John Langford, a 22-year-old citizen of Sheridan, Kansas, who ‘had led a desperate life all over the border,’ was sentenced to be hanged by a vigilance committee at Pond City at 2 am on the morning of 25 August 1869.
On discovering his fate, Langford admitted to the killing of six men; he added, ‘if he had his fate postponed a few days, he would have killed as many more.’
The condemned man described in the Muscatine Journal as ‘Half Indian’ was instructed by his would-be executioners to make his peace with his maker, replied that: ‘if he had any maker it was a damned poor one, as he had experienced considerable of trouble the last few years.’ Langford went on to say, ‘he would meet them in Hell, but none of them should gain admission except with hemp ropes ornamenting their necks.’
Langford informed the vigilantes that ‘he did not want them to hang him, and that he would hang himself; so he pulled off his boots, put the rope round his neck, and jumped off.’
© Mark Young 2024
Sources
Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography
Wyandotte Commercial Gazette (Kansas City, Kansas)
The Muscatine Journal (Iowa)
Hellish Fiends, and Brutish Men 
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