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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 6
J
UST BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON JULY 3, 1901, THE GREAT
NORTHERN RAILWAY'S COAST FLYER NO. 3 EASED
OUT OF THE DEPOT AT MALTA, MONTANA, ITS IRON
WHEELS GRINDING AGAINST THE RAILS AS SPARKS DRIFT-
ED INTO THE WARM PRAIRIE DARK. Malta was a rough-edged
cow town—false-fronted buildings facing a wide lane of rutted
dust, hitchracks crowded with saddle horses switching their
tails against the flies. The train's lamps glowed against the vast
sweep of the plains as it headed west toward Wagner, another
small cattle town cut from the same cloth.
Among the passengers that night was Ben "Blackie" Kilpatrick,
a trusted hand of outlaw leader Butch Cassidy and his notori-
ous Wild Bunch. Traveling with him were Harvey "Kid Curry"
Logan and O. C. Hanks. They appeared to be ordinary riders
bound for the next stop. They were anything but.
Less than six miles east of Wagner, engineer Thomas Jones felt
the cold reality of a revolver pressed to his head. Logan had
slipped aboard the tender and climbed into the engine cab,
catching both Jones and fireman Mike O'Neill off guard. The
command was simple: stop the train. With a gun leveled inches
away, neither railroad man hesitated.
Logan ordered O'Neill down to uncouple the baggage and ex-
press cars from the passenger coaches. The fireman obeyed,
hands trembling as steel pins were drawn and the cars separat-
ed. In the confusion, a nearby rancher, John Cunningham, rode
toward the halted locomotive, sensing trouble. When he real-
by CHRIS ENSS • illustrations by ROBERT RATH
WILD
THE
TRAIN
