Mortally wounded by Booth's bullet, Lincoln was carried across the street to the Peterson House where he died nine hours later. The bedroom, much smaller than it is pictured in this drawing, is open to the public to this day.

John Wilkes Booth at first escaped according to his plan and was hunted for 12 days. His conspiracy plan to also eliminate the Vice President and Secretary of State failed, however, and he was not hailed as a hero in the South as expected.

Cornered in a barn, Booth was shot in the spine when he refused to surrender. In his final moments, he asked to have his hands lifted up before his eyes and reported said, "Useless, useless!" Or does he say something else? (Read our wild theory in "Booth's New Dying Words.")

The nation mourned the loss of Lincoln just days after the close of the long bloody Civil War. Members of Booth's conspiracy team were rounded up, tried and quickly executed, including Mary Surratt whose boarding house was used as a meeting place. The bodies were left hanging from the scaffold a full half hour while photographs were taken. The hoods worn by the convicted can be seen in the Lincoln Museum today with Booth's gun and knife.

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