The 1920 Great Alberta Train Robbery: Three Russian men robbed a moving train for a fortune; Two were shot five days later, while the conductor’s stolen pocket watch led police to the third three years later in America

The 1920 Great Alberta Train Robbery sounds like the plot of an old crime movie, but the bizarre story really happened. On August 2, 1920, three Russian men boarded a Canadian Pacific Railway passenger train in Lethbridge, Alberta, and held up passengers and the conductor as the train traveled through the Crowsnest Pass. The robbers reportedly believed a wealthy local bootlegger was carrying a large amount of cash on the train. Instead, they escaped with only about $400 and some valuables, including the conductor’s pocket watch. Their escape quickly turned into a deadly manhunt. Five days later, two robbers were killed alongside two police officers during a shootout, while another escaped and was later captured. The stolen watch eventually helped authorities track down the third fugitive in Montana years later and was sentenced to seven years in prison for his part in the robbery.

The three men were identified as Tom Bassoff, George Arkoff and Alex Auloff. On August 2, they boarded Canadian Pacific Railway train No. 63 at Lethbridge. As the train traveled west, the men, who waited until the train was in the Crowsnest Pass, pulled guns and began robbing male passengers. They also confronted conductor Sam Jones. Jones had a valuable pocket watch, which the robbers took along with cash and other valuables.

The robbers fled when the train stopped at Sentinel. They disappeared into the surrounding bush, triggering a major manhunt involving the Alberta Provincial Police (APP), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and railway investigators. Five days later, on August 7, Bassoff and Arkoff were spotted at the Bellevue Café. Police confronted them, and a gunfight followed. Arkoff and Bassoff along with two police officers, RCMP Corporal Ernest Usher and Alberta Provincial Police constable Fred Bailey, were reportedly killed.


The robbery became one of the most dramatic crime stories in the history of Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass. The men had apparently expected a much larger haul, but their plan produced little money and set off a deadly chain of events. The story also shows how one seemingly ordinary object can become important evidence. The conductor’s pocket watch survived the robbery, changed hands and ultimately helped investigators locate one of the fugitives years later. The watch is now preserved as part of the story’s history at the Crowsnest Museum.

The Great Alberta Train Robbery of 1920 was far more than a simple train heist. More than a century later, the case remains a remarkable example of how a failed robbery, a deadly manhunt and one distinctive pocket watch became part of Alberta’s history.