Robbery abounds! Though North Dakota may not be the first state thought of when considering the Wild West, the state and its people are no strangers to criminal activity. On this date in 1904, T.J. Fordham was found guilty of highway robbery.
After two hours of deliberation, the court charged Fordham and his accomplices with holding up several men in the Great Northern Yards. In previous reports, the robbers were also accused of assault. According to the Fargo Forum, the punishment for these crimes was three years in the penitentiary.
Months after his conviction, Fordham and his lawyer, Mr. Bangs, argued that the charges should be set aside because the defendant had not been given preliminary examinations for the charges, but was instead tried on a different complaint. Mr. Bangs argued that this discrepancy proved the legal process was flawed and should therefore be dismissed. The judge agreed, dismissed the evidence, and granted Fordham a new trial.
This decision allowed Fordham to be released on bond provided by Mr. Bangs. Not satisfied, a state attorney appealed the case to the Supreme Court, but Fordham never appeared. With his failure to appear in court, Fordham forfeited his bond and it's believed he served the three years in jail.
It seems those who commit such robberies often become attached to the practice, repeating the same crimes. Such is the case of George Williams, who used the alias George Culling, a near-perfect disguise. In 1909, George was accused of robbery in Grand Forks, from at least a year earlier.
The odd thing about this particular case is that local officials had no recollection of any recent highway robbery. Without any records of the crime he was said to have committed, they simply did not want him. No resolution to this case was reported in the papers, so one must wonder why officials had no official records or recollection of someone who was reported to have committed multiple crimes.
Dakota Datebook by Olivia Burmeister
