Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-08-17

Of Gravelle. He got a photo of Ora
velle, showed II to the man who had
talked with the rider at the haystack
when he had lost his spur and that
man said 1t was the picture of his
visitor. He was heard of at differ
ent points, but when the chase had
got very warm he had apparently left
the country. B~loodhounds we're used
but they did not accomplish anything
Saturday night, October II. a man
was see digging under a rail of the
Northern Pacific at Blossberg a few
miles west of Helena.
The Waterman fired at the man.
who ran, and in the darkness mount.
ed a horse that had been tied a short
distance away and rode off. The next
morning at daylight Major j. F. Kee.
men, Frank Latta and Bert Reynolds
took up the trail of the man and the
horse at the railroad. and, following
1t for Is miles, caught Gravelle at a
cabin in what is called Priests pass.
a trail in the main range of the Rocky
mountains.
None of the crackers knew Grayelle
and when he told them that his name
was Plummer, they hau no good rea.
son 10 doubt him. Whoever he was,
they we're sure he was the mar who
had left the impression of his COW.
boy boot at the track near Bloss.
berg and an examination of the front
foot of his horse proved to them
the same horse had made the tracks
from the railroad to the cabin. One
of the hoofs of the horse, the animal
being unshod, was broken and that
was the trail made to the house over
the mountain road.
When Gravelle was brought TO
town he was identified by McFet-
ridge as the convict by that name.
though he still denied his name and
kept his denial up until after he was
put in Jail. When Gravelle was ar
rested there was littio evidence to
connect him with the crime. Special
Agent McFetridge first took the let
tiers over TO the ~penitentiary and
there he compared the first six with
the writing of Gravelle. He also got
hold of letters Gravelle had written
w BNiooDo oulolut vi llle DtnlltulldI
and he was convinced the letters
were written by him. Then he found
Gravelle had taken a cane out of the
pe%nitentiary with him, and the let.
tiers still retained the curled appear
ance they would have assumed II
they had been wrapped around a cane.
Then he got hold of prison orders
written by Gravelle and he found the
writing on them corresponded with
that in the letters received by the
railroads. Sure Gravelle was the
right man, or at least one of them,
he began to trace his every movement
from the time he left the penitentiary
until he vas arrested. II was a hard
task, but he kept after 1t day after
day until finally he had almost Ora.
velle's every movement down.
In his Investigations he found Ora
velle had stopped while in Helena
with the family of Myron Shanks, an
expressman. He got from Shanks
and his wife the days ON which Ora
velle had been at their house. Fl
nally McFetridge was convinced that
Shanks knew something of the work
of Gravelle, and one day Shanks told
him of having mailed letters, one to
Hannaford of the Northern Pacific,
and one to Vice President Blabon OF
the Great Northern. Later Shanks
told McFetridge of confessions he had
made to him about his dynamiting
operations. and how he had told
Shanks that when he had got the
money he wanted Shanks to go east
with $4,000 or 100000 and have il
changed for other bills for fear the
railroad would give him marked
money. Having the statements OF
Shanks, and later of the father of
Shanks, McFetridge then began the
work of verifying such parts of their
stories as could be verified. Success
attended his efforts with the result
that when the trial began the state
first put in its circumstantial evidence
and then followed it by the direct
testimony of the two Shanks.
At the trial handwriting experts
and people in different parts of Mon
tana helped to build up the case
against Gravelle and link by link the
chain was forged about the eX-con.
vict. Gravelle testified in his own
behalf, denying in toto the stories of
confessions told by the Shanks, but
the CT .umstantial &" ,enor and the
testimony of witnesses who were in
no wise interested in the case was
sufficient to give the lie to his testi,
mony. Even the dynamite he stole
was traced to the powder houses he
had robbed and the fact that he had
carried the dynamite away on his
saddle after robbing a powder house
near this city was proved. II was
shown conclusively that Grayelle was
the only man outside of the peniten'
tiary connected with the outrages,
and that the plot was the conception
of Harvey Whitton, Clancy and Ora
velle. while they were confined In the
prison. Whitton and Clancy are still
in the penitentiary.
Grayelle was first sent to the pen
itentiary for grand larceny, for which
he was given two years and nin'
months. He vas out for four years
when he was again convicted Of the
same crime and was given sever
years.
For the dynamiting crime he wa
given ten years In the penitentiar!
and a fine of 10000.
After Gravelle had been sent to tn
penitentiary on conviction of the iy
namiting charge 1t was a question
whether to try him on the sam
charge in other counties. he havinI
dynamited tracks in Gallatin, Parb
Broadwater. Silver Bow, Deer Lodg
and Powell counties. Finally 1t wa
decided to try him in Lewis an
Clarke on the charge of burglarizin
the Hotter Co. powder house east @
the Northern Pacific station. Thi
trial began in June and continue
for about ten days. The same ev
denee was introduced as in the dl
uamitinp trial hut the iury failed 4