Hangman’s Bridge 

&

Vigilante Justice

On December 18, 1872, Ernst Reusch, a jealous husband shot and killed E.H. Erickson through the window of  Erickson’s Saloon in Silver Mountain City as Erickson played cards. Reusch believed that Erickson had been having an affair with his wife and took matters into his own hands.  It can be assumed that whiskey was involved. The gun was not Reusch’s, but had been left at the boarding house where Reusch was staying by Charles P. Goff, who was county judge at the time. Soon after the murder, Reusch was arrested and placed in jail.

In order to spare the financially-strapped county the expense of a jury trial, and due to the trouble of finding a jury that was unbiased, the county arranged for Reusch to be transported to Mono County for a fair trial. Reusch never made it our of Alpine County. On April 17, 1874, local armed vigilanted stopped Reusch’s escort at a point on the east fork Carson River and took Reusch as their prisoner. They put a noose around his neck and dropped him over the side of the bridge. Vigilante justice was fast, and it can be assumed that whiskey was involved.

The original plaque was buried in an unmarked grave after being rejected by the Bureau of Land Management and could not be placed at the location of hangman’s bridge, located 1.5 miles east of Markleeville on HWY 89. Due to some “Historical Changes” the plaque was rewritten and remade in 2017 and placed at this location. It can be assumed whiskey was involved.

Dedicated on July 26, 2014 (6019)

Buried, rewritten and dedicated in 2017 (6022)

By the Snowshoe Thompson Chapter #1827

of The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus