... ready and willing, with no particularly strong motive, to murder his alleged lover’s ex-husband after filling the ears of three witnesses with the details of his plan and letting one of them witness it directly? And after having done this, did he calmly go home, climb into bed, and carry on with his ordinary life, waiting for the sheriff to come slap the cuffs on him? Yes, the jury decided; that’s exactly what happened .... Joseph Drake's was the first legal execution of an African-American in Oregon history — although it seems very likely that the hanging was legal in name only. (Salem, Marion County; 1885) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1801d.joseph-drake-murderer-or-innocent-patsy-480.html)