Date/event

May have happened

Notes

Harvey Logan works for the Circle C ranch near Zortman, Mt.

Butch Cassidy works for the Pitchfork and 4H ranches, and may have met Harvey Logan at this time.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

Winter. Butch finds work at the Ayers, Beason and Two Bar ranches.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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Charley Crouse sells his famous 3-legged cow for $200. (The Salt Lake Tribune, July 24, 1892.)

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For what it's worth, Butch's sister also affirmed the Robbers' Roost tale but claimed Etta was there with Sundance, not Butch.

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The Pinkertons believed "Deaf Charley" Hanks was one of the participants in the robbery.

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HELD UP NEAR MALTA.

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Three Masked Men Stop the Great Northern Express Train in Dawson County.

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Several Packages, Worth Probably $1,000, Taken From the Local Safe.

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A Tough Safe, Full of Money, couldn't be Opened, the Messenger Not Having the Combination.

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The Great Northern express train which arrived here at 3:25 a. m. from the east yesterday was held up by three masked men before daylight one mile west of Malta, a station on the main line between Chinook and Glasgow. The express car was entered, the messenger made to open the local safe at the point of a gun, and a number of packages taken, the value of which will not exceed $1,000. The through safe, the combination of which is known only to the agents of the Great Northern Express company at division points, was not disturbed. It came near costing the messenger his life, however, as the leader of the robbers was evidently in doubt for awhile as to whether he was telling the truth when he told them that he didn't know the combination and couldn't open the big safe if he had to be killed for not doing so. The failure to get into the big safe lost the robbers what might have made them wealthy men.

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It is evident that the three robbers boarded the train at Malta in the darkness, and took positions on the front or "blind" end of the express car and behind the tender of the engine. There they remained concealed until the train had gotten about a mile out of Malta. One of the men then climbed on to the tender, and covering the engineer with a revolver, directed him to stop the train at once. The engineer did so with great suddenness. This robber remained on the engine to watch the engineer and fireman, while his two companions got down from their hiding place and walked toward the rear of the train. They met Conductor Bywater, who was coming forward with his lantern to see what was the cause of the sudden stop. He learned it very quickly when two revolvers were brought on a line with his head and he was directed to hold up his hands. Up they went, lantern and all. The brakeman also wanted to know what was going on, and went forward to find out. He found out just as the conductor had, and in a minute after his curiosity was satisfied he was also standing with his hands in the air. The two robbers, with revolvers pointed at the conductor and the brakeman, ordered them to march to the door of the express car and request the messenger to open up. Jacob Hauert, who lives in Helena, was the express messenger. When Hauert got the request he wanted to know what was the matter, too. Conductor Bywater told him. Hauert recognized the logic of the situation and pushed open the door of the express car and looked down. Though it was very dark, still by the light of the conductor's lantern he saw he was looking down the muzzle of a 45 caliber revolver. One of the robbers, who appeared to be the leader, commanded Hauert to jump to he ground. The messenger did so, and the leader questioned him closely as to whether there were any other occupants of the car. When assured that there was no one else in the car, Hauert was ordered to climb back,. which he did, and the leader followed him. At first, Hauert was ordered to stand six feet from the safes. Next he was told to open the big safe used for through runs. 'The messenger said he was unable to do so as he was not in possession of the combination. The next order was to open the local safe, the one used for packages picked up or to be distributed along the route between division points. With the revolver still pointed at him Hauert complied with the demand. the leader of the gang, telling Hauert not to move, began rummaging through the safe, repeatedly asking questions as to the contents of various packages. Among the contents of the safe were three small packages of jewelry. As the robber picked up each one separately, he asked Hauert about its contents. Hauert replied in each case that they were ordinary packages, of little value, but that on account of the small size they had been thrown into the safe for fear they might get lost if left knocking about the car. After a critical examination from the outside the robber took one of the packages and put it in his pocket. The other two he cast aside as worthless. He singled out half a dozen other packages end took besides all the loose cash in the safe, amounting to less that $10.

.

When through rifling the local safe the robber again demanded that Hauert open the large one. For a second time Hauert told the robber that he did not have the combination, and explained the circumstances which, in effect, are that the express company does not give the messengers any information about how to open their through safes, which are locked by the agent at the end of a division and can only be unlocked by the agent at the other end; a provision doubtless made in anticipation of visits from just such gentleman as he and his two friends.

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"You open that safe, or you die." said the man with the gun, softly.

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"Very well, then. I suppose I've got to die," replied the intrepid messenger.

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The robber looked at the messenger for a few moments as if deliberating as to the truth of his statement. Meantime, Hauert was thinking hard of the chances he stood of taking a central part in a funeral service. Finally the highwayman seemed to be convinced that the messenger was telling the truth and began backing toward the door of the car, still keeping Hauert covered with his revolver. When he reached the door the man nodded pleasantly to the messenger, and with "good bye," jumped out. The robber who had accompanied him to the car door was still there, taking care of the conductor and brakeman. The third one was still looking after the engineer and the fireman. Hauert was called and with his two companions backed off with leveled revolvers and disappeared in the darkness. As the supposed leader vanished through the door of the express car, Hauert reached for his Winchester. Having gotten it, he cautiously approached the door and peered out, in the hope of getting a shot at the robbers. The darkness, however, was too dense. the train then started on its westward trip.

.

None of the passengers were disturbed, the robbers evidently expecting to make their big haul in the express car. In fact, the passengers knew nothing of the robbery until it was all over. One of them, Ed Goodkind, a Helena man had $2,000 in his pocket. He is usually in the habit when traveling with large sums of putting it in the express company's care for safe keeping. On this occasion he was pressed for time and neglected to do it. Had he done so the money must have gone in the local safe and fallen into the hands of the robbers. Two others of the passengers were English tourists The brakeman was sitting talking to them when the train left Malta. In order to carry out the prevailing impression of western life the brakeman was telling the tourists that hardly a day passes without his train being held up. His story was out short by the sudden stopping of the train. The brakeman went forward and, sure enough, walked right into the middle of the hold-up.

.

As the packages taken by the robbers were mostly goods, it is believed that $1,000 will more than cover the proceeds of the holdup. Had the men been able to get into the through safe, however, they would have made a rich haul. Its contents, though not definitely known, are supposed to have been away up, maybe $100,000. The man who rifled the safe is described as being about five feet ten inches in height, wearing a fur overcoat and blue overalls. He had a cap pulled down over his eyes and the lower part of his face was covered with a handkerchief. His two companions also had handkerchiefs on for masks.

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Malta, where the robbers are supposed to have boarded the train, is a small station in Dawson county, sixty-five miles west of Glasgow and seventy-eight miles east of Chinook. The train stops there but a few moments, and the three men, who had evidently laid their plans well beforehand, no doubt selected this as the best place for their operations, both because it is far from any central point, and because of the time of night the express passes there.

--Helena Independent, Nov. 30, 1892.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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THE CASHIER SHOT DEAD.

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TWO BANK ROBBERS KILLED AS THEY RAN OFF WITH THE PLUNDER.

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An Exciting Three Minutes In Delta Col--Cashier Blachly Killed as He Raised the Alarm--Well-Aimed shots from Mr. Simpson's Rifle Pick Two of the Outlaws from their Horses--Chase Given to the Third, but He escapes to the Mountains.

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Delta. Col., Sept. 7. The usual attempt to rob bank in a bold manner ended disastrously here this morning, when three young desperadoes tried to make away with the funds of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank. Cashier A . T. Blachly was shot In the neck and instantly killed, and two of the robbers were picked from their horses as they rode down an alley by the clever marksmanship of W. Ray Simpson, a hardware dealer, and the money was recovered from their dead bodies.

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It was about 10 o'clock when three men on horseback appeared in the alley at the rear of the bank. Two dismounted, leaving the other man to hold the horses. The men entered by the front door and appeared at the window.

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At that moment only the cashier and his assistant' H. H. Wolbert, were in the bank. They both went forward to wait on the customers, when they were covered with revolvers and ordered to hold up their hands.

..

Cashier Blachly yelled, and was promptly cursed ly the robbers, who told him to keep quiet. He yelled again, when one of the robbers fired his revolver and Blachly fell dead, the ball having passed upward from the neck. The men then vaulted over the partition, grabbed what money was in sight, and fled through the rear door. As they did this Wolbert picked up his revolver, but was observed by the robbers, who got the drop on him. They did not shoot, but ordered him to throw away his revolver, which he did very quickly. They then dashed into the alley, mounted, and fled down the narrow way toward Gunnison River.

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When the first shot, which killed the cashier, was heard, the cry was raised that the bank was being robbed. Men rushed for revolvers and guns and then ran toward the bank. Among them was W. R. Simpson, a young hardware merchant, whose shop was across the street from the bank. He picked up a rifle and started up the street. As the robbers came out of the alley and crossed the street, Simpson fired and one of the robbers fell, the top of his head being fairly taken off by the ball.

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Simpson then ran to the alley and fired after the other two fleeing men. He shot twice, killing first another man and then his horse. The second man was also struck in the head. The remaining survivor escaped across the river and down toward Grand Junction.

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A posse was soon gathered and started in hot pursuit. The robber's horse was fresh, and he gave them a pretty chase. A number of ranchmen came into town this afternoon from down the valley, and reported having seen the man riding by several miles ahead of his pursuers.

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Other parties left later, going across into the Escalante country, hoping to head off the man. He will be promptly lynched it caught.

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At the time the robbery was going on a lawyer named W. R. Robertson, having his office in the rear of the bank, heard the first shout and ran out into the alley into the arms of the robbers holding the horses, who quickly covered him with a revolver and kept him there until joined by the escaping robbers from the bank.

.

The men have been seen about this part of the country for several days. No one knows them. While here, two stopped at the hotel, registering as Clarence Bradley and James G. Bradley. About $1,000 was taken by the robbers, and it was all recovered from the dead bodies of the two men left in the alley.

.

Since they were placed in the undertaker's shop, they have been identified by several as the same fellows who held up the bank of Telluride four years ago.

.

Clarence Bradley told one man here that they came from the Rogue River country, Oregon, and that they had been herding cattle in Utah. A reward of $500 has been offered.

.

This evening one party of pursuers returned to town saying that the trail had been lost, the man escaping into the mountains. As he has a good mount he will no doubt make good his escape.

.

Mr. Blachly was about 47 years old. In 1878 or thereabouts he conducted a drug store at Canon City. As the railroad was extended he followed it, keeping at various periods a drug store at Arkansas City, Mears, and Sargent. Finally, when the Denver and Rio Grande reached Gunison. he located in that city, opening a drugstore, as in other places. In 1885 he failed in business. Then he went upon a ranch near Delta for a time, leaving it to become cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank. He has relatives in several places in Connecticut.

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Denver. Sept. 7. Speaking of the Delta Bank robbery this evening, President Moffat of the First National Bank said: "I think the robbers are of the same gang of scoundrels that has been doing so much mischief in the West and probably one of them robbed me."

--The New York Sun Sep. 8, 1893.

Walt Punteney and some hands from the Embar Cattle Co. depart for an all-expense-paid trip to the World's Fair.

The officers and employees of the Embar Cattle Co., who came to the road with beef on the last shipment, started Monday morning on an excursion to the World's Fair at the expense of the company. The party consisted of Jacob Price, superintendent; Virgil R. Rice, foreman of cattle; Walter Punteney assistant foreman of cattle; and William L. Baker, Levy C. Bell, Charles E. Blonde, Henry Close, James R. Ingram, Frank E. James, William J Lanigan, J. V. E. Marsh. S. O. Morrison, William E. McCann, Edward K. Pollock, Henry Rivers, John M. Shafer and Thomas P. Welch.

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Judge Jay L. Torrey saw the party off, and in a neat little speech expressed the hope that the boys would have a delightful time.

--Natrona Tribune, Oct. 12, 1893.

Late 1893. Logan brother Hank catches pneumonia. Harvey tries to take him by wagon to Arizona to recuperate, but Hank dies enroute near Steamboat Springs, Co.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

A Rude Awakening.

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They had a dance at the house of Henry Sheards  [Sherard}on the Big Horn the other night and a big time was the result. During the evening there was a great consumption of spiritous Big Horniensis and everybody sang and everybody danced. Tom Welch was overcome at last with mountain dew and went to sleep on a bench. His friends, not wishing to have him miss any of the good things, tried to wake him up. George Cassidy, finding all other means fail, took out his revolver and fired. Unfortunately, the ball entered the sleeper's left leg making an ugly wound six inches long.--Lander Clipper.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 15, 1894.

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There are anecdotal claims that Tom Welch was there, spying for the Embar ranch, Butch knew he was faking being asleep, and so shot him.Other anecdotes make them out as friends and even participants in the Tipton robbery together.

BEATEN IN JAIL.

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TERRIBLE WORK OF TWO TOUGHS AT LANDER.

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Attack on Fellow Prisoner Supposed to have Been Caused By Bad Whisky Furnished Them By Prostitute.

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Lander, Wy. Aug 7. Special. A terrible fight occurred this afternoon in the county Jail here. Frank Bryant and Al Hainer, two notorious outlaws now confined in the county jail assaulted and terribly beat Jo Baldwin a fellow prisoner. It was about 3 o'clock and Baldwin was sitting by the window reading when Bryant came up behind him and struck him on the head with a board, felling him to the floor.

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Baldwin attempted to defend himself when Hainer knocked him down with a chair. They then beat and bruised him to their hearts content. The noise attracted parties to the jail but it was some time before the sheriff could be found and when the jail was opened, Baldwin was badly used up.

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Bryant is an old offender and has been sentenced to three years in the pen for felonious assault and Is now awaiting the action of the supreme court. There is an old grudge between him and Baldwin. Devonia Durant, a prostitute, supplied Hainer with some whisky and he and Bryant were drunk. Baldwin will recover.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Aug. 8, 1894.

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A 1900 statement by Sheriff Sid Willis could shed some light on the event. He and the Logans had bad blood between them to start with, but according to Willis, he states there was a rumor that there was "a trace of Negro blood" in the Logans and that, "It was, in fact, a taunt to this effect that led to the shooting of Pike Landusky by Harvey Curry in December, 1894."

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When "Pike" died, it is said that the townspeople buried him six feet deeper than usual and put a large rock on top of his grave so he couldn’t get out. The rock is still there along with a carved wooden grave marker.

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There was a claim that Logan was hidden in the ranch house that was later owned by Jim Winters for up to eight months.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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Capehart is a shadowy figure in outlaw lore, first noted in 1893, then appearing more frequently in 1895, and finally vanishing in 1900. He seems to have been brought to the WS ranch by Butch Cassidy, and was noted by ranch manager William French as Butch's "right-hand man."

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Traditionally, Capehart was presumed to be an alias for Harvey Logan, but as mentioned, modern historians believe they have proved he was an actual person by that name, wrongly arrested and charged with complicity in the Stein's pass robbery.

.

However…

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Whether or not there was a "real" Tom Capehart, French's memoirs leave no question that the man he knew as "Tom Capehart" was in fact the Sundance Kid. (See the notes for Dec. 15, 1905 and Sep. 23, 1906.)

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Loney is arrested in Chinook, Mt. for complicity in the Landusky shooting (but apparently not tried or else found not guilty). (Great falls Weekly Tribune, Feb. 22, 1895.)

Ann Bassett returns from the St. Mary's of the Wasatch Academy in Salt Lake City.

\Late December. "Flatnose" Currie leaves the Garner ranch, near Gillette, for Chadron, Ne., shortly before a man named Thompson is shot resisting arrest for rustling by Sheriff Ricks and a deputy. (Crook County Monitor, Jan. 1, 1896.)

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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Sundance does some ranching at Ora Haley's second Two Bar ranch on the Little Snake river.

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A posse trailing them through Skeleton Canyon was later ambushed, with two men lost.

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Frank Robson, one of the possemen chasing the Nogales robbers, is killed in an ambush in Skeleton canyon.

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In escaping the posse, Butch placed moccasins on their relay horses (an Indian trick) to avoid leaving tracks.

