As 1930 dawned, bringing in the Great Depression and a decade of lawlessness spawning the likes of Machine Gun Kelley, Alvin Karpis and John Dillinger, a masked man rode hard around Wheatland as a Cowboy State Robin Hood.
Well, sort of.
He was a masked savior to some, a bandit to others, and he was said to ride a “milk-white” horse around the Laramie Peak country between Wheatland and Douglas.
He put a bullet through a door after warning a rancher about harboring horse thieves. He left mysterious warnings to those he considered would-be rustlers planning shenanigans.
What some considered a joke took on a much more serious tone when a 20-year-old cowboy was shot through the chest, and it was blamed on the man behind the mask.
“Feeling Runs High Over Masked Rider,” a Casper Daily Tribune headline proclaimed July 21, 1930. “Activities Not Held Serious at First, Take On Grave Meaning With Shooting.”
The story of the masked vigilante rider apparently began with a report that Charles Adams, 20, had been shot at while riding the Laramie Peak area in spring 1930. He had a hole in trousers to prove it.
Then in a second incident Adams reported being shot at again, and his saddle pommel showed the marks of the bullet.
Letters were posted around the region telling alleged rustlers their time was up and they needed to leave.
A later newspaper account reported that at that point, Adams was rounded up and brought to the jail for questioning about any of his involvement in an nefarious activity related to the masked man or gangs.
He was released.
A reporter from Wheatland wrote in a special story for the Casper Daily Tribune on July 21, 1930, that Wheatland area was “on its toes” over the masked rider and the shooting of a 20-year-old cowboy. (Courtesy Newspapers.com) 
The Casper Daily Tribune on Aug. 4, 1930, printed a story about the masked rider’s letter to Charles Adams denying he shot the young cowboy. (Courtesy Newspapers.com) 
Charles Adams sentencing made headlines in the Aug. 11, 1930, edition of the Casper Daily Tribune. (Courtesy Newspapers.com) 
A masked rider in 1930 terrorized some of the Wheatland area community around Laramie Peak in 1930. It turned out to be Charles Adams, 20, at right, in Casper Daily Tribune photo with Albany County sheriff’s deputy.
Bullet Through Rancher’s Door
In June that year, a masked man went to the ranch of William Atkinson, who opened the door and slammed it when he saw the armed masked rider.
A bullet tore through the door and hit the rancher.
Then on July 18, 1930, Adams was in his bunkhouse when the masked rider appeared again, he later told authorities.
“The third attempt on the life of Charles Adams, 20-year-old Fletcher Park range rider, failed by inches yesterday as a bullet fired by an unknown assailant passed entirely through his body, above the heart,” the Casper Daily Tribune reported on July 20. “Adams was confronted by the masked man who told him he wanted money.
"Adams said he grappled with the intruder and was knocked down by the bullet.”
The newspaper reported that Adams had been shot in the leg six months prior, and two weeks before a bullet creased the pommel of his saddle. The sources of the bullets were undetermined.
Local law officers were redoubling their efforts to “clear up” the situation, the newspaper reported.
A special correspondent from Wheatland for the Casper Daily Tribune characterized the area as “on its toes” following the shooting of Adams, reportedly by a dangerous masked man.
As Adams recovered, he received a letter purportedly from the masked rider, telling the redheaded cowboy that that he was not responsible for putting the bullet through his chest.
“When you get this letter I will be on my way to Canada. It wasn’t me that shot you,” the masked man supposedly wrote.
Adams passed the letter to authorities in early August. It was reprinted in the Aug. 10, 1930, Casper Daily Tribune.
“The man that shot you is dead and buried. I killed him,” the masked man supposedly wrote. "You can find me somewhere close to Laramie Peak if you look hard enough. I may come back and finish the job I started when things quiet down a little. I hate thieves.”
Hater Of Red Hair
The letter also said that the real shooter had intended to rob Adams, but forgot to after he shot him. It ended with this bit of information: “He shot you because he hated red hair.”
