On April 26, 1882, Hinsdale County Sheriff Edward Campbell was on a stakeout at
a vacant home in Lake City, along with Lake City Marshal Clair Smith. At 1:45am,
George Betts and James Browning entered the house to commit a burglary and were
surprised by the two officers. When Sheriff Campbell yelled for them to throw up
their hands, the response was a .44 caliber bullet through his chest, causing
almost instantaneous death.
Betts and Browning were captured within a few hours and taken to the county
jail. In the early hours of April 27th, both men were forcibly removed from the
jail by a large group of masked men. They were taken to the Ocean Wave Bridge in
Lake City and lynched.
Sheriff Campbell had served with the 32nd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.
He is memorialized at Panel: 32-E: 8 on the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington, DC and on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial at Camp
George West in Golden.
a vacant home in Lake City, along with Lake City Marshal Clair Smith. At 1:45am,
George Betts and James Browning entered the house to commit a burglary and were
surprised by the two officers. When Sheriff Campbell yelled for them to throw up
their hands, the response was a .44 caliber bullet through his chest, causing
almost instantaneous death.
Betts and Browning were captured within a few hours and taken to the county
jail. In the early hours of April 27th, both men were forcibly removed from the
jail by a large group of masked men. They were taken to the Ocean Wave Bridge in
Lake City and lynched.
Sheriff Campbell had served with the 32nd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.
He is memorialized at Panel: 32-E: 8 on the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington, DC and on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial at Camp
George West in Golden.
On April 26, 1882, Hinsdale County Sheriff Edward Campbell was on a stakeout at
a vacant home in Lake City, along with Lake City Marshal Clair Smith. At 1:45am,
George Betts and James Browning entered the house to commit a burglary and were
surprised by the two officers. When Sheriff Campbell yelled for them to throw up
their hands, the response was a .44 caliber bullet through his chest, causing
almost instantaneous death.
Betts and Browning were captured within a few hours and taken to the county
jail. In the early hours of April 27th, both men were forcibly removed from the
jail by a large group of masked men. They were taken to the Ocean Wave Bridge in
Lake City and lynched.
Sheriff Campbell had served with the 32nd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.
He is memorialized at Panel: 32-E: 8 on the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington, DC and on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial at Camp
George West in Golden.
a vacant home in Lake City, along with Lake City Marshal Clair Smith. At 1:45am,
George Betts and James Browning entered the house to commit a burglary and were
surprised by the two officers. When Sheriff Campbell yelled for them to throw up
their hands, the response was a .44 caliber bullet through his chest, causing
almost instantaneous death.
Betts and Browning were captured within a few hours and taken to the county
jail. In the early hours of April 27th, both men were forcibly removed from the
jail by a large group of masked men. They were taken to the Ocean Wave Bridge in
Lake City and lynched.
Sheriff Campbell had served with the 32nd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.
He is memorialized at Panel: 32-E: 8 on the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington, DC and on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial at Camp
George West in Golden.
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