There were many accounts of what happened in Prineville that fateful day in 1882, in Vigilante Reign William Thompson told a very different account of the vigilante events occurred on March 15. , 1882 Thompson distorted the truth to protect himself. Thompson said the land dispute was a “trivial matter at best” (Becman). According to Reign of the Vigilantes, most people would disagree with this statement and would not consider someone building a fence across their territory. yard or property as a trivial matter. In Reign of the Vigilantes, Thompson called Langdon and Harrison murderers, without them ever being questioned or appearing in a courtroom. As reported in the Crook County Reign of Terror news article, Mr. Langdon warned Mr. Crook and Mr. Jory to give up or bring their weapons. Both men did return with their guns that afternoon, when Langdon confronted Mr Crook and Mr Jory, both men attempted to draw their guns, Langdon then shot them. This would make the murders of Crook and Jory a case of self-defense, as Mr. Langdon would have been shot himself had he not been the faster weapon. It was obvious that Thompson was the one giving the orders, he claimed in Reign of the Vigilantes that "they encountered 75 to 80 men who came to help them", (Beckman) and that he turned them back saying that "the assassins had fled.” (Becman) If this had been true, Thompson would have appreciated the help in locating and apprehending the men. Thompson also told a man named Long in his group to shoot and kill young Mr. Langdon if he tried to escape. Clearly, Thompson was responsible for the men and did not fear prosecution. According to The Other Side: Vigilante Justice-part 1, "Thompson's political connections were formidable...in the middle of the paper...nothing to gain from their reporting, and so are much less likely to distort the truth." for their own purposes, unlike the article Thompson wrote on Reign of the Vigilantes, it was clouded by numerous self-serving statements, intended to cover up the fact that Thompson distorted the truth to protect himself. Works Cited Beckman, Stephen Dow. “Vigilante Reign” Beckman, Stephen Dow. Many Faces: An Oregon Anthology. Autobiography. Corvallis, or: Oregon State UP, 1993. “Crook County's Reign of Terror” Portland Evening Telegram, November 21, 1902. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID =F0819A5B-C7DA -8CB4512E23F3A53Meyers Rick. “The Other Side: Vigilante Justice-part1” Copyright Meyers 2004.http://mckenzierose.com/Vigilante_Justice_Prine.htm