Wherever he went, Panzram stole for food, clothes, money and guns. For months during the year 1915, he traveled up and down the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, through Washington, Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota. Panzram was a veteran of the rails. On the night of June 1, 1915, he broke into a house in the town of Astoria, Oregon. He lifted a suit of clothes and other articles that weren't worth more than $20. He was later arrested when he tried to sell a stolen watch. He was indicted for Larceny in a Dwelling and later, after a promise by the local D.A. to go easy on Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, pleaded guilty. He was sentenced, as "Jefferson Baldwin," to seven years at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.

On June 24, 1915, he arrived at the prison and became inmate #7390. In the admission record, he listed his place of birth as Alabama and his occupation as "thief." On the same page, it was noted that he used two other names: Jefferson Davis and Jeff Rhodes. Guards immediately took notice of the prisoner's surly, uncooperative attitude. But they weren't concerned with uncooperative inmates. Salem prison was notorious in the northwest for punishing its prisoners by abuse and torture. The warden at that time was a tough, crude, former sheriff named Harry Minto, who believed whole-heartedly in keeping the inmates in line by force. Whipping, hosing, beatings, starvation and isolation were part and parcel of life at Salem.