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During the robbery, Butch--detailed to guard the patrons--was apparently nervous...

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There was a little comedy enacted in the bank at the time of the robbery. The man detailed to guard the six men who were invited inside was evidently a novice at the business. He became very nervous and his hand containing the cocked revolver wavered in a very uncertain manner which kept six of the Montpeliers, well known citizens, in a state of dread although their antics during this trying ordeal were very amusing.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Aug. 15, 1896.

Aug. 26. Butch writes a letter from Vernal, Ut., to Matt Warner’s wife, offering help, and noting that he and Elza Lay had secured a lawyer for her jailed husband.

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If it was Etta, there is no explanation where she came from or went to, nor is there certain mention of her again until late 1899, though she is believed by some to have spent some time in Robbers Roost before that period, which starts her life on the run with Sundance.

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Interestingly, a 1901 article on Elza Lay, though filled with errors, seems to repeat rumors/lore that the Lays had been living in the wild before their divorce.

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While a member of the Robbers Roosters, Lay married a Miss Maude Davis of Uintah county and a boy was born to them while they lived in the Hole in the Wall country, but the young woman took her child and left Lay. Where they are now is not known.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Oct. 26, 1901.

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This is generally consistent with the claim her family makes but for the fact that the author names Hole in the Wall rather than Robbers Roost.* While this cannot be used as an absolute proof text for Maude and Elza dwelling at the Roost, in the author's view it is strong enough evidence to refute the claim the story has no known public iteration prior to Harry Longabaugh Jr.

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* Bob Goodwin, however, points out that Robbers Roost was also know as the "Hole in the Rock" or "Hole in the Wall country" after the Hole in the Rock expedition of the original Bluff settlers in 1879, and so the author may indeed be referring to Robbers Roost, but by an obscure name.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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Ben and Ed Kilpatrick scuffle with neighbors Tom Benge and Oliver Thornton.

.

.

 .

 ...

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Thornton would eventually be shot by Harvey Logan--though a 1901 newspaper article claimed Kilpatrick admitted shooting him--after an argument over Boone Kilpatrick's hogs.

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This was a similar earlier incident in which the Logans and brother-in-law Lee Self, after shooting out burning lights one night in Landusky for fun, went into Jew Jake's to shoot out his, and Jake faced down Self with a 30-30, causing the three to back down. (Helena Independent Record, Dec. 23, 1934.)

..

Later, Maxwell--apparently hearing that Butch didn't have the stomach to kill a man--would try to make a reputation for himself by threatening to kill Butch if he didn't leave Vernal by nightfall. He wasted no time in leaving himself when Butch rode out to his camp to answer the challenge..

Around the same time, Maude Lay is sent home (but first tarries in Green River as the other woman heads to Salt Lake) by Elza as he prepares for the Pleasant Valley Coal Company robbery with Butch. Before this, however, Both Maude and the other woman (either Ann Bassett or Etta Place) who had been staying with Butch, help participate in the Castle Gate robbery by purchasing ammunition and supplies for the robbery, in Price and Salt Lake City.

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That the robbers are prepared for a long siege in their stronghold is not doubted here. A few days prior to the robbery, two women who stay with the bandits in the mountains arrived in town and took the westbound train. One of them, it is learned, stopped in Price and bought all the cartridges in that town. The other one proceeded to Salt Lake, where the supply of ammunitions was added to, and with the other provision shipped here. The man who brought the women here remained four days and took the supplies back.

--The Wasatch Wave, April 30, 1897.

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Some, appealing to Charles Kelly's book, attempt to equate the two women with Millie Nelson and Maggie Blackburn, whom Kelly claims obtained supplies and bought out local ammunition. The 1900 census lists a Millie Nelson (born 1869, living in Iron county) and a Margaret Blackburn (born 1860 and living in Wayne county), however Kelly offers no sources for this claim, written decades after the fact, and totally omits mention of Butch's girlfriend, whomever she was, and Maude Lay's known presence at Robbers Roost. Further, he specifically states the women's first appearance and purchase of ammunition was "While the dogs of the law were still barking over the Castle Gate robbery," precluding them from Castle Gate involvement. Also, Maude Lay spoke only of Etta Place living at the Roost, calling into question any claim these women ever actually lived at the camp. Another newspaper report (see the April 24th note) specifically states only two women were living at the Roost, again precluding these two as candidates for the women staying there.

A Castle Gate posse, setting up an ambush, wrongly started shooting at a Huntington posse by mistake.

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A robbery witness described Lay as wearing a black hat, blue coat, and goggles. One rode a gray horse, and one a bay horse. One of them was bearded at the time

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After being robbed, Paymaster Carpenter did not order more gold, but paid the miners in checks, saying, "Paymaster Cassidy of Robbers Roost will honor the Paper."

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HOLDUP IN UTAH

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MR. CARPENTER'S EXPERIENCE WITH ROBBERS ROOST GANG

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THEY MADE A BIG HAUL

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CAUGHT HIM WITH EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS AS HE LEFT THE TRAIN ONE PAY DAY--THE DESPERADOES HAVE AVOIDED CAPTURE

..

E. L. Carpenter of Salt Lake, general sales agent for the Pleasant Valley coal mine, whose mines are located at Castlegate, Utah, is in the city, arranging to place his coal on the Batte market. Mr. Carpenter is the official of the Pleasant Valley company who had an unpleasant experience with highwaymen at Castlegate last Spring. For years, he had been in the habit to pay the miners in a couple of big sacks and starting for the mines, always taking the Rio Grande Western train which reaches Castlegate about noon. His habits in this regard had become so fixed that it was little trouble for a couple of desperadoes to know just when to expect him and lay their plans for holding him up with very few chances.

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There is a band of desperadoes in Southern Utah known as the "Robbers Roost gang" who make the San Rafael mountain their stronghold and who have for years conducted all manner of thieving, from cattle stealing to robbing banks, with almost utter immunity, but they had never dome business in that particular locality and the presence of the gang in that community was not suspected. Mr. Carpenter's oft-repeated visits to the mines without molestation had rendered the trip so commonplace that he had come to make it without any thought of interruption and so on this particular occasion he stepped off the train with his money bag and started for the company's store as usual unattended except by a young man in his employ to whom he had handed a third bag which he had found it necessary to take along this time, and which contained silver for making change.

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The store was about 20 rods from the station and he reached the walk in front of it, two men dressed like the miners who were loitering about and who appeared to be part of them stepped suddenly in front of him. As they did so they each drew a gun from under the blue blouses they wore and ordered him to give them his money bags. The action was so sudden and unexpected that although two dozen or more men were in the immediate vicinity they were all so astonished that no one thought of interfering Mr. Carpenter had nothing to do but give up for he recognized in one of the men. or thought he did, "Butch" Cassidy. the leader of the Robbers' Roost gang, who is well known all over Utah. His reputation is such that Mr. Carpenter, believing it was he, readily gave over the money without any parlay. knowing it meant instant death to refuse. The robbers took the two bags of gold and ran to a couple of horses that stood hitched nearby, but which no one appeared to have noticed until the men made rapidly away before any of the onlookers had time to collect his senses.

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The only person who appeared to have any presence of mind, who was in a position to do anything, was the young fellow carrying the silver. He was nearer the store door than Mr. Carpenter and either because he was too quick for the robbers or they, judging wisely that the paymaster carried the great bulk of the money, paid little attention to him, succeeded in dodging inside the store and dropping his bag on the floor, he ran to a gun rack and took down a Winchester. Some cartridges sat in boxes on the counter and he grabbed a handful and loaded the gun as he ran back to the door.

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Meantime, the robbers had been getting their bags and themselves on their horses and were just about a rifle shot away when he reached the door with the gun. He aimed quickly and fired, but in the excitement his aim was poor and he missed, and Cassidy, for it has since been virtually proved it was he, turned in his saddle and fired back. He was riding at break neck speed by this time, but his celebrated marksmanship was demonstrated by the fact that the ball struck the door casing against which the lad was leaning to rest his gun. It was such a close call that it took the fight out of the youngster and he discreetly retired. It was well he did. for Cassidy's next shot would have done for him.

