Reed had lied to the rocks north of Sidney, bul was taken by Sheriff Zweifel and a posse, and incarcerated in jail. About eleven o'clock in the night four hundred masked men arrived ai lb. jail, overpowered the guards, and took Reed to a telegraph pole on the south side of the track opposite the Union Pacific depot. A ladder was procured, and a rope thrown over tin' cross-bar of the pole, one end of which
was looped around Reed's neck. He was asked if he had anything to say.
"Only, good-bye, gentlemen," was his answer, and he was swung aloft. A few shots were fired into the body, and there were expressions here and there that "Loomis is avenged." The crowd dispersed quietly, with but few words.
The body swung in the air all during the next day, and thrilled and shocked the passengers going through Sidney on the overland trains.
The rougher element was quiet for a time, but soon again were going strong. A year or
Hanging Reed by Vigilantes Committee
two later it culminated in an eighty thousand dollar robbery of gold bullion in broad daylight. This was believed to have been planned some days in advance, and with the co-operation of rbe stage driver and the Sidney express agent.
On the day mentioned the stage arrived too late to catch the east bound train. C. K. Allen, a fine-looking man, was express agent. He took four gold bars, valued at twenty thousand dollars each, and several thousand in currency and put them in the freight room. He locked the door and went to lunch.