Transcript

Escape from Leavenworth | Episode 3 | Daring Prison Escapes |

From American History Tellers · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 34 min · 6,179 words · 45 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Escape from Leavenworth | Episode 3 | Daring Prison Escapes |", an episode of American History Tellers published September 10, 2025 (34 min, about 6,179 words). It mentions 43 people, works and ideas, including United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Robert W. McClure, Frank Grigg, Jenny (Frank Grigg's mother), Leavenworth, Kansas.

What this episode is about

The narrative centers on a dramatic train hijacking by four inmates at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, highlighting their audacity as they force the engineer to accelerate the train toward the prison’s outer gate. Tension escalates as the engineer grapples with the threat of violence while navigating the impending collision with the steel gate, encapsulating the high stakes of their daring escape attempt.

Key takeaways

  • Hijacking a train through a prison gate: not your average Thursday delivery run.
  • Leavenworth: Where harsh conditions meet the audacity of escape artists with steel resolve.
  • From carpenter to convict, Frank Grigg rode the rails from dreams to daring getaways.
  • Crime pays—or costs $30K in rewards; truth and loyalty have a high price tag.
  • Mudcut mischief made million-dollar headlines; justice weighed in heavy with circumstantial scales.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Frank Grigg, American History Tellers, Bureau of Investigation, Denver, Colorado
  2. – 10:00: Mudcut robbery, Frank Grigg, Jack Golden
  3. – 15:00: Frank Grigg
  4. – 20:00: Theodore Murdoch, Arthur Huitt, Bob Clark, John Gideon
  5. – 25:00: Salt Creek, John Gideon, Arthur Huitt, Bob Clark
  6. – 30:00: Bureau of Investigation, Frank Grigg, Bob Clark, Jack Golden
  7. – 34:05: American History Tellers, Aaron Flity, Airship, Alita Rosanski

Notable quotes from "Escape from Leavenworth | Episode 3 | Daring Prison Escapes |"

  • From Wondery. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story.
    about American History Tellers · at
  • Through the prison steel gates. One of the escapees that day was a 24year-old prisoner named Frank Grigg. He was serving a life sentence after being convicted of robbing a US mail train.
    about Frank Grigg · at
  • Mining for gold and silver. He gave his mother a locket with his picture inside as a parting gift. With his friend Jack Golden by his side, he boarded an eastbound train…
    about Jack Golden · at
  • Sacks of mail with contents worth an estimated $700. What became known as the Mudcut robbery was an instant news sensation. The Union Pacific and the federal government offered…
    about Mudcut robbery · at
  • Of escape. 9 years earlier, Huitt had led the 1901 Levvenworth breakout alongside his friend Thomas Kading who had belonged to the same horse theft ring before their…
    about Thomas Kading · at
  • Weapons. But in late March 1910, an idea occurred to Huitt while he was sharing a cell with Theodore Murdoch, who was well known among the inmates for his skill as a craftsman.…
    about Theodore Murdoch · at
  • Nothing to lose since he too was serving a life sentence. Another inmate in the carpentry shop, John Gideon, became the sixth and final member of the escape crew. Grigg and…
    about John Gideon · at
  • Prison was a patchwork of pastures, plowed fields, and tidy farms, enclosed by fences. Through its heart ran Salt Creek, a stream lined by cattails and cottonwood and pine…
    about Salt Creek · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Robert W. McClure — Person · 10 mentions
  • Frank Grigg — Person · 8 mentions · first at
  • Jenny (Frank Grigg's mother) — Person · 6 mentions
  • Theodore Murdoch — Person · 4 mentions · first at
  • John Gideon — Person · 4 mentions · first at
  • Jack Golden — Person · 3 mentions · first at
  • Thomas Kading — Person · 3 mentions · first at
  • Bob Clark — Person · 3 mentions · first at
    Had belonged to the same horse theft ring before their imprisonment. They were joined by Bob Clark, a stocky, wildeyed inmate missing a tooth and part of a finger. Described by…
  • Arthur Huitt — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    Murdoch, was secretly carving a block of wood into the shape of a gun. Although Murdoch and Arthur Huitt were wary of involving more men, they decided they could trust Grigar…
  • Charles Curtain — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Meeting the same end. Inside the locomotive cab, Gideon pressed his fake gun to the head of engineer Charles Curtain, ordering him to open the throttle and ram the west gate.…
  • Jim Fehee — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Could no longer go by the name Frank Grigg. That life was over. He took on a new name, Jim Fehee. While Jim Fehee began a new life, the search for Frank Grigg widened. In…
  • James Fehey — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Identified. In reality, Grier was living his life as naturalized Canadian citizen James Fehey. After a few months in Minneapolis, he had moved to northern Alberta where he…
  • Reverend Joseph Jackson — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Story, we recommend Leverworth Train, a fugitive search for justice and the vanishing west by Joe Jackson. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me…
  • Mohammad Shazi — Person · 1 mention · first at
    History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for airship. Audio editing by Muhammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bond.
  • Molly Bond — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Produced by me, Lindsey Graham for airship. Audio editing by Muhammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bond.
  • Matthew Filler — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Supervising sound designer Matthew Filler. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton.
  • Ellie Stanton — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Supervising sound designer Matthew Filler. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton.
  • Dorian Marina — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman,.
  • Alita Rosanski — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for.
  • Desi Bllelock — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for.
  • Andy Herman — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for Wandering.
  • Callum PL — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for Wandering.
  • Aaron Flity — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for Wandering.
  • Marshall Louie — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for Wandering.
  • Jenny Lauer Beckman — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

