a clear case of injustice and theft. Decision--100% for Sims! Kinney demanded a new trial. Denied! Kinney: "Why?" Rogers: "Alcalde decisions are final."
~
Sprenger
used up such assets as he had; then stayed alive only by the charity of
fellow-miners as he looked for a way to regain what was rightfully
his. He and Kinney went to see a new arrival--a man named Prim--who
closed his law office back East to hunt for gold in Oregon.
Prim
protested he knew nothing about pre-Territorial Law, but the facts
finally overcame his reluctance. Prim and Kinney went over every
possible ground for a new trial; they always came to the same
conclusion-- Alcalde Rogers' decision was final.
"If only there was a Court of Appeals," Prim mused.
"That's it!" Kinney said. "We will have a Court of Appeals, and we can have it tomorrow! We elected Rogers to be Alcalde! If we have the power to create that Court, then we have the power to create another, higher Court."
By word of mouth, a miners' meeting was called for "tomorrow at noon";
there were no subpoenas or paperwork--just a statement of the meeting's
purpose.
~
Next
day, almost one thousand miners left their diggings for the open-air
meeting under a sunny Springtime sky. They heard Rogers say once again
that he'd made his decision and would not reopen the case. Lawyer
Kinney called for Order, then proposed organizing a Court of Appeals to
review that decision. The crowd voiced its approval. A miner--Hayden,
from Connecticut--known as a square-shooter, was made Appeals Court
Judge by acclamation; a Sheriff, a Court Clerk, and a jury were also
elected.
Sims hastily consulted a miner--Jacobs-- who had practiced
in
Michigan before coming west for gold. Jacobs made his arguments--the
Court was illegal; had no jurisdiction; lack of due process; etc.
For his part, Kinney got to the heart of things: Partnerships in
developed areas were commercial, financial agreements; but in the
backwoods, partnerships were closer to brotherhood, sanctioned by
custom, with well-understood and accepted obligations. A man's partner
had to be his friend, equally sharing good and bad, rejoicing with him
in health, nursing him in sickness, standing by him through thick and
thin. Kinney's arguments weren't good law, but the crowd understood
miners' partnerships and how they worked.
"Members of the jury," he
said in his summary, "Sims disregarded Mr. Sprenger's rights and the
Common Law of the region. He robbed and abandoned not Mr. Sprenger--but
his partner! Decide the case by what you believe is right!"
The jury took no time at all in deciding Sims--and Rogers--were both
guilty of theft. As the verdict was read, Rogers blurted to Sims--"I gave you a one-tenth share in the mine and two bags of gold dust to fix things. I want it back!"
~
The
miners suddenly stopped talking among themselves. Not one coyote howled
on the hill. Birds in the trees didn't chirp. The light breeze quit
blowing. Then The Sound began . . . the kind of Sound that makes mothers hurry their children indoors . . . that makes dogs run 'way back under the porch floor . . . The Sound of
freight trains in dark funnel clouds tearing at the ground to destroy
everything . . . a man shouted he had only one rope to hang two thieves
. . . someone else shouted--"That's no problem--it's got two ends!" In
another minute, they would be a mob out of control.
Judge Hayden,
all three lawyers, and a dozen or so miners launched into the crowd,
talking the men down. Slowly. . . passions . . . cooled . . . The Sound . . . grew more quiet . . . then . . . Silence. Reason had overcome Emotion.
A fresh Spring breeze coaxed two rabbits from their hole to play in the sunshine.
~
Rogers resigned as Alcalde on
the spot; Sims said he was preparing all along to return the one-tenth
mine share and gold dust to Rogers plus what rightly belonged to
Sprenger, when "a call to this meeting interrupted me." Two groups of
miners, reinforced with Winchesters and Colts, accompanied the two
gentlemen to supervise restorations. Then, Rogers quickly left the
area; Sprenger and Sims accepted a very fair price for their mine
claim; Sims left for other parts, and Sprenger settled in Jacksonville.
These extraordinary proceedings are in official Jackson County Records;
they illustrate a fundamental point--the purpose of Law is to render
Justice. For all its irregularity, that miners' Court of Appeals
fulfilled the highest aspiration of Law--It Rendered Justice!
-----
By
1874, Lawyer Kinney passed away; "Appeals Court Judge" Hayden had
served twenty years as the officially-installed Judge in Recorder
Court; Lawyer Prim was still Associate Justice of Oregon Supreme Court,
and Lawyer Jacobs was now Chief Justice of Washington Territory (later,
Washington State).
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