Montana Outlaw Henry Thompson

As soon as they left, banker R. M. Lewis sounded the alarm. The sheriff organized a posse, but a raging blizzard kept them from pursuing the robbers very far and they got away. Their luck did not hold out though. The robbers were eventually captured and returned to Fort Benton for trial. Thompson and his cronies were freed from jail, when the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

It appears that he rode with the Boome gang for a while. Armond Boome, a man named Dunne, and others were part of the gang. They rustled cattle all over north central Montana, north into Canada, and east into North Dakota. Perhaps Thompson should have stuck with rustling, as he never seemed to get in trouble while doing it.

On August 6, 1898, Thompson found himself in trouble again. Thompson had been complaining that Ed Starr owed him money for helping to build a dance hall. Starr accosted him at the Walter Ballard ranch, where he was holed up. Starr fired three times, but Thompson was only slightly wounded. In return Thompson shot and killed Starr. There are many versions of this story, but the end result was the same.

Thompson surrendered to Sheriff Kyle and went with him to Glasgow. Armond Boome testified as an eyewitness. Once again Thompson got off on a self-defense plea, despite the fact that Starr was shot from behind. The finding may have been easier when it was discovered that Starr was the leader of a rustling gang, and had a $1,000 reward on his head for killing a law officer in Wyoming.

It is not known exactly where he went after this incident, but apparently Thompson went to Hinsdale. He next made the newspapers when he was arrested for disturbing the peace in December 1900. He was celebrating Christmas by firing his guns in the streets of Saco, a harmless offense. Charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

On February 14, 1901, Thompson was living in Saco where he attended an all-night dance at the Valley Saloon. Ed Shufelt and friends William Long and William Mason kept trying to pick a fight with him. Supposedly there was a woman named Georgia Grant between Thompson and Shufelt. It appeared that she gave more attention to Thompson and Shufelt was jealous. Eventually the two had to be separated. Thompson left for a little while and had some drinks at the saloon down the

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