Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-07-19
By CHAD WALLN

Get me the morning paper! Since
II going to go to hell at IL o'clock
4 Tant to take the boys the latest
rs"
Issnry Plummer may have prayed
q pleaded on the gallows; Captain
lac may have crept and cried; but,
a william Calder.
IWillam Wallace Calder has several
'lsims to inglorious fame in the time
Fen Montana was emerging from an
irn frontier to a state of ordered
ETtulness.
without a doubt he possessed the
'Fst tongue, the most astonishing
E,ggadocio, the most weasel-like heart
4 the history of Montana crime. He
Il not equal the atrocious killings of
Lines Wilbur who murdeded two men,
IA women and a girl in their sleep
n VonTobel springs but that he did
Ia probably was only because he was
IreSted right after commission of his
'-t crime.
| What is so astonishing about the
Islder crimes Is the utter badness of
emission, the stark foolishneSs of
Ia act That, and the unchanging,
degenerate attitude of the killer.
/ me words recorded at the opening
Il this story are repeatedly Calder's
lie morning he was to gain the dis
|,nOrable distinction of being central
|I1ntana's and Fergus county's first
I1ncially executed murderer. They are
l7p!cal of his staggering attitude which
lald 10 the last moment, when, for
'ting his mother for not perjuring
lsSelf useleSsly and openly after he
I'd been proven overwhelmingly guilty,
! strobe to the gallows.
/ Those words are not listed in any
Tvs accounts of the hanging, they
&c the tale of old-timers who saw
lie execution.
Another story, also told by some of
he veterans. has a cruder side but
rTeals the mentality of the criminal
I'd the completeness of his ego.
He Evens His Score
Halsey r. Watson, then manager of
lie Fergus County Argus, was always
sessed as a dandy. Calder hated the
rgIs for publishing what he termed
hastings" Of him, which were in fact
IEly regular accounts of the crime.
lie cursed and reviled reporters and
ID who came near him but, on the
11rning of his execution. he called
TatSon to his cell stating he had
n1teSsion to make When Watson ap-
pared Calder lured him against the
aS of the cell and then suddenly
erew over him the contents Of large
E used for sanitary purposes. Calder.
Though the hour of his death was
ID hand, roared with laughter and
Ensidered that feat made him even"
Nth the newspaper men for all time.
Still another incident gives another
6elight on the perverted character
d Calder He had refused to speak to
my priests or ministers but the Rev.
Albert Pfaus, wearing civilian clothes,
Tzted the cell several times and CAL
Ger seemed to enjoy talking to him.
Finally. after one of Pfaus' visits CAL
der asked. Who is that CENT?"
"A minister" he was told.
Lock him up! Kick him out! I've
hen jobbed!" the murderer cried
Yes. Billy Calder was a murderer.
Not once. but twice.
Billy and his brother, Jim James
thomas CALDER lived with a step
Either. Sam Smith. and their mother.
q a ranch near the Musselshell. Billy
vas the wild one while Jim was quiet
md sympathetic but easily led by his
ader brother.
Billy fought with his stepfather.
There Is another old-timer's story that
ace he kept his stepfather under a
bed for half a day, sitting nearby in
! chair with shotgun across his knees
threatening to blow Smiths head off
he moment it was poked out. Billy
I'd not stay at home much. He visited
Billings where he posed as a prize
fighter and general all-around tough
T1y. He had a brush with the law and
!pent term in jail there.