North Dakota’s capital city was plagued by a series of audacious burglaries in the early morning hours of this day in 1902. Crime was an infrequent component of life in Bismarck, so the skill involved in the burglaries was considered especially alarming. The victims of the crimes included a newspaper editor, a Reverend, an early settler, and a judge. The bandit got away with $48.00 in cash, two watches, a small pocket knife, and a gold toothpick, but the method in which the robberies were completed remained a mystery. Most of the stolen objects were mere feet away from the sleeping victims, and one watch was even taken from beneath a victim’s pillow. Wads of cotton left at the crime scenes caused most residents to believe that chloroform had been used in the thefts. The high level of sophistication applied in the crimes set off a small panic among the city’s residents, as such a degree of complexity was rarely seen in the area.

WRITTEN BY JAYME JOB

Source:
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, Evening Ed. July 29, 1902: p. 3.

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