Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office
The chronicles of the American West are replete with tales of daring outlaws and relentless lawmen, a narrative often unfolding against the backdrop of dusty trails and sprawling landscapes. While notorious figures like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Sam Bass are typically associated with regions far removed from the tranquil expanses of North Dakota, the echoes of their exploits sometimes reverberated in unexpected corners of the frontier. One such instance occurred in the small town of Pembina, Dakota Territory, in 1878, forever etching its name into the annals of local history. This is the story of the Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office.
The narrative begins with Sam Bass, a young and ambitious outlaw operating out of Denton, Texas. Bass, along with his associate Joel Collins and a band of accomplices, orchestrated what was, at the time, the largest train robbery in U.S. history. On the evening of September 18, 1877, they targeted the Union Pacific Railroad at Big Springs, Nebraska, a remote watering stop. The gang seized control of the station, holding the station master and other bystanders hostage. They severed the telegraph lines, isolating the location. As the train pulled in for water, a member of the gang infiltrated the locomotive, taking the engineer and fireman captive. The remaining members then stormed the baggage car.
Their audacious plan proved successful. The outlaws absconded with a staggering $60,000 in newly minted 1877 twenty-dollar gold pieces. The loot was divided, leaving each gang member with approximately 500 gold coins, a hefty weight of around 35 pounds per person. To avoid detection, the gang splintered into smaller groups, each heading in different directions. However, news of the robbery spread rapidly, and law enforcement agencies converged on the area. One of the gang members vanished without a trace, with some speculating that he fled to Canada. Joel Collins and his partner met a more violent end, intercepted by a posse shortly after the robbery. A brief but deadly shootout ensued, resulting in the deaths of both outlaws and the recovery of $20,000 in gold coins.
Sam Bass and his partner adopted a different strategy. Recognizing that two lone riders might arouse suspicion, they acquired a buggy and concealed the gold coins beneath the seat. They successfully navigated through the throngs of law officers, returning to Denton undetected. Back in Texas, Bass indulged in a lavish lifestyle, spending freely and enjoying the admiration of some locals. He cultivated a network of informants who warned him of impending danger, and his intimate knowledge of the terrain allowed him to evade capture. However, the high life proved unsustainable, and Bass soon depleted his share of the stolen fortune. Driven by necessity, he reverted to his criminal ways, forming a new gang and targeting local railroads. This time, however, his actions alienated the local population.
For seven weeks, a relentless pursuit ensued, involving Texas Rangers, U.S. Marshals, and local law enforcement. Despite their efforts, the gang managed to elude capture, although one accomplice, known as "Arkansas" Johnson, was killed in a skirmish. The downfall of Sam Bass ultimately came from within. Jim Murphy, a member of the gang, betrayed Bass in exchange for leniency for himself and his father. The fateful day arrived when the gang attempted to rob the bank in Round Rock, Texas. Unbeknownst to them, the Texas Rangers and local law enforcement were lying in wait. A brief, bloody shootout erupted, claiming the life of a deputy sheriff and one of the outlaws. Bass himself was wounded but managed to escape on horseback. The pursuing posse found him the following day, mortally wounded and lying beneath a tree. Sam Bass died on July 21, 1878, his 27th birthday.
By the time of Bass’s death, six of the eight participants in an earlier train robbery in Mesquite, Texas, had either been killed or imprisoned. The robbery had yielded a paltry sum of $23 per bandit. One of the gang members, William Collins, was arrested shortly after the robbery and taken to Austin for trial. In June, he was transferred to the jail in Dallas, where a family friend posted a $15,000 bond to secure his appearance in court – a date he had no intention of keeping.
William Collins was the brother of Joel Collins, who participated in the Big Springs train robbery. After jumping bail, William Collins fled north, traversing several states before eventually settling in Pembina, Dakota Territory. There, he assumed the alias William Gale and found employment as a bartender in Jim White’s saloon, a unique establishment that straddled the U.S.-Canadian border. A red stripe painted on the floor demarcated the boundary between the two countries, with the saloon located on the U.S. side and the kitchen and sitting room on the Canadian side. Gale/Collins befriended a local man named Robert Ewing, eventually revealing his true identity and confiding that he had a wife in Dallas. He asked Ewing to write a letter to his wife, which Ewing apparently did. It is believed that authorities were monitoring her mail, and it wasn’t long before a deputy U.S. marshal arrived in Pembina in search of Collins.
