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P a g e 5 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 He wasn’t a criminal, and he had come to Carter seeking a way out. Carter, with the information he had received, began suggesting plans for circumventing the robbery. The visitor vetoed them all as being personally dangerous to him; he would be killed before officers could intervene. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Carter finally outlined a plan which met the visitor’s approval as offering him a chance to live. The stagecoach left Marysville with four passengers- officially guards. They were unarmed, at Carter’s insistence, for he wanted to avoid bloodshed. While Carter watched from the hillside the gorilla bandit attacked the safe with an ax, and at the third blow the smaller man dealt him a stunning blow with his chubbed rifle. He went down. Immediately the guards piled on, and in a few moments the big fellow was securely trussed. The smaller bandit also was tied up, and both were taken to the Helena Jail. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The big fellow believed he had been knocked out by one of the passengers. He didn’t know that the safe that day was filled with lead instead of gold. During the several months they were in jail the gorilla passed notes to his partner warning him to keep silent. The case came to trial. Said Carter afterward: “The confederate was the first witness. Many times I have seen him angry, but I hope never again to see such a look as swept the face of the big man when his partner turned against him.” The gorilla bandit was convicted and sentenced to life in the penitentiary. The night he was taken to Deer Lodge, his partner was given his liberty. Carter paid over to him the standing reward of the Wells-Fargo company for the apprehension of stage robbers. “Where will you go now?” Carter asked him. “To South America as quickly as I can get there,” was the reply. “If that fellow ever escapes, he won’t be satisfied until he kills me.” -Accessed Jan. 30, 2021, www.montananewspapers.org

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