Posse Tracks Roslyn Bank Robbers Into Oregon
A brazen daylight bank robbery leaves the town in terror and launches a high-stakes manhunt across Oregon and Washington.
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.
Another of the Roslyn bank robbers was captured yesterday, and a posse is in hot pursuit of the others. The gang's method was striking: they rode into town in a dead gallop, blazed a trail on trees and rocks, and held up the bank in broad daylight. They forced bystanders, including a school principal and a miner, to stand with their hands up at gunpoint. When the city marshal and a bank clerk attempted to intervene, the robbers wounded them with gunfire before retreating at full gallop. The pursuit led authorities through the Tenanaway basin, eventually trapping the suspects in Gilliam County, Oregon. Detective W. St. M. Barnes reported that the gang had terrorized the region, stealing horses and defying local authorities. While one suspect claimed he was herding sheep during the robbery, the capture of several members of the gang suggests the end of their reign of intimidation.
“I was walking down the street when a man with a gun gave me a kick and said, 'Get in there, you black... I could not think what he wanted me to go in a bank for—a bank! It was the first time I was in a bank in my life.”
The 1891 robbery in the coal-mining town of Roslyn highlights a period when frontier lawlessness clashed with the encroaching stability of corporate interests. Today, Roslyn is known for its quiet, historic charm, having largely moved past the era of armed bandits and vigilante posses.
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