Dummy on Gallows, Relics of Killer

Columbus, Montana

Crazed farmer Franklin Robideau shot dead a local grain elevator operator, and his wife, in late 1937. Two months later he was hanged for the double murder. The local museum displays the execution rope, Robideau's death hood, the murder weapon, photos of the crime scene, and has a wax dummy diorama of Robideau on the gallows. It's all behind a corrugated metal wall like the one for the original invitation-only event, but also serves as a screen for museum visitors who might only want to see the museum's teepee, or its cattlemen exhibit, or its Fred Inabnit relief map.

Robideau's execution was, according to the museum, "the second to the last legal hanging in Montana."