1929 — Oct 3-4, CO State Penitentiary uprising (8 guards, 5 convicts die), Canon City, CO-13

–13 AP. “Prison Mutiny Ends with Suicide of Three Convict…” Greeley Daily Tribune, 10-4-1929, p.1.
–13 AP. “Take Own Lives as Mutiny Fails.” Burlington Gazette, IA. 10-4-1929, p. 1.
–13 Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Guard Wounded in Prison Riot Dies.” 10-11-1929, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Oct 3: “ (Associated Press) Canon City, Oct. 3. – A revolt among the prisoners at the state penitentiary here today in which two guards were reported killed in an attempted break for liberty, was reported to have taken place today. Confusion reigned inside the walls and immediate information of the seriousness of the disturbance could not be obtained.

“The mutiny broke out in the dining room. A call was sent to city officials from the prison for help. The fire department of Canon City also was called out in an effort to quell the mutiny. Ordinarily the institution houses about 1,200 prisoners, but a couple of hundred were on the prison farm a few miles distant at the time of the outbreak.

“The Howitzer company of the Colorado national guard, stationed here was called out and every available man in the city was called upon to help quell the outbreak. The prisoners, according to the meagre reports reaching newspaper men outside the walls, were holding several dozen guards at bay and had complete control of the institution.

“Some reports said that three guards were dead and three wounded but no confirmation of this could be obtained. Several of the prisoners were armed and a raid on the prison arsenal is thought to have followed the outbreak of rioting.

“Major Bruce Kistler, commander of the national guard air unit at Denver, dispatched a national army guard airplane loaded with tear bombs to the prison immediately on news of the riot.

“At 2 o’clock this afternoon, 500 or 600 prisoners were crowded into three rooms at the penitentiary. With them were 20 guards. The dining room, the chapel, and one cell house of the prison were in flames. Late reports said that two guards were known to be dead, one thought at his post in an observation tower; and one shot off the roof of the prison.” (Associated Press. “Prison Break Is Reported at Canon City.” Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. 10-3-1929, p. 1.)

Oct 4: “(Associated Press) Canon City, Colo., Oct. 4. – Suicide stalked like a ghost thru the shambles of the Colorado state penitentiary this morning, and brought to an end one of the bloodiest prison mutinies in the nation’s history. Three leaders of the mutiny, barricaded with more than 150 other convicts in cell house No. 3, surrounded by troops, police and prison guards, and hopelessly outnumbered, firs killed a wounded comrade and then fired bullets into their own brains. The other convicts then surrendered and were marched out of the cell house just at sunrise.

“The mutiny left in its wake a list of 13 known dead, and as many wounded, some of whom may die.

“Four of the dead were prison guards, disarmed and slaughtered in cold blood inside the cell house, to emphasize the convict’s demands for unmolested freedom. Warden Crawford, who declined all offers to parley with the embattled prisoners, was himself wounded during one of the attacks on the cell block.

“National guard troops and police details from four Colorado cities fired more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition into the convicts’ stronghold during the night. The battle was marked by two attempts to dynamite the cell house walls, one blast breaking all the windows, but failing to effect a breach in the masonry.

“The hero of the dynamiting attempt was a Catholic priest, Father Patrick O’Neill, who carried the bombs to the foot of the cell house wall, under cover of machine gun fire from the prison walls.

“In all, seven prison guards were killed, three at the outbreak of rioting Thursday noon, and four more during the night. Those killed in the early rioting were Roy Brown, Walter Rinker and Elmer G. Erwin. Those slaughtered in the cell house were John J. Eclles, Robert A. Wiggins, Charles Shepherd and John W. McClelland. [Eight. Guard Myron H. Goodwin died of wounds Oct. 10. ]

“The convict dead included Danny Daniels, who led the rioting, and acted as executioner of the guards; A. H. Davis, George (Red) Riley, James Purdue, and Albert Morgaridge. Pardue [sic] was wounded in the abdomen during the early rioting. He was removed to cell house No. 3 by the other convicts. He was found this morning with a bullet thru his head, fired by one of the other convicts to end his suffering. Three of the other ring leaders were found dead in the same cell, powder burns on their temples bearing mute testimony to shots fired at close range. The body of Daniels was in the doorway, sprawled half in and half out of the cell.

