When I came across a story about a robbery at Oakville State Bank in 1938, where the robbers made their getaway on horseback, I decided to look deeper into the tale.
However, the more I researched, the less information I found – at least regarding that particular heist. So unless the local press of that era completely ignored what happened during the last bank robbery in Washington state involving horseback bandits, I have to agree with the late Jack A. C. Miller from Olympia.
In response to a July 2002 article in The Olympian detailing how people in Oakville reenacted the infamous robbery by masked riders during Independence Day celebrations, Miller wrote a letter to the editor on Aug. 14, 2002.
“Regarding the article itself, I think it is a bunch of what the horses left in the street,” he wrote. “In living my first 60 years in Oakville, I never heard the story until just four or five years ago. I was an eyewitness to the last holdup of the bank on July 5, 1940. I remember it well, as that was just one month and one day before my oldest son was born.”
He remembered seeing Ed Fitzgerald Jr., who was vice president and cashier of the bank, chase after the robber into the street.
“I was standing in my dad’s store doorway when Ed Fitzgerald Jr. ran out of the bank and started shooting at the robber as he dashed up a side street. When the robber turned around and shot back, I found myself right in his line of fire. Needless to say, I quickly took cover. I wasn’t being cowardly; I just wanted my son to have a father when he arrived.”
Miller passed away on Sept. 21, 2003. Born in Oakville in January 1918, he spent his first sixty years there as he mentioned. He graduated from Oakville High School in 1936 and married Agness Ostergard at Swede Hill in Elma two years later while running two businesses – Millers Grocery and JAGS Drive-In – from 1945 until 1968. He also dedicated 35 years to serving on Oakville’s Fire Department including time as fire chief.
And based on my findings so far, it seems like he had a point.
As I dug through newspaper archives, I discovered articles about two different robberies at Oakville State Bank.
The first occurred on Jan. 31, 1927 when two armed men made off with $10,000 from the bank before escaping in a sedan and then stealing a touring car while still within Oakville.
The next evening brought police action when they apprehended Thomas E. Conway-aged only twenty-five-in Tacoma after garage owner D. M. Baker grew suspicious of him trying to rent another car instead of continuing with his current vehicle. Baker checked newspapers for descriptions matching robbery suspects and contacted law enforcement.
Conway also went by Thomas E. Hardy and claimed Bellingham as his hometown; upon being arrested with $2,000 cash on hand; he admitted his part in this crime and led police to where they hid their stolen goods six miles west of Oakville. Officers recovered $5,000 worth of securities along with warrants plus $800 worth of silver coins but Conway would not name his partner whom he’d claimed had previously been incarcerated for shooting someone back in Montana during 1924.
Conway persisted down this path of crime-robbing post offices and evading federal authorities-until eventually getting recaptured which landed him behind bars at Mc Neil Island.
The second bank robbery referenced by Miller happened on Friday afternoon July 5th ,1940 when one gunman struck gold by robbing them amidst bullets flying everywhere as he fled.
