Location: Mondak, Roosevelt County (near Plentywood, Sheridan County)
On April 4, 1913, J.C. Collins, an African American construction worker, was lynched by a mob in Mondak, Montana. This tragic event occurred after Collins was accused of killing Sheridan County Sheriff Thomas Courtney and a deputized citizen. The mob forcibly removed Collins from jail and subjected him to vigilante justice, hanging him from a power pole and riddling his body with bullets. The lynching of J.C. Collins is a stark reminder of the racial violence and lawlessness that sometimes plagued the American West. Mondak, a bustling but often unruly boomtown near the Montana-North Dakota border, was known for its saloons and transient population. This incident highlights a dark chapter in Montana's history, reflecting the deep-seated racial prejudices and the breakdown of legal processes in certain frontier communities.