The letter was signed: “Yours truly, The Masked Rider.”
Rather than closing the case, that’s when the masked rider masquerade fell apart.
In a check for fingerprints on a rustler warning flier left at a rancher’s door, police found that the letter given to police by Adams from the masked rider had a fingerprint that was a match.
The letter supposedly written by the masked rider was typed and a University of Wyoming expert said the type used on the letter matched that on the machine at the home of Adams' ranch boss.
Officers believed that Adams was he masked rider and faked being a target in part because he wanted to get rid of a rival for a young woman’s affection and drive him out of the country.
When confronted, Adams confessed.
According to the Aug. 10 Casper Daily Tribune, Adams told authorities that he was the masked rider because he was trying to break up a gang of thieves operating in the Laramie Peak region.
“I called at the Atkinson ranch one night to give notice to one of the gang,” he said. “William Atkinson opened the door, but when he saw me with a gun, he slammed the door and I shot. I shot through the door with no intention of hitting anyone.”
Adams said he sent a letter to Atkinson warning him to “quit harboring thieves” and then shot a hole through his own saddle and said someone else did it so he would have an excuse to carry a gun.
The redheaded cowboy also told authorities he shot himself after police questioned him about the masked rider to throw them off.
“I have never intentionally harmed an honest, law-abiding person, and I have never stolen anything, nor do I intend to,” he said. “I am sorry that I have deceived my friends and caused so much trouble and excitement.
"I deserve to be punished for the lies that I’ve told.”
He was taken from Wheatland to the Albany County jail in Laramie. There the Casper Daily Tribune reported Aug. 11, 1930, that he denied there was any rivalry over a woman that spurred his actions.
“Jail officials also disclosed that Adams has spent much of his time in his cell here reading western stories and that the one now occupying his attention is the ‘Phantom Rider’ the same name attached to Adams because of his mysterious appearances in the wilds of peak country,” the Casper Daily Tribune reported.
A masked rider in 1930 terrorized some of the Wheatland area community around Laramie Peak in 1930. It turned out to be Charles Adams, 20, at right, in Casper Daily Tribune photo with Albany County sheriff’s deputy. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Charles Adams draft registration card filled out on Oct. 16, 1940. 
Charles Moses Adams is buried in a Eureka, California, cemetery. (Courtesy Find A Grave)
Breach Of Peace
While initial press reports wrote about Adams being potentially charged with assault to commit murder for the Atkinson shooting, the Albany County prosecutor ended up accepting Adams’ plea to breach of peace, a misdemeanor.
He was sentences to 30 days in jail and fined $50.
Once in jail in Albany County, besides reading, he turned to writing his memoirs.
“He plans to compose a complete and authentic chronicle of his adventures in playing the lone vigilante in a purported effort to frighten the thieves out of the county,” a Laramie reporter wrote in a story published in the Casper Daily Tribune on Aug. 11, 1930.
A census from 1930 showed that Adams had been born in Wheatland and that his mother, Edna, was from Nebraska. He had three brothers and a sister. His mother was the head of the household.
A draft registration shows that in 1940, the then 30-year-old and his family had moved to Arcata in Humboldt County, California, 100 miles south of the Oregon border.
He was working for a barrel company and noted to have a scar on his left arm. He was listed as 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, having a light complexion, blue eyes, and red hair.
In October 1942, the Humboldt Times reported Adams had enlisted in the U.S. Air Army Air Corps as an aircraft mechanic.
He was listed in a 1945 article as among those who returned to Arcata. He was discharged as a sergeant, got married to Irene Jackson and had a son.
In 1955, the Times Standard in Eureka, California, had a story on Adams and his wife being involved in a bad auto crash on Highway 101.
“Charles M. Adams of Arcata suffered major injuries,” the newspaper reported Jan. 3. His wife’s injuries were minor.
But the former masked rider again survived, just like he did with his own bullet through his chest as a 20-year-old. He lived to the ripe age of 92.
Adams died Dec. 13, 2002, in Eureka, California.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
