Historical Details

Niobrara County Jail

Courtesy of The Lusk Herald, 07/10/1913

The Jireh Record, July 12, 1913

Commissioners Proceedings, July 1, 1912

The jail property in Block 1, Town of Lusk sold to Town of Lusk for One-Hundred Ninety-five ($195.00) Dollars, they being the highest bidders. 

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The Lusk Herald, April 10, 1913

W.W. Yale, representing the Pauly Jail Building Company of Denver, came up last week from the Colorado capital to submit a bid for the new jail cells, but the Commissioners were not ready to take up the matter up as yet.

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The Lusk Herald, July 10, 1913

Contractor Elmer H. Ranck acting under instructions of the Niobrara Board of County Commissioners, has drawn new plans and drafted new specifications for the sheriff's residence which it is intended to have built. The first floor will contain the sheriff's office, a bedroom , cell room, bath and lavatories. On the second floor there will be four commodious rooms with bath, clothes closets, pantry and other accessories and the whole building will be heated from a plant on the first floor. This change from the original plans is a good one as the sheriff's residence should be convenient to his office and jail. 

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The Lusk Herald, August 14, 1913

Commissioners Proceedings, Lusk Wyoming August 5, 1913

The following bids for the construction of a jail were opened and considered:

  E.H. Mulholland,  $7545.00   

  E.H. Ranck,   $7325.00

  T.H. Blair     $7720.00

John Fernau for plumbing only, $995.00.

The bid of E.H. Ranck being the lowest, he was awarded the contract, he to give a bond of $1500.00.

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The Lusk Herald, August 17, 1913

Elmer H. Ranck was the successful bidder for the construction of the new county jail in Lusk. His competitors were Tom Blair of Manville and Van Tassell and Mr. Mulholland of Rapid City, S.D. Construction work will commence just as soon as the old school building has been razed and out of the way.

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The Lusk Herald, August 21, 1913

Contractor Ranck has finished the excavation for the new jail building and will be putting the cement into the forms this week.
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The Lusk Herald, September 18, 1913

Contractor Ranck is getting along splendidly with the jail building. The walls are up to the second story , the heavy iron doors are set in place and the steel cells are being put in position, He  has had good weather since the work commenced, the only lay-off being Tuesday of this week when it rained.

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The Jireh Record, October 25, 1913

Commissioners Proceedings, October 7, 1913

The following bills were audited and allowed, and warrants ordered drawn for payment of same:

E.H. Ranck, jail contract   $1779.66

Pauly Jail Building Co.    $3004.00
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The Lusk Herald, October 30, 1913

Contractor Elmer H. Ranck is being delayed in getting the roof of the jail building finished on account of the stormy weather. As soon as  he is able to get the building under cover the inside work will be rushed to completion which should not be later than Dec. 1st.

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The Lusk Herald, November 13, 1913

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Rogers have moved into a room in the Masonic building which they will occupy until the jail building is ready for habitation, that is, the upper story. 

(Harry R. Rogers was the first Sheriff of newly formed Niobrara County, and served from 1913-1914.)

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The Lusk Freelance, June 7, 1934

MAN ARRESTED IN FILLING STATION THEFT HANGS SELF IN COUNTY JAIL

Glenn Hanna, 31, who was arrested two weeks ago at Cheyenne after "tapping" the till at the Hiway Super Service Station here for $30.00 cash, and who was later brought back to this city and jailed in the county cells, took his life by hanging shortly after 4:40 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, in the runway around the cell block. His body was discovered by Sheriff Will Hassed, who was bringing the prisoner his evening meal from his living quarters on the upper floor of the county jail.

The hanging, according to Dr. W.E. Reckling, examining physician who was called immediately after the finding of the dangling body, was as nearly a perfect job as any legal hanging he had ever known of. The man must have died with in a very brief period of time, the doctor asserted, and must have understood something of how to perform the act.

Hanna's wife had been in the office of Sheriff Hassed late in the afternoon, requesting to visit the prisoner, and Sheriff Hassed  had brot {sic} him from the jail to the office for the meeting. It is said that the pair were apparently arguing as they parted, and that as soon as the wife left, Hanna was again removed to the jail. As he was the only prisoner there, he was allowed the freedom of the jail corridor.

