Mason Henry Gang

Mason Henry Gang 1864-1865, a bandit gang that posed as Confederate partisan rangers but acted as outlaws, committing robberies, thefts and murders in the southern San Joaquin Valley, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, Santa Clara County, and in counties of Southern California.^[1]

Mason and Henry as Partisan Rangers

In early 1864, a dedicated southern sympathizer from Tennessee, secessionist Judge George Gordon Belt a rancher and former alcalde in Stockton used his ranch on the Merced River to organize a group of partisan rangers. They would be led by two southerners John Mason and "Jim Henry" and sent them out to recruit more men and pillage the property of Union men in the countryside.

Unfortunately Judge Belt had chosen his men poorly. Both men had unsavory pasts. Mason was a southern born former stage hostler who had reportedly killed several men.^[2] Jim Henry, was a criminal whose real name was Tom McCauley. He and his brother had been robbers within the gold camps and together had murdered a man in Tuolumne County in 1856. He had been sent to prison for ten years and his brother was hung.^[3] After his release from prison McCauley had returned to robbery with a gang along the Fresno River. When several of the gang were captured and lynched by vigilantes, Tom McCauley then fled and reinvented himself as Jim Henry.

In the spring of 1864 the gang rode over to Santa Clara County, a center of Copperhead sympathizers, to recruit more members. Unfortunately it was a drought year that depressed the economy and the increasingly bad war news also discouraged most of their recruits. They returned without success to the San Joaquin Valley.^[2]

By October, 1864, with the Presidential election approaching and the Civil War on the east coast was reaching a climax, Mason and Henry's gang quickly deteriorated into brigands but because they called themselves Confederate soldiers, they managed to have support among the Copperheads in the area. They threatened to kill every "black republican" they chanced to meet.

Mason and Henry become Outlaws

The first crimes of the Mason Henry Gang were two murders committed on November 10, 1864, soon after the election of Abraham Lincoln. George Robinson who ran the Elkhorn Station, a strong Union supporter from Maine, had taken an active part in the election. Following the voting during a party held at the station and settlement, Robinson had gotten drunk and had made certain remarks slurring all Southern women. Word of this insult reached the Mason Henry Gang, who were camped in the area. They immediately rode over to Elkhorn Station and found the station keeper was working in a field a few miles away. The gang rode up the trail and found Robinson who was heading home. They drew their revolvers, surrounded him, asking if he had insulted Southern womanhood in such a way. He denied it. Mason pointed his pistol at Robinson's face, forcing him to kneel on the ground and swear to it. The man did so and got to his feet. Mason said, "I'm going to kill you anyhow. You're nothing but a damn black Republican and should die." Then he pulled the trigger, but the pistol misfired. Robinson attempted to escape but he was shot down by the rest of the gang. He was hit several times and died almost immediately.

The gang galloped up the road eight miles to the next stage stop which was kept by Joseph Hawthorne who was also killed because he was a Union man. They searched the body for valuables and ransacked the station, then crossed over Pacheco Pass, and went into hiding at a camp in the mountains above Corralitos. Word of the murders spread, the newspapers named Mason and Henry "The Copperhead Murderers" and Governor Low offered a 500 USD reward for their arrest. While in hiding, the gang frequented Watsonville where the local secessionists continued to shelter them as they made periodic raids up and down the San Joaquin Valley.^[4] They held up a stage on the road from Watsonville to Visalia, killing three men and vowing to "slay every Republican they would meet." Under the pretense of being Confederate guerrillas, the gang terrorized Monterey County and the nearby counties for the next several months.^[5]

In late January 1865, Company B, 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers, a unit of Californio lancers arrived at Camp Low at San Juan Bautista. It was the entire cavalry force in the county under the Camp commander Major Michael O'Brien, 6th California Infantry. Shortly after, Major O'Brien received intelligence about the location of the Mason Henry Gang hideout. A detachment of a dozen Native cavalrymen under 1st Lieutenant John Lafferty rode out to find them but he was unsuccessful.^[6]

