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== Murder Suspects ==

One of the most widely held and very plausible opinions is that Meagher was killed at the hands of Wilbur Fisk Sanders. He was the founder and leader of the Vigilante Committee, possessed vast monetary resources and had personal access to vigilantes who felt as he did towards Meagher. Additionally, and oddly, he was the man with who Meagher spent his last day. He also had a political motive for eliminating the Irishman as Fisk held ambitions of being a U.S. Senator and feared that Meagher would stand in his way. Unbeknownst to him, and most everyone, Meagher had no inclination to further his political career. In fact, a new governor to Montana was appointed by President Andrew Johnson and Meagher had resigned his post as Secretary of the territory. His last official act was to travel to Fort Benton, Montana on July 1, 1867 in order to proceed one hundred twenty miles down the Missouri river by steamboat to retrieve rifles sent by General Sherman for the purpose of protecting Montana citizens from a perceived Indian threat. General Meagher wanted to live the remainder of his life in solitude and out of the public eye.

Sanders was supposedly unaware of this, however; eyewitness accounts and his own testimony swear that the two men spent the entire day together in Fort Benton. It is very plausible that at some point these two outspoken politicians discussed plans for their futures. Neither man was shy about expressing himself or about prodding others for information. It can therefore be argued that Sanders did in fact know that Meagher had no intention of obstructing his path to the U.S. Senate, thus eliminating Sanders’ motive for wanting Meagher eliminated. Without a motive and with the knowledge that Meagher was no longer a threat politically or in any other fashion, Sanders had no reason to have Meagher murdered. That being the case, other suspects can be addressed.

Judge Munson has been mentioned as a possible assassin due to his outrage over the Daniels affair the previous year. He, too was a member of the Vigilante Committee with vast resources. One must ask; does an overturned sentence to a relatively obscure citizen warrant the assassination of a man one year later? If Munson was so inclined to have Meagher murdered, why would he wait a full year? Meagher could have been captured and killed anytime over that span and any of the hundreds of vigilantes in Virginia City would have been accused. No, if Munson wanted Meagher dead, he would have acted sooner and in a more logical fashion.

Another theory that has received some consideration is that the English came for Meagher. Although Meagher was technically a fugitive from the Crown’s justice, it is unlikely that England sent a force to capture or kill him at that particular time. As commander of the Irish Brigade, Meagher’s whereabouts had never been a secret, giving a foreign government ample opportunity to arrest him. Further, if the British did in fact catch up with Meagher, they would have brought him back alive to use as an example to others wanting to rebel against England. There were, however; British soldiers in Fort Benton that day to investigate a reported plot against the Crown by the Fenian Brotherhood. Several days prior to Meagher’s death an Irish-American cavalryman killed a captain in the English Army about another steamboat on the Missouri. It has been speculated that killing Meagher was a form of English retribution, yet no suspects have ever been named.<ref>Egan, 303.</ref>

Another theory is that Meagher was killed by angry Native Americans who were unhappy with recent treaties presented by Meagher. This is also unlikely as Meagher was exposed while on route to Fort Benton for more than a week. He was much more susceptible while on a trail in the wilderness than he was in a populated town where he was rarely alone. This theory is highly unlikely. By eliminating Sanders, Munson, Indians, and the British the murder hypothesis can be considered highly unlikely.