Visiting historic Virginia City, Montana, this summer, I stumbled upon this interesting story. Virginia City is a historical gold mining town and Montana Territory’s first capital in 1865. One might consider Virginia City to be a ‘ghost town,’ but it is still inhabited and thus is very much alive. Virginia City is an authentic 1860’s mining town which allows one to step back into time: the town boasts original boardwalks as well as restored original buildings complete with artifacts and furnishings of the day.
“Clubfoot” George Lane was an alleged outlaw who was hanged in Virginia City in January 1864. The lore of history describes many old west towns as violent and lawless, and I supposed Virginia City was no different. A group called the Montana Vigilantes was formed in 1864 in attempt to deal with ‘road agents’ in and amongst Virginia City. ‘Road agents’ were outlaws who ambushed and robbed innocent miners and freighters transporting gold and other supplies into and out of Virginia City. The story goes that “Clubfoot George” was implicated by the Montana Vigilantes of being a spy or an accessory to the ‘road agents,’ and as such was arrested. Although he maintained he was innocent, he was hanged on that January day with other suspect outlaws or ‘road agents.’
What makes this story interesting today is that one can find the petrified clubfoot that was George’s namesake under glass in the Thompson-Hickman Memorial Museum in Virginia City. It seems that in 1907 town residents exhumed several of the outlaws’ graves in attempts to verify which one was “Clubfoot George’s” (the outlaws were interred in 1864 without marked graves). To record this colorful part of Montana and American West history, someone ‘borrowed’ “Clubfoot George’s” foot; it was originally displayed at the Madison County courthouse, but is now permanently displayed at the museum for all to see.