On this night in 1899, in the rural community of Tallulah, in northeast Louisiana, amongst the large farms of the Mississippi Delta, a parish coroner shoots a neighbor's goat that he accuses of trespassing. He then pistol-whips the Sicilian immigrant who confronts him. The man's brother shoots the coroner with birdshot.

A violent mob gathers and apprehends all five Italian men living in town. They hang three of the men from a cattle-pen gallows. The other two flee for their lives.

Investigators later find that the conflict over the goat was a pretext planned by local merchants fearing competition and immigrant voting rights. No one is ever charged for the lynching.

The government of Italy threatens to sever relations with the U.S. but Congress pays Italy a cash indemnity in 1901.