The Great Escape

The most dramatic event in the history of Nevada State Prison started on September 17, 1871.

On that Sunday the convicts quickly subdued the one guard left to put the men in their cells for the night. The noise of inmates breaking through the lath and plaster in assistant warden Zimmerman's room woke the sleeping administrator. He then ran to where Denver, his wife Mary, and 6-year-old daughter were eating dinner and entertaining friends. Denver grabbed his Derringer and shot ringleader Frank Clifford. Denver was hit by a slingshot, knocking him to the ground. Inmates then entered the armory, taking Henry rifles, shotguns, several five and six shooters and up to 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

Of the 29 escapees, 22 went east, two went west and five went toward Empire City. Since Governor Bradley was absent from Carson, his private secretary, Charles Belknap, took charge and telegraphed General Batterman in Virginia City. Batterman arrived with a guard on a special train within hours. Some historical accounts say hundreds arrived to help hunt down the criminals. The Carson Appeal ran an advertisement from the governor's office offering rewards for the escapees virtually every day for months. Stories on the escape ran nationwide.

"Rattlesnake Dick," who had recently been paroled from prison to Virginia City, asked to be shadowed by police directly after the breakout because he was sure he would be implicated in the escape. Noted as a career criminal, Rattlesnake Dick, aka Richard Darling, esq., was let out some weeks before the escape. It was obvious to many he was fully aware of the plan.

Four prisoners were caught, and $900 in reward paid, when they were found on the Walker Lake Road. 

Billy Poor, a 23-year-old Pony Express rider, was found some 200 yards from Sulfur Springs with a gunshot to the head. It is thought those captured shot Poor in an attempt to keep news of the escape from reaching towns ahead of them.

Several days later a San Francisco detective caught a man in Gates saloon in Los Angeles. A second man was held in jail awaiting transport to Carson City.

Irishman Thomas Ryan was arrested by detectives Seelinger and Stone, who had just returned to bed at the Empire Lodging House in San Francisco. He said he was given up by a man he'd seen somewhere else.

A few of the escapees were found within walking distance of Virginia City, hiding out in a cave and stealing vegetables from local gardens.

The most famous of the escapees were caught and lynched after a shootout at Monte Diablo Canyon near Monte Diablo Lake, now known as Convict Creek and Convict Lake. The saga is recounted in "Murders at Convict Lake" by George Williams III. Today you may purchase this book in the Nevada State Prison Gift Shop.

Of the 29 who escaped, 18 were returned. Historic records show 11 escaped and were never found.