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The robbers with their plunder, something over $8000, headed for their favorite mountains and. although tempting rewards were offered and sheriffs and their posses scoured the country for weeks, sometimes closing in so close upon the bandits that it seemed they must be taken, they escaped and have never been captured. The hunt has never been entirely abandoned, but few men care to take chances with the gang in their San Rafael mountain range, which they know so well and passes that are almost impossible to any except them.

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That experience was enough and Mr. Carpenter now goes amply guarded to the mines on pay day.

--The Anaconda Standard, Sep. 17, 1897.

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Two men arrive in Springville, asking for newspapers detailing the Castle Gate robbery, and a posse is sent out after them (San Francisco Call, April 25, 1897).

ON THE SAN RAFAEL: GIRLS AND OUTLAWS.

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There is a carious condition of things and withal an undesirable one over in the eastern part of Emery County just at present; a condition which has brought about and causes considerable apprehension among the people over the mountains. There seem to be at least two fully organized and practically unhampered bands of outlaws in that region, whose dominion is as absolute as Abduhl Hamid's and whose operations are simply the unquestioned offspring of their own good will. Parties who have just been over there have interesting things to relate. There are two combinations firmly entrenched in those impregnable mountain fastnesses; one is located toward the north, the other is southward on the San Rafael. Reports say that several herds of cattle have been driven north and a good many sold, principally at Price. One peculiar circumstance also is that while the severe winter necessarily has preyed upon the sheep, the poor ones have fared remarkably well and the fat ones have apparently succumbed. The weather has probably not had so much to do with this as living, moving bipeds, however. They seem to do just as they please, and remain as unmolested as the gentle Castle Valley breezes. It is a typical wild west show realistically repeated. The outlaws live among "breakes," the wildest, most rugged and inaccessible except to the initiated anywhere under the blue firmament. In recesses cut into the side of those yawning chasms, two or three men are able to hold an army at bay. To such places all who have stolen, robbed or murdered are welcomed so that the gangs are becoming augmented steadily as time goes on. They live in huts made of raw-hides, thus being pretty effectively ensconced from the whistling of winter blasts and furiously drifting snow. But they are not confined to one sex. There are females forming that motley combination. It is positively asserted by parties who are in a position to know that in the one camp are two girls who seem to enjoy that novel existence and immensely comfort their male consorts. That smacks of the romantic. It is also stated quite emphatically by certain knowing ones that Sheriff Burn's slayers are there.

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Rumor is an unstable element, of course, but some time ago there was a change of femininity: two girls came back to one of the Emery Co. towns. They gave the names of all the outlaws except two. The identity of those two even an inquisition could not have wrenched from them.

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Here is a glaring example of the perversity of human nature. Think of young girls out in the wildest wilderness where nature has turned summersaults, under the benign care of a band of the rot arid scum of border civilization.

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These bands do exist to the mortal terror of a great many and incalculable disaster to others. The problem of ousting them is a grave question. There is no use in attempting to dislodge them by force a good big military force would be inadequate. The only way would be to starve them out and it is questionable if that is feasible.--Manti Messenger.

--St. George Union, April 24, 1897.

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The "two girls" are almost unquestionably a reference to Maude Lay and Butch Cassidy's girlfriend, whomever she was. Unfortunately, despite exhaustive searching, I cannot find the names of these two women!

BUTCH CASSIDAY'S GANG

Hold Up and Rob a Pedlar Near Huntington

JOE WALKER RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE HIGHWAYMEN

Judge Johnson's Court Was Made a Arsenal Last Monday and Wednesday on Account of a Rumor of a Rescue-A Calf Thief Convicted-Good People Talk of Organizing a Vigilance Committee-Charlie Clawson Convicted of Adultery and Sentenced to One Year.

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Special to The Herald. Castle Dale Utah May 27. The nefarious Robbers Roost gang are again at work and unless something is done to rid this country of the crowd there will be a veritable reign of terror here soon. On Monday last a pedlar named William Short who has been selling vegetables to the miners at Castle Gate was held up and robbed by two men in between Huntington and Price The robbery was committed right in sight of a team load of people in broad daylight. The pedlar had been very lucky on his trip and had $79 with him and it is presumed the two men who held him up were aware of this fact. He was approached from behind and ordered to throw up his hands which he did. Then while one of the men covered him with his gun, the other went through him, taking all that he had. He was then told to drive on and make himself scarce in that neighborhood. The men then rode away.

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One of the men was recognized as the famous Joe Walker one of the notorious of the gang in which Butch Cassidy figures so extensively. The other man the pedlar did not know. The officers down here are afraid to go after the men The country is in a state of terror because of their depredations it is well known that there is a large gang of them and they hove so many friends they can successfully defy the officers of the law.

--The Salt Lake Herald, May 28, 1897.

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* Some modern  historians claim Sundance was ranching and did not participate in the robbery. However, he was identified by a number of witnesses.

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A Bold Bank Robbery.

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A partially successful attempt was made forenoon to hold up the bank of Clay Robinson & Co. at Belle Fourche, and in consequence Thomas O'Day, an accomplice, is behind the bars in the Lawrence county jail. The bank had been open about half an hour when the robbers entered it. There were five of the latter, and they acted upon a clever plan, they had evidently been studiously prepared, but they failed to act in concert. Four of them had left their horses back of the Belle Fourche saloon, and entered the bank by a side door, while the fifth man rode up in front of the bank, dismounted without hitching his horse, and went in through the front door. Presiding Elder E. E. Clough was in the director's office writing a letter, and a number of customers were waiting before the cashier's window to transact some business. They were J. H. Chapman, of Deadwood, Dave Arnold, C. A. Dana, and Ernest Mitchell of Belle Fourche. Arthur H. Marble, cashier, and Harry Ticknor, an accountant, were behind the screens. Some of the robbers covered the men in the front part of the bank with six-shooters, while one man demanded the money of the cashier. Mr. Marble grabbed up a revolver at his elbow and snapped it at the intruder, but it missed fire, and before he could try it again he was looking down a pistol barrel and had to surrender.

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Giles, the hardware man, whose store is almost opposite the bank, saw through the bank window, four or five men in a group with their hands up, and scenting trouble, ran across to the bank to ascertain. The interior of the bank bristled with six-shooters when he opened the door, and he hastily retreated across the street and into his store. Running out the back door of his building he gave the alarm. At this one of the robber, the one who had left his horse in the street, stepped out in front of the bank and fired several shots from his revolver, shooting up and down the street, and into the store of Giles and of the Gay Bros. The senior member of the latter firm had a furrow plowed across his cheek by one of the bullets. At the firing the horse that was left unhitched made off, and joined the horses of the other four men, leaving its rider on foot.

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The four men had taken what money was on the counter, said to be about fifty dollars, and mounting their horses, started away to the southwest. The town was aroused by this time, and a fusillade was begun with rifles upon the fleeing men, they returning the fire with a few desultory pistol shots. They were leading the horse of the fellow who had been left behind, and were evidently very anxious to get him, taking desperate chances in a shower of bullets waiting for him to overtake them, which he seemed to fail to understand. The riderless horse was finally hit in the foreleg with a ball, and the men then tied him to a wire fence.

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Joseph Miller, a citizen, hurriedly saddled and mounted a horse and started in pursuit of the four men, but being mistaken for an accomplice, his horse was shot from under him before he had gone two hundred yards. It was with some difficultly that the men of the town who had guns were restrained from shooting him before he was recognized. In the meantime, the man whose mount had deserted him was mingling with the crowd and was not noticed until he was then on an old mule, that had been tied near, trying to urge the animal in the direction that his own horse had taken. The mule was stubborn, however, and went the wrong way. About this time someone pointed the man out as one of the robbers. The fellow jumped off the mule when he saw he was recognized, and ran back of Sebastian's saloon and into a water closet. Walter Simpson, of this city, saw him go in, and when he came out, covered him with a shot-gun, which he had picked up. The fellow had no fire arms about him, but some six-shooter cartridges were found about his clothes, and a search revealed the weapon and belt in the closet where he had concealed them. Cash to the amount of $392.50 cents was found in his pockets but it is the belief that this is not any of the money stolen from the bank.

