Canyon City, 1947

[This is the story of a prison escape as told by my Grandmother. She lived in Canon City, Colorado (pronounced "Canyon" City) for some of her life. ]

Christmas Eve in 1947, Canon City, Colorado was in the middle of a snow storm.

The snow was coming down heavy when twelve prisoners escaped from the local penitentiary.

The Warden, Roy Best, swore he would catch every last one of them, dead or alive.

Out of the snow storm, one of the escaped inmates came upon a home in the countryside. A farmer and his wife were at home doing chores. The inmate came into the house unannounced, taking the couple by surprise. He had fashioned a pistol from materials in prison and used this to hold the couple hostage.

The cold and hungry prisoner told the woman to go into the kitchen and cook him a meal. He held the man at gunpoint.

She returned with the food and served him. As he sat eating, the farmer's wife returned from the kitchen with salt and pepper and a large hammer. She knocked the escaped convict out cold with a single blow.

Word spread that she had taken down the dangerous prisoner herself, so a famous singer, Kate Smith, sent the farmer's wife a fancy watch and a note telling her how much of an inspiration she was to women everywhere.

All twelve of the prisoners were eventually captured.

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I don't know any other version of the story, but there was a movie made in 1948 with the actual warden starring as himself. It tells a different story, but I like my grandmother's better.