This shotgun is an Ithaca “Flues” model. The Ithaca Gun Company in Ithaca, New York, manufactured it around 1909. It has a top-break action and is a 12-gauge. The gun measures 44 ½ inches long, and Michael Page has loaned it to Historic Washington. Robert “Bob” Patterson of Washington, Arkansas, once owned the gun. Patterson served for several years as the road overseer in Ozan Township, which includes the town of Washington.
The bank building that houses this gun was completed in 1920. On December 16, 1925, Joe Mayfield, Ray Edwards, Henry Cappers, and Mr. Griffin robbed the bank around 2 a.m. They blasted into the building and the safe using nitroglycerin. By the time of the blast, many local residents had become aware of what was happening. Constable Bob Carrigan and Mr. Patterson took a stand by the back porch of the Sanders House. As the robbers fled down Lawrence Street and passed the Sanders House, Carrigan and Patterson fired at them with their firearms. Patterson fired at least two shots with his shotgun, which is pictured here. They backed down when one of the robbers threatened to throw a jar of nitroglycerin. Within six months, authorities apprehended all the robbers. Police arrested Joe Mayfield six days later in Little Rock at the Baptist Hospital, where a doctor removed eighty-eight No. 8 shots from Mayfield.
Chris Adams
Chris Adams is the Historical Researcher at Historic Washington State Park. He has worked at Historic Washington State Park since 2011. After high school, he joined the Navy, sailed the Atlantic Ocean, and during his four-year enlistment visited more than 14 countries. He is a graduate of Henderson State University. He enjoys reading history, working in autobody painting and repair and listening to the classical guitar in his spare time.
