CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1903-06-25
A Desperate Escape

cism. however, is generally ac-
companied With the appreciation OF
the fact that the guard in question
might have only been obeyinp orders,
that he might not have known who
Mrs. Cleghorn was and that his
suspicious may have been aroused by
the very fact that it was convict was
attempting TO tell him that the lady
was the wartien's wife and Who was
trying to pursuade him to allow her To
pass.
None OF the guards inside the
pepitentisry are ever a med. 1t"ould
be entirely impractical for them TO
carry weapons because of the impossi-
bility of them always being on the
lookout for an attack. Some OF the
life men in the prison, or others with
shorter terms but equally dangerous,
would not hesitate to TAKE any chance
to gain possession OF a weapon and an
armed guard on the inside would be
subject to attack were he to relax
vigilance a single moment.
Af.t.smpt Was Absolutely Hopeless
One of the features of the affair is
that it illustrates the blind desire of
imprisoned men for liberty. Not one
chance in ten thousand existed for any
one Of tte men to escape, even with the
assurance that they would get without
the prison walls. And the chances for
them to successfully dynamite the
gates and get on the outside were even
less than that. Had they not captured
Mrs. Cleghorn they would have been
moved down by the rifles Of the guards
1t the front entrance and in the hall
way. IA
Even had they gotten outside the
walls. without Mrs. Oleghorn in their
midst, they could have been picked Oh
one at time in their flight across the
open street and the vacant plot Of
ground beyond by the rifiemen in the
towers Of the prison walls. A guard in
the central tower of the wall facing
Main street stood with bead on the
crowd until they had gone behind the
trees opposite, waiting the slightest
opportunity to fire without endanger-
ing Mrs. Cleghorn's life. Others were
in all probability eqnslly alert for u
chance to shoot.
1t is sale to say that had not Mrs.
Cleghorn been in the crowd not one
CT the men would ever have gotten
fifty yards from the front entrance to
the prison, and most Of them would
have been killed in the assault at the
gates. What is still more probable is
that one volley from the guards at the
front entrance would have driven them
all back. OF course, the fact that one
Of the prisoners had on DR.. Pslmer's
clothing and others were dressed in the
uniform of guards might have caused
the fire Of the guards to be wiihe!d
Tor short time, but the escaping men
.iad not gotten out Of gun shot before
twas generally known that they were
all convicts.
caps May HGve Been Mode n the Prison
Where the dynamite used in blowing
open the doors was secured is some-
I, what Of mystery, for instead OF being
stick dynamite such as is used in the
quarries OF the prison it is said to have
been dynamite caps Of the regulation
safe cracking kind.
Possibly some Of the ingenious prison
ers secured stick dynamite from the
penitentiary quarry and manufactured
the caps, and it may be that the caps
had been passed to the prisoners in
some unexplainable way.
Warden Cleghorn had beentold when
he first took charge Of the prison that
the prisoners had dynamite in their
possession and had made careful
search for it at different times but was
never able to find it. His information
came from convict who sad that the
dynamite had been in possession Of the
prisoner, for long time.
Kuykendall, the desperate leader who
was killed, has an act to his credit in
the escape. Steward Keefe came in
the way Of the prisoners during the
break and the convicts set up . cry
that Keefe should be killed. Kuyken-
dali. however. ordered. them to desist
and undoubtedly saved Keefe's life.
Nothing short Of fate kept "keddy"
Armstrong from getting away. Dressed
in DR.. Palmer's elegant tailor made
suit and with the doctors nose glasses
on Armstrong went sauntering through
town, unconcernedly looking around
~ though he were stranger taking
casual walk through the city.
Will Cleghorn was at the Peabody
home on River street when the alarm
was sounded, and he and James Pea-