Henry Plumer Speaks Presented by Sterling Schmidt

In the history of Montana, there is perhaps no greater mystery than Henry Plumer. (Sometimes spelled Plummer)

According to the Montana writer Thomas Dimsdale, Plumer was the leader of a notorious band of Road Agents that murdered 101 people, chopped their bodies up and put them through the ice.  

I have spent the last three years researching Henry Plumer, and I have learned his side of the story.  Henry Plumer was a quiet, well spoken man who was sure of himself, his politics, and morals.  He married the woman he loved, developed mining interests that paid in the thousands of dollars a day in 1863, and eventually on a cold day in January of 1864 a band of Vigilantes murdered him in Bannack, Idaho Territory.  Their only proof of his guilt was their word.  No trial.  No last words.  Just a rope, and a gruesome death by strangulation. 

Before I tell you a little about myself, I want to thank a good friend of mine for assigning me the character of Henry Plumer in the Nevada City Montana Living History Museum; thank you Dan!  

I was raised in the remote farm and ranch community of Crawford, Oklahoma. You probably never heard of the place unless you went there on purpose, or got hopelessly lost in Rural Western Oklahoma.  As a young man, my dad brought me to Montana on Vacation, and I became hooked.  Not a hard thing to do considering it was over 100 degrees when we left Oklahoma, and when we got to Montana it was a balmy 80 and the locals were complaining about the heat wave!  In 2002 I packed up and moved north, first to Twin Falls, Idaho, and then on to Anaconda, Montana in 2003.  I have been in Montana ever since, I now call Virginia City, Montana home.

In the fall of 2005, I stumbeled across the most interesting museum I have ever been to before or since, the Nevada City Living History Museum.  I was hooked!  The museum is operated with the help of volunteer Living Historians, and I signed myself up for a trial run.  My first assignment was and still is Henry Plumer.

So, you are probably asking, what is Living History?  In a nutshell, here is what it is:  you walk into Nevada City, and you step into 1864.  You are assulted by the smell of wood smoke from cast iron cook stoves, coal smoke from the blacksmiths forge, and a greeted by a woman riding sidesaddle on her way to the Cheap Cash Store to pick up a new hat pin.  As you drift around town perhaps you work up a thirst.  Venture into Criterion Hall, and the bartender will set you up with your choice of drinks--so long as it is soda, he claims the miners have drank up all the hard stuff...  Need a room for the night?  Visit Mrs. Cavanaugh, she runs the boarding house--3 to a bed.

I suppose I should answer the question most people ask "What do you really do?"  I have been a profesional jeweler since 1998.  I currently work for Jensen Jewelers, in Butte, Montana.  I have also driven semi trucks, and seen 47 of the 48 lower states.  I still want to get to that last one, Maine.  

If you are a History buff, or just a casual student of history, at some time you have probably wished that you could step through time and ask a question of a historical character. 

The presentation "Henry Plumer Speaks" gives you that chance.  When you meet me in character, you meet Henry Plumer.  Sterling Schmidt no longer exists and I take on the personality of the infamous Henry Plumer.  Don't expect to hear the poplular story published by Thomas Dimsdale, but listen as I tell you what really happened to me in the crazy days of the Montana Gold rush.  My story is one that you will not believe, but how can you not?  (One note, as the rumors of my death have been "gravely exaggerated", I don't know that on a bitterly cold day in January of 1864 I will be hung by the Vigilantes.)

I will travel anywhere in Montana, and most of Idaho to present this program for civic groups, Living History events, and dinner events. The presentation can be tailored to fit your needs, from a 45 mintue presentation to an all day event.  Please contact me for pricing and booking information.

I also teach Blacksmithing, however as of now these courses are limited to Nevada City Montana.  Please browse to the Blacksmithing page on this site for more information.