Ep 21 Bub Meeks Pt 1:🐎Fresh Horses, Butch Cassidy 🐿 & Unauthorized Bank Withdrawals💰

Life without structure leads to trouble. How many times will we be told to “choose our friends wisely”? Bub Meeks lived hard and fast, and paid the price for it. Life in the late 1800’s was tempting for folks who didnt have the patience for working and saving. So they took balloon withdrawals anytime they were low on cash.

CHARACTERS:
Grover Cleveland
Albert Edward VII
Henry Ford
George Burns
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Walter Arnold
Robert LeRoy Parker
William Ellsworth Lay
Henry Rhodes Meeks
Samual Emelle
Sidonia Schwarz Emelle
Marguerite Emelle
Edward Lorenzo Burgoyne
Andy Little
GC Gray
Ed Hoover
Bud McIntosh
William Perkins
Fred Cruikshank
J.A. Bagley
Sheriff Davis
Bub
Elzy
Butch Cassidy
Henry Len Meeks
Matt Warner
Paymaster Carpenter
The Wild Bunch

LOCATIONS:
United States
England
Yukon
Athens, Greece
Frankfurt, Germany
Kent, England
Bear Lake
Montpelier, Idaho
Oregon Short Line Railroad
Chicago 
Boston
Cokeville, Wyoming 
Switzerland 
The Palace Saloon
Bank of Montpelier
Paris, Idaho
Circleville, Utah
Marysville, Utah
Sevier River
Green River, Wyoming
Winnemucca, Nevada
Logan, Utah
Ogden, utah
Castle Gate, Utah
Robbers Roost
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Union Pacific Railroad
Boise, Idaho

Transcript

(Robert) Leave the squirrels alone Bub. And for the love of Pete save your ammo.

(Henry) Ok boss. 

(Robert) This here haying job has served its purposes for us. Sam and Sid have been good to us. 

(William) We’re burning daylight boss, Lets get on our way. 

(giddyup (clicking) 4 horses galloping away)

Its the year 1896. Grover Cleveland is president of the United States. Albert Edward VII is the reigning king of England. Henry Ford has developed and completed his first vehicle. George Burns and F. Scott Fitzgerald are born. Gold is discovered in the Yukon, the first modern Olympic Games are held in Athens Greece, the population of Frankfurt Germany has more than doubled over the previous 2 decades to nearly 250,000, and the first speeding fine is handed down to Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, England. He is fined 1 shilling for the excessive speed of 8 mph. 

(Slow car passing, sputter sounds)

Meanwhile…In the south east corner of Idaho, and just about 10 miles north of Bear Lake, lies the rural community of Montpelier, Idaho. Founded by Mormon colonists in 1864, it had grown only modestly until the Oregon Short Line Railroad BUILT a station there in 1884.

The spring snow and rains in south eastern Idaho had brought on an abundant crop and plentiful grazing for the folks in the area. The Squirrels that year had invaded nearly every nook and cranny in the region and ads for exterminating solutions checkered the local  newspapers. The entire nation had been cooked in a heat wave that left 1,500 dead from Chicago to Boston. And on this particular Thursday, August the 13th, 1896 in Montpelier, Idaho, it was sweltering. In the distance a low lifting dust followed at the hooves of three riders and a little yellow sorrel mare that trailed in the rear with a pack saddle cinched on her back. 

Under the blistering afternoon sun Robert, William & Henry leisurely loped till they reached the edge of town, then slowed their horses to a walk along the street. Had Samual Emelle seen them from his shop, he might have recognized the three men he’d recently hired for gatherin hay on HIS ranch near Cokeville, Wyoming. Samual was an immigrant from Switzerland. At 46 years old he was a watchmaker, jeweler, and optician. He was also married to the beautiful Sidonia Schwarz. Sidonia, or Mrs. Emelle had just turned 33, they had a 5 year old daughter by the name of Marguerite. Sidonia was a strong and capable immigrant from Germany who handled their Wyoming spread while her husband ran his shop. She considered these 3 men, just now riding into town as….some good workers.

(Robert) “First stop….the General Store. Play it cool. Everything according to plan. Dont get too friendly or sassy, either way that’d be too memorable. I’m talking to you Bub, dont be so confounded nice, just for once.” 

(William) Pssst Henry…Let me give you some advice, Always borrow money from a pessimist, He won’t expect it back.

