The Saga of Griffin Logan

Logan's cabin as it appeared in 19___. Courtesy of National Park Service
Logan’s cabin as it appeared in 1930. Courtesy of National Park Service

On the evening of November 11, 1885, Griffin Logan, foreman for J.S. Cone’s sheep operations, was murdered at his camp in the vicinity of Badger Flat, located in the northern section of Lassen Volcanic National Park,  by Vincente Olivas, aka Mexican Ben. Olivas worked as a sheepherder for Cone, went crazy, and shot Logan for no apparent reason. He then threatened to kill four more men there, but his pistol repeatedly misfired, thus their lives were spared. The fate of Olivas took a strange turn of events. He turned himself in to the authorities. A trial was held in Susanville, where he was found guilty of Logan’s murder. His attorney filed a motion for a new trial and his sentencing was postponed until January 26, 1886. Housed at the Lassen County Jail with Olivas was inmate Holden Dick. Dick had been arrested and convicted for the gruesome murder of Samuel Shaw on the Madeline Plains. Dick was sentenced to death, but no date was set, as his case was being appealed to the State Supreme Court. Sometime in the middle of the night of January 23,1886, a vigilante mob broke into the jail and removed Dick and Olivas to a nearby woodshed and lynched them.

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