The Hunt for 'Red Bob'
A notorious freight car thief is finally apprehended in Spokane after a tense manhunt across the territory.
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.
Robert Dwyer, known as 'Red Bob,' a specialist in robbing freight cars on the Great Northern line, was captured at Spokane yesterday by Deputy Sheriff J. L. Wells. Dwyer is considered a desperate criminal, having terrorized railroad companies across Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Working in league with other outlaws, he systematically robbed freight cars of valuable goods like silks and sugar. Deputy Wells had been tracking him for days, traveling in boxcars to learn his destination. Dwyer was eventually located in a 'den of iniquity' on Front Avenue in Spokane and was brought to terms at the barrel of a six-shooter.
“Dwyer resisted but was brought to terms by a six-shooter in the hands of the ready deputy.”
This manhunt story highlights the centrality of the railroads to the economy of the 1890s and the corresponding rise in rail-specific crimes. Today, the concern has shifted from boxcar robbery to global supply chain logistics, but the vulnerability of freight remains a constant concern for regional companies.
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