Cowbow talk for
rope; in verb form to
hang (someone). Hemp
fever was a
morbidly
jocular term for a hanging. Hemp party (also string party) meant the same. A hemp committee was a group of
vigilantes or a
lynch mob (depending on your point of view) and a hemp
necktie was the rope they did the deed with.
Cool Western Slang
http://www.bibble.org/western_slang.html