Henry Plummer | |
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![]() Henry Plummer before 1864 | |
Born | c. 1832 Addison, Maine, U.S. |
Died | January 10, 1864 Bannack, Idaho Territory, U.S. |
Other names | William Henry Handy Plumer |
Occupation(s) | prospector, city marshal, sheriff, outlaw, road agent, criminal gang leader |
Known for | Leader of "Road Agent" gang, the "Innocents" |
Henry Plummer (c. 1832–1864) was a prospector, lawman, and outlaw in the American West in the 1850s and 1860s, who was known to have killed several men. He was elected sheriff of what was then Bannack, Idaho Territory, in 1863 and served until 1864, during which period he was accused of being the leader of a "road agent" gang of outlaws known as the "Innocents," who preyed on shipments from what was then Virginia City, Idaho Territory to other areas. In response some leaders in Virginia City formed the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch and began to take action against Plummer's gang, gaining confessions from a couple of men they arrested in early January 1864. On January 10, 1864, Plummer and two associates were arrested in Bannack by a company of the Vigilantes and summarily hanged. Plummer was given a posthumous trial in 1993 which led to a mistrial. The jury was split 6–6.