This week in 1875

“I am ready, God have mercy on my soul.”

— William Wright Wheatley, convicted of murder, hanging, Montana
Executed August 13, 1875

The jury recommended clemency in Wheatley’s case after he turned in his co-conspirators in the murder of Franz Warl. Neither the judge nor the territory’s governor had the power to commute the sentence, however, and Wheatley was hanged against the jury’s wishes. Wheatley’s was recorded as the first legal hanging in the Montana territory.