Who was Pat Gorman?
Pat (Patrick) Gorman was a miner and former business partner of Frank Davey, the son of mining entrepreneur Colonel John H. Davey, owner of the famous Sitting Bull Mine in Galena. Gorman and Frank Davey had entered into a mining partnership involving the McClellan claim, but the partnership soured and ended badly.
What actually happened?
In the fall of 1882, Frank Davey and a mine guard/employee named Billy Thatcher encountered Patrick Gorman near the Galena post office. Gorman was reportedly angry over the failed mining partnership and confronted Davey. According to contemporary accounts:
- Gorman began physically manhandling Frank Davey.
- Frank drew a revolver.
- Gorman took the gun away from him.
- Billy Thatcher intervened and shot Gorman.
- Gorman died from the gunshot wound.
So while the grave marker says “fight over Sitting Bull Mine,” the dispute appears to have been rooted in a failed mining partnership connected to the Davey mining interests rather than a literal fistfight over ownership of the Sitting Bull claim itself.
Was Billy Thatcher convicted?
No.
Thatcher was charged with murder, and Colonel Davey reportedly spent a significant amount of money on his defense. The case went to trial, but the jury found Thatcher not guilty, accepting the argument that he had acted in defense of Frank Davey. After the trial, Thatcher left the Black Hills and apparently never returned.
Why was this such a big deal?
At the time, the Sitting Bull Mine was one of the largest and most important mines in Galena. Colonel Davey was one of the most influential men in the camp. The killing became one of the best-known violent incidents in Galena’s history because it involved:
- one of the town’s most prominent mining families,
- an active mining dispute,
- a public shooting,
- and a controversial acquittal.
The story in one sentence
Patrick “Pat” Gorman was a Galena miner who became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Frank Davey; during a confrontation in 1882, Davey’s employee Billy Thatcher shot and killed Gorman, was tried for murder, and was ultimately acquitted—making the incident one of the most famous killings in Galena’s mining history.
