On Christmas Eve 1872 James G. McCrory, who had murdered before in Visalia and in Arizona, was drunk and disorderly at the El Dorado Saloon on Main Street in Visalia. When one of the owners, Charles Allen, tried to quiet him he shot Allen three times in the body and once in the head. McCrory then ran out the back and hid in an outhouse where he was found and arrested by Deputy Reynolds and others. On the way to the jail house shouts of "hang him" were heard from the crowd which had-gathered and were tired of lawlessness in their town. Soon a crowd of heavily armed vigilantes formed at the jail and overpowered the sheriff and deputies. They dragged McCrory with a rope around his neck to the Mill Creek Bridge on Court Street tied the rope to the railing and tossed him over. The next day they took up a collection to give him a decent burial, so the county would not be out the cost. For many years after that the bad men of the valley gave Visalia a wide berth. The Visalia Paper wrote "The worthy element in our community has spoken, McCrory's closing act was short. Tuesday A.M. arrived from Arizona, murdered a man in the afternoon, and was hung in the evening! we say well done to our citizens."
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