(Walking on wood floor, Door dinging sounds, walking)

(Ed) Afternoon boys…Welcome to my General Store, Ed Burgoyne at your service…let me know if you need anything…(rings up purchase) 

Will that be all for you gentlemen this afternoon? (Cash register noise) 

Thank you for your business…Good day to you. (Walking, door closes) 

Hmmm they seemed nice enough. I wonder if them 3 gents work for the Scotsman Andy Little running sheep over in the Boise area? Sometimes i envy that Ranching lifestyle, you live out in the open. You look up at the sky, and you know what it’s going to do, rain or shine, you’ve got your work to do, and you just do it. That’s all. Well, back to work for me…

After a casual drink or two at The Palace Saloon, The strangers then remounted and walked their horses east along Washington street. The time was 3:10 in the afternoon when they stopped across the street in front of the Bank of Montpelier. Here they dismounted and tied up their horses at the hitching rack. 

GC Gray who was the cashier at the bank had just stepped onto the boarded sidewalk outside the bank and was visiting with Ed Hoover. The men glanced up without recognizing the riders and without a second thought resumed their conversation.

(William) Henry….Why did the bank owner buy cows?

(Henry) I dont know

(William) To beef up security.

(William) “Bub? Henry?, Ive been looking forward to saying this for a while, ‘Hold your horses.’” Hahahaha. 

(William) “Oh button yer lip William, I’ll do my part, you just do yers.”

Henry stayed with the horses while Robert and William walked across the street to the bank. Mr Gray and Mr. Hoover paid sudden attention when the two men approached and drew their revolvers.

(Walking on wood sidewalk, Pistols cocking)

(William) “No funny business now, everybody just slowly move inside. I’m itching to squeeze off a couple rounds. Dont you tempt me or I’ll clock you both out affer (before) its closing time.” 

(Walking and shuffling, door opening and closing)

(William) “Come out from behind there, lemme see them hands up and Everybody face towards the wall.” (Whimpering, soft screams)

(Butch) “What’s your name? 

(B. McIntosh) Bud….Bud McIntosh. Alright Bud, Where are the greenbacks? Come on Bud, spill the beans. (Pistol whipped him) Now open the vault!” 

(Narrator) William held them at gunpoint while Robert stuffed all the bank’s cash money into a large sack. After raiding the vault, Robert tossed loose silver coins into the bag, then dumped a stack of gold coins into a cloth bank bag. 

(Door opens) “Can you believe the squirrel infestation we’ve had this year? I have a mind to….oh….OH…more varmints.”

(Elzy) “Well who do we have here?

(Perkins) “I’m councilmen William Perkins.”

(Elzy) I dont care who you are, that was sarcasm you squirrel brain. Now get over there, get your Hands up and keep your face to the wall.” 

When Robert was finished emptying the safe, he carried the loot outside, walked slowly across the street, and loaded the bags onto his horse and the pack mare. “Alright ol girl, slow and easy” (Clicking giddyup sounds)

Henry was holding the getaway horses outside, the Assistant Cashier glanced out the window and got a good look at him. That is until William (Elza Lay) whacked him upside the head and told him, “keep your eyes forward towards the wall, dont you be gettin so curious”. 

Henry (Bub) then brings William’s (Elzy’s) horse over in front of the bank and ties it up to the hitchin post. And then Henry rides out easy. 

(William) Now folks, there aint no sense in playing the hero and risking your life today. Dont you make a fuss for at least 10 minutes or I’ll come riding back in here to make sure we aint got any witnesses.” 

(Walking across the wood floor, door opens, uncocks pistols, holsters them, door closes, quiet inside, whimpering)

(Outside he mounts.) (William) “Git up there…hyaw hyaw hyaw” (And he rides hard and fast out of town)

(Cashier) Psssst…Bud…has it been 10 minutes?

(Pocket watch opening and ticking)

(Bud McIntosh) Yeah, well its…Oh good laws, are you joshing me? Its the curse of the number 13. 

(Cashier) what are you talking about?

(Bud) August 13th, 13 minutes past 3 o’clock, $13 was the last deposit made, and 13 drafts have been issued so far today.  Oh if that dont give you the willies you aint breathin (man wailing)

(Cashier) “Oh crimeny Bud, breath into a paper bag and get a grip on yourself. Your spewing mumbo jumbo. 

