During the summer of 1877, a party of men were discovered northwest of Rapid City.  They were believed to be Indians planning to attack the town.  When a group of men from Rapid City approached them, they were found to be three white men.  One was a boy of about 16 years of age, designated "Kid Hall''.  His real name was Mansfield and he was from Austin, Minnesota.

The other two men, Louis Curry ("Red Curry") and A.J. Allen ("Doc Allen"), were horse thieves.  They were all given a preliminary hearing with Curry and Allen admitting their guilt.  Kid Hall pleaded not guilty.  Both Allen and Curry told the judge that the boy was innocent.  They said they had only met him that day as he was walking along the road.  They had stopped and offered him a ride on one of the horses. 

All three were bound over to circuit court and were placed in a log cabin with a guard to watch over them.  A mob of masked men appeared and took the three to a large pine tree south of town, just north of the present Dinosaur Park.  Ropes were flung over a branch of the tree for a hanging.

Allen and Curry continued to attest to the innocence of the young boy.  All three, however, were strung up and the rocks kicked out from under them.  The mob dispersed and the bodies were left hanging.

The following morning, the Justice of the Peace went up to the hill to investigate.  He found the ropes had slackened, letting the victim's feet touch the ground.  As their hands were tied behind their backs, they had struggled and wiggled around until they were strangled to death.  This gave the name "Strangle Town" to Rapid City.

Nothing was done to the party of men who took the law into their own hands that night in Rapid City.  They spent the rest of their lives living with the truth of what they had done under that large pine tree on Hangman's Hill.