Companies & orgs

Products & tech

Concepts & topics

Places & events

  • Leavenworth, Kansas — Place · 6 mentions
  • Salt Creek — Place · 5 mentions · first at
  • Spokane, Washington — Place · 2 mentions · first at
    In 1906, 20-year-old Frank Grigg left his home in Spokane, Washington to chase his dreams of adventure and riches in the West. Grigg had a fair complexion, an athletic build, and hands marked with scars from his job as a carpenter. He.
  • Denver, Colorado — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Drifted south in search of new opportunities. They eventually landed in Denver, Colorado, where they fell in with a gang of men that Golden knew through his brothers back in Washington.
  • Edmonton, Alberta — Place · 1 mention
  • Georgia (U.S. state) — Place · 1 mention
  • Jasper, Alberta — Place · 1 mention
  • McNeil Island, Washington — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

Wonder. Imagine it's the morning of April 21st, 1910 in the yard of Levvenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. You're the engineer of a train that delivers construction materials to the prison every Thursday. You lean out of the window to confirm that the flat car loaded with lumber has been uncoupled from the rest of the locomotive. But when you turn back around, put your hands up. You find four prisoners in gray uniforms entering the driver's cab. Two of them have their arms around a guard whose eyes are wide with fear.

Before you can act, one of the inmates places a gun to your head. Pull the throttle wide open. What? I said pull it open. I can't do that. The gate's still closed. You point to the towering steel gate that guards the prison's outer wall. Prisoner just shakes his head and pokes you in the ribs with his revolver. Then I guess we'll see which is stronger, this gate or a few tons of train. Now pull the throttle open. If we rush that gate, we're going to die. Do I look like I'm here to have a discussion? Pull the throttle open. You think you can just hijack a train and bust out of here? The guards are going to start shooting at us from the tower any minute now. The prisoner nods to the guard they've taken hostage. They won't shoot as long as one of their own is on board.

They won't risk killing him. Now, I won't tell you again. Pull that throttle open or put a bullet between your eyes. Okay. Okay. You reluctantly pull the throttle and the train lurches forward, passing the prison's open inner gate. As it rushes toward the closed outer gate, you instinctively move to stop the engine, but the prisoner nudges you in the back with his revolver. Keep your hand off that throttle. You close your eyes and brace yourself as the engine slams into the steel gate. With a sound like an explosion, the gate rips free, sending a shutter down the length of the engine. And as you rush on, you're horrified by the thought that there's no stopping this runaway train if you want to stay alive

from Wondery. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. In April 1910, a group of prisoners hijacked a supply train and rammed it through the gates of the United States Penitentiary in Levvenworth, Kansas. Levvenworth was America's first federal penitentiary, known at the time for its harsh conditions and a rigid military-style discipline. Its early years were marked by several escape attempts, but few were as bold as the attempt to break out by driving a train through the prison steel gates. One of the escapees that day was a 24year-old prisoner named Frank Grigg. He was serving a life sentence after being convicted of robbing a US mail train.

Grigger swore he was innocent and his trial had been marked by shaky evidence and tainted testimony. After he escaped, the search for him and other fugitives became a highstakes manhunt that drew in gun toing farmers, the fledgling Bureau of Investigation, and international authorities. This is episode 3 of our four-part series, Daring Prison Escape: Getaway Train from Levvenworth. In 1906, 20-year-old Frank Grigg left his home in Spokane, Washington to chase his dreams of adventure and riches in the West. Grigg had a fair complexion, an athletic build, and hands marked with scars from his job as a carpenter. He made friends easily, helped along by his tendency to see the best in others. He had dropped out of school in the fourth grade, but what he lacked in education, he made up for in a strong work ethic.

