A frontier Romeo and Juliet story — with a dark twist

Published: June 17, 2020, 2 p.m.

In court, Pleasant Armstrong told his story between heavy sobs. There was barely a dry eye in the court after he was done. But, not a single person in the court had any doubt of his guilt, either. He had done it, he told them — he freely admitted he had done it — and he seemed to almost welcome a death sentence, to expiate his crime. He couldn’t explain his shooting of Minnie, he said; that had not been what he’d intended to do. (Haines, Harney County; 1905) (For text and pictures, see http://www.offbeatoregon.com/1805b.pleasant-armstrong-murder-495.html)