At the time the first railroad bridge across the Snake river was built, American Falls was located on the western side of the river. The population was made up of the usual assortment of men, who make up the population of frontier towns. The good, the bad and the indifferent were there--graders, stockmen, Chinamen, gamblers and business men, with a few women--all rough and ready: hardy people of the plains and the mountains. Law and order were administered in a ready manner and summary justice was meted out to the evil-doer by self-constituted judges and juries. Two of the worst characters in the neighborhood at that time were cowboys, gamblers and probably murderers; “Tex” and “Johnson,” as they were known to the people of American Falls. One night some Chinamen were murdered and the more law-abiding citizens decided that if the culprits were found they should suffer for the crime. The two cowboys, “Tex” and Johnson, were suspected of the murder, but as no certain proof was obtainable, they were not punished, but ordered to leave town. This they did, going to the east side of the river and spending the night in a house occupied by Buck Houston. The next day they returned to the west side. The law and order element immediately organized a necktie party, with “Tex” and Johnson as the chief guests. With a grim brevity the two were taken to the river, ropes thrown over an iron span, and with a short wait for the usual last words they were hurried into eternity. Their bodies swung back and forth, suspended from the bridge, the falls roaring and splashing beneath them, and the spray shooting up into the air, wetting their high boots and leather chaps. Afterwards the two bodies were cut down and taken to the top of the bluff, overlooking the river, and there they were buried. Two rough slabs, with “Tex” carved on one, and “Johnson” on the other, were placed at their heads. The mounds where these men were buried are still discernable. In most newly-settled communities, justice is administered quickly and without the formality of legal proceedings. This was especially true of the early days in the west. Time was when the regular method of collecting overdue bills in Bannock county was at the mouth of a gun, and this within the memory of living men. Horse theft was punishable with death throughout the far west, the penalty being no more than proportionate to the crime. For the west in those days was a desert country, and the loss of a man’s horse often meant a horrible death by thirst because the next watering place was further away than a man could walk. So it happened that while a cowboy sometimes paid a hundred dollars for his saddle and only twenty-five dollars for his pony, he would forgive the man who stole the former, but without scruple hang the man who stole the horse.