3-7-77 (Bozeman, Helena, Livingston: camps, living, law)

[MTsam]

Hey guys...haven't logged on in awhile although I do occasionally still read posts. I hope all of you are doing well. I was ordering something online yesterday and saw a coffee mug that had a steer skull logo on it with the numbers 3-7-77 across the forehead. I Googled it and found a lot of conflicting theories about the actual origins of those numbers. Anybody got any information they can share about the numbers and their origins? Thanks

[MTSilvertip]

Nobody knows the exact meaning of the numbers 3-7-77. It started as a symbol of the Vigilantes that took control back from the outlaw gang, the Innocents, (their password was "I am Innocent") led by a crooked sheriff, Henry Plumber.
The gang operated in the gold camps of Virginial City, Nevada City and Bannock among others in the 1860s.

The Vigilantes hung several of the gang including "Club Foot" George Ives whose crippled foot is still on display in the Virginia City Museum.

The most common reference I have heard is that the numbers are the dimensions of a grave,
3 Feet wide
7 feet deep
77 inches long.

The numbers are still displayed on numerous law enforement patches around the state of Montana.

Plumber himself was hung in Bannock, and according to legend, left a large stash of gold within a short distance of the town.
Who knows....

[Timberwolf232]

Here's a couple links on 3-7-77.
3-7-77 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

a better one:

Montana Vigilantes and the Origins for 3-7-77 (http://travel.state.mt.us/history/Montana_the_Magazine_of_Western_History/montanavigilantes1.htm - broken link)

[Walter Greenspan]

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From the Montana Heritage Project, here's a new explanation for a very old mystery: What did the secret numbers of the Montana Vigilantes, 3-7-77, mean?
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[Redraven]

The only people who know are long dead.
It is interesting that the first meniton of the numbers seems to have been long after the Vigilante era, yet the connection to the Vigilantes is still bandied about!

[MTsam]

Thanks for the links guys. Interesting reading! I had not heard of 3-7-77 before and was just curious about the history.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan

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From the Montana Heritage Project, here's a new explanation for a very old mystery: What did the secret numbers of the Montana Vigilantes, 3-7-77, mean?

One suspects the newer the explantion, the more straws it had to grasp at..

But I see this outfit is doing an oral history project -- looks like a great project for students, and a good way to preserve the fast-dying memories from yesteryear.

[Pashta]

Thanks for the great read.

[Stephan_K]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Nobody knows the exact meaning of the numbers 3-7-77. It started as a symbol of the Vigilantes that took control back from the outlaw gang, the Innocents, (their password was "I am Innocent") led by a crooked sheriff, Henry Plumber.
The gang operated in the gold camps of Virginial City, Nevada City and Bannock among others in the 1860s.

The Vigilantes hung several of the gang including "Club Foot" George Ives whose crippled foot is still on display in the Virginia City Museum.

The most common reference I have heard is that the numbers are the dimensions of a grave,
3 Feet wide
7 feet deep
77 inches long.

The numbers are still displayed on numerous law enforement patches around the state of Montana.

Plumber himself was hung in Bannock, and according to legend, left a large stash of gold within a short distance of the town.
Who knows....

Ever read "Bloody Bozeman" ? It was written referenced from actual journals of those who traveled through this territory in that time period in search of gold. A good chunk of it is about the Vigilantes.....

I thought he numbers to be the dimensions of a grave too....

[MTSilvertip]

I have read the Bloody Bozeman, in fact the ranch I grew up on had some of the Yellowstone Trail scouted by Jim Bridger going across part of it.

The Bozeman Trail was about a mile and a half south.

I grew up on stories of when the wagons went through that part of the country. My Grandmother went on the Oregon Trail out to the coast and back following the Oregon trail from south pass in Wyoming.

The book is an excellent read and you can still see some of the landmarks listed in the journals.

In fact, there is a monument to John Bozeman in Livingston that says he was killed by indians not far from that marker.

A Trip from Livingston to Bozeman and down to Ennis will take you along trails scouted by Lewis and Clark and later followed by Bridger, Coulter, Hugh Glass and many others.

Coulters run was just outside Three Forks, and Manuel Lisa built 2 fur trading forts there that were burnt by the Blackfoot.

After that run John Coulter ended up in Yellowstone park and his description of it with it's mud pots and geysers are the reason it was called Coulters Hell. Most folks at that time thought it was a figment of a delerious mind.

It is a really rich area for history.

The Bozeman Trail, or Bonanza trail brought a lot of miners to the area of Virginia City, Nevada City, Bannock, Helena and Butte.
The settlers tended to come up the Yellowstone trail as it wasn't as hard on the animals even though the Bozeman was quicker.

Walk in the steps of those great pioneers, it can be humbling to think of what they went through settling this country.

Well worth a couple days of exploring if you have the chance.