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The first attempt to use the gas chamber was not successful. It was used on Gee Jon. It was pumped into his cell while sleeping and there were too many leaks, which lead to construction of the gas chamber. After this failure, a makeshift airtight chamber was quickly constructed in the prison butcher shop out of a retrofitted barber chair. This gas chamber was tested on two kittens which died within 15 seconds. It was the worlds first use of the gas chamber. He was successfully executed, however there was a leak that allowed a liquid to drop on the floor which caused him to take as much as 10 minutes to die. The chair that was modified for the gas chamber is on display at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. The story began on the evening of Aug. 27, 1921 when Tom Quong Kee, (age 74) a Chinese laundryman living in Mina, was awakened up by the sound of someone knocking on the back door of the little cabin where he lived. Kee, a member of the Bing Kong Tong Gang, made his way to the door clad in nothing but pajamas and a jacket, holding a candle as his only source of light. When he opened the door, he found two Chinese men at his door, one of the men shot and killed the elderly man. The senseless killing in the town of Mina was an act of Tong gang warfare that had been spreading from the Chinese-American communities of California and had now trickled down into neighboring Nevada. These feuds started when a member of the Hop Sing Tong stole a Chinese slave girl who had belonged to the Suey Sing Tong gang. To avenge the injustice – the Suey Sing council allied with the Bing Kong Tong gang and declared war on the Hop Sings. On the morning of Aug. 28, 1921, a Chinese vegetable peddler went looking for Kee. Peering through the windows of Kee’s cabin, the peddler saw the old laundryman on the floor. The peddler notified Mina Justice of Peace L.E. Cornelius, who turned the case over to Mineral County Sheriff Deputy W.J. Hammill. Deputy Hammill examined the body and the scene and traced two sets of footprints from Kee’s cabin to a spot where an automobile had been parked and some empty beer bottles had been left behind. Unbeknownst to the two men who had shot Kee, Deputy Hammill had observed the strangers at the Palace Café in Mina over a week earlier. They had been asking for work in the area. The deputy had been told that the two men were neither unemployed nor innocent, and instead were tong members sent to kill Kee. Deputy Hammill contacted Reno Police Chief John M. Kirkley to be on the lookout for a car bearing two Chinese male suspects. Taken into custody would be 29-year-old Gee Jon and 19-year-old Hughie Sing. Both were slight in stature and not physically intimidating. China-born Jon stood 5 foot, 5 ¼ inches and weighed 129 pounds. Sing, born in Carson City, measured only 5 foot, 2 ½ inches tall and tipped the scale at only 105 pounds. Kee had difficulty understanding and speaking English but Sing, could read, speak and write both English and Chinese, having attended grammar school in Carson City. Sing had only been a member of the Hop Sing Tong for two months prior to being enlisted to help Jon. After their arrest, both Jon and Sing were interrogated by the Reno police. Sing was advised that anything he said could be used against him in court. Hoping to be set free, he confessed to his role in the crime of killing Kee in Mina and implicated Jon. Both were taken back to Mina where they were held without bail until their preliminary hearing was held on Sept. 8, 1921. W.H. Chang, an attorney from San Francisco and most likely a Hop Sing Tong member would represent Jon and Sing in court. Sing withdrew his confession given to the Reno police and both waived the right to make a statement at the hearing. Their attorney entered pleas of “not guilty” for each man. The trial of Kee and Sing would be held in the Mineral County Courthouse in Hawthorne from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3, 1921 before the Seventh Judicial District Court. Both men denied being members of the Hop Sing Tong gang, shooting Kee or even going to Mina with intentions to kill the old laundryman. Their defense was they had “been to Tonopah where they had applied for work at a restaurant.” Sing explained that his confession to the Reno police was in belief that he would be freed immediately. After testimony of witnesses and law enforcement, the court wasn’t convinced. It was brought to the attention of the court that Sing had previously lived with Kee in Mina for two years. Sing’s knowledge of Kee, the town of Mina and his ability to speak English made him the best person to guide Jon to Kee. Both men were found guilty of the first-degree murder of Kee. District Judge J. Emmett Walsh handed down death sentences in 1922. A law had been passed in 1921 by the 30th session of the Nevada State Legislature and signed by Governor