William Anderson, a 38-year-old appointed as a deputy U.S. marshal in 1872, was determined to apprehend Collins. Upon arriving in Pembina, Anderson sought the assistance of local deputy U.S. marshal Judson LaMoure and Pembina County sheriff Charlie Brown (who served from 1876 to 1884). Anderson requested that LaMoure and Brown attempt to arrest Collins without him, as he was "personally known" to Collins. Armed with the information that Collins was tending bar at White’s Saloon, the two lawmen ventured to the border establishment. They ordered drinks, hoping to catch Collins off guard. It had been noted that Collins had a habit of always taking the "gunfighter’s seat," ensuring that his back was never exposed to a door or window. LaMoure and Brown attempted to lure Collins into compromising his position, but their efforts were unsuccessful, and they left without their man. Collins was apparently aware that Anderson was in town and searching for him, as he reportedly told Sheriff Brown that he expected to "have it out" with the Texas lawman.
When Anderson learned that Collins had not been apprehended, he approached postmaster and customs officer Charles Cavileer about using the post office as a staging ground for capturing Collins. Cavileer agreed to Anderson’s plan, and Anderson took up residence in the building. The date was Friday, November 8, 1878. The following account is based on the recollection of James R. Moorhead (son of William H. Moorhead, the first sheriff of Pembina County) as recounted to Win V. Working of the Grand Forks Herald.
Moorhead and other young boys were playing near the post office when the final scene unfolded. Moorhead stated that it was late afternoon, although the sun was still warm. Anderson was lying on a bench in the office, while Cavileer sorted mail. Cavileer looked out the window and saw Collins approaching. "Here comes your man now," he called to the marshal. Anderson sprang from the bench, examined his six-shooter, and stepped around the counter, positioning himself a few feet from the door. As Collins entered, Anderson softly ordered him to raise his hands. Collins complied and began to speak. Slowly, Collins lowered his hands, until his right hand suddenly darted inside his shirt. Anderson fired just before Collins’s fingers grasped the butt of his six-shooter, which was holstered under his left armpit. The bullet severed most of the end of Collins’s right thumb and passed through his chest, just above the heart. The Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office was about to begin.
Despite his mortal wound, Collins managed to draw his weapon. Moorhead continued, "Collins fired, and Anderson ran to the rear of the room and fled through the kitchen door before the wounded Collins could bring his gun up again to fire a second time." During the shooting, young boys, including James Moorhead’s brother, Shep, and a boy named Joe Bouvette, were sitting on an "open stairway" with other youths, peeking through a rear window of the post office. According to Moorhead, Collins’s first bullet passed within an inch of a lad named Ira Davis. The wounded outlaw made his way past the stove to a point where he had a clear view of the kitchen door. Anderson returned and cautiously peered through the open door, exposing part of his body. Collins shot him through the doorway, and the lawman fell to the street. When the smoke cleared, both men lay dead. The Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office ended in tragedy.
The official marshal service report largely corroborates this account, with the exception that Anderson grabbed Collins’s left arm and asked another person in the post office to secure Collins’s right arm when Collins broke away and drew his weapon.
In true Western fashion, both men "died with their boots on." However, Anderson died wearing something else: a pair of gold cufflinks, a gift from William Collins on his wedding day. Although William Anderson was several years older, he and William Collins had attended school together and had served as each other’s best man. Somewhere along the way, their paths diverged, one becoming a lawman and the other an outlaw. William Anderson left behind a wife and two children; his family received the $10,000 reward offered for Collins’s capture. William Collins was buried in an unmarked grave in Pembina. The Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office had brought the past to settle in a town that was never meant to be part of the legend.
The old post office in Pembina stood until May 1883, when it was demolished. Built in 1864, it had served as the U.S. Customs House, the first post office, and the home of Pembina’s first postmaster, Charles Cavileer. Upon its demolition, the Pembina paper commented, "it has served its day and generation (and) has to submit to the destroyer. In the old front door is a bullet hole, the relic of a terrible tragedy which occurred some five years ago, when a detective and a desperado exchanged mutually fatal shots, both expiring in a few minutes" – the bloody legacy of Sam Bass, a Texas outlaw, that ended with the Shoot Out At the Pembina, North Dakota Post Office.