He kept his head down, saved his money, and refrained from drinking and smoking. He believed that with hard work and determination, he might find fortune mining for gold and silver. He gave his mother a locket with his picture inside as a parting gift. With his friend Jack Golden by his side, he boarded an eastbound train, setting off on a 50-mi journey to the mountains of northern Idaho. But once in Idaho, Grigar and Golden netted only meager profits. By the fall of 1907, they left the area and drifted south in search of new opportunities. They eventually landed in Denver, Colorado, where they fell in with a gang of men that Golden knew through his brothers back in Washington.

Grigg soon paid the price for his trusting nature. His new friends arrived in Denver in January 1909, around the same time that a train was robbed just outside the city, and the men often left Grigar and Golden for days at a time, declaring they were scouting for business opportunities. If Griwar had any suspicions about the men's involvement in railway holdups that seemed to follow wherever they traveled, he suppressed them out of loyalty to his oldest friend. Before he could distance himself, it was too late. On May 22nd, 1909, a group of bandits ambushed an eastbound Union Pacific train outside of Omaha, Nebraska. Holding pistols and wearing handkerchief masks over their faces, they demanded that the US Post Office clerks on board open the door to the mail car. They took off with seven sacks of mail with contents worth an estimated $700. What became known as the Mudcut robbery was an instant news

sensation. The Union Pacific and the federal government offered $6,000 rewards for each suspect or $30,000 in total, over $1 million in today's money. Witnesses on the scene said that it was too dark to make out any of the thieves. But authorities collected circumstantial evidence linking Griwar, Golden, and three of their friends to the crime. Within days, all five were arrested and thrown in jail. But from the start, Grigg firmly denied any wrongdoing. Imagine it's October 1909 at the county jail in Omaha, Nebraska. You're a courtappointed defense attorney and you're meeting with Frank Grigg, one of your clients in the mud cut robbery trial. A guard leads you through a dim corridor to Griggar's cell. Peer through the bars to see him perched at the end of a narrow iron bed. He stumbles to his feet as you drop your briefcase to the floor. Sit down, Frank. I've got good news. He nods and sits back down on the

bed, his pale eyes brightening. Yeah, what is it? The prosecution's made an offer. A chance to cut a deal. If you plead guilty and agree to testify, you'll be looking at a reduced sentence, maybe just 10 years. No. What do you mean no? I mean, no. I didn't rob that train. That So, you said no, you're not listening. I wasn't there. I didn't even hear about the robbery until the police called me in. How am I supposed to be a witness against the others? I don't know anything about it. Frank, listen. The police found an envelope addressed to you at the crime scene. One of those boys stole it from me. He stole all my mail. He was probably hoping I'd be sent some money from home. And a hardware clerk in Utah says he sold a gun to you and two of the others. I've never even been to Utah. Well, I admit the evidence is weak, and I reckon most of their witnesses are just hoping for a piece of the reward money. But I also know that

the authorities are out for blood. They're sick and tired of all these train robberies and they're determined to make an example out of you and your friends. I'm warning you, this plea dealio is your best shot at avoiding spending the rest of your life behind bars. The light drains from his face. I swear to you, I'm innocent. I can't just lie and say I'm pardon something I wasn't. Look, I'm trying to save your neck here. I won't save myself by lying and damning four others. Well, then that's your funeral. You pick up your briefcase to leave.

He's staring at the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. There's no guile in his boyish face. It strikes you that he might really be telling the truth, but you fear that no matter what you say at trial, he's about to go away for life. In the fall of 1909, Frank Grigar's courtappointed lawyer urged him to take a plea deal and testify against the other four defendants, but Gri refused to admit guilt to a crime he swore he did not commit. It was a highstakes decision. Mail theft was a federal crime punishable by life in prison. On October 25th, 1909, the trial for the mudcut robbery began in a federal district courthouse in Omaha. The prosecution called more than 80 witnesses to the stand. With many witnesses driven by the prospect of collecting the $30,000 reward, much of the testimony was suspect. Several claimed to recognize the defendants as men who robbed the train, even though the robbery had

occurred in almost complete darkness and the bandits had been masked, and witnesses could not agree on the basic question of whether four or five men had robbed the train. One witness identified Grigger as one of the robbers solely based on his stature and carriage. A postal worker claimed to recognize his voice despite acknowledging that he had not talked much during the robbery. and a hardware store clerk from Utah testified that he had sold a gun to Griggar and the other defendants before the robbery, but he had no invoice for the sale and there was no evidence that the gun had been used in the crime. The clerk was later convicted of perjury for false statements made in a separate robbery trial. By the time the mudcut robbery trial was over, one of the lead investigators was convinced that the trial was a botched affair tainted by perjured testimony. He believed that the cases against Grigg and his friend Jack

