B Reactor Tour Manager Russ Fabre describes the two robberies that occurred at the White Bluffs Bank during the prewar years.
Narrator: The White Bluffs Bank had just one room and only one employee. While the huge vault at first appeared impervious to robbery, it was later revealed that the wooden roof over the vault provided relatively easy access to the money from above.
Russ Fabre: We are standing in front of the White Bluffs Bank. This was the central hub for finance in this area. As such, you can imagine that it would be just prime for robberies. In fact, there were two robberies that did occur here.
There were a couple, a pair, that did not even make it out of the door. They were spotted. They were arrested. One spent five years at Walla Walla State Penitentiary. The other one spent fifteen years. Why the difference? Who knows?
The second time it was robbed, the robber got away with the cash and headed north to Moses Lake, central Washington. There he was confronted by the police, the constables at the time. A gun battle ensued. He was shot. He did not have the money with him. Somewhere between here and Moses Lake, he buried the money. That money has never been recovered.