I’m going to find the sheriff.” 

(Cashier) Oh thank goodness you’re here Fred…I mean deputy Cruikshank, (breathing heavy) 

(Fred) “Whaaaa, why you talking so official-like to me?”

(cashier) the banks been robbed!!! They had guns. McIntosh got whacked on the eye, and my assistant got his head thumped. 

(Fred) “Robbed? What bank? Our bank? Our bank has been robbed? 

(Cashier) yes yes yes, and you need to go after them. 

(Fred) You want me to what? Take after the robbers? Well…well…I’m just a process server. I…I..dont even own a gun, or a horse…hold on a minute, i got me a penny-farthing”….. 

(cashier) a penny what? 

(Deputy) Oh you know, one of them fancy fangled bicycles with the giant front wheel and the tiny rear…Oh its a contraption of marvel. I’ll give chase to those bandits…Modern transportation to the rescue…..(peddling sounds)🚲 

(Cashier) Fred….if you aint got a gun, what’r you gonna do if you catch em?….Fred. Eh, Guess he’ll pedal across that bridge if he gets there. 

Attorney J. A. Bagley also took after the chase on horseback. Bagley specialized in criminal defense…thats kinda suspicious, dont ya think? Wondering if he wasnt just trying to drum up business. 

(Town person) Well Fred…did you get em?

(F. Cruikshank) ”Good grab no, what would I threaten em with, my bike bell? (Bike bell sounds) But I do know that they are headed east up the canyon road towards Thomas’ Fork (said smartly). Most likely on into Wyoming. And I will be relaying that information to Sheriff Davis when he returns.” 

Well, Sheriff Jefferson Davis was 8 miles away in Paris, Idaho, when he was notified by telegram (telegraph sounds) and he returned immediately, (horse running) organized a posse, and took up the chase (herd of horses running). . . . .For a week the posse followed through the rugged landscape of the western Wyoming mountain range but gave up the chase near Snyder Basin. 

No one really knows what happened to the money or for that matter exactly where the men went. But there are solid suspicions on both. One thing is for certain, the bandits had planned well. They apparently used the haying job with the Emelle family as a cover while they traced the best escape route and located a spot a few miles from Cokeville, WY to hide a quick change of fresh horses that were provided by Bub’s brother. 

The three mens names?…well they are known by their mama’s as Henry Rhodes Meeks Jr, William Ellsworth Lay, and Robert Leroy Parker. But history knows them as Bub, Elzy & Butch Cassidy. Three members of the notorious Wild Bunch.

How in tarnation did this all come about? 

Life was grueling for the Meeks family with 11 children. Everyone worked from sunup to sundown. There were bare necessities and no luxury in their lives. From this family came the little-known outlaw, “Bub” Meeks.

Butch and Bub were neighbors in Circleville and Marysville, Utah. The swam and fished in the Sevier River and “cowboyed around” starting when they were in their late teens and early twenties. At one time they were in the cattle business together or at least posing as cattle buyers. Some say, “They were buying one cow and stealing 10.”

A story in the Green River Star, of October 24, 1979, quotes Bub’s nephew, Henry Len Meeks, that “they were a loosely grouped band of juvenile delinquents on horseback, robbing banks and trains to earn easy money.” Some documented stories claim that Butch held contests of horsemanship and marksmanship and Uncle Bub was chosen, along with Elzy Lay. Bub is said to have been involved in holdups in Winnemucca, Nevada; Logan, Utah; Wyoming and Idaho.

The record is so convoluted that we can never know the whole truth. Different newspapers have conflicting dates, names wrong, places wrong, details different, misleading information everywhere. Pretty much the same as it is today. 

Regardless…One thing is agreed to as a truth, Bub is “quite a character!” Family members of his generation said he was “just…wild”. Remember, it was a different era. Sometimes the only law was hanging on the next guy’s hip (fast draw and gun sounds). Bub was, indeed, a…hmmm…how do i put this lightly….a he-llion. 
(Off Mic voice) That doesnt say “he lion”, read the real word, 
(Narrator) Bub was a Hellion. 

Butch, Bub and Elzy Lay were considered a friend at most ranches. They often worked for the ranchers … and worked hard and honestly. Many ranchers welcomed them into their homes.

