Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Tales of
Speaker 1: the American West have long fascinated us. Stories of cowboys,
Speaker 1: wagon trains, and gold rushes speak to an unpamed spirit
Speaker 1: in the eye for adventure. Even after the Civil War,
Speaker 1: news articles about the new Western frontier were read as
Speaker 1: eagerly as the latest bestsellers. Maybe the appeal stemmed from
Speaker 1: the long ravages of war the West offered a new
Speaker 1: way of life, or perhaps people were enthralled by the
Speaker 1: draw of possibilities out in open country where people struck
Speaker 1: it rich in gold, oil, or land. But it wasn't
Speaker 1: the prairies or distant mountains alone. People were the real story,
Speaker 1: especially horse thieves and cattle wrestlers, as well as bank,
Speaker 1: train and stagecoach robbers. Equally fascinating were the lawmen who
Speaker 1: went after them. When it comes to the sheriffs and
Speaker 1: marshalls wearing that gold star, many of us undoubtedly think
Speaker 1: of why Morgan and Virgil earp along with their friend
Speaker 1: Doc Holiday. Of all the histories surrounding them, none is
Speaker 1: more enduring than the shootout at the Okay Corral. Though
Speaker 1: the gunfight itself lasted only thirty seconds. As for cattle wrestlers,
Speaker 1: horse thieves, and murderers, names like Billy the Kid made
Speaker 1: for great headlines. The kid nickname stemmed from his age.
Speaker 1: He was just twenty one when he died, which was
Speaker 1: also the number of men that he killed. Cattle and
Speaker 1: horse theft might have been the equivalent of a Wild
Speaker 1: West car theft ring, but the real money was in
Speaker 1: robbing banks, stage coaches, and trains. From Jesse James to
Speaker 1: the Dalton Gang, armed robberies were as much a part
Speaker 1: of the West as cowboys and saloons. Jesse James pulled
Speaker 1: off nineteen robberies. The Dalton Gang started as lawmen before
Speaker 1: finding better pay pulling off bank heists and robbing trains.
Speaker 1: Part of their claim to fame was not one, but
Speaker 1: two bank robberies at the same time in broad daylight.
Speaker 1: But few have ever captured our attention like Butch Cassidy
Speaker 1: and the Sun Dance Kid. Born Robert Leroy Parker, he
Speaker 1: adopted the Cassidy moniker to protect his family's good name.
Speaker 1: He left home early, finding life in cattle wrestling more
Speaker 1: lucrative than small town work. Soon his gang known as
Speaker 1: the Wild Bunch, began robbing trains. Their heists were always
Speaker 1: well planned. Occasionally the addresses waiters at gala events to
Speaker 1: gain information on the trains would be on them and
Speaker 1: other details to help them pull off the job. Cassidy
Speaker 1: had a reputation for never batting an eye during a robbery,
Speaker 1: but he did have a weak spot. His lack of
Speaker 1: etiquette knowledge made him incredibly nervous as he did his
Speaker 1: best to properly serve the rich party guests. Harry Longabu,
Speaker 1: also known as the Sun Dance Kid, didn't meet Cassidy
Speaker 1: until they worked at a ranch together. While they would
Speaker 1: end up two of the most famous outlaws, neither was
Speaker 1: prone to gun violence. In fact, people thought they were
Speaker 1: friendly and everyone said they were helpful. Though Cassidy and
Speaker 1: sun Dance pulled off robberies that would be worth ten
Speaker 1: million today, they had a code of ethics assure they
Speaker 1: had robbed trains and banks, but common folk were off limits.
Speaker 1: Cassidy never shot anyone during a hold up either. Lawmen
Speaker 1: on their trail labeled them as the most shrewd and
Speaker 1: daring outlaws in the West, but don't mistake daring for carelessness.
Speaker 1: The gang's success came from Cassidy and sun Dances meticulous planning.
Speaker 1: The men spent hours training horses in ways that aided
Speaker 1: the gang in their robberies. They also took their time planning,
Speaker 1: often months, to avoid capture. No detail was too small.
Speaker 1: Over the years, though they tired of life on the run.
Speaker 1: Cassidy once asked a lawyer if he couldn't do something
Speaker 1: to earn himself a pardon and settle down. Disheartened but
Speaker 1: not surprised at the answer, he made plans with Sundance
Speaker 1: for one last heist that used the money to fund
Speaker 1: a new way of life in Bolivia. Down in South America.
Speaker 1: They pulled it off too. Before leaving, Cassidy stopped by
Speaker 1: a local ranchers place. The rancher's son had always been
Speaker 1: enamored with Cassidy's horse, and the outlaw gifted it to him.
Speaker 1: The two fled to South America after that. It's still
Speaker 1: a mystery whether they died during a shootout with the
Speaker 1: Pinkerton detectives who eventually tracked them down, or if they
Speaker 1: escaped once more. DNA from the bodies at the side
Speaker 1: of the shootout has since proved they were not Cassidy
Speaker 1: or sun Dance. No matter whether you envision an epic
Speaker 1: shootout where Butch and Sundance died in a blaze of
Speaker 1: glory or an ingenious dodge where they once again planned
Speaker 1: the perfect escape, They've left us with an enduring and
Speaker 1: legendary story. Some outlaws, though, have left behind something darker.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. His name was
Speaker 1: George Friederic Menus. Maybe you've never heard of a French
Speaker 1: Wild West outlaw, but George was born in Montbeille, of
Speaker 1: France on March eighteen thirty four. He was married there too,
Speaker 1: to Lucie Mathilde m Lindon. The two shared deep roots
Speaker 1: in the area and soon became parents to a boy.
Speaker 1: All seemed well until George left his family and traveled
Speaker 1: to America on April seventeenth of eighteen sixty two. While
Speaker 1: that alone wasn't done heard of, plenty of immigrants established
Speaker 1: themselves in America before sending for their families, but George didn't.
Speaker 1: He cut ties and changed his first name to George
Speaker 1: and his last name to Parrot like the bird, but
Speaker 1: with a second tea and sure immigrants often changed their
Speaker 1: names in an attempt to fit in, or maybe to
Speaker 1: make a name easier for English speakers to pronounce George,
Speaker 1: though given his appearance, it seems more likely that he
Speaker 1: took the physical feature and embraced it. He stood five
Speaker 1: ft ten and weighed a hundred and sixty pounds. His
Speaker 1: hair and mustache were dark and bushy, and his eyes
Speaker 1: were dark and heavily litted. George wasn't really considered handsome,
Speaker 1: but he did have one standout feature, his nose. His
Speaker 1: nose was large. Some say it looked like a parrot's beak,
Speaker 1: hence the nickname's big Nose George and big beak Parrot.
Speaker 1: George headed west, where the lore and promise of land
Speaker 1: parcels were common and railroads made the trip easy. Some
Speaker 1: of the largest and richest employers were also out west.
Speaker 1: Once into Code territory, George found that an honest man
Speaker 1: could make an honest day's wages if he was willing
Speaker 1: to put in the back breaking work. He found employment
Speaker 1: as a freight wagon driver, hauling supplies to gold rushed towns.
Speaker 1: From there, he worked the railroad on gold or shipments
Speaker 1: to the Union Pacific Railroad depots in Sydney, Nebraska and Cheyenne, Wyoming,
Speaker 1: all honest work and honest pay. George found the competition tough,
Speaker 1: though the West was full of other immigrants and settlers,
Speaker 1: all trying to cash in on the government's offer of
Speaker 1: free land, much to the Dakota people's dismay. As you
Speaker 1: might imagine, the West was pretty close to a free
Speaker 1: for all. Sure, there were law men, but in some
Speaker 1: cases by the barest of definitions. Before long, George found
Speaker 1: a lucrative job with a gang of seven cattle wrestlers.
Speaker 1: Stage coaches became their next target. After a string of
Speaker 1: successful robberies, the emboldened gang felt confident in their ability
Speaker 1: to pull off something larger. This time, they set their
Speaker 1: sights on the Union Pacific Railroad. Probably inspired by the
Speaker 1: finesse with which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid pulled
Speaker 1: off train robberies. George and the gang might have thought
Speaker 1: it would be an easy payday. They'd leave the gold
Speaker 1: it was heavy and made fast getaways difficult. Instead, they
Speaker 1: set their sights on the payroll money that should be
Speaker 1: on board. But George and the gang didn't train their horses,
Speaker 1: nor did they infiltrate elite parties to glean information on
Speaker 1: their intended target. They went with the basic knowledge that
Speaker 1: the train sometimes carried payroll. On Sunday, August eighteen seventy eight,
Speaker 1: they took a page from other outlaws and loosened a
Speaker 1: spike along a desolate stretch of track near Medicine Bow.
Speaker 1: When the train derailed, their rest would be easy. All
Speaker 1: they had to do was wait. Unfortunately for the outlaws,
Speaker 1: a large crew of repairmen arrived ahead of the train
Speaker 1: to check the tracks. They hadn't thought of this. One
Speaker 1: of the gang members wanted to kill the servicemen, but
Speaker 1: George and another member thought missing linemen would raise a
Speaker 1: red flag. Frustrated, the would be robbers had to wait
Speaker 1: in hiding all day until the repair crew left before
Speaker 1: removing the spike again. Their lack of planning became their undoing.
Speaker 1: Missing spikes had become a popular technique among train robbers,
Speaker 1: and the repairman reported the instant upon their return. The
Speaker 1: train stayed at the station while George and the others
Speaker 1: waited for it to arrive. When it didn't, the gang
Speaker 1: realized their mistake and fled. Authorities weren't far behind, though,
Speaker 1: a search party along with the Carbon County Sheriff Robert
Speaker 1: Whiteford and Railroad special agent H. H. Vincent were on
Speaker 1: the men's trail. The two had a good idea of
Speaker 1: who they were looking for. George and the others had
Speaker 1: been spotted in the area just days before. The lawmen
Speaker 1: separated from the rest of the search team, finally coming
Speaker 1: across the gang's hideout and rattlesnake can in, finding evidence
Speaker 1: that the camp had recently been vacated. They knew they
Speaker 1: were close, they just had no idea how close. George
Speaker 1: and the others had decided to ambush the lawmen. Instead
Speaker 1: of running outnumbered, widow Field and Vincent were killed. The
Speaker 1: gang stole their weapons and valuables through the bodies into
Speaker 1: the brush, and left, feeling secure that they had covered
Speaker 1: their tracks. Back in town, the remainder of the search
Speaker 1: party suspected foul play. When Widowfield and Vincent didn't return,
Speaker 1: they put together a larger search team. Ten days later,
Speaker 1: they found the bodies. Officials in Carbon County quickly organized
Speaker 1: a manhunt and offered a hefty reward two thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: which would be over fifty thousand in today's money. Widow
Speaker 1: Field and Vincent were the first lawmen killed in the
Speaker 1: line of duty, and authorities didn't care if George and
Speaker 1: the others were captured, dead or alive. The gang had
Speaker 1: a botched train robbery, empty pockets, and a price on
Speaker 1: their heads. Naturally, they fled. Two men split from the group,
Speaker 1: taking their chances on their own. For a short while,
Speaker 1: it looked like this plan worked. Their luck wouldn't hold though.
Speaker 1: A string of bizarre twists soon began to unravel their plans,
Speaker 1: and little did they know things were about to get worse. First,
Speaker 1: one of the outlaws died from tuberculosis. Another Dutch, Charlie Burris,
Speaker 1: made the mistake of staying too close to town, and
Speaker 1: the authorities captured him within weeks. Days after that, the
Speaker 1: former fugitive sat handcuffed and shackled on a train heading
Speaker 1: back to Carbon County. Sheriff Jim Rankin wrote along as
Speaker 1: an escort to ensure Dutch Charlie made it to trial.
Speaker 1: The transport had been arranged quietly, but in a small
Speaker 1: western town, secrets had a way of traveling at lightning speed.
Speaker 1: As soon as the train stopped to refuel at that evening,
Speaker 1: a group of armed and masked men burst into the cabin.
Speaker 1: Within minutes, they had dragged Dutch Charlie outside where a
Speaker 1: mob had gathered. Deciding that a court of law would
Speaker 1: take too long, the masked men beat the outlaw, finally
Speaker 1: getting a full confession from him. The admission didn't save him, though.
Speaker 1: The mob dragged Dutch Charlie to a telegraph pole and
Speaker 1: strung him up as a message to other would be outlaws.
Speaker 1: They left his body swinging at the end of the
Speaker 1: rope a full day before cutting him down and chucking
Speaker 1: his body into a coal car, the rope still around
Speaker 1: his neck. Despite hearing the news, the rest of the
Speaker 1: gang returned to their old ways. They robbed a stagecoach
Speaker 1: and made off with seven thousand dollars that would be
Speaker 1: over seven hundred thousand today. Though it was their biggest
Speaker 1: pay day yet, it had come at a cost. One
Speaker 1: member died from gunshot wounds. Once again, the gang found
Speaker 1: themselves on the run. They rode for days, putting miles
Speaker 1: behind them, finally stopping in Yellowstone County, Montana. With their
Speaker 1: new wealth from a successful heist, two of the outlaws
Speaker 1: decided that this was where they parted ways. George and
Speaker 1: a couple of others stayed behind, though within a year
Speaker 1: they spent their entire windfall. One February night, the men
Speaker 1: were sitting in a local saloon lamenting their lack of funds,
Speaker 1: when they overheard that Morris Can, a merchant and one
Speaker 1: of the richest men in Montana, was planning a trip
Speaker 1: to North Dakota for supplies. The desperadoes went right to
Speaker 1: work on a plan. A military ambulance and an escort
Speaker 1: of fifteen soldiers were also making their way to North Dakota,
Speaker 1: and Can had managed to secure passage with them. Sweetening
Speaker 1: the deal, the soldiers would be carrying a neighboring town's payroll.
Speaker 1: All George and the gang needed to do must follow
Speaker 1: the caravan beyond the Powder River, crossing into the steep
Speaker 1: walled valley beyond it. If they timed it just right,
Speaker 1: Can and the others would walk straight into an ambush.
Speaker 1: And the plan worked. When the first segment of riders
Speaker 1: entered the valley and made the first turn around large boulders,
Speaker 1: George and two others held them at gunpoint, then secured
Speaker 1: them and their weapons. Moments later, the second group, including Can,
Speaker 1: rounded the bend and found themselves looking down the barrels
Speaker 1: of several shotguns. All the men were robbed of cash
Speaker 1: and valuables. To add insult, the outlaws took hands peach, Brandy,
Speaker 1: and the lead sergeant's horse. As the gang rode off,
Speaker 1: they tossed the wagon driver a cigar. They fled across
Speaker 1: the Yellowstone River before doubling back north, returning to Miles
Speaker 1: City in Montana. It had gone perfectly, they thought, except
Speaker 1: for one thing. Despite wearing bandanas and wide brimmed hats
Speaker 1: pulled down over their eyes, George's big nose had given
Speaker 1: them away. It didn't take long before authorities arrested him.
Speaker 1: Of course, bragging about the exploit didn't do him any favors,
Speaker 1: but although he was put on trial for the robbery,
Speaker 1: no one made the connection to the wanted poster for
Speaker 1: murder just a few miles south. During the trial, a
Speaker 1: witness testified that George had been in Buffalo Springs at
Speaker 1: the time of the hold up, making it impossible for
Speaker 1: him to have been in Powder Springs. The witnesses had
Speaker 1: been paid for the testimony, but it did the trick.
Speaker 1: The case ended with an acquittal. George felt rather pleased
Speaker 1: with himself, and once back at the saloon, he bragged
Speaker 1: about the crimes to all who would listen. He falsely
Speaker 1: claimed that he had done jobs with more renowned outlaws
Speaker 1: like Jesse James and the Wild Bunch, and all that
Speaker 1: attention seeking tipped off locals who spread the word. Soon
Speaker 1: the United States Army was rumored to be heading to
Speaker 1: Miles City with a score to settle. Once more, the
Speaker 1: gang was forced to flee. They made their way three
Speaker 1: hundred miles north to Rocky Gap, where the men took
Speaker 1: ranch jobs while keeping an ear out for stage coach runs.
Speaker 1: When the men weren't working, they spent the evenings at
Speaker 1: another local watering hole, planning to rob a paymaster's wagon
Speaker 1: due to arrive from Helena, but the wagons escort party
Speaker 1: proved too large to take on. Without many stage coaches,
Speaker 1: opportunities proved few and far between, and the gang headed
Speaker 1: back to Wyoming. After failed attempts at multiple robberies and
Speaker 1: run ins with angry and well armed ranchers, they returned
Speaker 1: to Miles City by now though Tom Irvin, the local sheriff,
Speaker 1: had seen the wanted posters. While the rest of the
Speaker 1: gang left town, George took refuge at a friend's cabin.
Speaker 1: The sheriff had his own plan, had been watching the
Speaker 1: cabin and noticed that a sex worker was a frequent visitor.
Speaker 1: Irvin struck a deal with the woman, who reported back
Speaker 1: to him. Irvin hired two additional deputies, both of whom
Speaker 1: George wouldn't know. They posed as prospect buyers to scope
Speaker 1: out the property. The first time the men showed up,
Speaker 1: they were met with rifles. When the men presented no threat,
Speaker 1: George let his guard down. On the second visit, the
Speaker 1: deputies were greeted unarmed. Then the sheriff came out of
Speaker 1: hiding and George was hauled off to jail. Once more.
Speaker 1: The news traveled far and wide. Then another of the
Speaker 1: murdered lawman's killers had been caught. Time hadn't reduced to
Speaker 1: the anger of the people living in Carbon County. If anything,
Speaker 1: it burned hotter and brighter than it ever had before.
Speaker 1: It was a big day for the authorities. On August
Speaker 1: fourteenth of eighteen eighty, Sheriff Rankin arrived in Miles City
Speaker 1: with extradition papers and a couple of newly sworn in deputies.
Speaker 1: A posse formed to assist with safe passage for the
Speaker 1: officials and their prisoner to the steamboat landing on the
Speaker 1: Yellowstone River. The sheriff had taken no chances. Handcuffed and shackled,
Speaker 1: George wasn't going to escape. Once the steamboat docked in Omaha, Nebraska,
Speaker 1: Rankin ushered the outlaw to the Union Pacific Railroad headquarters.
Speaker 1: George's mug shot was taken, one of only two known
Speaker 1: photos of him in existence. Then the interrogation began. Though
Speaker 1: they tried for hours, Rankin and the others couldn't get
Speaker 1: a single confession. George repeatedly and calmly denied his involvement
Speaker 1: in the robberies and the murders. When the train to Cheyenne,
Speaker 1: Wyoming arrived, the officials continued the interrogation on route to
Speaker 1: the next stop. Without a confession. The outlaw began to
Speaker 1: feel pretty confident about as chances for another acquittal. One
Speaker 1: thing had to sit on his mind. Though. They were
Speaker 1: headed to Rowlins, the same trip Dutch Charlie had taken,
Speaker 1: and just like that trip, the train stopped for fuel
Speaker 1: and water. As the train pulled into the station, George
Speaker 1: noticed the stores were lit in celebration and people danced
Speaker 1: in the streets. Detecting that their prisoners seemed nervous, Rankin
Speaker 1: and the deputies recounted the night the crowds had strung
Speaker 1: up Dutch Charlie. They took turns telling the story how
Speaker 1: the mob had dragged him to his fate. They spared
Speaker 1: no detail. George began to sweat. As they finished with
Speaker 1: how the body had been discarded into a coal bin.
Speaker 1: The doors to the cabin flew open. A dozen armed
Speaker 1: and masked men stormed inside, easily overcoming the sheriff and deputies.
Speaker 1: Rankin called upon the passengers to intervene, that justice should
Speaker 1: be in the hands of the corps. The passengers eyed
Speaker 1: the armed men, and, figuring an outlaw wasn't worth the effort,
Speaker 1: stayed in their seats. One masked man wielding an axe
Speaker 1: broke George's shackles. Feeling pretty certain that the mob wasn't
Speaker 1: there to rescue him, he grabbed one of the men's guns.
Speaker 1: The struggle was short lived, and the men quickly wrestled
Speaker 1: the gun away. They dragged George off the train. The
Speaker 1: train platform was a sea of angry men and women,
Speaker 1: each of them calling to string him up. Some demanded
Speaker 1: to know why he had killed the law men. Still
Speaker 1: protesting to the bitter end, he denied both the robbery
Speaker 1: attempt and the murders. His persistent innocence acted like a
Speaker 1: fuel to a fire. Another angry round of string him
Speaker 1: up erupted. More hands grabbed him, and as they hauled
Speaker 1: George from the platform, the chanting and cheering continued. He
Speaker 1: begged them to shoot him instead, but they ignored his please.
Speaker 1: They dragged him down the street to a corral. The
Speaker 1: crowd applauded and cheered louder when someone tossed a rope
Speaker 1: over a beam. One of the men placed the noose
Speaker 1: over his head. Faced with eminent death, George begged the
Speaker 1: crowd once more, telling them he was scared, and asked
Speaker 1: for a few moments to compose himself. The crowd quieted
Speaker 1: down and waited. Finally, George confessed, at least somewhat. He
Speaker 1: admitted that he was part of the gang, and that
Speaker 1: they had killed the men because, as the old adage says,
Speaker 1: dead men told no tales. It had been Dutch Charlie's idea,
Speaker 1: he insisted. Then he waited to see what they'd do
Speaker 1: with his partially true confession behind him. He expected then
Speaker 1: hang him anyway. Instead, the leader ordered him returned to
Speaker 1: the sheriff. They had gotten a confession, after all, let
Speaker 1: the courts order a legal execution. The group pushed and
Speaker 1: shoved him back to the station and tossed him unceremoniously
Speaker 1: into the train car. Witnesses said George collapsed into a seat,
Speaker 1: shaking and laughing until he cried. Outside. The crowd began
Speaker 1: to dance again, and Rankin smiled at his prisoner. He
Speaker 1: had a confession, and as far as he was concerned,
Speaker 1: the townfolk hadn't hung an innocent man the night that
Speaker 1: strung up Dutch Charlie. George stayed in jail until the
Speaker 1: preliminary hearings in September of eighteen eighty. Right from the
Speaker 1: start he pled guilty, though once the court gave him
Speaker 1: a lawyer, he recanted his confession. There wouldn't be an
Speaker 1: acquittal this time. The case went to trial and the
Speaker 1: court found George guilty. On December sev the judge sentenced
Speaker 1: him to death by hanging, scheduling the date of execution
Speaker 1: for April second of eight one, between the hours of
Speaker 1: ten and four. Bailiffs had to support George back to
Speaker 1: his cell in an attempt to protest his execution, he
Speaker 1: staged a hunger strike. It didn't take long to figure
Speaker 1: out that no one much cared if a condemned man
Speaker 1: starved to death. When that failed, he claimed had repented
Speaker 1: and had converted to Christianity in the hopes that his
Speaker 1: captors would grant him more freedom, and it worked too.
Speaker 1: Over time, they permitted George to roam the hall outside
Speaker 1: his jail cell. Over the next few months, he collected
Speaker 1: a knife and a piece of sandstone and began planning
Speaker 1: his escape. That day came when Sheriff Rankin left town,
Speaker 1: putting his brother Robert in charge of the jail. On
Speaker 1: the night of March twenty second, George used the knife
Speaker 1: to file down the rivets on his leg shackles, and
Speaker 1: then waited. As soon as Robert rounded the corner to
Speaker 1: lock the prisoners in their cells, he leaped from his
Speaker 1: hiding place and struck the jailer in the head at
Speaker 1: the eight pound shackles. Robert fought back, all the while
Speaker 1: shouting for his wife. As you might imagine, Rosa didn't
Speaker 1: take to the assault on her husband. Sitting down, she
Speaker 1: sweet talked the outlaw back into a cell with a
Speaker 1: loaded still leveled at his head while her sister went
Speaker 1: for help. Later, the women were awarded a gold watching
Speaker 1: key in a velvet lined box for their service and bravery.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, no one believed George had truly found
Speaker 1: Jesus after that. The news of the attack, in the
Speaker 1: form of Rose's sister running down the street in search
Speaker 1: of help, enraged the citizens. Before long, a mob formed
Speaker 1: outside the jail. Around ten that night, the mob burst
Speaker 1: through the door and stole the cell keys. A few
Speaker 1: masked men headed towards the cells. Instead of being afraid,
Speaker 1: George Oddley mistook their intention as a rescue mission. The
Speaker 1: men whisked him from his cell and out onto the street.
Speaker 1: The side of the mob made him realize his mistake.
Speaker 1: They were there to watch him drop. With a sudden stop.
Speaker 1: They placed the noose around his neck, tied his hands,
Speaker 1: and forced him onto a barrel under a telegraph pole.
Speaker 1: The sister law of one of the murdered men, kicked
Speaker 1: the barrel instead of hanging. The rope snapped, and George
Speaker 1: tumbled to the ground, choking and gasping for air. Within
Speaker 1: minutes they had another rope ready. They forced him up
Speaker 1: a twelve foot ladder and slid the noose around his neck.
Speaker 1: Just as they pushed the ladder away, George managed to
Speaker 1: slide his hands free and grab the telegraph pole. He
Speaker 1: begged them to just shoot him. Instead, the mob grew
Speaker 1: quiet and waited for him to lose his grip. The
Speaker 1: news spread of how the citizens had hanged Big Nose
Speaker 1: George and Dutch Charlie. Other outlaws decided to slip out
Speaker 1: of town rather than meet the same end. But hangings
Speaker 1: weren't the only way citizens had of preventing would be
Speaker 1: outlaws from messing with Carbon County, Wyoming. Because it seems
Speaker 1: there really was a fate worse than death. No family
Speaker 1: stepped forward to aimed. George's body had abandoned them in
Speaker 1: France years before. If any of the remaining gang members
Speaker 1: were still alive, they knew better than to step foot
Speaker 1: in Carbon County. But his corpse was claimed by two
Speaker 1: doctors and their medical assistant. Doctors McGhee and Osbourne studied criminals,
Speaker 1: and they had a keen interest in George's brain. Surely
Speaker 1: there had to be some abnormality that might explain his
Speaker 1: criminal behavior. First, they made a death mask of George
Speaker 1: then sawed off the top of the dead man's skull.
Speaker 1: An autopsy of the brain turned up no clues. Though disappointed,
Speaker 1: they decided to use the body for well other things.
Speaker 1: Assistant Lillian Heath, who would eventually go on to become
Speaker 1: Wyoming's first female physician, took Big Nosed George's skull cap
Speaker 1: as a souvenir. Dr Osborne sent George's body to a
Speaker 1: tannery in Denver, ordering two things made from the human hide,
Speaker 1: a pair shoes and a medical bag. The rest of
Speaker 1: the remains were dismembered, placed into a barrel, and buried.
Speaker 1: Dr Osborne was quite proud of those shoes when the
Speaker 1: people of Wyoming swore him in years later as governor,
Speaker 1: he wore them to the inauguration and the ball that followed.
Speaker 1: And then time moved on, The city grew and the
Speaker 1: story of Big Nose George slowly faded away. But seventy
Speaker 1: years later, in nine a construction company came upon a
Speaker 1: grizzly discovery a barrel with human remains inside. Law enforcement
Speaker 1: were called in, but they determined that the body wasn't
Speaker 1: recent and summoned historians instead. Noting the missing skull cap.
Speaker 1: They assumed they had found Big Nose George. To be sure, though,
Speaker 1: they called the only person still alive who might be
Speaker 1: able to solve the puzzle, doctor Lillian Heath. Intrigued, she
Speaker 1: arrived with a skull cap in hand. Over the years
Speaker 1: she had used it as a planter, a paper weight,
Speaker 1: and even an ashtray. As she looked at the skull
Speaker 1: from the barrel, she placed the cap over the clean
Speaker 1: hole on top, and it was a perfect fit, like
Speaker 1: Cinderella's slipper, only darker. This time, George received a proper burial,
Speaker 1: minus the skull cap and shoes. Of course, those, along
Speaker 1: with the shackles, were all handed over to the Carbon
Speaker 1: County Museum as relics from a bygone day. The medical bag, though,
Speaker 1: has never been recovered. There's more to this story. Stick
Speaker 1: around after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it.
Speaker 1: Nay can be confusing. When he was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: in eighteen o nine, his parents called him James Allen.
Speaker 1: Later on, though, he went by a number of different
Speaker 1: aliases Jonas Pierce, James York and others, but mostly folks
Speaker 1: called him George Walton. Orphaned as a child, his grandparents
Speaker 1: did the best they could to raise him, but when
Speaker 1: he was a young teen, they too passed away. Now
Speaker 1: entirely on his own, he returned to Lancaster. He applied
Speaker 1: for work as a sailor, but was rejected. After holding
Speaker 1: down a few odd jobs, he turned to crime, landing
Speaker 1: him in jail at the age of fifteen. With time
Speaker 1: to kill, Walton read a lot and even learned a
Speaker 1: few trades. After his release, he teamed up with a
Speaker 1: former prisoner and the two went back to the life
Speaker 1: they knew best, burglary. Like many of the legitimate jobs
Speaker 1: he had held, Walton wasn't very good at stealing, and
Speaker 1: saw him revisiting jail on and off for years. Each
Speaker 1: time he had read more and learn new skills, yet
Speaker 1: upon release he always went right back to its criminal ways.
Speaker 1: His favorite mode of operation was to hide just off
Speaker 1: the side of the road, then jump out when a
Speaker 1: wagon was passing by. He had level a pistol at
Speaker 1: the driver and shout your money or your life. Normally,
Speaker 1: people chose their life, tossed him their money and fled,
Speaker 1: but that didn't happen when Walton tried his routine on
Speaker 1: a large and rather intimidating traveler named John Fenno. When
Speaker 1: Walton made his usual demand, Fenno briefly paused to consider
Speaker 1: the offer and then chose both. Walton had never been
Speaker 1: challenged before, and it took him by surprise before he
Speaker 1: could back up his threat. Fenno leapt from the wagon
Speaker 1: and the two fought. Moments later, Walton fired his pistol,
Speaker 1: grazing Fenno's chest. Realizing he had just shot a man,
Speaker 1: he fled. Authorities offered a one thousand dollar reward for
Speaker 1: his capture, forcing Walton to go into hiding. The reward
Speaker 1: money proved too tempting to one of his own criminal friends,
Speaker 1: and the man turned him in. Walton was convicted on
Speaker 1: February twenty one, eighteen thirty four, and sentenced to serve
Speaker 1: time at the State Penitentiary in Charlestown. Yes, he was
Speaker 1: headed back behind bars, yet again, a common theme for
Speaker 1: his life. This visit turned out to be a life sentence, though,
Speaker 1: but not because a judge said so. You see, while
Speaker 1: he was in there, George Walton contracted tuberculosis, and apparently
Speaker 1: the fatal illness changed him. That along with a surprise
Speaker 1: visit from John Fennel Walton spent his last remaining days
Speaker 1: in jail writing his own memoir. When he finished, he
Speaker 1: asked the warden to make two copies and then have
Speaker 1: each bound into a book, but not with ordinary leather. No,
Speaker 1: he requested that his own skin be used as a cover,
Speaker 1: and amazingly, the warden followed through with it. After George
Speaker 1: Walton died in eighty seven, the warden kept his promise
Speaker 1: and sent the body to a tannery and the memoir
Speaker 1: to a printing press. Two copies were made. One stayed
Speaker 1: with the warden and the other went to none other
Speaker 1: than George's last victim, John Fenno. Both men kept those
Speaker 1: books for the rest of their lives. Eventually, one copy
Speaker 1: found its way to the Boston Atheneum's collection, and every
Speaker 1: year at Halloween the library puts the book on display
Speaker 1: as part of their spooky offerings. It's unclear how that
Speaker 1: copy ended up in the library's collection. Some believed Fenno's daughter,
Speaker 1: feeling a lot less enamored with the book than her father,
Speaker 1: donated it after inheriting his estate. But the second Coppy, Well,
Speaker 1: it seems the book is still missing. Maybe it's in
Speaker 1: a private collection or perhaps it's sitting forgotten in an
Speaker 1: attic in someone's home. Either way, I think it's fair
Speaker 1: to say that George Walton's journey has come to a
Speaker 1: dead end. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This
Speaker 1: episode was written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter,
Speaker 1: and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive
Speaker 1: producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn
Speaker 1: more about the show, visit Grim and Mild dot com.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I
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