In April 1865, word arrived at San Juan that the Mason Henry Gang had attacked at Firebaugh's Ferry. Captain Jimeno, in command of Camp Low, sent Lieutenant Lafferty and a detachment of five men in pursuit of the bandits. Hoping to cut off the gang at Panoche Pass, the lancers rode south along the western flank of the Diablo Range and encountered Mason the next morning. As the bandit spurred his horse in a desperate attempt to escape, Lafferty fired, wounding Mason in the hip and felling his mount with a single bullet. Although the soldiers captured the outlaw's horse, somehow Mason managed to elude them. At six that evening, Lafferty and his troopers returned to Camp Low with the horse in tow.^[7]

During the summer of 1865, there were two companies of Native Californian Cavalry in the field looking for the gang. But no one could locate their hideout at Loma Prieta. In June, 1865, a posse of nine soldiers and five citizens led by Sheriff John Hicks Adams of San Jose searched the area around the Panoche Valley in what is now southern San Benito County in search of the gang after receiving a reliable tip that they were planning a raid on the ranches there. But a system of spies set up by the secessionists had warned the band of their approach, so by the time Sheriff Adams and his party arrived at Panoche, Mason and Henry were already retreating towards Corralitos.^[8]

Breakup of the Gang, Death of Henry and Mason

Although the Civil War had ended in April with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, the gang under pressure in Central California moved into Southern California and split up. Henry with his gang moved to the San Bernardino Mountains. In September 1865, outlaw James Henry and his gang were rustling to robbery and murder. In September of that year, he and his associates were camped out near San Bernardino and sent John Rogers to town to obtain provisions. While there, Rogers beame liquored up and started boasting about his outlaw connections. Locals of Union sympathies took note and Rogers soon found himself in the company of San Bernardino County Sheriff George T. Fulgham and his posse leading them to the outlaw camp. They found Henry camped at Santa Jacinto Canyon, about twenty-five miles from town. At sunrise on September 14, the posse approached cautiously when Henry was awakened. He roused himself to fire three shots, striking one posse member in the foot. Henry died in a hail of gunfire, sustaining 57 wounds. His corpse was taken back to town, photographed and displayed in Old West fashion. Rogers was sent to prison for five years.^[9][10]

James Mason continued his criminal career in Los Angeles County in the vicinity of Fort Tejon and in what is now Kern County with a $500 reward on his head. While hiding in the mountains near Fort Tejon in April 1866, he tried to recruit Ben Hayfield, a well known Indian fighter into his gang. But Hayfield aware of the reward for Mason planned to collect it. One night when they were preparing to bed down, Hayfield shot Mason with his pistol before Mason could reach for his own gun. Hayfield's shot passed through his neck, killing him.^[8]

Membership

Estimates of the number of gang members ranged from sixteen to as few as four or five. Members would come and go. Some disappeared with the continual bad news for the cause in the war. Others probably left when they became disillusioned with the criminal behavior of Mason and Henry that had nothing to do with the war.^[11]

Members and others accused of being members

• Jim Henry, whose real name was Tom McCauley.
• John Mason, a Southern-born former stage hostler who had reportedly killed several men in altercations.^[12]
• Tom Hawkins^[11]
• John Rogers, caught bragging in a saloon in San Bernardino, guided the posse that shot Jim Henry to his camp in September 1865^[11]
• Joe Dye, short-time member, a pal of John Rogers^[13]
• Ben "Old Man" Kelsey and several of his sons.^[14]
• A man named Pierce, alias Hall.^[14]
• 2 Mexicans, names unknown.^[14]
• A man named "Overton", a later member.^[11]
• Jack Gordon, (formerly Peter Worthington), of Tailholt.^[15][16]
• Charles G. Rudd ^[17]
• John Tungate^[18]