For some reason, there seems to be no authoritative answer as to how much the bandits got away with that day in Montpelier, Idaho. Reports vary widely, from as little as $5 thousand, to around $16 thousand, to over $50 thousand. A figure of about $5,000 was reported by the Montpelier Examiner who broke the local story in their August 15th edition. But, Whatever the amount, none of the money was ever recovered.

source: Evan Filby South Fork Companion

Now That little yellow sorrel mare who was packing their loot, she was quite a little racehorse and Butch and Bub won lots of money racing her. After Butch cleared town she was turned loose and followed the saddle horses out through the hills. After the riders changed to fresh horses for the second leg of the journey, that trusty little mare could not sustain the pace and was left somewhat behind. 

(Bub) “I’m a little worried Robert. We shouldn’t have left her so far behind. It’d be pretty blasted pointless if’n she ends up in the wrong hands. From this vantage point we can see clear down this valley and i cant see nothing but heat waves? 

(Elzy Lay) Bub, you outta get your eyes checked, she’s a meandering just beyond them trees. 

(Bub) “Oh sweet mares eat oats and doe’s eat oats, she made it. And so far it looks like she’s alone, and packing our plunder.” 

Now $5,000 ain’t nothing to sniff at. In todays dollars, that paper alone would be valued at near $200,000. Not to mention the precious metal coinage that Butch sacked up. 

Elzy, Bub and Butch had a common friend in a gentleman by the name of Matt Warner. Now Matt had been hired to protect a client and in the process of protecting he got in a skirmish and killed a man in self defense. Because of Matt’s shady past he was now awaiting trial for murder in Ogden, Utah. The trio cooked up the Montpelier robbery to get bail and lawyer money for his defense. Which they did thanks to the charitable donations of the Montpelier Bank. Matt was still convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter when it was proven that he had shot in self-defense after he himself had been shot in the leg.

Butch, Elzy and Bub did at least one train robbery over the next year on the run. The three purportedly had an agreement not to shoot anybody. On April 21, 1897 they robbed the Castle Gate-Rio Grande. Uncle Bub cut the telegraph wires and waited with relay horses. Cassidy and Lay “stuck-up” paymaster Carpenter as he stepped out of the payroll train and walked toward his office. They alleviated him of the Castle Gate Coal Company’s $8,800 payroll. The infuriated Mr. Carpenter pursued them in a commandeered locomotive. They were quickly out of range of the train and rode for Robbers Roost.

After the Castle Gate heist, Butch and Elzy had ridden south and Bub went to Wyoming where he was spotted in Cheyenne by a sharp-eyed railroad detective and arrested. Meeks was the only one ever arrested for the Montpelier Bank Robbery. Cassidy and Lay were never brought to trial. Bub was subsequently extradited to Idaho where he was to stand trial for the robbery. (Train sounds)

It was noted that when arrested Meeks had only 35 cents in cash. Bub defiantly declared that he had not received one dollar from the Montpelier heist. Which is kinda a roundabout way of admitting that you had done it, but never profited from it. Though unprofitable, its still a crime. Yet, he was somewhat telling the truth about not receiving his cut of the loot, as the bulk of the heist was donated to Matt Warners legal defense. 

Issues with Bub’s legal representation had him at witt’s end during the trial. And before a verdict could be reached he’d lost his temper and cussed at his attorney, the jury, and the judge. 

While declaring his innocence of the crime charged against him, Meeks made no effort to prove to the jury his whereabouts at the time the bank was robbed. It was intimated during the trial and after Meek’s conviction that he had been mixed up in the Union Pacific robbery in Wyoming, but, fearing that his identity might be discovered and that he might get a bigger sentence for the train robbery (toot toot), he kept silent and made no effort to prove an alibi.

(Train horn and sounds)

Regrettably Letters of support for Meeks were held back until after the trial.

There were many people in the town of Montpelier who openly stated after the trial that Meeks was a victim of circumstances and did not commit the robbery. Others contended that he was known to have been the associate of a gang of daring crooks, and his conviction was a good riddance to the country. 

On September 7, 1897, at 28 years old, Bub was found guilty and sentenced to 35 years in the penitentiary in Boise under his given name, Henry Meeks. The harshest penalty ever handed down for a bank robbery in Idaho. (Court sounds, gavel, court adjourned)