Golden were especially weak. But it made no difference. On November 11th, 1909, the jury took less than 90 minutes to reach a verdict, declaring all five men guilty as charged. A week later, the judge sentenced them to life in prison. The next day, they were cuffed with heavy leg irons and placed on board a prison train for the 160 mi journey south to the United States Penitentiary in Levvenworth, Kansas. From the beginning, Levvenworth was designed to be the nation's premier federal penitentiary, a 22 acre city within a city. Modeled after the US capital, it had two massive cell houses, each seven stories tall and longer than a football field linked by a central rotunda capped with a silver dome. A nine room school, the first in any penitentiary, reflected a faith in rehabilitation. The yard was lined with two long rows of factories, and the facility was enclosed by a towering brick wall. Levvenworth was part of a

new federal prison system Congress had recently created to address rising crime and overcrowding in state facilities. Other prisons were planned for Atlanta, Georgia, and McNeel Island, Washington. But Levvenworth was the nation's first. Construction of such a large facility was a massive undertaking requiring years of work, vast amounts of materials, and train tracks and a locomotive to transport supplies inside the prison gates. After Congress authorized Levvenworth in 1895, funding was delayed for two years, prompting the Justice Department to rely on prison labor from other facilities for cost savings while they continued construction in the meantime. With hundreds of inmates working on construction amid a constant flow of materials, Levvenworth had a major security weakness that left it vulnerable to escape attempts. An unsuccessful mass escape attempt in 1898 ended the career of Levvenworth's first

warden. He was replaced by Robert W. McLurry, a former Chicago police chief who implemented a rigid system of control, undermining the original vision of Levvenworth as a place of reform and rehabilitation. He ordered guards to shoot prisoners who strayed beyond set distances and force silence during meals and work and punished the possession of unissued items. Severe infractions meant beatings or time in solitary in a darkened cell known as the hole. Despite Mclar's firm hand, a second mass escape attempt occurred in November 1901 when 26 inmates working in construction overpowered their guards and escaped on foot. All were eventually recaptured.

Three main conspirators had their sentences extended to life in prison for killing a guard during the escape. Security was tightened in the immediate aftermath of the breakout. Mclurry had a siren installed that was audible for 10 mi, hired more staff, and planned a new 100 ft central tower equipped with signal lights and machine guns. Mcllori told a visitor, "Levvenworth is hell, and I guess I'm the chief devil." 8 years later, in 1909, Frank Grigg arrived at the gates of Mcllor's hell. On the rainy afternoon of November 19th, a prison train rolled into Levvenworth and Griw was marched inside. At intake, he was stripped, searched, deloused, measured photographed and fingerprinted. Finally, he was escorted to a narrow and grimy cell. He would no longer be known as Frank Grigwear, but by the number that adorned his gray uniform 6768.

In the days that followed, he was forced to adapt to the strict rules and monotonous routines of Levvenworth, described by one prisoner as a giant mausoleum, a drift in a great sea of nothingness. He was assigned to work 8 hours per day in the prison carpentry shop. He ate meals in a massive dining hall where silence was strictly enforced and prisoners who failed to finish eating face punishment. A 90-page rule book outlined a dizzying array of offenses. Failure to comply meant punishment from guards who worked 14-hour days for meager pay. Many took out their frustrations on the prisoners they oversaw. In December 1909, a brutal winter storm deepened the inmates misery and several men fell ill from a typhoid outbreak. After Christmas, Griggar grew weak with fever and diarrhea. When he saw treatment, he was accused of faking his illness and sent to isolation in the hole. Stripped of his wool uniform and

handed a set of ragged cotton long johns, he was forced to freeze in a dark, cramped cell for 2 days. When he returned to work in the carpentry shop, his fellow prisoners quietly helped him recover. He had endured a right of passage. Frank not only had survived, but he'd earned a measure of acceptance from his fellow inmates. And he emerged from the experience with a newfound resolve to break free no matter the cost.

