P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Marysville Stage Robbery Was “Staged” by Tom Carter By Elno for The Choteau Acantha Newspaper, Sept. 12, 1940 Thomas H. Carter, Helena attorney for the Wells-Fargo Express Co., and destined in a few years to become United States senator from Montana, sat with a companion on a timbered slope above the Marysville-Helena road. Through field glasses he watched the road below. The Marysville stage, Carter knew, was to be held up at the spot just below him. He had a keen personal interest in that holdup. The bandits crouching in ambush beside the road expected to rob Wells-Fargo of $50,000 in bullion from the Drum Lummon mine. While Carter watched, the stage came down the mountain and two men with rifles stepped into the road. One was a fellow of average build, the other a huge, gorilla-like individual. The stage stopped with the wheel horses rearing to check the push of the load behind them as the smaller bandit grabbed the leaders’ bridles. The gorilla bandit climbed up and kicked the safe off the boot and forced the driver down. The passengers were lined up on the road under the smaller man’s rifle. The gorilla bandit attacked the safe with an ax… Several days earlier, Carter had sat at his desk, looking down on Helena’s main street. His attention was held by two men on the opposite sidewalk. “Are you the attorney for Wells-Fargo?” the man asked. “I am,” replied 'Carter. “What can I do for you?” The fellow turned and locked the door. Carter wondered what grievance against the company this fellow wanted to take out on him. “I want to see you privately,” announced the visitor, visibly shaking with fear. In the inner office he blurted: “The Marysville stagecoach is to be held up next Tuesday!” Carter started. He knew the Drum Lummon mine was to send out its bullion that day. “How do you know this?” “Because I am one of the men that is going to hold it up.” The visitor paused, fighting for self-control. “I don’t want to do it,” he wailed, “but I am afraid if I don’t my partner will kill me.” Under Carter’s questioning he calmed sufficiently to tell his story. He and his companion of the street had been employed on a ranch. The gorilla man had planned for months to rob the Marysville stage when it carried the Drum Lummon shipment. He had carefully investigated schedules of mine shipments and knew just when to strike. He had worked on Carter’s visitor until he had consented to participate in the robbery; if he refused, said the visitor, the big fellow would kill him.
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