Escape
from San Quentin!
Prisoners at San Quentin, about 1871. The striped uniforms were issued after the great prison break of 1862. (Online Archive of California) |
(Read Part Nine: The Brannigan Outrage)
At His Trade—Mike Brannigan, immediately after his arrival at the State Prison, was set to work at his old trade—that of tailoring. His head was shaved, it is said, and his mustache cut off, against his earnest remonstrance. (Sacramento Daily Union, February 5, 1862)
On
January 30, 1862, San Quentin officials entered the following
description of their newest inmate:
Prisoner
Number: 2308
Name:
Michael Brannigan
Nativity:
Ireland
Crime: Rape
Crime: Rape
When
Received: January 30, 1862
Term
of Sentence: 10 years
County
Sent from: Sacramento
Age:
32
Occupation:
tailor
Height:
5 feet, 5 3/4 inches
Complexion: Florid
Eyes:
Hazle
Hair:
AuburnCourse featured, large mouth, high cheekboned, forehead wrinkled, large scar on side, marks of cupping on breast and on left side of abdomen, large scar from burn.
It’s
not clear if Brannigan had actually practiced the trade of tailoring
before (if he had, it must have been way back when he lived in New
Orleans, before the Gold Rush). It is equally likely that he claimed
the trade of tailor to get into the prison tailoring workshop, where
he had some connections.
This cell in "the Stones," a cell-block built in 1852, was still in use in the mid-20th Century. (California State Library) |
California’s
State Prison had begun only a decade earlier as the prison ship
Waban, anchored off Angel Island. In 1852, the Waban sailed over to
Point Quentin and the prisoners were put to work building their new,
land-based prison. By the time Brannigan arrived in 1862, there were
about 600 prisoners crammed into the cell blocks in what a report
described as “dismal” conditions.
Nevertheless,
Mike seems to have done okay. Even in prison, he still attracted
attention, and people still wrote about him. A reporter for the
Petaluma Argus mentioned him among the sights of a prison tour:
Mike Brannigan crosses his legs on the table daily; is subdued and quiet as a lamb, and probably feels that paternal derringers cannot be opened on him within at least ten years.
Fellow
prisoner Charles Mortimer kept a diary in which Brannigan figures
prominently. From Mortimer’s account we learn that Mike continued
his longstanding policy of getting ahead by kissing up to whatever
powerful people he could get access to. In San Quentin this meant
prison guard and “whipping master” Edward Vanderlip, and Charles
Hammond, a San Francisco thief who held the cushy position of foreman
of the tailor shop where both Brannigan and Mortimer worked.
Mortimer—a thief who would later be hanged for murder—had only
contempt for Brannigan. As he wrote:
Mike Brannigan was in our shop for a diabolical rape upon an actress at Sacramento, Edith Mitchell, a fine woman of culture and refinement whose prospects in life were very bright until Mike crossed her path, the wretch, and he to boast of his deed as he did, too.
When
Mortimer ran afoul of their gang, Brannigan and Hammond had him
framed for stealing cloth, resulting in Mortimer getting twenty
lashes of the whip from Vanderlip, “who seemed to delight in
seeing how deep he could sink the lash into a man’s quivering
flesh.”
Conditions
in San Quentin were brutal and miserable, and among the inmates were
some of the most desperate criminals of the day. On July 22, 1862,
the boiling point was reached. Led by legendary bandido Tiburcio Vásquez, and San Francisco hoodlum Lewis Mahoney, a group of
prisoners over-powered the guards, seized weapons, and took Warden
John F. Chellis hostage. The gates were flung open, and up to three hundred
prisoners—about half the population—ran out into the wilds of
Marin, in what remains the biggest prison break in San Quentin’s
history.
San Quentin and environs in 1874. Photo by Carleton Watkins. (California State Library) |
The escape was, for the most part, a complete failure. The prisoners scattered and were re-captured in groups. The most organized group, with Warden Chellis as hostage, headed along Corte Madera creek, making for Mount Tam; but when they abandoned the heavy-set Chellis, their pursuers opened fire and many were killed. In the end, only about a dozen escapees, out of the original 300, made it to freedom.
Mike
Brannigan was far too savvy to join such a risky endeavor. He was
playing a longer, safer game. Mike spent the prison break in the
tailor shop, hiding the sadistic and unpopular prison guard Vanderlip
under a pile of rags. Such good behavior was bound to be rewarded in
the aftermath of the escape attempt.
Meanwhile,
Mike’s highly-placed friends outside of the prison had been working
to get him out. In January, his lawyers managed to get him a retrial
on the basis of alleged jury-tampering in the initial trial.
According to San Quentin historian Kent Sorsky, Mike also faked
consumption by pricking his gums with a needle, in order to help the
case for his release. On January 30, 1863—exactly one year after
being committed to prison—Mike Brannigan left San Quentin for good,
and was taken back to Sacramento for his retrial. Within a few weeks,
he was out on bail.
Mike’s
retrial came at a suspiciously convenient time. Edith Mitchell, the
crucial witness against him, had just left the state to tour Canada
and could not return to take part in the trial. Lacking Edith's key testimony, the
prosecuters had no choice but to abandon the case.
Mike
was a free man.
And that's how to escape from San Quentin.
And that's how to escape from San Quentin.
(Next time: The Worst Scoundrel in Virginia City)
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