The Tragic Case of Mistaken Identity: The Hanging of Yankee Jim
Yankee Jim was the victim of mistaken identity, there were two criminals back in the early 1850's known by the name Yankee Jim. Both were tall, both were criminals but one more so than the other. Nowadays most don't know there were two and make the same mistake the court in San Diego made and combine the two men into one. Intrigued? Good. Now let me tell you a story…
Back in the 1850s, there was a man who's name was James Robinson. He lived kind of in the middle of nowhere and had a secret gold mine claim. It was secret but at the same time not. Mr. Robinson who was known as Yankee Jim was known to go down to the place called Barnes Bar and store where he would show off his gold and tell stories of how well he's doing but not disclose where he was getting it from.
One day Yankee Jim was sleeping in a bushcraft shelter when was was kicked awake by a guy named Currier who had been looking for him to find this gold claim. They talked a little and Jim had revealed that he was in fact Yankee Jim, He was from Maine and had jumped ship off the coast of California, wandered around and came inland where the gold was and happened upon some gold himself. He pulled out a gun and showed Currier, who thought this was the end and Jim proposed a deal. Go to town and buy some bullets for this gun and come back alone, do this and I will show you the gold mine.
Currier pretended to agree and left. thinking he'd just get shot as soon as he brought the bullets back. But he remembered the spot where he had found Jim. News spread of where Jim's place was and people flocked up to the area searching for gold themselves. While there they noticed a corral of horses, Some of the horses looked familiar. One guy recognized one as his own. and other the same and soon it was revealed that all of these horses were stolen and Yankee Jim was A horse Thief!
So Jim fled to San Diego. Bringing along two buddies.
Now I said there were two Yankee Jim's. One was the guy I was just talking about, James Robinson. a gold miner and horse thief from Maine. The other was James Knowlton who was a robber, a murderer a horse thief and a gang leader. He ravaged Northern California for a while until he was finally caught and hung for his crimes.
A man named Tebbets lived in Northern California during this time and heard the scary stories of This murderer Yankee Jim. Tebbets left for San Diego before James Knowlton was caught and hung.
Now, James Robinson, Yankee Jim arrived in San Diego which back then was a crime ridden place like Chicago is today, The townsfolk were fed up and the leadership was fed up too. Yankee Jim and his buddies were welcomed into town and hung out at some bars and gambling halls. All was well in his world until he mentioned at the bar, A bar that Tebbets owned, that he was known back in NorCal as Yankee Jim.
Tebbets sounded the alarm to the sheriff who put out a BOLO (be on the look out) for Yankee Jim the murdering gang leader.
One night Yankee Jim was rowing a boat out towards a schooner and was spotted by the owner who noticed nothing else but a red shirt, was Yankee Jim a clamper? Whatever the case A 2nd BOLO was put out for a man in a red shirt.
Soon enough Jim asked some guy for some food and was wearing a red shirt. The man yelled and soon Yankee Jim was under arrest, vigilante style. He was lassoed then hit on the back of the head with a shovel and taken into town to get booked.
He was recognised not only as a man in a red shirt but Yankee Jim the Outlaw from up north. His buddies were arrested and questioned, they admitted to being horse thieves and that the plan was to escape on that schooner. They probably got some kind of court deal for squealing on Yankee Jim and were given a light sentence of two years aboard the San Quentin Prison ship.
Yankee Jim on the other hand, not so much. They heard the stories of the gangster from Tebbets. The San Diego Herald quickly put out a story of Yankee Jim, The French Canadian who loafed around mining camps, murdering and robbing and even killing his own men. Which poisoned the jury pool with false information.
The prosecutor of this case coincidentally was a guy named James W. Robinson. If you remember, Yankee Jim's real name was James Robinson. He decided to defend himself not being all too satisfied with the public defenders he was offered.
The Charge was attempted larceny of a schooner and also the larceny of a rowboat. The two combined became Grand Larceny in which the death penalty was valid.
After the case was argued, the jury deliberated (two of whom were the owners of the row boat)
and Guilty as charged was the verdict, He shall hang at the neck until dead tomorrow.
Yankee Jim didn't know he was being identified as the other Yankee Jim and thought this whole thing was a joke, a scared straight kind of thing so he didn't really care.
By the next morning he had talked to two catholic priests and converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Santiago. He was noosed up and standing on a wagon that had a mule hitched to it. The sheriff watched his pocket watch closely as Yankee Jim talked to the crowd, joking around still thinking this was all a joke. Then a nod from the Sheriff, A slap on the mules butt and Jim's last words "Am I going to die?"
The wagon was kind of low and the rope was kind of long so His neck was not broken and instead he hung there and strangled for 45 minutes until he finally died.
James Robinson was a criminal mistaken for another criminal. Had he not been, He probably would have been sent to San Quentin like his buddies but he was, and was made to be an example to the People of San Diego that crime was no longer going to be tolerated.
Even today if you visit the grave of Yankee Jim, James Robinson there is a plaque that talks about him but if you look close you'll see even in death his Identity is mistaken, His name listed as James W. Robinson which was the name of the Prosecutor in his trial.
