Oct. 27 – On this day in Montana history in 1879 liquor and wine merchant John Denn was murdered in Helena. He was known to keep large sums of cash in his store and that was the apparent reason for his murder. The death ended the relative tranquility Helena had enjoyed through the 1870s and revived calls for a vigilance committee to go after the rough men in the community. The 3-7-77 warning signs of the 1860s left on the doors of people to tell them to leave the community made resurgence, but many people did not know what they meant. It showed that law and order was still a nebulous thing in the Queen City.