Click here to exit this issue

Page 1 of the October 1996 ISSUE OF PASS PATROL CAMPFIRE TALES

The September issue included here contains the stories and not the advertisements. Keep in mind, the stories here were written in 1996.  

This issue includes
Outlaw Trail Spoof, Tipton Hold-up Getaway, Badhat & the Bear, Hancock Pass

WAGNER TRAIN ROBBERY

The actual events of this holdup are widely disputed.  This is one version and is the one I like.

On July 3, 1901, the Great Northern Express from St. Paul pulled into Malta, Montana. One of its passengers sat quietly in the back with his hat pulled over his eyes. He could not take a chance that someone would recognize him. His face had been appearing on wanted posters since he made the mistake of going to Ft. Worth, Texas and having a photo taken with four other outlaws.

As the train prepared to leave, another passenger with his hat pulled low stepped aboard. He also was concerned about being recognized since he was in that same photo. The first passenger, Butch Cassidy, looked up and acknowledged his partner, Sundance Kid, with a nod.

In the meantime, Kid Curry, boarded the train from the water tower above and hid behind the engineer in the tinder. He had been in that photo too, however, he was already well known for his outlaw activities in Montana.  He had first hit the outlaw trail after killing a lawman in Landusky many years ago.  

When the train began to move, he stepped forward with his gun pulled and instructed the engineer to keep the train moving until he was ordered to stop. That order came about half way between Malta and Wagner at the bridge over Exeter Creek.

While Butch and Sundance kept the passengers covered, two other members of the Wild Bunch came out of the brush with getaway horses. Kid Curry used dynamite to open the safe. Within a few minutes, the Wild Bunch collected $60,000 and rode off in a cloud of dust. They were headed for the Missouri Breaks on the Missouri River.