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November 29, 1892 - Great Northern
No. 23 Robbery
In the days leading up to the Great
Northern train robbery near Malta, Montana, the Sundance Kid spent his
time hanging out with his friend and partner Bill Madden. The two men
could usually be found knocking back drinks at Alex Black’s Saloon in
Malta.
When the westbound Great Northern #23
stopped in Malta on November 29, 1892, it picked up more than just passengers.
Three men: Sundance, Madden, and Harry Bass, boarded the train as
well. Once the train left the station the trio made their way to the
front of the train, donning masks just before entering the engine car.
Confronted by the outlaws, the engineer
was left with no choice to but to succumb to their wishes, stopping the
train about a mile up the tracks near a fire set by the bandits. While one
of them men covered the engineer and fireman, the other two made their way
to the mail car encountering the train’s conductor, Bywater, and the
brakeman along the way. The outlaws ordered Bywater to call out to the
mail clerk to open the car, which the clerk promptly did. While one of the
robbers covered the Great Northern employees, the other searched the car.
Finding nothing of value, the group moved on to the express car.
Adhering to formula, one of the bandits
entered the car while the other kept the train personnel at bay. Inside
the car, the bandit ordered the messenger clerk, Jerry Havert, to open the
safes. Havert claimed he did not know the combination to the through safe,
but complied with opening the local safe. Once opened, the outlaw
discovered $19.20 along with some checks. Disappointed, but not
too proud to take the money, the outlaw grabbed the cash and left the car.
Divided between three men, their total score would be $6.40 a piece.
Newspaper accounts of the robbery
reported that Havert did in fact know the combination to the safe and had
duped the outlaws. Had they pressed the issue and gotten into the safe,
the outlaws would have found themselves $25,000 richer.
After
fleeing the scene, the outlaws defied all logic and returned to Malta.
Bass and Madden acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary and went back
to drinking at Alex Black’s saloon. They were arrested at the
saloon and convicted of the crime. Harry Bass received ten years, while
Madden was sentenced to fourteen. Both men served their sentences at the
state penitentiary in Deer Lodge, Montana. The Sundance Kid and Alex Black were
arrested together on the same night, ironically as they boarded an
eastbound train at the Malta train station. Black was later released
without being charged. Madden and Bass later gave up Sundance as the third
man involved in the robbery, but by that time Sundance had already escaped
his captors.
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