The Howes train robbery occurred in 1899 when the Van der Linde Gang outlaw Arthur Morgan attempted to rob a freight train en route from Pierre in central South Dakota to Deadwood in the western part of the state. Morgan hopped the train to search for valuables, but he was confronted by the guard David M. Harrow, who aimed his gun at Morgan after he entered one of the freight cars. Morgan was forced to shoot Harrow, initiating the robbery. Morgan proceeded to shoot down the guards Anthony A. Gregg and Gregory L. Dyess, the latter of whom fell onto the tracks of the Bacchus Bridge while mortally wounded. Morgan then searched the cars for any valuables, but found little plunder apart from the money and provisions he looted from the dead guards. The train came to a halt after crossing the bridge, with the driver jumping out and fleeing as US Marshals from Deadwood rode to take down Morgan. Morgan proceeded to engage in a protracted shootout with the Marshals, who came in groups of three or four to attack the train either on horseback or on foot, the latter of whom made failed attempts to storm the train themselves. Morgan was able to gun down the lawmen from the cover of the freight cars, occasionally peeking out to pick off the mounted lawmen who fired potshots at the side of the car. In the end, the lawmen Chauncey V. Dierks, Theophile F. Fleming, Jodie J. Klingerman, Helmer E. Hanchett, Bradley O. Van Deman, Delve J. Carnahan, Divitt Z. Combes, Eric O. Nash, Church G. Stimpson, and Orlando R. Haladay were killed in the shootout, exhausting Deadwood's supply of deputy Marshals and allowing for Morgan to ride off scot-free. While Morgan survived the shootout, he obtained very little, and, later that day, he and John Marston blew up the Bacchus Bridge to impair the US Army's ability to ship troops to Fort Wallace, benefiting both their gang and their Wapiti allies.
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