A Terrible Tragedy  ~  1886 Arroyo Grande, California

On March 31, 1886, Peter Hemmi and his son Julius were hanged from the Pacific Coast Rail Road bridge in Arroyo Grande, CA.  Peter had accused his neighbors, the Walkers, of encroaching on his land.  When the courts did not find any evidence of encroachment, Mr. Hemmi became angry and began harassing the Walkers.  One day, in anger, Peter and Julius went to the Walkers and shot both Mr. and Mrs. Walker as they worked in their garden.  Mr. Walker died instantly; Mrs. Walker crawled for help.  Later that day, the Hemmis were arrested and placed in the Arroyo Grande jail. That night, about midnight, the guards were tied up and locked in a store room and the Hemmis were hanged from the bridge. There are no records that an attempt was made to identify the persons responsible for the hanging.