In the spring of 1910, an inmate named Arthur Hwitt carefully studied the rhythms of a supply train that carried construction materials to Levvenworth. Huitt was a convicted horse thief who had been bent on escape ever since he arrived at Levvenworth a decade earlier. Every Thursday morning, Huitt watched as a Union Pacific train arrived through the west gate of the prison carrying lumber to be used in construction. It always followed the same procedure. The west gate was doublegated and both gates were made of heavy steel bars. The outer gate opened to admit the backing train, then closed while the engine waited in a 40ft enclosure. Once the inner gate opened, the train proceeded slowly into the prison yard. The Thursday morning train was a major weak spot in Levvenworth security because the track connected to a regular train line that could carry fugitives out to open country. The guards had repeatedly urged

Warden Robert Mccclure to install a remote switch that could derail the engine. Mcclor agreed on the need, but he insisted that the costs were prohibitive, declaring without additional congressional funding, his hands were tied. The Thursday train was of special interest to prisoners like Arthur Hwitt who were harboring thoughts of escape. 9 years earlier, Huitt had led the 1901 Levvenworth breakout alongside his friend Thomas Kading who had belonged to the same horse theft ring before their imprisonment. They were joined by Bob Clark, a stocky, wildeyed inmate missing a tooth and part of a finger. Described by Mcluri as one of the most cold-blooded and cold-hearted criminals he'd ever known, Huitt, Kading, and Clark were serving life sentences for engineering the 1901 escape. The intervening years had made them no less defiant, and all three spent months at a time in solitary in the hole. Back in 1901, they had fled

Levvenworth on foot. Now Huitt realized that the best way to break out of the prison was to hijack the Thursday morning train and drive it through the West Gate. The only problem was how to seize control of the train without weapons. But in late March 1910, an idea occurred to Huitt while he was sharing a cell with Theodore Murdoch, who was well known among the inmates for his skill as a craftsman. Murdoch was serving time for counterfeiting money, and he spent his days in the Levvenworth carpentry shop building prison furniture.

Recognizing his bunkmates unique set of skills, Huitt asked Murdoch if he could make three or four fake guns out of wood that looked real enough to fool the guards. Murdoch Hewitt and Hwitt's longtime accompllices, Kaning and Clark, would board the engine once it rolled into the yard, then hold the engineer at gunpoint to force him to drive through the closed steel gate. Murdoch agreed to carve the guns in secret during his daily shift in the carpentry shop. Huitt worked in the Taylor shop where he planned to steal shoe polish to paint the guns. Huitt informed Clark of the plan and got a message to Kading, who had been in the hole since February for refusing to work. But as Murdoch got started on the prop guns, he realized that the real challenge would be keeping the escape plot secret from the guards and the other inmates.

Imagine it's early April 1910 and you're in the carpentry shop of Levvenworth Penitentiary, carefully carving a block of wood under the table. You have one eye trained on the guard supervising him. He turns his back as another guard steps into the shop to talk with him. With the guards distracted, an inmate sitting beside you, a man named Grigg, leans toward you. Hey, what are you doing? You give him a sideways glare. None of your business. Come on. I know you've been working on something. What is it? Nothing you need to know about.

In a sudden movement, the inmate ducks down to steal a glance under the table. Is that what I think it is? No, it is not. It looks to me like you're carving that block of wood into the shape of a revolver. You're seeing things, kid. Yeah, well, I know a gun when I see one, even if it's fake. But whatever you're planning, I want in. You pause your work to consider this. You know that you would get more done if you didn't have to constantly keep an eye on the guards. But you also know that the more people that are involved, the more likely that word will get out. Longer get involved.

Why? So you can flap your gums to the next guy who offers you a cigarette. It's best you pretend you never saw a thing. But I can help. I can be your lookout. How do I know you're not a rat? Well, you can trust me. I won't say a word. You know they offer me a plea deal to testify against my friends, right? I wouldn't do it. Oh yeah, the big Omaha train robbery. Aren't you always saying that you're innocent? I doubt you have the guts. Rigar's fist tightens around the chisel in his hand. Now, I'm not afraid. This is my only way out. No judge is going to free me, and I'll be damned before I spend the rest of my life in prison for a crime I didn't commit. Well, do you have any idea what happens once that siren goes off? Those guards will open fire without even blinking. I tell you, I'd rather die trying to get out than rot away in this place. You study him. There's steel in his eyes. You didn't notice before. All