Emmett D. Boyle that all criminals sentenced to death were to be executed by means of lethal gas. Jon and Sing were the first to be affected by the passing of this new law. It was thought that gas was a more humane way to end the life of those convicted to death. Under the custody of Sheriff Frederick B. Balzar, Jon and Sing were taken to the Nevada State Prison in Carson City where they were incarcerated until their sentence was to be carried out. Sing had confidence in his attorney, but also was prepared for the worse stating, “I don’t think there is hope, unless maybe the Supreme Court does something. Our lawyer said he’d file something in the Supreme Court within thirty days, but if the court doesn’t act I guess we’ll have to die.” A stay of execution for the two men, who had been ordered to be executed between April 16-22, 1922, was granted. A long legal battle would begin. In January of 1923, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that lethal gas execution was neither cruel nor unusual punishment. Mineral County District Attorney Jay H. White called the murder of Kee: “Purely a clean-cut premeditated murder without any extenuating circumstances. The crime was one of the most atrocious and cold-blooded in the history of the state. After reviewing all evidence, it was determined that Sing, 19, was only an accessory to the murder and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Sing was put to work in the Nevada State Prison laundry and would later become a cook and “house boy” in the home of the warden. He was described as a model prisoner. Jon was left to face death alone and to be gassed to death for the murder of Kee in 1921 with the use of hydrocyanic gas (HCN). The morning of Gee’s execution would be cloudy, humid and cold, only 49°F. Jon had fasted for ten days prior and ate his last meal of ham, eggs, toast and coffee. At 9:35 a.m. two guards escorted him forty yards from his cell to the gas chamber. He was strapped into the execution chair where he began to weep. At 9:40 a.m. four pounds of HCN acid was introduced into the chamber. Despite Judge Walsh’s repeated objections, Sing was paroled in 1938 and moved to California. He died six months later; his death was described as “accidental”. The victim, Tom Quong Kee, an elderly laundryman, was buried in the Mina Cemetery shortly after his death in August of 1921.  References Wikipedia Mineral County Independent News Carson City Daily Appeal

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Cecil the Sea Serpent The Walker Lake Sea Serpent is an old Native American Legend handed down for generations before the arrival of white men. The story goes, someone walked up on the beach near the west side of Walker Lake and saw a large monster laying on the bank and he shot arrows into the animal but was not easy to kill. He claimed he wounded it and later to find that there were bones on the beach which he believed to be the monster. At another time some white men claimed to see the monster too and that they shot at it and it was at least 56 feet long. But no one seem to actually have the skeleton. Apparently, they left it there. The white men said it was too large and smelled bad. Maybe it was an unnamed species of reptile. In 1883 the Walker Lake Bulletin Newspaper printed an article August 1st of 1883 about people camping at the lake and waking up to two sea monsters fighting. Everyone described it differently. There was a university professor from Standford University named David Star Jordan thought that it could be an Ichthyosaur and wanted to capture it and study it and send it the Smithsonian. Many people believed that there was something in that lake. The Native Americans would not actually go out in boats or in the water because of it. In 1915 there was a disturbance in the water which sent waves crashing everywhere, many people believed it was the serpent, others said it was an earthquake. There was a hermit at the lake asked the county commissioners how much they would pay for the head of the reptile. When the highway was being built in the 1920’s there were many sightings from people passing by. It was thought that the serpent had a cave under the cliffs and he was mostly in that area. It was said by many people at one time there was an underground spring in the area of the cliffs and a body that disappeared in Walker Lake turned up in Pyramid Lake. There has been many sightings of it over the years but none in recent years. Many stories have been told over the years. The owner of the Capital Saloon, Charlie Kimball claimed to have to bones of the Sea Monster on display above his bar. At that time the sea serpent was also called Sara by the white people. The Walker Lake Sea Serpent was originally called Tawaga named from the Native Americans. In 1949 there was a cartoon created called Beany and Cecil. The cartoon looked a lot like how Cecil the float looks today. The Serpent was