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A posse started after the other four men, and was augmented until nearly one hundred men were on the trail, including a number of cow-punchers that had been set out by the VVV cattle outfit. A report reached Belle Fourche in the afternoon that the fugitives were at bay in a small timber tract near the VVV ranch, and were surrounded by the posse. In response to a call for reinforcements several buggies loaded with men were sent out to the locality in which the robbers were said to be ensconced.

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Bitter expressions were uttered against the captured man, who gave the name of Thomas O'Day, and it was even recommended that he be hung. When he heard this talk O'Day said to those about him, 'Go ahead and hang me, boys. You never see a man die any gamer than I will.' He was identified by Cashier Marble and Elder Clough as one of the men who had entered the bank with drawn pistols. Deputy Sheriff Arnold brought him up on the freight train yesterday afternoon, and is now confined in the Lawrence county jail. He protests his innocence and says he was drinking in Sebastian's saloon when the firing began.

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An amusing phase is related concerning with the connection of Dr. Clough with the holdup. The Doctor was writing a letter when the robbers entered the bank, and, starting forward at an unusual noise, was confronted by a row of six-shooter muzzles, with an injunction to put up his hands. The Doctor managed to say, 'Why, I'm only a poor Methodist preacher. You don't want anything of me,' 'Preacher be d--d' came the reply. 'Put up your hands.' It is told of the Doctor that he ran into the vault when he discovered how lightly the culprits regarded the cloth.

--Deadwood, Weekly Pioneer Times, July 1, 1897.

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[Note this is 'told' about the Reverend. I don't believe it and hold to the traditional claim that the time lock was on, and the vault couldn't be opened. For this to be true, it means 'Flatnose' and Logan would have stood there and allowed the Reverend to cross the teller area, unimpeded, and enter the vault, and lock the door behind him. I'm not even sure he could have done that--especially since O'Day was locked in there afterward, and one doesn't lock a prisoner in a cell with access to the lock on his side.]

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According to a newspaper account, two of the robbers had carbines with octagon barrels, while a third had one with a round barrel:

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Billings. Sept. 26th. The parties now in jail for the Belle Fourche robbery have been identified. Assistant Cashier Ticknor of the Butte County bank went to the Jail this morning in company with Sheriff Butts and positively identified the two men calling themselves Jones as the two Roberts brothers who were in the robbery. The other prisoner calling himself Smith [Puntney], he was not so positive about, but thinks he was the last of the robbers to leave the bank. He described before seeing them the guns the robbers had as short Winchester carbines, two with octagon barrels, and one with a round barrel. The guns captured with the prisoners corresponded with his description.

--The Anaconda Standard, Sep. 27, 1897.

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During the chase, one of the robbers' horses wore out, and two of the robbers had to double up. (Laramie Weekly Boomerang, July 8, 1897.)

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Walt Punteney later claimed they had actually robbed a significant amount from the bank, allowing him to purchase a nice ranch.

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Walt Punteney's fanciful account:

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'It happened a few years back. There was a time Tom O'Day, a couple of other fellows and I robbed a bank.'

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Walt then told of the day he and his friends were engaged in a conversation outside Happy Jack's [in Thermopolis, Wy.], talking quietly among themselves. Suddenly they mounted their horses and rode out of town together. Such a scene, even in 'my' time, meant a job had been planned. And the upshot of that particular discussion was that they would ride to Belle Fourche, SD., and rob a bank.

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But somewhere between Thermopolis and Belle Fourche, the conspirators calculated the projected take from the bank would not fit their needs and, concluding they needed additional cash flow, made hasty plans to rob a saloon,* in which a massive steel safe harbored the House's share of the considerable gambling revenues.

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Upon arrival in Belle Fourche, Tom O'Day tied his horse outside the saloon while the others entered the bank. Apparently they had failed to agree on a schedule, because as Tom was leaning against the walnut bar, sipping from a shot of whiskey, all hell broke loose down the street, in the direction of the bank.

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O'Day, cursing, ran outside upon hearing the shots. He was just in time to see Punetney, a sack of silver coins thrown over his shoulder, and his other friends leap onto their horses, throw some shots at a gathering, angry mob of the town's citizens, and make their break from Belle Fourche, pursued by numerous rifle shots and threats from the locals.

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'I'll get 'em, I'll get 'em!' O'Day shouted, running for his horse. But just as he mounted, a stray shell crashed into the animal's hoof. His horse reared and O'Day tumbled to the ground. Getting up and dusting himself off, he immediately knew time was of the essence. Latching onto a mule which had also been tethered at the hitchrack, he jumped aboard. Trotting past the bank he was heard to yell, 'I'll pursue the varmints, Boys! I'll get 'em!'

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As he passed the bank, futilely kicking the mule to try and pick up some speed, someone shouted, 'He's one of them!'

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Before Tom O'Day knew what was happening, a shell from a Winchester buried itself in his shoulder, and he flew out of the saddle and lay on the ground, dazed.

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In the meantime, Walt Punteney was faring a little, but not much, better. Several miles out of town, the posse of about twenty irate citizens closed in on him. Suddenly a rifle shot caught him just above the right shoulder blade, blowing him off the horse an into a muddy irrigation ditch, where he lay motionless.

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'It was the sack,' Walt said. 'Damn! When the shell hit it, it crashed into that sack of silver. The impact was terrific, and I'm sure it saved my life because the posse rode past, thinking I was deader 'n hell.

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Everybody except Tom O'Day made a safe getaway. And since the jail in Belle Fourche had recently burned down during an escape attempt, he was incarcerated for three weeks in the iron cell which rose like a bear cage above the charred rubble, and in which he was exposed to the elements and the jeers of contemptuous passersby.

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'What ever happened to the money in the sack?' I asked.

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'Oh yeah, the money, ' Walt grinned. 'Well, the sack was pretty well torn as you can imagine. And some of the silver was scattered all over that ditch and across the trail. It was a mess. Now, I ain't makin' no confessions, understand? But you must agree, Tim, I got a right nice little homestead…'

--From Tim McCoy remembers the West.

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* This account, though filled with inaccuracies, is important because it accords with tradition and places O'Day in Sebastion's Saloon, which some other contemporary accounts contradict, placing him at the bank instead. O'Day's alibi was also that he was at the saloon, and there were witnesses that placed him there.

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Bad weather may have aided the robbers, and kept people off the street.

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The day was favorable for a raid on the bank, as weather was such that it kept people off the streets, and the robbers had little opposition and had quite a start before the alarm could be given.

--Reno Weekly Gazette and Stockman, July 1, 1897.

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A bad gun may have spared Logan's life--and prevented a slaughter by the gang, for during the robbery, cashier Art Marble managed to arm and pull the trigger of a .45 in Logan's face, but it failed to go off. In a 1962 magazine article, R. I Martin, then 16--whose brother was the Belle Fourche Justice of the Peace--related that the gun misfired because it was an unreliable firearm swapped out for the bank's good pistol by a Stock Detective on the trail of an outlaw. As he pointed out, had Marble used the good pistol, actually shooting Logan, undoubtedly there would have been a bloodbath inside the bank!

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Joe Bush says: "Do you supposed Moore, Maxwell or any of the gang would have treated me that way if they had once got the drop on me?" Perhaps Mr. Bush is talking for $2500. At least I look at it that way. If I am worth that much to the State dead, I and worth double that amount to myself living. There are men in the gang that I am acquainted with, but that is no proof that I am a member. I am well acquainted with that country, and from all reports Mr. Bush knows nothing of that country or the men. They arrested John Griffith for a bluff. He is a hard-working, inoffensive man and has nothing to do with the gang.

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I wish to say that I am not a member of the gang, nor do I want to be, but if I am considered as such, I shall certainly guard myself. As such I have nothing to expect but death. In this case I am capable of defending myself. I don't wish to kill any one, but I may be compelled to if this is not retracted. Please Mr. Bush don't kill me for that $2500. I live on Nine Mile, Brooks Postoffice. C. L. Maxwell.

--Salt Lake Tribune, July 13, 1897.97/

A report is in circulation that Sheriff Sproule of Johnson county, Wyoming, had run across the band of stock thieves and bank robbers from Belle Fourche, S. Dak., on upper Powder river, and during the fusillade Sheriff Sproule was shot through the body, barely missing his lungs.