right, I'll talk to the others about it. See what they think. But right now, shut up before the guards catch us. Right on. Q, the guard starts walking toward your workbench. You hide the fake revolver and return to your assigned task. Grigg fidgets with the chisel in his hand, his nervous energy palpable. You hope you're not making a mistake by bringing him in. For this plan to work, it's going to take loyalty, luck, and sheer nerve. In the carpentry shop, Frank Griggar noticed that his fellow inmate, Theodore Murdoch, was secretly carving a block of wood into the shape of a gun. Although Murdoch and Arthur Huitt were wary of involving more men, they decided they could trust Grigar as someone who had nothing to lose since he too was serving a life sentence. Another inmate in the carpentry shop, John Gideon, became the sixth and final member of the escape crew. Grigg and Gideon served as

lookouts, allowing Murdoch to work without constantly watching for the guards. On April 16th, 1910, Huitt's friend Thomas Kating was released from the hole after promising to return to work in the Taylor shop and obey the rules. On Wednesday, April 20th, Murdoch completed three extremely detailed recreations of Colt revolvers. He had smuggled the wooden guns to his cell in the loose folds of his oversized uniform for sanding and touch-ups, painting the barrels steel gray and the stocks a rich walnut. Now that everything was in place, the six conspirators agreed that they would wait no longer. They resolved to make their escape the following morning when the Thursday supply train arrived. At 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 21st, Griwar and his three co-conspirators in the carpentry shop watched as a Union Pacific locomotive back through the prison's west gate. At the sound of the lumber cars uncoupling

from the engine, Gideon brandished one of the fake guns and the guard manning the carpentry shop dropped to his knees. Grigg grabbed a hatchet and the four of them rushed out of the shop and sprinted 20 yard to the train. When they ran into another guard, Gideon forced him into the cab at gunpoint. In the Taylor shop, Huitt and Kading met more resistance. When they pulled out their fake guns, a rooky guard struck Kading with his nightstick, knocking him to the floor. But Huitt managed to overpower the guard and he hauled Kading to his feet and dragged him off to the train. Out in the yard, other guards watched helplessly, paralyzed by fear. They knew that a guard had lost his life in the 1901 breakout, and they had no intention of meeting the same end. Inside the locomotive cab, Gideon pressed his fake gun to the head of engineer Charles Curtain, ordering him to open the throttle and ram the west gate. Fearing

for his life, Curtain did as he was told. Grigg looked back to see Huitt and Kading jump on board just as the train took off. The engine barreled forward and slammed into the outer gate with a deafening crash. The gate broke open, the steel bars warping from the force of the train. The engine rushed on, gathering speed as it left Levvenworth behind. A guard standing in the west tower aimed his rifle but didn't shoot, unable to differentiate the escapees from Curtain or the guard they had taken hostage. As the train accelerated, Grigg relished his first breaths of fresh air in months. The landscape surrounding the prison was a patchwork of pastures, plowed fields, and tidy farms, enclosed by fences. Through its heart ran Salt Creek, a stream lined by cattails and cottonwood and pine trees. But when the train approached the creek 2 and 1/2 mi west of Levvenworth, Curtain announced that the railroad bridge was under

construction and could not hold the train's weight. When the sight of a pile driver confirmed the truth of his words, the fugitives reluctantly ordered him to stop the train at the edge of the water. Their freedom had proved all too fleeting. The fugitives could hear the prison sirens blaring 2 and 1/2 m away. They had planned to barrel on into the open countryside, traveling faster than any automobiles that tried to follow them. But now they had no choice but to make a run for it on foot. They ordered Curtain to kill the engine by dowsing the coals with water to slow down its return to the prison and give them a head start for the fugitive stripped Curtain of his clothes. After dividing their loot, they ran south on instinct.

It was the same direction they had run during the 1901 escape. But Griwear took a different tack, grabbing Curtain's dinner pail and sprinting off alone into the northern stretches of the Salt Creek Valley, which were more wooded than the southern ones. Murdoch chased after him briefly, but Griggar was faster. He zigzagged through the woods until he found a hidden depression in the earth. Clutching the dinner pale, he buried himself beneath a pile of leaves and branches, lay motionless, his heart pounding. All the while, sirens wailed in the distance, a constant pressing reminder that a massive manhunt was already underway.

Within 30 minutes after the breakout from Levvenworth Penitentiary, Warden and Robert Mccclure had formed a posy of 50 guards to track down the fugitives. Engineer Charles Cirten returned the train to the prison, then took the guards back to the spot at Salt Creek where the inmates had fled. Meanwhile, residents within a 10-mi radius of the penitentiary, responded to the sirens by gathering their rifles and locking their doors. Over the next few hours, Arthur Huitt, Thomas Kading, Bob Clark, and John Gideon, the four fugitives who had fled south, were quickly recaptured.

