Ed “Bus” Ellsworth: A National Guard colonel recalls a deadly Montana prison riot

Guards at prison

Victor Baldwin, shown fourth from right in this 1970s photo, survived being taken hostage in 1959. Many of these guards shown here were involved in the riot or began work at the prison soon afterwards. Photo permitted by Don DeYott of Montana State Prison

By Kevin S. Giles

In the 30 years since his last days as warden, Ed “Bus” Ellsworth had never gone inside the old prison in Deer Lodge. I coaxed him back on a raw March afternoon, anxious to hear what he could remember about the 1959 riot and its aftermath.

I was researching a book I planned to write someday. I didn’t have a title for it because, like writers do, I was trying to find the central story. Newspaper reports of the day described the riot as “a failed escape attempt by a desperate madman.” That seemed much too predictable an explanation, and I thought Ellsworth could give me some perspective.

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‘You can read (or watch) Shawshank Redemption forty times and learn less of real prison life in the era than in a chapter of this book.’

Jerry’s Riot is a nonfiction account of Montana’s notorious 1959 prison riot. It is the only accurate and comprehensive book written about the disturbance because journalist Kevin S. Giles interviewed nearly 100 people who witnessed it.

The book captures the conflict that ensued between career convict Jerry Myles, who had done time at Alcatraz Island and other federal and state prisons, and Warden Floyd Powell. Both men were new to Deer Lodge, Montana. Myles wanted to run the prison. Powell wanted to reform it. Guards and prisoners were caught in the middle.

True crime reviewer Laura James said Giles, a Montana author, joined a national echelon of writers who have written convincing and haunting works in the true crime genre. James wrote in her review:

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Wife of a prison hostage recalls details from Montana’s deadly 1959 riot

Photo shows former prison hostage

Everett “Guff” Felix and his wife Amy Lee shown in the Bitterroot Valley in Western Montana where they lived after the 1959 riot. Guff was a captain and taken hostage. He never went back to Montana State Prison. (Photo by Kevin Giles)

By Kevin S. Giles

Recently I discovered that Amy Lee Felix had died. In reading her obituary I remembered, in some detail, visiting her home in the mid-1990s in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. I was there to interview Amy’s husband, Everett “Guff” Felix, who had a remarkable story to tell about being held hostage during the 1959 prison riot in Deer Lodge.

Guff would be remembered as the highest-ranking officer taken hostage when the riot began on April 16. He was a captain then, just a few years after he closed his restaurant and began looking for work, hardly prepared by his own admittance to deal with rioting prisoners.

I took the following from a letter Amy wrote me in 1996. It shows what Guff faced as the prison’s new captain: Continue reading

Writing Jerry’s Riot: Eyewitnesses recalled danger, intrigue, even a bit of compassion

By Kevin S. Giles

Readers often ask how I found the high level of detail that appears in Jerry’s Riot: The True Story of Montana’s 1959 Prison Disturbance.

The short answer is this: from people who were there. The longer answer is a bit more complicated.

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