Montana Resident Bio: TJ Guffman

Interview conducted October 24, 1910, by Sarah Conrad

(TJ Guffman is a pick pocket captured by Sarah and Julius Walsdorf.)

1. Name: Thomas James Guffman

2. Date of Birth: November 18, 1880

3. Place of Birth: Copernicus, Oregon

4. Parents: Christopher and Janine Guffman

5. Siblings: Maurice Michael (1881-), Spring Carol (1883-), Joshua Milton (1885-), Peggy Elana (1886-)

6. Describe your childhood. My father was a city administrator, that's sort of like a mayor. My mother was a nurse.

7. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Playing cowboys and indians with my brothers and sisters.

8. What is your earliest memory? Being sung to by my mother. I really miss her. She died a few years back from cancer. Dad is still alive but his mind is slipping.

9. How old were you when you went on your first date and where did you go? 14. I took a young lady named Amelia to dinner at the Whistlestop Cafe in the nearby town of Junction. When they brought out the check I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet. I excused myself, went to the restroom and ran home.
The next day, a deputy from Junction went to our house after church and arrested me. I spent the night in jail. I used my allowance to pay the bill. I apologized to the owner and to Amelia. That was the exciting start of my career as a criminal.

10. Married? Divorced. Gail Hera. We met in Butte. I convinced her that I was the governor's son. We married. I emptied her bank account and left for South Dakota.

11. How did you meet your spouse? Gail was a debutant who liked to flirt with danger. She didn't like her mother, so marrying a scoundrel like me was revenge.

12. Children: Thomas James Guffman, Jr.. He was born three years ago about five months after I left Gail. I try to send her money once a month but I've never seen the child.

13. Grandchildren:

14. Pets? I had a dog when I was a kid, his name was Donder,

15. Education: I have a tenth grade education. I got expelled when I was fifteen after I stole some money out of the principal's office.

16. What brought you to Eagle Creek? I was travelling from River City to Plentywood. I just hopped off the train to stretch my legs during the lunch break. I went to the hardware store to look for a fireplace poker.
While I was waiting for the price, I saw this young man with an enevelope full of money. It was too tempting.

17. Current friends: I don't have any friends. I work with other confidence artists on scams but we keep things on a purely professional status. However, I do know a lot of policeman. Julius here has been kind to me, I suppose he's my friend.

18. Occupation: I like the term Grifter. I'm going to get two years this time since I violated parole by leaving Plentywood. I'm going to miss the fulfillment of a scam I'd been working on for about three months. My cut would be 25%, which is probably five times as much as Julius makes in a year.

19. What was your first job? My first real job was digging ditches for the city.

20. How much did you make? 18 cents an hour.

21. What did you like to do in your free time? Ride my bicycle with my friends Eddy and Keith.

22. What are you doing now? Wondering how to get the keys off of Julius' belt.

23. Do you admire a famous person? Sol the Snake

24. What makes them admirable? He runs five opium dens in River City. That takes a lot of strong arming to accomplish. Sol is a great guy, even the cops like him.

25. What is your favorite food? Apples

26. What is your favorite color? Green, the color of money.

27. What is your favorite song? Beautiful Eden Bells by Fanny Crosby. I did a year at the jail in Plentywood and there was this half-crazy guy who sang that song every day on the hour. It was a great indicator of the passing time.

28. Hobbies: Roller skating. When I'm not working a scam, I like to roller skate at this rink in River City.

"River City Roller Rink I go with my friends probably once a month. As a matter of fact, my friend Emily lost her wristwatch there a few months ago." - SC

An irristable cad with a French accent?

"That was you?"

Probably so. How much did that watch cost?

"I'm not sure. It was a birthday gift from her brother David. Maybe five dollars?"

I apologize, Sarah. You're a good kid. I hate to see young people suffer because of my sins.
Hey Julius? Can you remove my wallet from my back pocket and give Sarah five dollars for me? I want to make restitution for the way I wronged her.

29. Name of the last book you read? The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I read it when I was in the Butte jail.

30. Tell me about a memorable moment in your life; a time you will never forget. Going to jail when I was 14. After that day, people just expected me to be a trouble maker.

31. What things do you find yourself doing that you said you'd never do? Julius, now give Sarah the five one dollar bills.
Making restitution so I can have a clear conscience.

32. What are the goals you are still working toward? I suppose I want to give up my wicked ways. I enjoy what I do but getting caught is irritating. Men like me usually don't have a long life. Eventually, you make the wrong fellow mad and you end up with a knife in your gut.

33. When people look back at your life, how do you want to be remembered? Either as a changed soul or the man who pulled off the greatest swindle in this state's history. As I said before, I haven't made up my mind yet.

34. What is your favorite outdoor activity? I like exploring caves.

35. Do you attend church or religious services? When I was a child I went to the Presbyterian Church in Junction a few times a year. There's probably a God up there and my guess is He doesn't like me.

36. What is your favorite Bible verse? 1 Corinthians 10:13 I memorized that verse when I was in the Helena jail. This minister promised to give me a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving if I could remember it. I did. He was alright.

37. What makes you happy? The thrill of getting away with something.

38. What makes you sad? Seeing teens in trouble. I am not a role model. When I see a kid in jail I never make crime sound glamourous.

39. What frightens you? Mean cops. Some think they have permission from the state to treat you like a punching bag.

40. What is there about you that would surprise people if they found out? I broke into a church once during a wedding. I was riffling through some coats and I found a diamond ring. I looked at it closely and realized that it was intended for the bride. The best man must've put it in the wrong coat.

I started to steal it but as I was walking away I saw the best man running down the hallway in a panic. I knew he was looking for the ring.

Call me an old softy, but I took it out of my pocket and dropped it on the floor just outside the coat room. I hid in another room and I waited for him to find it. He did. I left with the other loot.