Minutemen (anti-Communist organization)

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The Minutemen were a militant anti-Communist organization formed in the early 1960's. The founder and head of the right-wing group was Robert Bolivar DePugh a chemist from Norborne, Missouri. The Minutemen believed Communism would soon take over all of America. The group—which saw themselves as new patriots—armed themselves and were preparing to take back the country if necessary. Some saw the Minutemen as a paramilitary version of the John Birch Society.

The Minutemen organized themselves into small cells and stockpiled weapons for the counter-revolution. Some members would attempt to intimidate their enemies by mailing them a piece of paper with a crosshair on it. The implication was the person should be aware they were in the Minutemen's gun sight. At times the Minutemen would infiltrate leftist and radical organizations in order to disrupt their activities and gather intelligence.

In February,1968 Robert DePugh was indicted by a Federal grand jury in Seattle, Washington for conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Also in 1968 he was arrested for violation of Federal firearms laws. He skipped bail and went underground for over a year until he was caught in 1970 in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. He was released from prison in 1973 and wrote a survival manual , Can You Survive?

It has been suggested the Minutemen were early forerunners of the Militia Movement.