July 29, 1839

Three men who were accused of perpetrating the Cane Hill Murders on June 15, 1839—in which William Carter Wright of Cane Hill (Washington County) and four of his children were murdered in their home—were hanged in a settlement called Hillsboro at Cane Hill. Later literature has suggested that the illegal nature of the men’s impromptu hearings (which were led by a vigilante group) and executions amounts to a lynching rather than an exercise of justice. The brutality of the Cane Hill Murders and the nature of the hearings and executions reflect the pervasive lawlessness in the border region in the early history of the state.