Montpelier, Idaho is famous for two things: bank robbers and bears. On August 13th, 1896, Butch Cassidy and several members of his Wild Bunch strolled into the Bank of Montpelier and strolled out with a little over $16,500 ($640,000 in today’s money). As they rode off into the sunset, the local sheriff took off after them on his bicycle. He made a valiant effort but didn’t stand a chance. While Butch Cassidy was never caught, a local man named Robert Meeks, who helped in this escapade which was likely his first and only bank robbery, was eventually tracked down and convicted to 35 years in the state penitentiary.
As the dust was finally settling from the bank robbery, a different kind of thief was just starting his long and storied career. Old Ephraim was a massive grizzly who reeked havoc on the region for over a decade.. He was also called Old Three Toes because of a deformity on his back foot which made him easily identifiable, In August of 1923, a local rancher named Frank Clark finally tracked down Old Ephraim and caught him in a trap. It took seven bullets to bring down the massive bear. You can visit the grave of Old Ephraim in Utah’s Logan Canyon and you can see his skull at Utah State University, but his legend is alive and well in Montpelier where a giant statue stands as a memorial to his exploits.
Those two stories make Montpelier an exciting place to visit. The town was once called Clover Creek and was a stop on the Oregon Trail. The name was changed to Montpelier by Mormon Prophet Brigham Young in honor of the capital city of his home state of Vermont. The Oregon Short Line Railroad reached Montpelier in 1882 which would allow the town to grow more rapidly. Montpelier would serve as the home terminal for these trains until 1972. It’s still a rail town today with plenty of trains passing through every day. Montpelier is also home to the National Oregon and California Trail Center, which was sadly closed during my visit. And you can also visit the Bank of Montpelier which is still standing in town and still has the original teller windows and vault from when Butch Cassidy last saw it in 1896. The bank is a museum now which is open sporadically and is, at this writing, for sale. I hope you enjoy these photos from the wonderful small town of Montpelier, Idaho - it is actually more than bank robbers and bears, but those make the town great.