George Betts

George Betts was held in the jail at Lake City, Colorado, in April 1882. Newspaper accounts report that about a hundred masked men overpowered the guard, took him and another man from the jail, and hanged them from a bridge in the lower part of town on April 27. One paper says that before the rope was placed around his neck he asked for a chew of tobacco, and another says both men met their deaths with composure.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about a hundred masked men overpowered the guard at the Lake City, Colorado jail, took George Betts out and hanged him from a bridge.

Reported by: newspaper dispatch.

News reports (3)

• Huntsville Gazette, May 6, 1882, page 1 Huntsville Gazette, May 6, 1882
• The Grenada Sentinel, May 6, 1882, page 2 The Grenada Sentinel, May 6, 1882
• The Patron Of Husbandry, May 20, 1882, page 2 The Patron Of Husbandry, May 20, 1882