August 13, 1896 - Bank of Montpelier Robbery

The motivation behind the robbery of the Bank of Montpelier was to raise funds for Matt Warner’s legal troubles. Warner found himself in a mess after getting involved with a shady mining promoter by the name of E.B. Coleman, an association that would result in the deaths of two men for which Warner and his friend Bill Wall were arrested on murder charges. While in jail, Warner managed to send word to Butch Cassidy explaining his dilemma and that he was in dire needs of money to hire a lawyer. Cassidy responded by robbing the bank in Montpelier and sending his personal lawyer, Douglas Preston, to represent Warner.

Prior to the robbery, Butch Cassidy, Bub Meeks and Elzy Lay, using the aliases George Ingerfield, Willie McGinnis and Marty Makensie respectively, spent some time working a ranch near Border, Colorado to get a feel of the area. By August 13, 1896 they were ready.

The outlaws arrived at the bank shortly after three o’clock. While Meeks waited outside with the horses, Butch and Lay stepped into the bank, pulling bandanas over their faces as they entered. On duty were E.C. Gray, the cashier, and his assistant A.N. “Bud” McIntosh. Two Montpelier councilmen, William Perkins and Ed Hoover, were also inside as customers of the bank when Cassidy and Lay walked in.

The bandits drew their guns and ordered everyone against the wall. While one of the robbers covered the customers and two employees, the other gathered the cash. They asked McIntosh to give up the rest of the bills, but he claimed there was no more. The outlaws responded by hitting him in the head with the butt of a gun, McIntosh reconsidered and gave up the money. While he was gathering up the funds, McIntosh was able to get a clear view of the unmasked Meeks waiting outside. This would prove to be the beginning of the end for Bub Meeks.

Ironically, McIntosh had a loaded Winchester in the bank that he kept for situations like this, but ultimately he was too surprised to use it. Adding insult to injury, the outlaws took the rifle along with stolen currency. Butch covered the crowd, while Lay went outside to load the horses. Once Lay and the horses were situated, Cassidy backed out of the bank warning the men inside to remain silent and not move for ten minutes. Cassidy mounted his horse and the three men beat a hasty exit out of town.

Once they could no longer hear the sounds of horses, Gray ran from the bank to sound the alarm. Bear Lake Deputy Sheriff Fred Cruickshank, at the time working his regular job at the general store just down the street, answered Gray’s call. Jumping into action, the unarmed Cruickshank ran from the store and began to pursue the outlaws via the only transportation available to him; a bicycle.

Outclassed as he was, Cruickshank managed to determine the general direction of the outlaws escape route and pass that information to Bear Lake County Sheriff M. Jefferson Davis. Along with his deputy, Mike Malone, Davis wasted no time in gathering a posse and pursuing the outlaws.

Unfortunately for Davis and Malone, by the time the posse reached Montpelier Canyon many of the riders had second thoughts. Rather than let the sheriff know this, the posse slowed their pace until the two lawmen were far enough ahead of them to retreat without being seen. As they were leaving the canyon the former posse members heard the sounds of gunfire, which they believed could only mean the bandits had killed the two lawmen. Upon their arrival back in town, the posse members informed the town of the lawmen’s fate.

In reality, the officers realized they were dealing with pros soon after entering the canyon. Without a posse to back them up, Davis and Malone decided to turn back as well. While news of their deaths traveled fast, their arrival back in town didn’t and the following day the officers read about their tragic fate in the morning paper. Undaunted by the news, Davis and Malone were able to put together a new, a presumably braver, posse to pursue the outlaws, but by this time the bandits had too great a lead and the officers were unable to catch them.

The outlaws got away with $16,500.00 and were able to retain Preston to defend Warner. Sometime later Meeks was arrested for another crime and, acting on a hunch, the arresting officer brought McIntosh to have a look at him. McIntosh was able to positively identify Meeks and he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Cassidy and Lay were never brought to justice for the Montpelier robbery.