The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1934-02-23

It was not until he was offered a dol
lar and five minutes, with the prospect
of losing his other leg, that he cleared
out Of the way. At the top Of the divide
between Bozeman and Livingston, the
herd was thrown into a stampede by
a Northern Pacific train that roared
out of the big tunnel. The cattle crash
ed through the corrals of a rancher
located on the hillside there and stam-
peded 20 head of his cattle. This had
to be squared" with the local ranch
hands at the nearest bar, before the
Madison valley cattle were collected and
strung out again.
In the Pryor mountain region Dunn
worked cattle for letters and Mainard,
before settling on the ranch at Silesia,
where his brother, Dick Dunn, who
came west in 1894, now lives.
Before John Dunn had served six
months as sheriff in 1897, a gang of
five men robbed a bank at Belle
Fourche, S.. D. With officers close on
their heels, they rode hard up the Belle
Fourche river valley, and headed into
Montana to give Dunn n Of his big
gest Observation-Disclosures he did not
learn of it until September ct that
summer. !
The bandits, n of whom was said to
be the notorious Kid Currie, out-dis-
tanced pursuit through the Powder
! river region Of Montana, crossed the
Big Horn river, and reached the Pryor
mountains south of Billings, before
their trail was picked up, through the
report of a surgeon who had gone from
Billings to their camp to treat one of
the men for an injured leg. A posse
from Billings went down to the Pryors
too late to find them, for they had
moved westward. Crossing the foothills
west Of the Clark Fork river, they
struck Rock creek, and followed it south
toward the mountains. Near the present
site of Roberts, IL miles below Red
Lodge, they encamped.
, One day in id-September, several
strangers appeared in Red Lodge, and
by their suspicious actions drew atten-
ton to themselves. It was reported from
the Provinse ranch that the gang was
in camp on Rock creek, that the men
were well mounted and armed. Then
came Louie Sichler, a rancher, to the
sheriff's office, with the information
that they were the men wanted in
South Dakota, and the opinion that
they intended to do a LOB" in Red
Lodge.
Byron st. Clair, town marshal in Red
Lodge, was the only man who talked to
the strangers who visited the town,
and he was convinced that they were
planning to rob the Carbon county
bank.
Due preparation was made in the
bank, which was located in the Spofford
hotel building (now the Pollard hoteD.
Cashier Bert E. Vail and his helpers
placed shotguns and pistols ready to
! hand, and looked twice at everyone
who came in the door. But when the
sheriff started down the creek to in
vestigate the gang, it was learned that
they had saddled up and moved out,
through Absarokee in the direction of
Columbus.
A posse that gathered at Columbus
found that they were too late there.
Three men had been seen riding north
out of Columbus, and the pursurers took
up their trail. There were five in the
posse: Sheriff Dunn, Constable CAL
houn of Columbus. Dick Hicks, Lame
Billy Smith of Billings, and a young
lawyer from Red Lodge, Rodney Stone.
Hicks and Smith were in the govern
ment employe as stock inspectors, and
were known as two of the best rifle
and pistol shots in the region. Stone
rode along just "for the hell Of It," and
before they were through he got a lit
tie.
The chase started Tuesday morning,
September 20, and was continued We'd
nesday, with the trail growing warmer
as the posse neared Lavina. That eve
| ~;n~ thu offioore roS3o Iou~ ox,ar n hill
and came upon the fugitives IS they
were making camp for the night, neal
the Musselshell river. When called up
up rifles and ran to we under a cut
behind a rock ledge, and the smoking
out process was started.
The siege lasted about IS minutes,
the officers sending bullets humming
over the edge of the bank, keeping the
outlaws under cover. Dunn, Hicks and
Smith did the rifle work, while Calhoun
getting shot, pulling him down every
time he trust his head and shoulders
above the rocks.
edge of the bank and caught one Of the
made q panic-stricken break for the
horses, and succeeded in mounting one
of the animals that had been concealed
near the earthwork. A bullet sent the
horse rolling heels over withers, dis
abling the rider. At that, the officers
rushed in and made the capture.
Guns and ammunition enough to fill
a washtub" were confiscated by the
officers. Before the prisoners were
bound. of them asked permission
to walk over and retrieve his hat from
where it had fallen to the ground.
stand still, and I'll get the hat" said
Dunn, and he picked up the hat, as well
as the loaded six-shooter that lay be-
meath it.
The bandits were taken IN BILLINGS