Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1921-03-08
BONNERS BANDIT
DIES in PRISON
HELD UP ORIENTAL LIMITED IN
1902 Ard LATER CAROUSED IN
BONNERS FERRY
ACTIONS AROUSED SUSPICION
Spokane Officers Tipped OFF BY Local
Man and Bandits We're Captured.


ordinary interest for the people of this
vicinity has been put out by a Mon
tana newspaper service and has been
published by a number of Montana
papers the past week. 1t has to do
with the time when Bonners Ferry and
some Bonners Ferry men were closely
associated with one of the most spec
tacular train robberies ever perpe-
trated in the northwest, and resulted
in the capture of the bandits. The
story reads:
Last week in the hospital at the
federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan,
George Frankhauser, one of the two
bandits who held up the Great Nor
thern Oriental Limited train near Rom
do, Lincoln county, Mont, in Septem-
ber, 1907, and robbed the express car
of $4,000, died after lingering illness
He was serving a life term His part
ner in crime, Charles Mcdonald, was
never captured after the pair broke
Jail at Helena 1909 while awaiting
trial, but the federal authorities claim
to have positive information that he
died shortly after the Jail break.
The robbing of the Oriental Limited,
the capture of the bandits, their es-
cape from Jail and the subsequent cap
ture of Frankhauser formed one of the
most unusual chapters in the history
of crime in modern times in Montana.
On or about September 9, 1907, the
Commercial National Bank of Chicago
sent by registered mail to the Old
National Bank of Spokane $4,000 in
four packages of $4,000 each. The
money was in bills of small denomina-
tions and wrapped in units of $500
each.
Three days later, on the evening of
September H. the crack Great Nor
thern passenger train was running
along about SO miles an hour through
a heavy rain storm, when the fireman
on the locomotive, Fred Pearson.
looked up from his work of shoveling
coal to find rifle covering him. The
man behind the rifle told him to have
the train stopped about two miles fur
ther on. A second bandit climbed from
the tender into the locomotive and sat
down beside the engineer, whose name
was Shut and presently told the latter
to stop the train in rock cut through
which they were passing. The sur
face of the ground around the cut was
very rocky, dotted over with boulders
and pine trees, and sloped down to the
Kootenai river, which was couple
of hundred yards distant.
The train consisted of the express
car, blind baggage and mail car and
eight coaches. AS soon as it stopped
the fireman and engineer we're ordered
TO get off and walk to a telegraph
pole not more than IL feet away, where
the bandits had cache of dynamite
and firearms.
Frankhauser who appeared to be the
leader and director of the enterprise
then fired two shots in the air, and
ordered the engineer and fireman to
walk back to the mail and express cars
and order the mail clerk and express
messenger out. Their orders were to
go back into the passenger coaches
The mail clerk and companion in the
coach obeyed the orders, and the ex-
press messenger soon followed them
Frankhauser fired two shots over the
coaches to accelerate their action.
Frankhauser then blew open the
door of the baggage car and ordered
the engineer and fireman TO get into
the car. They did so, after which the
bandits blew open the safe, but found
no money or valuables in it. About
this time two men were noticed walk
ing along the track and were ordered
to "beat it," which they did, followed
by a few bullets to speed them on
their way.
The mail car was next entered and
the registered pouches cut open. One
was found to contain the $4,000 Sent
out by the Chicago bank. AS soon as
they found this, the robbers left the
train and ordered the engineer and
fireman to pull the train on out or the
cut, warning them not to turn on the
headlight Of the engine for 15 min
utes. While Frankhauser had beer
attending to the details of the robbery
Mcdonald had been keeping up ar
almost continuous rifle fire along the
train to keep the passengers and trair
crew within the coaches.
BIoodhouHds Lose Scent
Sheriff William H. o'Connell o.
Flathead county was at the scene o
the robbery the next day, as were rep
resentatives of the Draper Detective
agency of Spokane, the latter bringing
bloodhounds to try and trace the rob
bers. The bloodhounds took up tn
scent and followed some distance dow
the river, branching off on trail int
the mountains. Owing to the we
ground the scent was poor and th'
chase was abandoned in few hours.
Frankhauser and Mcdonald crosses
into Idaho and made for Bonners Fer
ry. where they took a room at tn
Casey hotel. They spent money freely
but no one seemed to suspect then
During the three days that they spen
in the town they squandered about $50
in Tom Riley's saloon and some $50
more in other places. They bough