John Daly (1839-February 1864) was an Old West outlaw and leader of the "Daly Gang".
Outlaw life, hanging
Little is known of Johnson's early life. He is thought to have been from the Eastern part of the U.S., but that has never been confirmed. John Daly arrived in Nevada from California in the early 1860s, as a hired gun. Using scare tactics known as "criminal vigilantism", in which Daly advocated lynching townspeople and others who resisted, the gang operated without interference, terrorizing the Nevada gold fields between Aurora and Carson City for over two years. However, on February 1, 1864 the gang murdered William R. Johnson, who had killed gang member Jim Sears while the latter was attempting to steal a horse the previous year. The gang members caught Johnson, slit his throat and set him on fire. Johnson's brutal murder soon caused local citizens of Nevada to establish the "Citizens' Protective Association", and within a week John Daly and members Johnny McDowell, William Buckley, and "Massey" Masterson were caught and hanged outside Armory Hall in Aurora. Gang member and gunman Pliney Gardner was also captured, along with "Irish Tom" Carberry and others, but deemed to have played no part in the murder, and was banished from the territory.
Resources
- Sifakis, Carl. Encyclopedia of American Crime, New York, Facts on File Inc., 1982