nicknamed Cecil and it stuck. Today he is referred to as Cecil the Sea Serpent. In 1964, to celebrate Nevada’s 100th birthday Cecil was constructed at the Hawthorne Ammunition Depot and floated on Walker Lake as part of the Armed Force Day Celebration. The Walker River Native American Tribe danced in full regalia and the serpent sailed around to a point at the lake with smoke coming out of his nostrils and throat with lights and fireworks in the background. Originally, it was supposed to be a one-time deal, but everyone protested and insisted that we do it again. In 1966 he went on the lake again, he caught on fire from a near fireworks display. And it was then decided that he should not be on the lake again and wheels were put on him after that. He appears every year in the local Armed Forces Day Parade as a float and he has appeared at other Nevada celebrations in parades as well. In 1990 Cecil was renovated which included redesigning of the trailers, restoring the mechanical devices that produce smoke from his nostrils and was repainted and was given a general facelift. Although, there has not been any recent sightings, today he is still very much a part of our culture here in Hawthorne Nevada. He recently has been moved to a storage facility at the airport to help preserve him. And currently, some of the Mineral County Museum’s Collections of Cecil is at the Nevada Museum of Art as part of the Deep Time Sea Dragons of Nevada Display.  Resources: The book Walker River Paiutes- Tribal History Harold Fullers Stories from Goldfield Radio The Times newspaper November 1978 three-part article from Denaya Pucket Files at the Mineral County Museum

Marietta Shootout

Milton Sharp Stagecoach robberies were common in the old west. Well Fargo sent most of there valuables through stage and so did mining companies. Train or stagecoach was the usual transportation of funds. Mining was very hard work. So many decided to make money the easy way and rob stagecoaches and trains. Most highway men were mean and ruthless. However, there were a few men who though that being mean was unnecessary. Black Bart was known for his politeness. He dressed well and would say please and thank you to people particularly the ladies and he was known to leave poetry behind as well. Mineral County had its own Black Bart, Milton Sharp. It would be easy to get them confused, since they did similar things, such as being polite. Milton Sharp adopted Black Bart’s style. Now Black Bart was about 17 years older than Milton Sharp. Black Bart was born Charles E. Boles and was born in England and served in the Civil War. After the war he went to California and did most of his looting in Redwood Valley. He was eventually caught and served time in San Quentin. Milton Sharp was born in Missouri and lived in California but more in the Bodie area. He was known to rob stages in Candelaria, Aurora and any place where the stage route went, mostly a canyon called Dalzell. It was common for him and his partner to rob stages that had a Wells Fargo cash box or mining payroll on board. Sharp was smart, and he did his homework. He mostly looked for low risk high pay before he attempted to rob the stage Sharp teamed up with a man named Frank Dow( who was killed during one of their robberies). It was said that maybe he adopted the Black Bart image because of his partners demeanor, or he just saw it as unnecessary. He was well dressed, good looking and polite and did not want to hurt anyone. He was quite business like he just wanted the money sometimes even returning jewelry to some of the ladies on the coach. At one point he was arrested and jailed in Aurora. However, he escaped with a 15-pound ball and chain on his leg. He was loose for several months, then he turned himself in, in Candelaria because he was tired of hiding out and being cold and hungry. He was returned to Aurora and was charged with 5 counts of robbery and was sentence to 20 years in Carson City Penitentiary. He served as a model prisoner only to escape from prison for four years and once again apprehended in Red Bluff California and he was returned to prison. He was pardoned a year later and lived as a law biding citizen for the rest of his life. He is buried in Auburn California.  It was said he did not recover all his riches and there was still buried treasure out there somewhere. Later in time Gus and Will Hess went on a treasure hunt and did find some of his buried loot along the stagecoach route. However, he did live off of something after his prison release. And probably did not tell anyone where he hid any of it. Resources: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/milton-sharp-loot/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bart_(outlaw) Book from Mineral County Library- Wells Fargo Detective: James B Hume Book from Mineral County Library-Outlaw Tales of Nevada-Charles L Convis

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