--July 28, 1897, Spearfish, SD.,  Queen City Mail

Bob Devine

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You think you have played hell you have just begun you will get your dose there is men enough up here yet to kill you and we are going to get you yet or lose twelve more men you must stay out of this country if you want to live we are not going to take any chances any more but we will get you any way we can. We want one hair a piece out of that d--- old chin of yours you have given us the worst of it all the way through and you must stay out or die you had better keep your d--- outfit out if you want to keep them don't stick that d--- old gray beard of yours in this country again if you don't want it shot off. We are the twelve men appointed a purpose to get you if you don't stay out of here.

Revenge. Sange.

-- Natrona County Tribune, July 29, 1897.

Local storekeepers in Baggs didn't have enough silver to make change for all the gold taken from Castle Gate so Butch paid a messenger to ride to a town 80 miles away and change $500 in gold for $400 in silver so they could buy supplies and otherwise spend the take. (The Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 12, 1899.)

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL WAR.

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MORE ARMED MEN START FOR THE FRONT.

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A Force of Fifty Men Are Now Marching Against the Outlaws and Will Be Joined By as Many More.

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(Special to The Herald.) Casper, Wyo. July 31. Another armed body of men left Casper early this morning for the Hole-in-the-Wall country in search of cattle thieves and bank robbers. The party was led by Sheriff Butts of Belle Fourche with six deputies and about ten well armed cowboys. Sheriff Sproal of Johnson county who returned to Buffalo this morning informed the South Dakota sheriff and deputies that he, Sproal did not send for them, that he could take care of the robbers, and would give them no protection, and if they went into the rendezvous of the outlaws it would be at their own risk. It is believed here that Sheriff Sproal is either in league with the outlaws or else he is afraid to proceed against them. Altogether, about 50 well-armed men have left here for the Hole-in-the-Wall to be joined by as many more from other sections. all determined to protect the property of the cattlemen and honest small ranchmen.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Aug. 1, 1897.

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Members of the Hole in the Wall gang sponsor a turkey shoot in the town of Cooper, Wy. (Wyoming Derrick, Sep. 8, 1897.)

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They started out charging an entrance fee of a quarter, then got confident and upped the charge to $1, but the winner was local man, N. R. Gascho.

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Sheriff Davis of Carbon county and his posse raid Powder Springs, looking for Butch Cassidy, but find two other men. (Rawlins Republican, Oct. 22, 1897.)

FOULLY MURDERED

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Frank Staley Killed Near Englewood by William Moore, a Negro.

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Frank Staley, a prospector and miner, was murdered in his cabin in Englewood yesterday morning about 5 o'clock by William Moore, a big, burly Negro, who is better known in the city as "Nigger Bill." The trouble which brought about the murder was over a mongrel cur belonging to the colored man. Moore was abusing the dog Tuesday night. Staley made him desist and a few hot words passed between them. The trouble incensed the Negro, and he murdered the defender of the dog in cold blood.

At an early hour yesterday morning telegrams were received by Sheriff Plunkett and Coroner Whitehead, from Englewood, notifying them that a murder had taken place near there. The sheriff, Coroner Whitehead, H. H. Weaver, the undertaker, immediately left for the scene of the affair. The murder took place in a small cabin in a wood camp five miles from Englewood. When the officers arrived there, they found Frank Staley, the victim of the black brute, lying with his face upon the floor of his cabin midway between the bed and stove. The floor was covered with blood, which had oozed from a gaping wound in the chin of the murdered man. Indications were that Staley had just arisen from his bed when the shot which caused his death was fired. The body was brought to this city, arriving at 3 o'clock. It was brought to the undertaking rooms of S. R. Smith, where a great number of men viewed the remains. Among them were many friends of the murdered man. An inquest will be held by Coroner Whitehead this morning.

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The man who telegraphed the officers concerning the murder was F. Curtis. He arrived in the city yesterday morning, and told a Call reporter the full particulars about the murder. The murdered man, Staley, had been in his employ about three weeks, chopping and hauling wood. There is a small settlement of wood men at the point where the murder occurred. Among the wood choppers who worked for Mr. Curtis were two Negroes, Bill Moore and John Johnson. Tuesday evening Johnson went to Staley's cabin, which is forty feet from his own, to eat supper. Staley had been out on the mountains Tuesday afternoon and shot a deer. He brought the deer to his cabin and dressed it. Staley and some of the other men were in the cabin, and the former gentleman was feeding some of the venison to a worthless dog that belonged to Moore. While doing this, Moore came into the cabin and called his dog. The dog refused to come at his call, and he roughly seized it and began to abuse it. Staley told him to leave the dog alone, to which Moore replied that he would kill the dog or make it mind him. Staley said he could not do it so long as he was not around. Moore then made a motion to attack Staley, who picked up his gun and warned the Negro away from him. Moore left the cabin without a word, and walked to the cabin of William Wilson, about a mile and a half away, where he borrowed a Winchester, saying that he had seen a bear and wanted to kill it. He left William Wilson's cabin and went to J Wilson's cabin, where he spent the night. About 3 o'clock yesterday morning, Mr. Curtis and Johnson, the other colored man, were awakened by Moore, who entered their cabin, presumably to get some cartridges. As soon as Curtis awoke, Moore left and went to Staley's cabin. He had been gone but a moment when the report of a gun was heard. Curtis rushed outside, and saw the Negro who flourished his gun, and, looking toward Staley's cabin, cried out: "Come out here if you want a gun fight. I'll wait here six weeks to kill you." Curtis supposed that the shot fired the first time had missed, and that the Negro was calling to Staley, so he went back into his cabin to put on his shoes. When he again went outside Bacon, the partner of Staley, who occupied the cabin with him, called to him to come and help put Staley on the bed, as he was badly hurt. They entered the room in which the crime had been committed and found that Staley was dead. They did not move the body. Curtis saddled up his horse and rode to Englewood where he notified the officers by wire of the affair.

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At the time of the murder Bacon and a young man were in the cabin with Staley. They were both asleep and were awakened by the report of the gun. The murdered man uttered no word when he was shot. He had just arisen from bed and was partially dressed when Moore entered the cabin and, without any warning whatever, shot him. The charge from the gun tore away Staley's entire chin, and, it is believed, his windpipe was severed. A medical examination will be made this morning before the Coroner's jury.

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After the Negro committed the foul deed which cost Staley his life he went to William Wilson's cabin and Wilson started out after him with the gun in his hands. Several other parties joined him, and they tracked the black brute to Windy Flat about three and one half miles from this city. Here they lost track of him.

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Sheriff Plunkett and Officers Corcoran and Northam and a posse of men from Bald Mountain and Englewood scoured the timber thoroughly between this city and Englewood but found no trace of Moore. It was stated that the Negro had been seen in this city at an early hour yesterday morning but the police department made a careful investigation and failed to find him. Austin, the bootblack, and another Negro, both of whom claimed they saw Moore in Lead, were arrested. They afterwards denied the statement. Johnson, the colored man from Englewood, was also arrested. It is believed that he knows the whereabouts of the murderer. Descriptions have been telegraphed to the officers in the Black Hills, Nebraska and Wyoming. And it will be impossible for him to escape. Posses will also continue to scour the country until the black fiend is found.

Frank Staley the murdered man, is well known in this region. He has been here for many years and was a miner. He worked in Terry for a couple of years until he went to work in the wood camp three weeks ago. He was a generous hearted fellow and well liked, by all who knew him. He was noted for his kindness to dumb animals and his sympathy to the little dog which his Negro slayer was abusing caused his death.

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William Moore, or "Nigger Bill," has been hauling wood into Lead for several years and was never looked upon as a bad Negro. He is a big six footer as black as the ace of spades, with a large nose and big mouth. It is to be hoped that he will soon be captured and that speedy justice may be meted out to him.