“The floor of the cell house, which last night served as the execution chamber of four unarmed guards, was slippery with blood. The bodies of Charles Shepherd and John W. McClelland, two of the slain guards, were found in the cell house, bound hand and foot. Both had been shot thru the head.

“Close estimates fix the time of the suicides of the riot leaders at 4 a.m., but it was not until an hour and a half later, at daybreak, when O. A. Earl, one of the surviving guards, made his way into the prison yard, that the attacking forces learned of the fact, entered the cell house, and rounded up the prisoners.

“Earl said he was afraid to leave the cell house until daylight, for fear of being mistaken for a convict and shot by the watchers on the walls. With him in the cell house were John Pease and Lawrence Roche, who escaped the fury of the convicts. Roche’s sister, Josephine, secretary to Warden Crawford, had remained at the prison all night, fearing each minute to see her brother’s bullet riddled body tossed out of a window of the cell house, as the bodies of Eelles and Wiggins were tossed. Giving her brother up for dead, she had left the prison shortly before daylight. When she learned that he was alive, she collapsed.

“Gutted by fire, which destroyed the dining room and chapel and two of the cell houses, and scarred by machine gun bullets and dynamite, the prison yard this morning was in utter ruin.

“Marvin Duncan, one of the guards in the cell house, was carried to a hospital this morning stark mad from terror. He was found locked in a cell, and it was necessary to take off the door to get him out. He was at first thought to be dead, but examination revealed that he was not even wounded. He saw Eelles, the prison hangman, shot down and saw his body tossed out of the cell house window. He stood by while Danny Daniels asked Wiggins, another guard, if he had said his prayers. ‘Yew.’ Wiggins replied without emotion. ‘Where do you want me to stand/=?’ He heard Daniels say ‘right where you are,’ and fired a bullet through Wiggins’ head….” (Associated Press. “Prison Mutiny Ends with Suicide of Three Convict Leaders; Known Death List at 13; Building Destroyed by Fire; Warden Hurt.” Greeley Daily Tribune, 10-4-1929, p. 1.)

Oct 11: “Canon, City, Colo., Oct. 11 – The death toll of the mutiny at Colorado’s state penitentiary last week mounted to thirteen yesterday when Myron H. Goodwin, 63, a guard wounded during the riot died. Goodwin was shot by Danny Daniels, one of the leaders of the outbreak. Before he was shot, Goodwin fired from Tower No. 1 and wounded Jimmy Pardue, leader of the mutiny. Prison officials credited Goodwin’s promptness in shooting down Pardue with having stopped the spread of a general break of the 1200 convicts. With Pardue wounded, officers said, other prisoners who intended to join the mutiny lost heart. Goodwin had a wife and five children.” (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Guard Wounded in Prison Riot Dies.” 10-11-1929, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Prison Break Is Reported at Canon City.” Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. 10-3-1929, p. 1. Accessed 5-28-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/greeley-daily-tribune-oct-03-1929-p-1/

Associated Press. “Prison Mutiny Ends with Suicide of Three Convict Leaders; Known Death List at 13; Building Destroyed by Fire; Warden Hurt.” Greeley Daily Tribune, 10-4-1929, p. 1. Accessed 5-28-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/greeley-daily-tribune-oct-04-1929-p-1/

Associated Press. “Take Own Lives as Mutiny Fails.” Burlington Gazette, IA. 10-4-1929, p. 1. Accessed 5-26-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-burlington-gazette-oct-04-1929-p-1/

Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Guard Wounded in Prison Riot Dies.” 10-11-1929, p. 1. Accessed 5-28-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/huntingdon-daily-news-oct-11-1929-p-1/

Gresham, Gayle. “The 1929 Prison Riot at the Colorado State Penitentiary.” Colorado Reflections (blogspot). Accessed 5-28-2022 at: https://coloradoreflections.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-1929-prison-riot-at-colorado-state.html