He got his nickname from his belief that there was a diamond mine near Silver City in Owyhee County.
Diamondfield Jack became a household name in Idaho for reasons that had nothing to do with mining, though.
Sheep are very efficient grazers. They're able to crop off grass right down to ground level. That doesn't leave a thing for cattle to eat, and that's why there were range wars in the West. In Idaho, this basic conflict resulted in the deaths of two sheepmen in Cassia County in 1896.
Diamondfield Jack was a gunman hired by cattlemen to intimidate sheepmen. He'd threatened all of them at one time or another, so it was natural to assume he was involved in the murders. The man was arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to hang. But hanging Diamondfield Jack proved difficult. Frantic men on horseback twice galloped into Albion carrying postponements, saving him from the gallows at the last minute. The third time Jack was scheduled to hang, two cattlemen came forward and confessed to the murders.They were eventually acquitted on self-defense.
Even with a confession, tests that proved the murder weapon wasn't his gun, and an alibi that placed him in Nevada at the time of the murders, many were still convinced that Diamondfield Jack pulled the trigger.
There was enough opposition to keep him in jail for six years. But eventually, Diamondfield Jack was released.
The man who was saved from the gallows three times moved to Nevada, where his luck finally ran out. Diamondfield Jack, who lived at least part of his life by the gun, did not die that way. He was run over by a taxi cab in Las Vegas in 1949.
There are several books available about Diamondfield Jack. One of the most interesting is Diamondfield: Finding the Real Jack Davis, by Max Black.
Diamondfield Jack became a household name in Idaho for reasons that had nothing to do with mining, though.
Sheep are very efficient grazers. They're able to crop off grass right down to ground level. That doesn't leave a thing for cattle to eat, and that's why there were range wars in the West. In Idaho, this basic conflict resulted in the deaths of two sheepmen in Cassia County in 1896.
Diamondfield Jack was a gunman hired by cattlemen to intimidate sheepmen. He'd threatened all of them at one time or another, so it was natural to assume he was involved in the murders. The man was arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to hang. But hanging Diamondfield Jack proved difficult. Frantic men on horseback twice galloped into Albion carrying postponements, saving him from the gallows at the last minute. The third time Jack was scheduled to hang, two cattlemen came forward and confessed to the murders.They were eventually acquitted on self-defense.
Even with a confession, tests that proved the murder weapon wasn't his gun, and an alibi that placed him in Nevada at the time of the murders, many were still convinced that Diamondfield Jack pulled the trigger.
There was enough opposition to keep him in jail for six years. But eventually, Diamondfield Jack was released.
The man who was saved from the gallows three times moved to Nevada, where his luck finally ran out. Diamondfield Jack, who lived at least part of his life by the gun, did not die that way. He was run over by a taxi cab in Las Vegas in 1949.
There are several books available about Diamondfield Jack. One of the most interesting is Diamondfield: Finding the Real Jack Davis, by Max Black.
Diamondfield Jack's booking photo. Note that Jack had an infamous love, Diamond Tooth Lil. Look for a future Speaking of Idaho post about here in the future.
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