References

1. ^ William B. Secrest, California Badmen: Mean Men with Guns, Word Dancer Press, Sanger, California, 2007. pg. 143-147
2. ^ ^{a b} California Bad Men p144
3. ^ A History of Tuolumne County, California B.F. Alley, San Francisco, 1882. pages 201-249 Murder of Bond by McCauley.
4. ^ Copperheads, Secesh Men, and Confederate Guerillas: Pro-Confederate Activities in Santa Cruz County during the Civil War, PART 3: THE MASON-HENRY GANG, by Phil Reader. Condensed from: It is not my Intention to be Captured! Copyright 1991 Phil Reader. Reproduced by permission of Phil Reader.
5. ^ 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers, from Parajo Times (Watsonville), November 12, 1864. see note 20.
6. ^ see note 21. Alta California, January 24, 1865; Michael O'Brien to Low, Camp Low, San Juan, February 1, 1865, Box 8, MNG.
7. ^ see note 23, Alta California, April 12, 13, 1865.
8. ^ ^{a b} Reader, Copperheads, Secesh Men, and Confederate Guerillas"
9. ^ M. David DeSoucy, Sheriff Gary Penrod, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Arcadia Publishing, 2006. pg. 16. account of Henry shootout.
10. ^ According to the Los Angeles Tri Weekly News: On Sept. 14 1865 the sheriff with a posse of three soldiers and two or three citizens ran across Henry sound asleep near San Jacinto Canyon, 25 miles from town and killed him after he made some resistance wounding one man. California Bad Men p.144-146
11. ^ ^{a b c d} California Bad Men p 145
12. ^ California Bad Men p 144
13. ^ California Bad Men p. 145
14. ^ ^{a b c} Identified in the Visalia Delta, April 17, 1865; California Bad Men p. 145
15. ^ [Jack Gordon buried in the Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery, died in a gunfight. A known member of the Mason Henry Gang. Frank F. Latta, Tailholt Tales, Brewer's Historical Press (February 1, 1976) pg. 563]
16. ^ Jack Peter Worthington Gordon
17. ^ Stockton Daily Independent, FRIDAY, 7 APR 1865. SUPPOSED GUERRILLA ARRESTED - A squad of 50 men of Company G, 2nd Calvary California Volunteers, under command of Captain ROPES, captured Charles G. RUDD, who is supposed to be a guerrilla. It is thought that a band of guerrillas has for some time past infested Mariposa, Fresno and Tulare counties. RUDD was arrested on Sunday last at Princeton, Mariposa county. The Company passed through this city yesterday on their way to Sacramento, where the prisoner will be tried by a military court.
18. ^ Stockton Daily Independent, TUESDAY, 27 JUNE 1865. HOMICIDE at KERNVILLE - The Visalia 'Delta' gives the following particulars of the killing of Michael O'NEIL at Kernville[[{{subst:DATE|date=September 2011}}|{{subst:DATE|date=September 2011}}]] ^{[disambiguation needed ]}, on Sunday, the 4th instant, by John TUNGATE, of Clear Creek[[{{subst:DATE|date=September 2011}}|{{subst:DATE|date=September 2011}}]] ^{[disambiguation needed ]}: O'NEIL was badly in liquor when TUNGATE, with several others, came up from Linn's Valley, where they had attended a ball or dance. When they approached O'NEIL said: "There comes a set of damn'd guerrillas, and I'll make some of them show blood before I've done with them," or words to that effect. He immediately approached TUNGATE and accused him of having given Bill KELSEY a pistol to beat Joe ROBERTS over the head. This TUNGATE denied, and pronounced O'NEIL's informant a "liar." O'NEIL advanced threateningly with his hand on his derringer - undrawn - when TUNGATE suddenly shot him in the neck, cutting the jugular vein, and causing almost instant death. TUNGATE was immediately taken before Justice WAYLAND, when, strange to say, although the whole transaction occurred in the presence of nearly a dozen persons, no witness was present who saw TUNGATE shoot, and he was discharged. A Coroner's jury decided that O'NEIL came to his death by a pistol shot fired by John TUNGATE.