It was after closing hours when someone decided to make a withdrawal from the First National Bank of Meeteetse.
The robbers gained entry to the bank through a ground-floor window. Using a crowbar, they broke through the vault wall to get inside.
They made their getaway with a measly sum of $40 for all their planning and effort.
The crime took place in 1958, but old-timers in Meeteetse remember it well. It was a big scandal — the richest bank in the Big Horn Basin was robbed for a paltry haul that would amount to just over $400 today.
Evidence of that crime still exists nearly 70 years later in the minds of many in Meeteetse but also on the walls of the bank building, which remains in use. The robbed bank is now part of the museum district and the only building in Meeteetse listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Where the thieves made their own door into a bank safe, the wall has been patched over. The ground-floor window the robbers used to access the bank has been sealed with bricks.
“It's a slice of what life was like when the town was first started,” Elizabeth Foss of the Meeteetse Museums said. “It's a pillar in the town. You look through old pictures of Meeteetse and this building has always stood here.”
The bank was restored to its original layout so that visitors can experience what a bank was like in the early 1900s. The bank was closed in the late 1970s and donated to the museums who open it to the public in the summers. Visitors can request to go to the bank during winter and spring to see the infamous break-in for themselves.
“It looms large for a lot of the older folks who lived in Meeteetse,” Foss said. “We get visitors in who remember when their parents would cash checks here.”
The bank vault at the First National Bank of Meeteetse was broken into by a crowbar. Visitors to the museum can see the patched hole where thieves had gotten in and stole $40 in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The original safes of the National Bank of Meeteetse, Wyoming, are on display at the 1901 bank which is part of the Meeteetse Museum District. These safes thwarted a bank robbery in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The original safes of the National Bank of Meeteetse, Wyoming, are on display at the 1901 bank which is part of the Meeteetse Museum District. These safes thwarted a bank robbery in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The National Bank of Meeteetse was never robbed during the wild west days when the Hole-in-the-Wall frequented the saloons in the area. However, it was robbed in 1958 when thieves broke into the vault but were unable to crack the safes. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
xThe bank vault at the First National Bank of Meeteetse was broken into by a crowbar. Visitors to the museum can see the patched hole where thieves had gotten in and stole $40 in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The bank vault at the First National Bank of Meeteetse was broken into by a crowbar. Visitors to the museum can see the patched hole where thieves had gotten in and stole $40 in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
Crowbar Robbery
It was November 1958 when the headlines of the local newspapers declared that $40 was stolen from the First National Bank in Meeteetse. The Park County Sheriff’s office said that sometime after midnight on Sunday the burglars had broken into the bank’s vault.
According to the sheriff’s accounts, the bank was accessed through a bank window with the aid of a crowbar. The crowbar was then used to punch a hole in the vault to gain entrance.
The thieves were apparently unable to force open the two safes inside the vault and instead stole the money that was in a cigar box.
“When you look in the bank vault, you can actually see where they broke in,” Foss said. The hole was subsequently bricked and plastered over.
The Victor and cannonball safes that remained untouched during the robbery are still in the vault, preserved by museum curators who see them as an important part of Meeteetse history.
The 1958 robbery was the only successful known theft in the bank during its long history and the robbers were never caught.
However, when the bank was brand new, rumors flew that members of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang were about to attempt a bank robbery in Meeteetse.
Warning Letter
In 1901, the Hole-in-the-Wall gang was rumored to be planning to rob the First National Bank of Meeteetse.
Henry River, who owned a saloon upstream from town, wrote a note warning bank cashier W. Dean Hays to be on the lookout.
The handwritten note began “Do not mention my name in the matter” and was dated June 17, 1901.
It read as follows:
“Mr. Dean Hays, Esq.
“Dear Sir, It is rumored that Meeteetse is going to be held up and robbed by the Hole-in-the-Wall gang of thieves. I wish you would notify Red Lodge that they are billed for the 23 of June. I do not know this for a fact but I have reason to believe it. You can use your own judgement about it and act accordingly. Hoping this may be of benefit to you in all yours very – truly H.R.”
The local community immediately sprang into action and decided that to defend themselves, they needed to become a full-fledged town.
“There's this big rumor that these guys were going to rob the bank,” Foss said. “And what do you need to face some bad guys? You need a marshal. So that rumor got us our marshal and kind of kicked us off as an incorporated town.”
Meeteetse needed a marshal for protection, who could only be appointed by a town council. The quick action of the locals to make themselves a legitimate town either kept the gang away or was a decoy because instead of robbing the bank in Meeteetse, the gang robbed a train on July 1 across the border in Montana.
This rumor of a bank heist wasn’t the end of the wild west for bank teller W. Dean Hays. Just six years later, he found himself at the end of a pistol of an irate lawyer.
Elizabeth Foss, Director of Public Outreach and Engagement, is an advocate for saving history in Meeteetse and telling stories of the 1901 bank including the rumors of bank robberies and the successful heist in 1958. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
W. Dean Hays, the first cashier at the First National Bank of Meeteetse, left, with William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, right. (Courtesy Buffalo Bill Center of the West) 
Left, this note warns that the hole-in-the-wall gang planned to rob the Meeteetse bank on June 23, 1901. The infamous gang never did rob the bank, however, the group did rob a train near Wagner, Montana, nine days later on July 3, 1901. Right, in 1907, attorney Billy Simpson shot banker W. Dean Hays in a dispute over cashing checks. (Courtesy Buffalo Bill Center of the West) 
The First National Bank of Meeteetse was one of the Wyoming banks who were issued their own bank notes. The issued bank notes were based on the amount of capital that was on hand at the bank. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
In 1901, the National Bank of Meeteetse was opened for business and it quickly became the richest bank in the Big Horn Basin with average deposits of $100,000 by 1903. In the first year of business rumors circulated through town that the bank was goingn to be robbed by the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. In response, the townspeople incorporated their town so that they could appoint a marshal. The bank wasn’t robbed after all – until 1958 when thieves broke into the vault and stole $40. (Courtesy Meeteetse Museums)
Banker Shot By Lawyer
Hays had arrived in Meeteetse in 1900 specifically to open a bank. The richest ranchers in the region became his first members and the First National Bank of Meeteetse was soon the wealthiest bank in all of the Big Horn Basin. This is why it wasn’t far-fetched that the bank was tempting to the likes of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang.
By 1904, Hays had left the bank to open the Wilson Hays bank of Meeteetse. It was while here that he made one of his patrons so furious a gun got involved.
The Thermopolis Independent reported that Attorney William “Billy” Simpson had imbibed a bit too freely and had imagined himself a millionaire. He had gone to draw out his money and since there wasn’t any in his account, Hays refused to honor the checks.
Furious, the irate attorney came back with a gun and went ‘hunting the banker.’ He shot at Hays twice and the second bullet grazed the banker’s nose. Simpson was arrested for attempted murder.
In 1968, author Lucille Nichols Patrick wrote that many believed the incident occurred when Republican Hays refused to cash checks that would have allowed Democratic candidate Simpson to access funds raised by his supporters. As a result of the murder charge, Simpson lost the election.
These stories and more live on in Meeteetse in the original bank building that has stood through all the wild times of the small frontier town.
“There's a lot to learn going through this bank,” Foss said. “It's just a really neat piece of Meeteetse history.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
