Lynching of the Convicts

Marker Text: Near this location, on Oct. 1, 1871, escaped convicts Moses Black and Leander Morton were lynched by vigilantes to avenge the killing of Robert Morrison, a well liked Wells Fargo agent from Benton. Morrison was a member of the sheriff’s posse who captured the convicts who had escaped from the Nevada State Penitentiary in Carson City. Following a two hour “court” proceeding the “jury” agreed that Black and Morton were guilty and they were immediately hung from a make-shift scaffold, which was quickly built during the trial.