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Officer George Northam arrived in the city last night about eight o'clock. Sheriff Plunkett came up from Deadwood immediately after Mr. Northam's arrival and the two held a conference in regard to the fleeing Negro. Northam found a colored man named "Negro Ludd" who lives on Box Elder, eight miles northeast of the wood camp where the murder occurred, with whom Moore took dinner. Ludd informed the officers that Moore was headed for Crawford, Nebraska where he has friends, having been a soldier at Fort Robinson, three miles from Crawford. He intends to make the trip on foot and keep in the brush away from the railroad. A posse will leave here today and expect to overtake the Negro before he proceeds very far on his journey.

--Lead Daily Call, Sep. 9, 1897.

THREE DESPERADOES CAUGHT.

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They Helped Rob the Bank of Bell Fourche S. D., Last June.

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BlLLINGS, Mont, Sept. 24. Sheriff Dunn of Carbon county and a posse have effected the capture of three men who were implicated in the robbery of Clay, Robinson Co.'s bank at Belle Fourche, S. D., last June, when the cashier was shot and several thousand dollars in currency was stolen. The men were captured north of Billings in the Mussel Shell country.

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They were seen in Red Lodge on Sunday, and the Sheriff immediately began preparations to follow them. He called in two well-known stock detectives, who had been after these men before for cattle stealing, and called on several citizens to add to the strength of the posse. Knowing the desperate character of the men, Sheriff Dunn gave orders to take them dead or alive.

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The posse followed the robbers' trail for three days, and came upon the desperadoes at 5 o'clock on Wednesday evening, just as they were going into camp. Two men were getting water at a spring and the other was picketing the horses. On being summoned to surrender, the two men at the spring jumped over a bank and attempted to defend themselves, but whenever they showed their heads the deputies fired, and finally they surrendered. The man with the horses parleyed, and getting behind a horse drew his revolver. A shot from a deputy's rifle went through the horse's neck and hit the robber's wrist, causing him to drop his revolver.

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He mounted, and his horse ran a mile before it fell, shot dead. He then surrendered. The names of the desperadoes cannot be learned at this time, as only a brief account of the affair has been received.

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There is a reward of $625 for the capture of each of these robbers. Ever since the robbery last June, the authorities of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana have been on the lookout for them. Until recently they have been hiding in the Jackson Hole country, where cattle rustlers and desperadoes are hard to capture. They are known to have been implicated in cattle stealing in Custer county.

--The New York Sun, Sep. 25, 1897.

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We saw Putney ride up to the top of a hill to take a view of the country and we approached the camp within rifle range as Kid Currie was unsaddling his horse. We threw down on him and commanded him to throw up but instead of obeying the summons he got on the other side of his horse pulled his six shooter and threw it down over the back of the animal. The next instant a rifle ball from my gun struck Currie in the wrist and turned him around several times. He then sprang on the horse and started for the hills. As he came to a wire fence his horse was shot in jumping the fence and landed dead on other side. Currie started off on foot.

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In the meantime, part of the posse had captured the other two members of the gang and went in search of Currie. I saw him about a mile distant in the hills and I rode around and crawled up within a short distance of where he lay partly concealed behind a sand hill. I told him he had better come out of there and in reply he held up his bloody hand and said he was shot in the breast and was dying. He didn’t look to me like a dying man and I told him that if he didn’t come over to where I was I’d tear down that sand hill. This had the desired effect and he came a running. He was entirely disarmed and I went back to the sand hill and found his two six shooters and a belt full of cartridges buried in the sand.

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We took the three outlaws to Billings and turned them over to the officers of South Dakota and they were placed in the Deadwood Jail along with Tom O’Day to await trial. Pending the sitting of the court, they broke Jail and O’Day and Putney were captured three days afterward but the Roberts boys succeeded in making good their escape. Putney and O’Day afterward established an alibi and were discharged from custody.

--Account by Sheriff John Dunn of Carbon county, The Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 5, 1901.

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In the fight, another horse was shot and fell on one of the robbers (Casper, Wy. Derrick, Oct. 11, 1897.)

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If this was Sundance, and he was the man whose leg was set by a doctor back in August or September, this may have re-injured the limb, and could have caused permanent damage, accounting for his ongoing leg problems, which have anecdotally been attributed to a bullet wound.

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Seven horses were actually found with the robbers, the extra probably being intended for a relay team. During Logan's attempted escape, his horse was without saddle or bridle. (Buffalo, Wy., Bulletin, Sep. 30 1897.)

They waive extradition, and are sent to Deadwood, SD., for trial 

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After he received a reward for the capture Detective Hicks purchased new hats for the three robbers (Natrona County Tribune, Oct. 7, 1897), who posed with them in their photos.

PROTEST THEIR INNOCENCE.

Belle Fourche Bank Robbers Playing a Bold Game.

BELLE FOURCHE, S. D. Oct. 3-

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(Special.)-The three alleged bank robbers giving their names as Tom and Frank Jones and Walter Putney, who were held in jail at Deadwood to await their trial, were given their preliminary trial in this city Friday with the result that they were all held to the grand Jury for $10,000 each. They were taken back to Deadwood in default of ball. The prisoners firmly protested their innocence and declare that they never knew there was such a man as ["Flatnose"] Currie or such a place as Belle Fourche. They were all three identified positively, however, by three witnesses, who were in Belle Fourche at the time of the robbery. An attempt was made to obtain a picture of the prisoners at a photograph gallery, but through the contortions they made it was unsuccessful

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The lawyer, while not named in the first article, was apparently clerk J. P. Hymer, from the law office of Temple & Mclanghlin in Deadwood. (Wyoming Derrick, Nov. 4,1897.)

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Walt Punteney, it should be noted, had the same sort of alibi--friends testifying that he was ranching with them during the time.

FOUR OUTLAWS BREAK JAIL

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Brute strength helps them out of the Deadwood lockup.

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They Arm themselves to the Teeth in the Jail arsenal and shoot several citizens as they flee--200 men chasing them into the badlands, whence they can hardly escape.

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Deadwood, S. D., Nov. 1. The notorious Curry Gang of bandits broke jail just before midnight last night, and, after exchanging several dozen shots with several citizens who encountered them accidentally, made their escape to the mountains. The daring of the escape is worthy of the notorious men who accomplished it.

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The fugitives are Tom O' Day, Frank Jones, Tom Jones, and Walter Putney. They ripped the bars from their strong cells by brute strength, assaulted the jailer with their bare hands, and reached the open air. The Jailor was alarmed, but the ferocity and daring of the men was too much for him. The first he knew that trouble was coming, was when the side of the big steel cage in which the bandits were confined gave way before their united strength, and with a roar the men broke down the wooden partition and burst into the view of the astonished guard. He drew a revolver. It was knocked from his hands, and as he drew another it was dashed to the floor. The plucky man then reached for a big knife lying near, and as the four men threw themselves upon him he clashed at them until he lost consciousness. When he revived an hour later he was covered with wounds, but was able to tell the story.

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As the jail was a regular armory, the men had no trouble in selecting a supply of the finest weapons. Each got a rifle, four revolvers, and a quantity of ammunition. They rushed boldly from the place, and started on a run across lots, toward the hills. They ran over Pete Belle, a special mine watchman, a block away. He was knocked down, but armed with a revolver and, taking in the situation, began shooting. In an instant, a wild scene was being enacted.

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Citizens gathered from all directions, and the outlaws retreated into the dense forests of the mountains, turning and firing as the pursuers gained upon them. Streams of fire followed them from two dozen revolvers in the hands of as many citizens. That a number of men were not killed is due wholly to chance and the darkness.

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Fred Swobe was desperately wounded. Frank Elliott was shot through the body, and several other citizens were injured more or less. If the outlaws were hurt there was nothing to indicate the fact. In truth, they seemed to enjoy their wild dash, and repeatedly called to the posse to come up to the mountain and fight it out. They finally disappeared in the hills, making for that section known as the Bad Lands.

.

All day a posse of 200 citizens have been chasing the fugitives, but has failed to get within shooting distance of them. It is scarcely within the limit of possibility that they can escape, yet the desperate fellows are making a remarkable effort. They were put into Jail a few months ago after a most desperate resistance in which all of them received from one to a dozen wounds. The men are still suffering from these wounds.

.

