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Not literally this tree, but that branch looks pretty solid, doesn't it? Frontier justice in Gold Rush California...was quite a tough topic to find particulars on. It seems like far from being the proverbial 'wild wild west' there was a great deal of observance of common law procedure, which fueled a popular democracy, along with copious quantities of whiskey, but that goes without saying. So how did this all go...here's some excerpts from W.P. Morrell's "The Gold Rushes " which gives a vivid picture of how things went at the time. For instance I had no idea that the Governor of California declared San Francisco in a 'state of insurrection' in 1856 and asked the USG for troops, which they ignored.
“A breakfast bill for two at the scene of the original discovery in December (Sutter’s Mill) - sardines, bread and butter and cheese, and ale - reached $43."“Of mining regulations in this first season there were virtually none. The entire gold district, with the exception of a few grants made by the Mexican authorities, was United States land, but the spirit of United States land policy at this time was favourable to individual initiative and development, and Colonel Mason prudently decided that as he could not in any case enforce United States rights he would permit all to work freely. ““Official authority was certainly not obtrusive, recognising that it was in fact powerless, and even public opinion hardly needed at first to assert its power. Bags of gold lay about unguarded. “"Such an idyll could not be expected to last; and when action had to be taken, it was short and sharp. Gould Buffum describes a scene in January 1849 when two Frenchmen and a Chilean, caught in the act of robbery, were flogged by the miners and then accused of an earlier crime. ‘The unhappy men were removed to a neighbouring house, and being so weak from their punishment as to be unable to stand, were laid stretched upon the floor. As it was not possible for them to attend, they were tried in the open air, in their absence, by a crowd of some two hundred men, who had organised themselves into a jury, and appointed a pro tempore judge. The charges against them were well substantiated, but amounted to nothing more than an attempt at robbery and murder; no overt act being alleged. They were known to be bad men, however, and a general sentiment seemed to prevail in the crowd that they ought to be got rid of. At the close of the trial, which lasted some thirty minutes, the judge put to vote the question whether they had been proved guilty. A universal affirmative was the response; and then the question “What punishment shall be inflicted?" was asked. A brutal-looking fellow in the crowd cried out, “Hang them”. The proposition was seconded, and met with almost universal approbation. I mounted a stump, and in the name of God, humanity and law, protested against such a course of proceeding; but the crowd, by this time excited by frequent and deep potations of liquor from a neighbouring groggery, would listen to nothing contrary to their brutal desires, and even threatened to hang me if I did not immediately desist from any further remarks. . . . Seeing the utter uselessness of further argument with them, I ceased. . . . Thirty minutes only were allowed the unhappy victims to prepare themselves. . . . Three ropes were procured, and attached to the limb of a tree. The prisoners were marched out, placed upon a wagon, and the ropes put round their necks. . . . They vainly tried to speak, but none of them understanding English, they were obliged to employ their native tongues, which but few of those assembled understood. Vainly they called for an interpreter, for their cries were drowned by the yells of a now infuriated mob. A black handkerchief was bound around the eyes of each; their arms were pinioned, and at a given signal, without priest or prayer-book, the wagon was drawn from under them and they were launched into eternity.' 1 This episode gave the place for a time the distinctive name of Hangtown. It was a foretaste of what was to happen with the coming of the forty-niners." “in the camps of 1849 there was organised, if rather rudimentary, self- government. It could no longer be assumed that there was ground enough and to spare for all: it was necessary for the sake of peace and equity to determine the areas in which and the title by which it might be held. ““Claims usually had to be registered, at a small fee, with a recorder chosen by the camp, and marked . 1 To secure possession, a certain amount of work had to be done, and absence for a given number of days during the season entailed forfeiture. At first, holders were as a rule restricted to one claim. There were also provisions for the settlement of disputes. The rules on such matters were usually the work of a committee appointed at a meeting of the camp, and in many cases the committee also drew up something in the nature of an elementary code of criminal law and procedure as well. The two great categories of offence were theft and murder, and the two penalties banishment and hanging — though hanging was often the penalty for serious thefts as well as for murder . 2 In different camps these committees and the alcaldes who were usually chosen as heads of the camps — sometimes with sheriffs to assist them — had different degrees of power in relation to the settlement of disputes and the trial of offences against miners’ law.“"‘The alcalde's fee, in all cases,’ says Carson, ‘was three ounces; sheriff’s two; and each juror one — with the addition of the price of all the whiskey used by the court, jury and witnesses during the trial .’""If later the courts, and the United States itself, recognised the customs of the miners as valid, it was a recognition due to their effective vindication of authority through the machinery of self-government. The principles and methods of the American frontier had been applied, on the whole with remarkable success, in communities which had a strong cosmopolitan admixture and were not under the effective control of the United States Government." "Apart, however, from the essentials of law and order, a remarkable social freedom, individualism and exuberance carried to the point of recklessness characterised the miners. They developed a dress and appearance of their own — red or blue open-necked woollen shirts, belts garnished with knives and pistols, trousers tucked into high