Glacier County chief., 1939-07-14


of this yard in 10 minutes will order
the guard to shoot you"
the key, looked at Conley minute,
then threw the key to the ground and
walked away.
An Authority on Crime
Conley was thorough criminologist.
He made a study of criminals and
prisons and was recognized as ma
tional authority on crime. He was
strict warden in his rules and at the
same time he was humane warden.
He made both his wards and his
guards live up to the rules.
In 1909 delegation Of prison ward
ems from various states were visiting
the western prisons and stopped off
at Deer Lodge. After they had made
a thorough examination OF the insti-
tuition and saw how it was run they
were asked what they thought OF IT.
prison at Saltwater said: II think Mr..
Conley has the finest system of guard
ing that could be devised. only wish
we could have it at Saltwater prison,
but there is a railroad running through
our yards which would make 1t i'm
possible to put Mr.. Conleys system
in force. I cannot see for the life of
me how a man could make his escape
from inside the wall at this place"
1t is a well known fact that while
Frank Conley was warden at Deer
Lodge, not one man ever made his
escape from the inside. One convict
named Hartwell one day took desper-
ate chance while he was working on
the electric light system. He was at
the top of one of the poles near the
wall and suddenly he started going
hand over hand on the main cable
which went over the wall. The. guard
was watching some prisoners in an
see Hartwen till he. had cleared the
wall. The guard grabbed up his rifle
and ran out on the wall just as Hart
we'll who had dropped at least %
feet, had gotten up and started TO
run across the street toward some
buildings. The guard called on him
to halt, then dropping on one knee
Hartwell dropped on his face and when
he was brought in it was found that
he had been shot squarely between the
shoulders and must have died in
stantly.
Prison Is Enlarged
The number of prisoners increased
at Deer Lodge and room for them was
scarce, and Conley got another large
! dollhouse built and the yard enlarged.
date. 1t had four tiers of cells in the
cell block. each cell built for two oc-
cupants. Each cell was lighted by cleo
tricity and had running water and a
toilet in it. The doors of the cells, in
stead of being locked one at a time,
were all locked at once by a lever:
Any one or more doors on each gallery
could be kept locked and the rest
opened by means of a little switch
board full of holes with numbers cor
responding to those on the cell doors
and a number of small pegs. A three
foot railed-in walk extended clear
around the wall of the building at a
distance of Is feet from the cells and
midway between the second and third
tier of cells. There are four safety
cages, one on each corner Of this walk
where the guard can lock himself in
in case of an emergency. and from
which he can notify the yard guards
building all the time and from p. m.
till a. m. he must make complete
round of the cell block every Is min
utes, and one of the yard guards
makes the rounds inside and has two
clocks to ring. 1t seemed to everyone
who visited Deer Lodge prison that
Frank Conley had reached PERFECTION
in his system of guarding the states
prisoners.
Taken Over by State
In 1909 Conley and McTague were
underbid for the contract for the
keeping of the prisoners. All the i'm
provementS at the prison, dollhouse,
dining room, kitchen, the various
shops, ETC., had been built by Conley
and McTague under contracts with
the state, and t greater ter part thsn OF The
successful bidders were unable to pay
Conley and McTague the amount due
on the improvements and could not
take over the control of the prison
unless this obligation was met. Conley
refused to continue to control the
bidders, and the state took over con-
troll of the prison and appointed Frank
Conley as warden.
Conley was relieved as warden OF the
prison in 1921 by Gov. Joe Dixon, and
M. v. Potter of Red Lodge was named
as his successor. Conley thereafter de-
voted his time to private business af-
for rs years and would have been
elected again but for his positive re-
fusal to run. While Conley was a
deputy sheriff in Custer county he
made many friends and incidentally
quite few enemies among a certain
class of residents Of that county. He
duties but he did not use his badge
to abuse his authority. He loved a
practical joke and never got angry
when the Joke was on him. His hobby
was pin pool and he put in the greater
part Of his spare time playing that
game.
Chicken and turkey shoots were
weekly event during the fall at Miles
City at that time, and he used to win
many a chicken by shooting the head
off at a distance Of 40 yards The
body Of the bird would be concealed
behind a anvil and only the head would
be visible.
One Sunday a rancher named Jim
Turner was putting up a number of
chickens to be shot at, two shots for
Is cents Turner was well known for
his closeness IN money matters. The