Roy Gardner - Last Of The Old West Bad Men

Roy G. Gardner, born January 5, 1884 was once America's most infamous prison escapee and the most celebrated outlaw and escaped convict during the 1920's. In his day he was as famous as another son of Missouri, the infamous Jesse James.

During his criminal career, he stole over $350,000 in cash and securities. He also had a $5,000 reward for his head three times in less than a year during his sensational career. He was the most dangerous inmate in the history of Atlanta Prison and he was dubbed by the newspapers across the West Coast as the "Smiling Bandit", the "Mail Train Bandit", and the "King of the Escape Artists". He was one of the most notorious offenders of the, one of the most notorious inmates at Alcatraz and one of the most ruthless criminals in American history. Gardner was imprisoned on Alcatraz at the same time as the like of Al Capone and Alvin Karpis.

Gardner is said to be the most hunted man in Pacific Coast history. While legend has it that he was the first to escape the McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, this has been confirmed to be not true. The first escapes occurred before Gardner was even born, and, by the time of his imprisonment, several dozen inmates had made their escapes. McNeil Island, in fact, was the only Federal Penitentiary never to have a wall and was never considered a maximum security facility. Gardner was the "Most Wanted" gangster of 1921.

He is now largely forgotten for his daring acts. No longer the household name that he was in 1921, he never lived as an outlaw on the Western frontier, was never a Depression Era gangster, and was never in a gang, all things that may contribute to him being largely forgotten in modern times. He was a lone bandit and his reputation and notoriety made him a touchstone of his time.

Roy Gardner was born on January 5, 1884 in and was raised in . He was said to be attractive and charming, standing at 5'10" tall, with short, curly auburn hair and hazel eyes. He spent his early manhood as a drifter in the Southwest, learning the trades of farrier and miner. Supposedly, he joined the U.S. Army to escape the dangerous world of petty crime, reform school escapes, and the mining business, but he deserted in 1906 and drifted to Mexico.

Gardner began his criminal profession as a gunrunner around the time of the . He smuggled and traded arms and ammunition to the forces until he was captured by soldiers from's army and was sentenced to death by firing squad, but, on March 29, 1909, he broke out of the jail along with three other American prisoners after attacking the soldier guards. Gardner arrived back in the United States, where he was a in the Southwest. He was good enough that he became a sparring partner for Heavyweight Champion at Ben Lemond Training Camp in during the summer of 1910.

Eventually, Gardner ended up in San Francisco, where he gambled all of his boxing money away, and robbed a jewelry store on . He was arrested, and spent some time in San Quentin, but he was paroled after he saved a prison guard's life during a violent riot. Gardner landed a job as an acetylene welder at the , married, fathered a daughter, left the Schwa - Batcher Company in 1918 on and began his own welding company.

Outlaw Career

Gardner had gambled all of his money away on a business trip in Tijuana at the racetracks. On the night of April 16, 1920, outside of San Diego, Gardner robbed a U. S. Mail truck of about $80,000 in cash and securities. The job went smoothly, but the outlaw was arrested three days later burying his loot. His name would become just as familiar to the lawmen of California as .

Roy Gardner was sentenced to 25 years at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary for armed robbery of the U. S. Mails, and he vowed he would never serve the sentence. On June 5, 1920, he was transported on a train with Deputy U. S. Marshals Cavanaugh and Haig. Some way outside , Gardner peered out of the window of the train and yelled, "Look at that deer!". The lawmen looked, and Gardner grabbed Marshal Haig's gun from his holster. He then disarmed Marshal Cavanaugh at gunpoint. The daring outlaw then handcuffed the two humiliated lawmen together and stole $200. He jumped off the train, and made his way to Canada.