Bank Robbery in Wallowa County, Oregon
Contributed by Russell Miller
Read the Newspaper Story from the History of Union and Wallowa 1902
Text of a 1896 letter written by my great grandfather J. D. McCully (1856-1941) to his mother, Hannah Keziah (Waters) McCully (1828-1905) about the bank robbery in Joseph Oregon on Oct 1, 1896. Computer file typed from an original of the hand written letter by Russell Miller Chelan WA September 2003.
Letter was on First Bank of Joseph Incorporated letter head.
F. D. McCully, President
J. D. McCully, Cashier
Capital Paid up $50,000.00
Joseph Oregon, Oct 2, 1896
My Dear Mother:
I have locked the bank door and
now will give you a partial statement of the excitement and danger some of us
went through on yesterday afternoon.
I had been very busy at the store and only went to the
bank when necessary to transact business for somebody.
About 2:30 o’clock I was doing some business for Julia
McCully’s father and brother and while doing this two other men living here came
in.
I soon had occasion to go into the vault and while in
there the three masked men entered the bank through the front door. Two of them
being armed with revolvers, a large short barreled shot gun. They came in so
quietly that I knew nothing of it and when I had finished my work in the vault I
slipped out and walked several feet with my head down.
When I got to about the middle of the room I raised my
head and you can possibly imagine my surprise when I saw a man with a shotgun
pointed straight at my head with a command “throw up you hands”. My first
impulse was that it was a joke but when I took a second look I saw that the man
was masked and of course my hands went up.
Then one of the fellows climbed over the top of the
railing and secured my pistol after which he opened the little door, when the
four men standing in the waiting place were ordered to march in where I was
after we were well lined up one of the fellows went into the vault and helped
himself until every thing in the money line was taken in.
One of the men guarded the outside door and if a man
came in sight he would by thrusts and pointed pistol compel him to
come to him and put up his hands.
With five of us inside guarded by two men and three
outside looked after by one matters appeared wonderfully interesting.
There were two men ordered across the street who were near an open door
and instead of obeying ran into that house and out the back door and
gave the alarm.
All this took something like ten minutes and if any one
imagines it is interesting to gaze into the barrel of a gun with a man behind it
with both triggers ready for action he is made of something different from
myself. My greatest fear was that with his gun cocked and the mans finger
on the trigger that he might accidentally pull it off - in which case I would
have been a goner. The man told me he needed the money for campaign purposes and
I replied it was a pretty hard way to get it. While this was going on this
more or less threats about blowing our heads off. Each time accompanied by a
string of oaths. When the man got all he could find which was about $2,000.00 we
were ordered to march ahead of him to the sidewalk and as soon as I
stepped on the walk the bullets began to fly and it is a great wonder we were
not shot accidentally.
A man located back of a lorry across the street was the
first to open fire and after the man with the money got out he soon dispatched
him with a well directed bullet. He then took the finger off an other of them.
But when the first man fell another ran and picked up the sack of money and got
on his horse and escaped.
The man whose finger was shot off also was hit in the
side and then captured after a chase of two blocks.
The first impulse of the crowd was to hang the man but
in a moment better counsel prevailed. One of the men concerned in the
offense is a Wallowa raised boy while the other two have been here since
Spring.
I was very cool during the entire affair but later in
the afternoon a reaction took place and I was completely unnerved. When I
went to bed I could see nothing but the man with blackened face, black mask and
shotgun leveled at me with the command to throw up my hands.
This worked on me so that I thought I was going crazy and finally at one o’clock
Lillian got up and dressed to go after the doctor. At last I induced her to give
it up and along about two o’clock I fell asleep but was awakened about 5:30 by
some men who wished to talk over chasing the escaped man. I feel pretty well
this afternoon and hope to get a good sleep tonight
F. D. (McCully) had started for Lostine about ½ hour
before the robbery took place. It was am awful feeling which came over me when I
heard the man dumping the gold into his sack. Miller will be back tonight when I
hope I never will be called upon to act as cashier again.
I have scarcely any hope that the man will be caught
for you know what a grand place of escaping is near at hand.
Tomorrow I will go to Enterprise to give witness in the
case of the one man who is jail.
Eula and Russell were at school and knew that the
robbery was taking place and when the guns began to explode they though I was
killed and I guess Eula did some lively screaming. Lillian knew nothing of
it until all was over.
I guess this is enough.
With love
J. D. Mc (McCully)