Sheriff Hassed placed him inside the jail at 4:40 and when he returned at 5:05, he was met by the sight of the body hanging lifeless from a water pipe on the west side of the cell block. Hanna had torn a part of the wiring from the wall and ceiling, improvised a noose, and then tying his feet together with a necktie, got up on a radiator, slipped the noose around his neck and jumped off. Death must have been almost instantaneous, the authorities say.

Sheriff called for a physician hurriedly, and in the meantime cut the body down and attempted artificial respiration, but life was extinct and apparently had been for several minutes. The body was removed to the undertaking establishment of George Earl Peet, and the relatives of the man notified. A note was found on the reverse side of a letter he had received from his father.

His father, J.R. Hanna, and two brothers of Longmont, Colo., arrived late Tuesday night and made arrangements to take charge of the body. The remains were sent to Torrington this (Thursday) morning, and from there they will be taken to Ogallala, Nebr., where funeral services will be conducted Friday afternoon.

Hanna was 31 years old on the day he committed suicide. He is survived by his wife and two children, a son 7 years old, and a daughter, 4 years old, both by a former marriage.

Hanna was hailed before Justice of the Peace Otto Koeberlin shortly after his return to this city, pleading guilty to the theft. He was bound over to the district court under bond of $1500.

It has been learned since his death that he was connected with a couple of questionable automobile deals in Denver, Colo., and Ogallala, Neb., and these, combined with his latest difficulty here, might have had a bearing on his act of suicide, as indicated in the first sentence of his note. 

Hanna's Death Note

"I am sorry I have to do this but can't stand it any longer. Notify my wife and my Dad at Longmont, Colo., and they will do the rest . My wife just left here for home at Paul McKenzie's, north of here 60 miles. I love her with all my heart and my kids too. Don't know what they will do. Bury me some place and God bless you all.

(Signed)   GLENN"

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The Lusk Herald, June 14, 1934

Glenn Hanna Buried in Ogallala, Friday

Glen Hanna, 31, who committed suicide June 5th by hanging, was buried Friday at Ogallala, Neb. Members of his family from Longmont, Colo., attended the services.

Hanna's body was taken to Torrington Thursday by Coroner George Earl Peet and was shipped by train to Ogallala.

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The Lusk Herald, March 9, 1944

Jailed Pair Overpower Sheriff And Flee But Caught Again

The two men, Eldon Way and William Miller, apprehended here last Wednesday night, and held for Missouri authorities, overpowered Sheriff Del Shoopman Tuesday morning when he brought them breakfast, escaped and were at liberty for a half day in the country northeast of Lusk, but were caught again by Sheriff Shoopman and Police Chief M. S. Jordan.

The break occurred at 9:00 o’clock when Sheriff Shoopman took the pair their breakfast in the cell block. As usual, he investigated to see that both were in the adjacent cell, but as he set the breakfast down, they overpowered him, threatening him with a 15-inch steel strip.

Later investigation showed the strip had been wrenched from one of the bunks and that by using it as a bar the prisoners had jimmied the automatic closing device in such a way that the door from the cell to the cell block was not locked.

WANTED SHERIFF’S CAR

After overpowering the Sheriff, they told him to be quiet or they would hit him with the steel strip which had been wrapped with a cloth. Miller wanted him struck anyway. They rifled his pockets, taking his car keys, asked where the car was and asked for a gun. They were told the gun was in the car. Then one held him while the other dressed.

They were unable, however, to get Shoopman’s car started. A number of people saw them in the car, but no one knew them or what was going on. The prisoners then dashed down to the highway north to the Standard Service Station, where they forced John Alter from his pickup truck, just after he stopped to go onto the highway. From there they raced out of Lusk and apparently turned east on the first country road just north of the North Side service station.

Meanwhile Sheriff Shoopman had sounded the alarm. John Alter rushed across the street to the residence of Police Chief Jordan, in his pajamas, and Alter drove north on the highway to the Breaks before returning to town.