They were promptly returned to Levvenworth and sent to the hole. Only Frank Grigg, and Theodore Murdoch, who had carved the guns, remained at large. The next morning, Friday, April 22nd, McLarry faced a throng of reporters. He blamed the breakout on Congress's failure to fund better infrastructure and distributed wanted posters for Gri and Murdoch. and he added a $200 bonus to the usual $50 bounty with a stern warning, "Take no chances. Get the drop on them first. They are both bad men." The reward drew scores of armed farmers into the Salt Creek Valley. Murdoch could hear men looking for him while he lay hidden in the clump of bushes. By Saturday morning, the guards were exhausted. They had been searching for Murdoch and Griggar for 2 days and two nights straight without relief. Fearing the men were long gone, Mclari called off the search and sent the guards home.

Little did he know, Murdoch was only 2 mi away from where he had jumped off the train. And that afternoon, the temperature dropped to 35° F with snow flurries and wind speeds of 40 mph. Murdoch was soaked, freezing, and starving when a farm boy spotted him, saw the number on his collar, and ran home to alert the authorities. In Murdoch's desperate hunger, he was almost relieved to be recaptured. When he returned to Levvenworth, he told the guards that the prison looked like heaven. Murdoch's capture revived hopes that Griwear would soon be found. For more than two days, he remained in a hollow near Salt Creek, pulling leaves and fallen branches over him to stay hidden. He only ventured above ground for water, and the food he stole from the train engineer helped him avoid the hunger that had plagued Murdoch. It was only after his food ran out on Saturday evening that he finally emerged and

began moving northwest along the train tracks, using the woods as cover. The next morning, he came upon a farmhouse. Hungry and exhausted, he knocked on the door, and a middle-aged woman welcomed him inside. If she suspected that he was a fugitive, she said nothing. She fed him, clothed him, and directed him to a hobo encampment at a water tower besides a nearby train tracks. He traveled to the encampment that afternoon. When a freight train stopped to take on water, Griear hopped aboard one of the box cars. He would later recall, "I did not know where I was going. I didn't care, for even yet I had no plan, just a desire to stay at liberty. The train traveled north. When it approached Minneapolis, Minnesota, Grigg jumped off and disappeared into the city. He knew that if he wanted to remain free, he could no longer go by the name Frank Grigg. That life was over. He took on a new name, Jim Fehee. While Jim Fehee

began a new life, the search for Frank Grigg widened. In August 1910, the Bureau of Investigation, the precursor to the FBI, took over the case. For years, agents pursued a variety of leads that took them across the country. Rumors spread that Griwar was living as a railroad switchman, a traveling salesman, a Catholic priest, and a criminal in Mexico. Every lead resulted in a dead end. Meanwhile, Griwar's family faced constant government surveillance, especially his mother, Jenny. In 1913, Woodro Wilson's presidency brought changes to Levvenworth. Thomas Kading wrote several letters to the president complaining of mistreatment. Wilson was far more receptive to allegations of abuse than his predecessors. Amid increased scrutiny, Warden McLarry resigned and his cronies were ousted. A few months later, Wilson commuted the sentences of Kating, Arthur Hwitt, and Bob Clark.

They would go free a year later. Wilson would also commute Theodore Murdoch sentence due to health issues caused by Mclar's abuse. Then in August 1913, postal investigators submitted a report to Wilson highlighting flaws in the mudcut robbery trial of 1909, including possible perjury. Wilson pardoned Griwar's childhood friend, Jack Golden, making it likely that Griw would have been pardoned had he remained in custody. As the years went on, the search for Frank Grigg ebbed and flowed. But his wanted poster continued to grace the walls of courouses and post offices across the country. In 1928, 18 years after his escape, the Bureau of Investigation quietly reopened the case in hopes of scoring a publicity coup.

Imagine it's Thanksgiving morning in 1928, and you're at home in Spokane, Washington. You open your front door to find a young, clean-cut man wearing a gray suit and dark tie. You immediately recognize him as yet another agent with the Bureau of Investigation. Come to ask after your son, Frank. He tips his hat and flashes a shiny brass badge. Morning, ma'am. I was hoping to ask you a few questions. I won't take too much of your time. I've got nothing but time. Come on in. He walks past you and takes a seat on your sofa. You sit down in the chair opposite him and fidget with the locket around your neck. I know you've been watching me for the past weeks, sitting in that car across the road.

