August 1984 and After: FBI Begins Tracking ‘Order’ Members

The members of the secretive white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983) discover that the FBI has learned of their group’s existence and has compiled a list of many of its members, including leader Robert Jay Mathews. The FBI is investigating the group for a string of armored car robberies (see March 16, 1984, April 19-23, 1984, and July 19, 1984). The group abandons plans for a fourth robbery and splits up. Mathews and other members move from one cheap hotel and “safe house” to another, while others roam the Northwest in campers and travel trailers. The FBI observes one Order member, Gary Yarborough, moving to a remote mountain cabin near Samules, Idaho. Mathews asks an associate, Ardie McBrearty, to establish a telephone message center where group members can leave and receive messages. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]