Jackson Lee "Diamondfield Jack" Davis (12 Aug 1863â€"2 Jan 1949) was
pardoned for the 1896 Deep Creek Murders in Idaho and would later
strike it rich in Nevada, where he established several mining towns,
one named after his nickname "Diamondfield".Davis got his nickname
when he went west to Silver City, Idaho on the rumor of a diamond
strike. The rumor led to nothing but after talking so much about it he
got the nickname "Diamondfield Jack". After the failed prospecting
attempt Jack was hired by Sparks-Harrell cattle company on the
Idaho-Nevada border. Davis' job was to keep sheepherders off the
cattle's land and after a confrontation that led to wounding of a
sheepherder named William Tolman. The sheepherders would change their
bed every night to a different position so that the head of the bed
would be in a different direction; for the cattlemen would shoot at
the head of the beds. Davis was on the run. He began working for the
cattle company again the next year and almost immediately as he came
back to work, two sheepherders were killed in the area where he was
working. Davis became the prime suspect for the killings. A magazine
was found in the sheepwagon with a diamond drawn in blood by one of
the victims. The sheepmen were killed with .44 caliber bullets shot
out of a .45 caliber gun. Diamondfield Jack was known to have bought
.44 caliber cartridges when the correct ones were not available. As he
was heading towards Mexico, Jack was picked up by authorities in
Arizona Territory. He was transported back up to Idaho and sentenced
to hang on June 4, 1897. The day before his execution date he was
reprieved due to the confessions of two other men to the murders. In
February 1899 Davis was transferred to the Idaho State Penitentiary
where he stayed until December of that year. Davis was then
transferred back to a cell in the Cassia County jail.After Davis had
exhausted his appeals another execution date was scheduled for July 3,
1901. By the time public opinion had shifted in Jack's favor mostly
due to the confessions of James Bower and Jeff Gray and to the easing
of tension between sheep and cattle herders. The Board of Pardons
extended the execution date to July 17, much to the outrage of state
prosecutor and future Idaho Senator William Borah. Three hours before
Davis' scheduled execution, word arrived at the Cassia County sheriff
that his sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment. Davis was
moved back to the Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho until he
was finally pardoned on December 17, 1902 by Idaho Gov. Frank W.
Hunt.Upon his release Jack moved to Nevada, where he finally struck it
rich and established several mining camps in Nevada. In 1949,
Diamondfield Jack was killed by a taxi cab as he was walking in Las
Vegas, Nevada. Diamondfield Jack Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter