The Great Roslyn Bank Heist
After a daring robbery in the coal mining town of Roslyn, sheriff's posses trail the suspects through mountain snow toward the Okanogan.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
ROSLYN, Sept. 26.—No tidings whatever have been received today from the sheriff's posses who are scouring the mountains for the Roslyn bank robbers. A careful watch is being kept on all the roads, and should any of the bandits be lurking around, it will be next to impossible for them to get away. A courier arrived at Cle-Elum reporting one posse, in charge of Dr. Harrison, near the summit where a foot or so of snow exists, and through which the trail of the robbers was easily followed. The bandits appear to be making for the Nigger Creek country, with the intention of crossing into the Okanogan district. The reward for the capture of the gang has been increased to $2,500. Detectives have gathered descriptions of the men, who appear to be a group of five, traveling on horseback.
“A courier who arrived at Cle-Elum early this morning left one posse, in charge of Dr. Harrison, near the summit, where a foot or so of snow exists, and through which the trail of the robbers was easily followed.”
Roslyn is famously remembered today as the setting for the TV show 'Northern Exposure,' but in 1892 it was a volatile, industrial coal-mining town. The pursuit of bank robbers through the Cascade wilderness highlights the extreme ruggedness of late-19th-century law enforcement in Washington State.
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