The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-02-10
RECALLS MURDER
OF W. ]. PENROSE
MYSTERY OF THE KILLING OF
BUTTE EDITOR BAFFLED
MANY DETECTIVES


rays Efforts to Locate the Muir.
derer; Penrose's Controversy with
Mine superintendent.
BY Frank Trainor
There is an old saying ''mur.
der will OUT" and there are many
old timers i'm Montana who are
wondering IL that expression viii
como true in ono Of the many un.
solved mysteries Of Butte. WIN
the future death-bed confession Of
some conscience-tortured wretch
bare the details Of the atr0cious |
crime which stirred Montana to its
depths, or will the tragedy 60 down
In criminal annals as another Of
solution ON judgment day? For
it was thirty years ago last June
that w. ]. Penr0se was shot down
ut midnight ON q street corner Of
that city, and the motive of the
crime and the identity of his slayer
or slayers are yelled in as much
Obscurity now as when his nfeless
body was found within one hum.
dred feet Of his home.
Feeling in Butte ran high over the
horror of the tragedy. It was ap-
the cold-blooded, deliberate
act Of some miscreant who had lain
In wait for his victim. The assassin
made sure of his work, for Penrose
was first struck down with a billy
made of a sawed-off shovel handle
plugged with lead and while pros
trate the gun was held at close range
to the back Of his head and q bullet
sent crashing through his brain. To
all appearances 1t was murder for
and not for robbery. It was
not only the atrociousness of the
crime that stirred Butte, but the fear
that others who had shared Penrose's
views might meet the same fate. The
dead man had been outspoken and
vigorous in condemnation of what
ever he believed to be wrong and
the popular belief was that his death
was the work of some cowardly
wretch who had suffered exposure
for his misdeeds by the unsparing
pen of his victim.
Conjectures, suspicious and theor-
les there were a-plenty. Big rewards
were offered for the apprehension of
the assassins and scores of detectives
followed blind trails leading to no.
where. For months the town was
overrun by an army Of detectives all
eager to earn the rewards and sus-
poets were surrounded by swarms Of
male and female sleuths. Detectives
were given jobs in mines. mills and
smelters in the hope that some
chance word spoken by q worker
would furnish q clue. Sweethearts
Of suspects suddenly found them
selves the center of attraction for
the attentions Of newly-arrived gal
lants who posed as workingmen but
who were Pinkerton detectives. The
cumulation Of all their efforts was
the arrest of three suspects, who
were later freed after q rather SEN
sational hearing in the Butte courts.
There was one ludicrous incident
Of the grim tragedy, which has never
been told. The late James A. Murray
was q warm friend Of Penrose and
he took an active interest in the
search for the murderers. He engag.
ed q number Of detectives. one Of
them being Walsh Of the Denver Pin.
kerton force. noted for his success
In running down criminals. Walsh
secured . job In . mine and worked
there several weeks. He was q lib.
eral spender and hail-fellow, we'll
met among his miner comrades whom
he facetiously dubbed his "Molly
Mcguire chums." Now Pinkertor
men were never at any time hospit
ably welcomed by certain elements II
Butte, and at this particular time
they were unquestionably persons
non grata-as they used to say II
Dublin gulch-for there was q stronl
undercurrent Of feeling among man,
Of the workers that the deceased Pen
rose had FASTENED his own obseQuie'
by his untimely criticism.
Detective h Unmarked
One night In q Granite street bar
room. Walsh and . bunch Of his al
legged molly Mcguire" comrade,
were drinking success to crime whel
q Colorado miner ambled in and join
ed the group. Beneath the rough dis
guise Of the miner the newcomer de
tected one Of the hated Pinkertons
for he had met Walsh before and h
probably regretted the meeting. Tn
miners were pretty we'll along II
their cups and ripe for mischief 81
there was . decided sensation In thei
midst when the stranger ''bawle'
out" the Pinkerton ''spy." Now wer
this tale founded on fiction instea'
Of fact. the detective at bay woul
have pulled some melodramatic stunt
confounded his accusers and bough