The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent., 1921-05-27
TWO SWUNG FROM ALLOWS AT STATE PENTEMTARY DOZEN
YEARS AGO FOR URDER0US ASSAULT ON WARDEN AND DEPUTY
written by ID. J. O'Malley, Nm Kid.

written by d. J. O'Niallcy, Nm Kid.
Almost every little town in east
ern Montana during the days of the
stockmen b0asted q saloon and al
most every one of these towns had
at least one killing during the life
of the saloon. Jordan was one of
these and the killing was the murder
of Ed Curl by George Rock, saloon
keeper, which occurrence led up to
the murder of John Robinson, deputy
warden at the state prison at Deer
Lodge, and the hanging of Rock and
his accomplice, William Hayes.
Jordan in 1904 was a small inland
town about 100 miles north of Miles
City and on the Big Dry creek. 1t
was quite a trading point for the
many sheepmen and ranchers located
in that section of the country. It
consisted of a general store, livery
and feed stable, hotel, blacksmith
shop, half q dozen dwellings, and
the inevitable saloon, which was
owned and operated by George Rock,
who also conducted an eating house.
Curl, who opened the first saloon in
Jordan but who had sold out, was one
Of the boarders at Rocks place.
Rocks wife did the cooking.
Rock was insanely jealous of his
wife and was always threatening
trouble, and he seemed to be jealous
Of Curl in particular and from all
accounts, without cause. Rock was
very handy with his six shooter and
many a drunken sheepherder or
ranchman who was In for good
time felt the force Of 1t If they OBJ
jected to their change after buying
a round of booze for Rocks favorite
method Of doing business was to
short change a drunken man and If
any objections were raised, knock
the objector out with his gun. He
wanted to be known as q bad man
and to be classed as killer. He
was surly and overbearing to all
and rarely had pleasant word for
q person and was cordially disliked
by most of those who knew him. Curl
was exactly the opposite of Rock.
He was q good natured, big-hearted
man, an ex-cowboy. He always had
a CHEEKY answer when spoken to and
was liked by all who knew him, ex-
cept Rock.
It was on the evening of October
10, 1904, that Curl was killed. Rock
had been to Miles City on q business
trip, namely, to bring out load Of
wet goods for his saloon, and when
he returned he was in q sullen frame
of mind. It was evident he had
bumped into some Of the big poker
games in Miles City and had not pros
pered. For q couple of days he was
oil 0ct hoA fC
gun on several luckless ones who
happened to incur his displeasure. On
the evening Of the 18th, he was be-
hind the bar waiting on some Gus
toners when someone remarked.
well, it's close to eating time,
guess. There goes Ed to his supper. -
the bar over to his bartender, put
on his hat and coat. put his revolver
in the waistband of his pants and
left the saloon. He went directly to
his home. which was at the opposite
end of the street from his saloon.
Curl was sitting in the front room
talking to someone who had just
come to town. They we're waiting
for supper. Rock opened the door
and said, ED, come here a minute;
want to speak to YOU" Curl got
up and walked out, closing the door
after him. He had scarcely stepped
out on the porch when Rock said
&C. d. you, Curl, I'm going to gel
you right now" and jerking his pis.
toll. fired. Curl fell to the ground
and died in q short while. Before
he died he said he didn't know what
Rock shot him for and could not see
what he had against him.
Rock was arrested and taken t1
Glendive, where he was tried fol
murder. The case caused consider.
able interest as both parties were
we'll known, one favorably and thu
other unfavorably. Though the case
was fought very stubbornly by some
relatives of Rocks, he was founG
guilty of murder in the first degree
and sentenced on March Is, 1905, tt
serve 80 years in the state prison a,
Deer Lodge.
At the prison he proved to be /:
troublesome inmate. He was sullel
and disobedient and put in a goot
many days in the dungeon for break
ing rules. He was disliked by al
the guards and by a majority of tn,
prisoners. All the time he was ther,
he was planning to escape. In som,
mysterious way he gained the con
ifidence OF three of his fellow prison
ers. one named Hayes, who was fin
ishing a ten-year term: one nance
Stevens, also ten-year man, an,
one named Young, who was doin,