boots, dingy slouched hats covering bronzed, bushy, bearded heads — and sought to differentiate themselves from the traders and parasites in the towns. They found relaxation in drinking and gambling particularly, but also in bull-fighting, cock-fighting, prize- fighting, horse- and foot-racing, theatrical and other entertainments.""Quite apart from the criminal elements, the gold-rush immigrants generally were hardly ready for constitutional government. Public spirit is the lubricating oil of all constitutional machinery. The miners had a large measure of public spirit so far as concerned their camp: but, intent upon making their fortunes with the least possible delay and returning whence they came, they cared little whom they elected to make or administer the laws of California and were apt to regard the advent even of regular justice as the intrusion of an alien authority. Their apathy conspired with the selfish interests of others. The laws were defective, the administration of justice slow and imperfect, its officers often incompetent or corrupt. It was difficult to enforce the attendance of witnesses and to find trustworthy jurymen. The atmosphere was not one of respect for law."(In San Francisco)"First a volunteer night patrol was formed to supplement the police. Then on 8 and 9 June a ‘committee of vigilance’ was organised to punish thieves, burglars, incendiaries and assassins by speedier and more drastic means than the lax and uncertain administration of the law allowed.""In all, it arrested ninety-one persons, punishing nineteen, discharging forty-one and disposing of the rest by handing them over to the authorities; for, unlike the miners’ meetings, it sought to sustain the ordinary law when it could be sure that it would be properly administered.""The financial crisis had a political sequel. A bold newspaper editor, James King ‘of William’, attacked official, business and social corruption of every sort. He was murdered on 14 May 1856 by another editor whose criminal record he had exposed. King had been a member of the Vigilance Committee of 1851, and a new committee was organised by one of the old leaders to avenge his death. With support from other towns, 8000 men were organised on military lines. The State authorities were powerless. The Governor’s declaration of a state of insurrection in San Francisco was ignored; his request to the United States commander for arms was declined; and the Vigilance Committee proceeded to execute the murderer and three others likewise, whilst other offenders were deported. The chief justice of the State Supreme Court, who stabbed an officer of the committee, was arrested but let off for prudential reasons. This time the salutary effects of the committee’s intervention were more lasting, for it organised a People’s Party which controlled the city for many years and gave it the reputation of being the best governed in the United States. By unorthodox methods public opinion in California and in its leading city had shown itself sovereign: those who had in its name asserted themselves against the regularly constituted authorities had been upheld by the people, and order was on a firm basis at last. "
further reading: Land Laws of Mining Districts
tldr: Chateau Grief Comic

Description

Not literally this tree, but that branch looks pretty solid, doesn't it? Frontier justice in Gold Rush California...was quite a tough topic to find particulars on. It seems like far from being the proverbial 'wild wild west' there was a great deal of observance of common law procedure, which fueled a popular democracy, along with copious quantities of whiskey, but that goes without saying. So how did this all go...here's some excerpts from W.P. Morrell's "The Gold Rushes " which gives a vivid picture of how things went at the time. For instance I had no idea that the Governor of California declared San Francisco in a 'state of insurrection' in 1856 and asked the USG for troops, which they ignored.
“A breakfast bill for two at the scene of the original discovery in December (Sutter’s Mill) - sardines, bread and butter and cheese, and ale - reached $43."“Of mining regulations in this first season there were virtually none. The entire gold district, with the exception of a few grants made by the Mexican authorities, was United States land, but the spirit of United States land policy at this time was favourable to individual initiative and development, and Colonel Mason prudently decided that as he could not in any case enforce United States rights he would permit all to work freely. ““Official authority was certainly not obtrusive, recognising that it was in fact powerless, and even public opinion hardly needed at first to assert its power. Bags of gold lay about unguarded. “"Such an idyll could not be expected to last; and when action had to be taken, it was short and sharp. Gould Buffum describes a scene in January 1849 when two Frenchmen and a Chilean, caught in the act of robbery, were flogged by the miners and then accused of an earlier crime. ‘The unhappy men were removed to a neighbouring house, and being so weak from their punishment as to be unable to stand, were laid stretched upon the floor. As it was not possible for them to attend, they were tried in the open air, in their absence, by a crowd of some two hundred men, who had organised themselves into a jury, and appointed a pro tempore judge. The charges against them were well substantiated, but amounted to nothing more than an attempt at robbery and murder; no overt act being alleged. They were known to be bad men, however, and a general sentiment seemed to prevail in the crowd that they ought to be got rid of. At the close of the trial, which lasted some thirty minutes, the judge put to vote the question whether they had been proved guilty. A universal affirmative was the response; and then the question “What punishment shall be inflicted?" was asked. A brutal-looking fellow in the crowd cried out, “Hang them”. The proposition was seconded, and met with almost universal approbation. I mounted a stump, and in the name of God, humanity and law, protested against such a course of proceeding; but the crowd, by this time excited by frequent and deep potations of liquor from a neighbouring groggery, would listen to nothing contrary to their brutal desires, and even threatened to hang me if I did not immediately desist from any further remarks. . . . Seeing the utter uselessness of further argument with them, I ceased. . . . Thirty minutes only were allowed the unhappy victims to prepare themselves. . . . Three ropes were procured, and attached to the limb of a tree. The prisoners were marched out, placed upon a wagon, and the ropes put round their necks. . . . They vainly tried to speak, but none of them understanding English, they were obliged to employ their native tongues, which but few of those assembled understood. Vainly they called for an interpreter, for their cries were drowned by the yells of a now infuriated mob. A black handkerchief was bound around the eyes of each; their arms were pinioned, and at a given signal, without priest or prayer-book, the wagon was drawn from under them and they were launched into eternity.' 