Calls were immediately sent out to the Highway Patrol and all surrounding peace officers. Roads were blocked at Hat Creek and at Fort Robinson and all other directions. Sheriff Clyde Ivester and a deputy came from Douglas to assist in the search. Many local men joined an informal posse trying to learn the whereabouts of the pair.

DOUGLAS SHERIFF HELPS

About noon Sheriff Ivester and the group with him discovered the stalled pickup two miles north of the Clarence Sides ranch, some 15 miles northeast of Lusk. The truck had turned over making the corner near the ranch, but out of sight of the buildings. There the prisoners had broken off the remainder of the hay rack on the truck and righted it, but it is believed the oil lost there caused the car to stall a short distance later.

The men were armed with the .38 caliber six-shooter taken from Shoopman’s car, and a .22 caliber special in Alter’s truck. The group with Sheriff Ivester tracked the men for a short distance, and, keeping in touch with the Sheriff’s office in Lusk, started a wide search.

Meanwhile Sheriff Shoopman and Chief Jordan had gone as far east as Crawford, on the report that a pickup had been seen going that way. However, Ft. Robinson officials said the road had been watched continually and all cars stopped.

It was while coming back that Sheriff Shoopman and Jordan went north from Van Tassell, indications being that the prisoners were in that area.

DRINK OF COFFEE HELPS

At Van Tassell Greg Kuhn and Val Edmonson, who had been assisting in the search, started north while Shoopman and Jordan remained long enough to drink coffee provided by Postmistress Catherine McCabe. Kuhn and Edmonson passed the fugitives apparently while they were down in a draw.

Hardly a mile north of Van Tassell, Jordan saw two men, about 2:00 o’clock, crossing an open rolling area to the west, and as Shoopman stopped the car the two dropped flat on the ground.

Jordan took a 30.06 rifle and worked his way to a knoll, where he could see both men. Shoopman then drove to a gate and drove upon the men from the northeast. Miller started to run, but two shots close in front of him from Jordan’s rifle brought him to a stop with his hands up. Way never moved as Shoopman came up withing 60 feet of him, and he arose on command. The .22 rifle lay beside him, but he never attempted to use it. Miller had dropped the Sheriff’s .38.

Both men were manacled and brought back to Lusk.

HIKE OF 12 MILES

It was estimated they had traveled some 12 miles across some of Niobrara county’s most open country, in a cold wind without sufficient clothing. Way had a cloth tied about his head. The officers believed the pair was heading for an unoccupied farmhouse just across the road, or for the rough buttes just north of Van Tassell, to wait until night.

Way, 28, giving his home as Creston, Iowa, is said to have deserted from the Army at Camp Carson, Colo., December 18. He was being held for trial on car theft charges at St. Joseph, Missouri. Miller, 19, had been convicted of a charge and was awaiting to be sent to the penitentiary for two years. Together they sawed their way to freedom at St. Joseph.

Caught here, the two would not waive extradition. But this was secured and St. Joseph officers had left Tuesday morning for Lusk to claim them.

Wednesday evening Sheriff Shoopman received word from the officers in Cheyenne that they would be here today.

Sheriff Shoopman expressed appreciation to all those who assisted in the search, and said he surely thought it was fine of Sheriff Ivester to come over and join in the hunt the way he did.

In the excitement Tuesday Afternoon Sheriff Shoopman left the car chains for one wheel on the street just west of the alley across from the jail, and would appreciate the return by whomever picked them up.

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The Lusk Herald, September 13, 1973

A 16 year-old youth and a 25 year-old man were back in the Niobrara County jail within hours after they had escaped Sunday, The pair broke out of jail between 2:00 and 4:00 Sunday afternoon, were picked up 17 miles south of Lusk by a truck driver who brought them back to Lusk where they were arrested by Lusk law officers at the Southside  Truck Stop at 3:30 a.m. Monday. The juvenile, who was being held in the woman's ward of the jail, allegedly used a spoon to dig the plaster from a wall and into the jail  lobby where he obtained the jail keys and released James Franklin Volanty alias Richard Lee Anderson being held in the men's ward on breaking and entering and escape charges. The pair went up through the apartment of Sheriff Harold Rogers and Mrs. Rogers and out the back entrance. A stairway leads from the jail lobby to the apartment above. 

   

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