Harry Orchard – Dynamite Killer

Harry Orchard carried the name “Dynamite Killer” for a good reason. He had killed 21 men, 14 in one dynamite killing when he blew up a train loaded with miners just getting off the night shift.

He was a “hired gun” – a hit man – a man with a gun willing to kill anyone, any place, any time, just so long as he was paid for the job. He was hired by a corrupt labor leaders who were determined to kill anyone who blocked them from having their own way. The biggest “hit” was former governor Frank Steunenberg, who had stood in their way when he was governor of the state of Idaho.

Orchard, playing cards in the Saratoga Hotel one night in December, saw his chance as Steunenberg, visiting with some friends in the lobby, was preparing to leave for home. Orchard hurried upstairs to his room, picked up the dynamite bomb, wrapped it in a newspaper, tucked it under his arm, and dashed outdoors. At the Steunenberg home he wired the bomb to the gate and sneaked away in the gathering dark. Moments later there was an terrific explosion.

Frank Steunenberg’s blood poured out on the snow as his wife and children, stunned, rushed out to find their husband and father dying. Minutes later the fatal surprise rocked Caldwiell, Idaho” Frank Steunenberg, known to all and loved by most, was assassinated. Orchard was caught, admitted the crime, tried, convicted and sentenced to die for his heinous deed. Mrs.

Steunenberg had every reason to hate this man that had destroyed her husband so cruelly. But she was a Christian.

She sent him a message expressing forgiveness and with it a little book titled, “Steps to Christ.” The guard told Harry, “Here is a package from the wife of the man you murdered.” Frightened, thinking it might be a bomb to get revenge, he didn’t want to open it. When he finally did and saw the title, “Steps to Christ.”

He threw it down with a curse. He hadn’t heard or used that name except in swearing for years. But the thought of Mrs.

Steunenberg’s forgiveness was at last too much for even this hardened murderer. He picked up the book and began to read. It was a message of God’s love and forgiveness. This hardened man’s heart was strangely warmed.

Soon He began to read the Bible that a man had sent to him. As Orchard read the Bible and thought about the spirit of forgiveness that the widow of the victim had shown, his heart was softened. Harry discovered in a book that he had ridiculed for years – the Bible – that there was good news. He found as he read the Bible that there was hope and forgiveness for him, and for every other sinner on the earth!