Clubfoot George

George Lane, better known as Clubfoot George, was an alleged outlaw who was hanged on January 14, 1864, in Virginia City, Montana. Lane was later alleged to be a member of a criminal gang known as the Gang of Innocents and sentenced to death. The execution was carried out by the Montana Vigilantes, a committee which functioned during Montana's gold rush in 1863 and 1864.

Lane was born in Massachusetts and suffered from a congenital deformity in his foot. He was a laborer from Massachusetts who traveled to the Western United States to find work. Lane then worked several jobs in California, Idaho, and Montana but was haunted by persistent allegations that he was a horse thief.

Sometime between 1848 and 1855, during the California Gold Rush, Lane moved west. This was then a common practice among adventurous men. While in California he worked at a farm in Yuba County and later as a store clerk in Calaveras County.

In 1860, Lane moved to Washington Territory following the path of gold miners. Two years later he was accused of "running off horses" in Idaho and turned himself in to the commander of Fort Lapwai. Lane was sentenced to do construction work. The next year he was accused of stealing horses again, but escaped the town before he was caught. Lane then moved to Virginia City in Montana, another common destination for gold miners.

Lane came to Virginia City in the fall of 1863, the same year that the Montana Vigilantes Committee was formed. In Virginia City, Lane became a boot maker working for Dance and Stuart's Store. His employers respected him as a hard worker.

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