1 This episode gave the place for a time the distinctive name of Hangtown. It was a foretaste of what was to happen with the coming of the forty-niners." “in the camps of 1849 there was organised, if rather rudimentary, self- government. It could no longer be assumed that there was ground enough and to spare for all: it was necessary for the sake of peace and equity to determine the areas in which and the title by which it might be held. ““Claims usually had to be registered, at a small fee, with a recorder chosen by the camp, and marked . 1 To secure possession, a certain amount of work had to be done, and absence for a given number of days during the season entailed forfeiture. At first, holders were as a rule restricted to one claim. There were also provisions for the settlement of disputes. The rules on such matters were usually the work of a committee appointed at a meeting of the camp, and in many cases the committee also drew up something in the nature of an elementary code of criminal law and procedure as well. The two great categories of offence were theft and murder, and the two penalties banishment and hanging — though hanging was often the penalty for serious thefts as well as for murder . 2 In different camps these committees and the alcaldes who were usually chosen as heads of the camps — sometimes with sheriffs to assist them — had different degrees of power in relation to the settlement of disputes and the trial of offences against miners’ law.“"‘The alcalde's fee, in all cases,’ says Carson, ‘was three ounces; sheriff’s two; and each juror one — with the addition of the price of all the whiskey used by the court, jury and witnesses during the trial .’""If later the courts, and the United States itself, recognised the customs of the miners as valid, it was a recognition due to their effective vindication of authority through the machinery of self-government. The principles and methods of the American frontier had been applied, on the whole with remarkable success, in communities which had a strong cosmopolitan admixture and were not under the effective control of the United States Government." "Apart, however, from the essentials of law and order, a remarkable social freedom, individualism and exuberance carried to the point of recklessness characterised the miners. They developed a dress and appearance of their own — red or blue open-necked woollen shirts, belts garnished with knives and pistols, trousers tucked into high boots, dingy slouched hats covering bronzed, bushy, bearded heads — and sought to differentiate themselves from the traders and parasites in the towns. They found relaxation in drinking and gambling particularly, but also in bull-fighting, cock-fighting, prize- fighting, horse- and foot-racing, theatrical and other entertainments.""Quite apart from the criminal elements, the gold-rush immigrants generally were hardly ready for constitutional government. Public spirit is the lubricating oil of all constitutional machinery. The miners had a large measure of public spirit so far as concerned their camp: but, intent upon making their fortunes with the least possible delay and returning whence they came, they cared little whom they elected to make or administer the laws of California and were apt to regard the advent even of regular justice as the intrusion of an alien authority. Their apathy conspired with the selfish interests of others. The laws were defective, the administration of justice slow and imperfect, its officers often incompetent or corrupt. It was difficult to enforce the attendance of witnesses and to find trustworthy jurymen. The atmosphere was not one of respect for law."(In San Francisco)"First a volunteer night patrol was formed to supplement the police. Then on 8 and 9 June a ‘committee of vigilance’ was organised to punish thieves, burglars, incendiaries and assassins by speedier and more drastic means than the lax and uncertain administration of the law allowed.""In all, it arrested ninety-one persons, punishing nineteen, discharging forty-one and disposing of the rest by handing them over to the authorities; for, unlike the miners’ meetings, it sought to sustain the ordinary law when it could be sure that it would be properly administered.""The financial crisis had a political sequel. A bold newspaper editor, James King ‘of William’, attacked official, business and social corruption of every sort. He was murdered on 14 May 1856 by another editor whose criminal record he had exposed. King had been a member of the Vigilance Committee of 1851, and a new committee was organised by one of the old leaders to avenge his death. With support from other towns, 8000 men were organised on military lines. The State authorities were powerless. The Governor’s declaration of a state of insurrection in San Francisco was ignored; his request to the United States commander for arms was declined; and the Vigilance Committee proceeded to execute the murderer and three others likewise, whilst other offenders were deported. The chief justice of the State Supreme Court, who stabbed an officer of the committee, was arrested but let off for prudential reasons. This time the salutary effects of the committee’s intervention were more lasting, for it organised a People’s Party which controlled the city for many years and gave it the reputation of being the best governed in the United States. By unorthodox methods public opinion in California and in its leading city had shown itself sovereign: those who had in its name asserted themselves against the regularly constituted authorities had been upheld by the people, and order was on a firm basis at last. "
further reading: Land Laws of Mining Districts
tldr: Chateau Grief Comic