John Mason (outlaw)

John Mason, (? – 1866), with Jim Henry, was one of the leaders of the Mason Henry Gang organized by secessionist Judge George Gordon Belt, that posed as Confederate partisan rangers but acted as outlaws, committing robberies, thefts and murders in the San Joaquin Valley, Monterey County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County and later in the counties of Southern California.

Little is known about John Mason before he joined the Mason Henry Gang. He was Southern-born and a former stage hostler who had reportedly killed several men in altercations. In the spring of 1864 the gang rode from Belt's rancho over to Santa Clara County, a center of Copperhead sympathizers, to recruit more members. They returned without success to the San Joaquin Valley. By October, 1864, with the Presidential election approaching and the Civil War on the east coast was reaching a climax, Mason and Henry's gang quickly deteriorated into brigands but because they called themselves Confederate soldiers, they managed to have support among the Copperheads in the area. They threatened to kill every "black republican" they chanced to meet.

Mason seems to have led the Mason Henry Gang into outright criminality, three murders committed on November 10, 1864, soon after the second election of Abraham Lincoln. Following the voting, during a party held at the Elkhorn Station and settlement, George Robinson who ran the stage station, a strong Union supporter from Maine, had gotten drunk and had made certain remarks slurring all Southern women. Word of this insult reached the Mason Henry Gang, who were camped in the area. These crimes were described in the Stockton Daily Independent, for MONDAY, 14 NOV 1864:

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