You're making the neighbors nervous. He studies a framed family photograph on the table beside him, ignoring your comment. Have you received any word from your son? Not a whisper. And that's the truth. Any calls? No. What about letters? No. None. You struggle to maintain your composure. You know it's men like him that put Frank in jail in the first place. What about you? Have you heard anything from him? No, ma'am, but we thought he might send word given the holiday. Given the holiday? Well, I certainly don't expect to hear from him because of that. I spent Thanksgiving alone for many years now. What about his friends? What about him? Well, surely you must have made contact with someone.

You're wasting your time. I believe my son's dead. I have a gut feeling about it. If you were alive, you would have sent word by now. You wouldn't have just cut off all contact with his own mother. The agent's expression softens. He stands and drops a card on the table. Well, happy Thanksgiving, ma'am. Call if you hear anything. I'll show myself out. As he walks out the door, you stare at the old family photograph taken in happier times. Over the years, the agents have changed, but the questions stay the same. And with each visit, you lose a little more hope of ever seeing Frank again. As much as you hate to admit it, you know they're chasing a ghost.

By 1928, Frank Grigg had been missing for 18 years, longer than any other federal fugitive of his time. His mother, Jenny, had come to accept that her son was dead. One federal agent wrote, "If he is still alive and in the United States, most likely he would be very careful to lead a quiet, law-abiding life in order to avoid any possibility of being arrested and later identified. In reality, Grier was living his life as naturalized Canadian citizen James Fehey. After a few months in Minneapolis, he had moved to northern Alberta where he started over. He ran a confectionary store, built homes, was an active member of his church, and even served as mayor of his small town. He married and had three children. His family and friends were oblivious to his past. In 1929, the bureau learned of a credible sighting of Griggar a decade earlier in Edmonton, Canada. Agents sent his photo and prison fingerprints to the

Royal Mounted Canadian police, but the trail went cold. They closed the case once more in 1933. But just 3 months later, Griwear was caught poaching in Canada. Local police fingerprinted him and sent the prince to the Royal Mounted Canadian police. A clerk matched the fingerprints to the print sent by US authorities years earlier. After 24 years on the run, Griwar had at last been found. His capture was a massive media story in both the United States and Canada. But while US authorities demanded his extradition, the Canadian press and public rallied behind him. Some argued that he deserved mercy for turning his life around. Others said that he had never been guilty in the first place.

Petitions flooded Washington and the US dropped the extradition request. Soon after he was found, Griwar's mother, Jenny, traveled to the town of Jasper, Canada, to surprise her longlost son. After nearly three decades apart, it was an emotional reunion for both. Her hair had turned white, but she was still wearing the small locket with Frank's picture inside that he had given her when he left home 28 years earlier. In the 1950s, Griggar's niece asked the Justice Department whether Griwar could return to the US to visit the rest of his family, but her request was denied as he had never been officially pardoned. He never returned to America.

The FBI continued monitoring him until finally closing the case in 1965. He lived out the rest of his life in peace and anonymity, dying in 1977 at the age of 91. Levvenworth endured long after Grigar and five fellow inmates fled its gates on the westbound train. For the next century, it remained America's largest maximum security prison, helping to shape modern incarceration. The story of its most elusive fugitive lives on, raising questions about justice, reinvention, and the price of freedom when systems fail. From Wondery, this is episode 3 of our four-part series, Daring Prison Escapes from American History Tellers. On the next episode, as World War II rages in Europe, the United States houses hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war in camps around the country. At one camp in Arizona, a group of captured German naval officers hatch a plan to flee, but they're unprepared to traverse

the harsh southwestern desert. If you'd like to learn more about this story, we recommend Leverworth Train, a fugitive search for justice and the vanishing west by Joe Jackson. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for airship. Audio editing by Muhammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bond. Supervising sound designer Matthew Filler. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alita Rosanski, managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum PL, senior producer Andy Herman, executive producers Jenny Low Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Flity for Wandering.

Questions about this episode

What is "Escape from Leavenworth | Episode 3 | Daring Prison Escapes |" about?

The narrative centers on a dramatic train hijacking by four inmates at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, highlighting their audacity as they force the engineer to accelerate the train toward the prison’s outer gate. Tension escalates as the engineer grapples with the threat of violence while navigating the impending collision with the steel gate, encapsulating the high stakes of their daring…

What is mentioned in this American History Tellers episode?

43 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Robert W. McClure, Frank Grigg, Jenny (Frank Grigg's mother), Leavenworth, Kansas, Salt Creek. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Escape from Leavenworth | Episode 3 | Daring Prison Escapes |"?

The episode runs 34 min; the transcript is about 6,179 words in 45 timestamped sections.

More from American History Tellers

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.