The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-15

who robbed the bank of Meeker and the
citizens, and tonight three robbers lie OF
cooling boards in the yinorgue, and three
citizens were wounTsd by the thieves be-
fore they bit the dust. The dead are:
GEORGE HARRIS,
CHARLES JONES,
WILLIAM SMITH.
Without doubt, it is the most daring
attempt ii the history of this section of
the country for a long time-in the storm
center of Indian wars and exciting events
able.
The robbers entered the town from
North, mounted, and proceeded TO the
bank without any atten1P. at concealment
OF themselves. The bank is located in a
general store, one of the largest of the
trading houses in this section of the coun-
try. They stepped quickly into the room,
two of them remaining in the center,
while one of them approached the bank
window where the cashier was engaged
in conversation with a depositor, and
brushing him aside,
THRUST A REVOLVER IN HIS FACE.
The man lodged, and the sound of pis-
toll shot caused the cashier to raise his
hands. Then the two men in the center
of the store commanded everybody to
hold up their hands or die. Nobody
wanted to die Cashier Mouton then
opened the doors of the safe, at the point
of revolver, and the contents of the
strong box were removed, after which
the robbers took all the firearms in the
possession of the men in the store, and
then forced them to leave by rear door
where they had hitched their horses.
But the robbers had miscalculated
They forgot the kind of stuff the people
Of Meeker are made of, and as they
stepped through the door, it was to find
that the building had been surrounded by
the townspeople. who were aroused by
the shots and fha alfpTna tive nf
dering or fighting it out was presented to
them. They raised their revolvers and
COMMENCED TO FIRE
Immediately. Then commenced one of the
most desperate battles. Bullets cut the
air, penetrated the buildings and hailed
through the crowd. 1t is a wonder that
more men were not killed, but the rob-
bers were surrounded They had fired the
first shot and had to accept the c0nse-
quences OF their folly.
The first shot of the fusilade was fired
at Deputy Sheriff William Clark. The
bank officers and those in the store broke
for cover. Guns We're distributed among
them. and the robbers. finding themselves
alone, opened fire, shooting at everybody
in sight The people of the town COM
it takes to tell it, about 100 shots We're
fired and three men fell to the ground.
The robbers fell,
DEFIANT AND FIRING.
Two OF them died in an instant. their
skulls split, their hearts and other por-
tons of their bodies penetrated by rife
balls. One of the men. who gave his
name as Harris, lived for an Hour and
gave the names of his pals as stated
above. The names are undoubtedly as
sumed, but the man who gave his name
as Harris died with the secret OF their
identify-loyal to the last to his partners
in crime. Jones and Harris We're literally
riddled with bullets, and that Harris lived
50 long is remarkable There were per-
haps 100 men in the vicinity of the place
at the time, but the wounds received were
slight The robbers managed to empty
their revolyers, putting UP
ONE OF THE GAMEsT FIGHTS
ever. recorded in criminal annals.
The money. less than thousand dollars,
was recovered. The men were not known.
They were never seen in these parts be-
fore Smith was about 20 and the others
about 80 They were magnificent speci-
mems of physical manhood. Where they
came from and what they We're previous
to Coming is a mystery. Charles Jones.
the leader, was a typical specimen of
rough frcntiersman, and from his make
up. Just the sort of a man who would
embark in such daring exploit The
robbery was well Planned. The men, by
their actions, showed themselves to be
would have escaped with the money
which they secured had it not been for
the fact that they fired the first shot in
the bank thus giving the alarm, which
resulted in their being cornered and shot
several men were wounded, but so
slightly as not TO be of consequence.