They were surprised while robbing the Bank of Belle Fourche and were badly wounded, though all but O'Day succeeded in escaping to the Big Horn basin, where they were caught.

.

These are the leading members of the ["Flatnose"] Curry gang, and they are known as the most desperate band of outlaws in the West. It is generally understood that they will be killed on sight.

--New York Sun, Nov. 2, 1897.

.

Jail Birds Escape.

.

Five Desperate Criminals Confined in the Lawrence County Jail Made Their Escape Sunday Evening.

.

Last Sunday evening shortly before 9 O'clock five prisoners made a daring escape from the Lawrence country jail. At that hour John Mansfield, the jailer, went in to lock the prisoners in their respective cages for the night. He was accompanied by his wife. On entering the cell room he discovered that the spring lock on the big door had been tampered with. In order to fix it so it would throw the bolts he entered what is termed the "bull pen", where a number of the prisoners were lounging about. He had no sooner entered the room than one of the prisoners knocked him down, and in less time it takes to tell about it five desperate men were at liberty. The escaped men are the four Belle Fourche bank robbers and the Negro who was being held for murdering a man near Englewood a few weeks ago. The night was dark and the prisoners made fast time so soon as they gained the open air. In less than an hour posses of men were started from Spearfish, Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Lead and other points, in an effort to intercept the runaways. Every road and by-way leading to or from Deadwood was soon alive with armed men, over sixty in all from the various points. Telephone lines were kept hot with messages to every point in the Hills, and every effort was made by Sheriff Plunkett and his deputies to get trace of the fugitives. It seems to be generally conceded that it was a preconcerted plan on the part of the prisoners, and it is also thought they were aided from the outside so soon as they gained their liberty. It was an extremely careless act on the part of the jailer to go among a gang of such desperate men. He could easily have held them inside the jail walls until help arrived. They could not have escaped until he unlocked the jail door, and with one of two deputies to assist him the jailer could have driven every one of them into their cells without trouble. But he carelessly went in without a gun or any means of repelling an attack, and the consequence was that they took him at a disadvantage.

.

Monday evening two of the prisoners attempted to hold up a man on horseback and take his horse, but they were unarmed and the man made his escape. Men were sent from Spearfish Monday night to patrol the False Bottom and Garden City roads. The prisoners were seen once or twice, but evaded capture until yesterday afternoon, when City Marshal Craig of Spearfish located them and took them in. They were completely exhausted, having gone without food since Sunday evening. The other three men are still at liberty. Two horses were stolen out in the Crow Creek country Monday afternoon, and it may have been the work of the refugees. Posses of men from Belle Fourche were in Spearfish this morning getting ready to take up the chase.

--Deadwood, SD, Queen City Mail, Nov. 3, 1897.

.

Along with them was a black man, William Moore, wanted for murdering either Frank Stacy (over a dog) (Nebraska State Journal, Nov. 9, 1897), a woman (Kerry Ross Boren), or two woodchoppers (Nebraska State Journal, Nov. 23, 1897).

According to Charles Kelly, the escaping robbers holed up in Wyoming for the Winter, stealing a total of 45 horses from Gillette and the Northern Cattle Co. near Perry. In mid-November, a posse located the robbers in the Bearpaw mountains, and forced them into a foot escape, recapturing the horses. Between then and December 1, they robbed two post offices as they continued on for Hole in the Wall.

Pearl Baker, however, has Sundance and Logan reuniting with "Flatnose" at Robbers Roost, then heading to Elko to break horses for the Winter before the Club Saloon robbery the following year.

Dec. 18. Sundance (Harry Alonzo) reportedly visits several old friends: McIntosh, Gillespie, and the Magor sisters.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

ROBBERS ROOST HEARD FROM

Cassady's Gang Said to Have Stolen Several Horses.

Mountain Ranch, Utah Feb 10th. The Robbers Roost gang, consisting of Butch Cassady and six others who have been rusticating at Huntington for a few days passed south last week robbing G F Olsen's sheep camp of supplies, pack outfit, and it is rumored, six or eight head of horses also. They were headed east and crossed the river at Dandy crossing. While at Huntington they held up a saloonkeeper but got nothing as his wife, hearing that the Roost outfit were headed for Huntington. notified her husband to send all his small change away which he did. They also furnished entertainment for themselves by making a prominent citizen dance the two-step and other fancy dances all the while encouraging him with shots from their six-shooters.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 16, 1898.

.

This behavior seems a bit over the top for Butch, but coincidentally places him in the same county as Castle Gate, which reportedly received word a month later that he planned a second robbery. The stolen horses were probably going to be used for a relay team.

This will precipitate the great manhunt remembered ever after in Brown's Park, with Hoy being shot, and the relatively innocent Bennett winding up lynched at the Bassett ranch. The other three would survive for incarceration, though Tracy would later escape jail and leave behind a long list of murder victims before being cornered and committing suicide. As Charles Kelly pointed out, the West would have been much better off had Tracy been lynched on the spot!

.

When Bennett was lynched, a poem, supposedly written by Lant, was allegedly found in his pocket:

We left the Salt Lake "pen"

as the sun was getting low,

and walked the railroad track

Until our legs refused to go.

.

But we struck Park City early,

When the morning sunbeams lit,

On our striped pantaloons,

Where a happy party sit.

.

It's there we took to refuge

In some jungles that stood near,

And watched the brave policemen

While around us they did tear.

.

It's there we ate our lunches

And our weary limbs did rest

Until the sun was sinking

In the far and distant west.

.

When we started on our journey

For our home they call the Wall,

Where very few detectives

Ever dare to make their call.

.

For there we have no sheep to herd,

And corn we do not hoe.

And no other kind of labor

"Old sheets" is rather slow.

.

Joe Bush is also harmless

With his double-barrelled gun,

For when he came to Powder Springs,

He was prepared to run.

.

He is out for notoriety.

And not at all for gain:

He may arrest a school boy,

Or pull a hobo from a train.

.

We claim to be no poets,

But the truth we'll plainly tell,

Of these two brave detectives,

Who by the wayside fell.

.

Now, just one word for citizens,

Who for protection cry,

Just vote for braver officers,

When the swallows homeward fly.

--Dave Lant.

--The Salt Lake City Herald, March 26, 1898.

.

There is also a claim that Tracy wrote the poem for Sheriff Nieman.

A SHOOTING SCRAPE

.

Little hope entertained for the Recovery of Parker.

.

Great Falls. March 6--The following detailed account of the fight between Lonnie Curry and "Shorty" Parker is taken from the Chinook Opinion. A brief story has been given in the Standard of Thursday:

.

Lonnie Curry and W. W. Lamkin were in Chinook last Monday. From the former particulars of the last shooting affray in the mountain district were learned. Curry was returning to Landusky last Saturday on the stage and stopped in Charles Perry's store at St. Paul's mission. While there, he went in behind the counter to get a match and Shorty Parker opened the door and had him covered with a revolver when he turned around. He dropped behind the counter and crept to the end of the same. When he jumped out Parker shot simultaneously with him. Parker received Curry's shot in the arm near the elbow, but his aim was not so good and the smoke from his gun blackened Curry's hat. A couple more shots were exchanged without damage before Curry ran in and used his gun as a club. Curry came back to Harlem and from there to Chinook, as he heard the sheriff was at this place, and reported the affair to Sheriff Clary.

.

Parker is reported to be in a dangerous condition and but small hopes are entertained for his recovery.

--The Anaconda Standard, March 7, 1898.

ROBBERS ROOST RAID

.

Sheep Camp Looted By the San Rafael Outlaws.

.

THE HERDER WAS HELD UP.

.

FOURTH OUTRAGE THAT HAS OCCURRED RECENTLY.

.

Roosters Robbed Men Who Had Entertained Them and Took Everything In Sight.

.

From The Herald's Correspondents. Orangeville. Emery county, Utah. March 12th S. M. Galloway of Manti who has charge of the large sheep herd of J. G. Crawford of Manti has just come in from the desert east of here and relates a thrilling story of the Robbers Roost gang. One evening a few days since on returning to camp, he found two men who were making themselves at home and hailed him in a friendly manner, saying they had taken possession as they were too hungry to wait. Mr. Galloway and his herder Carl Sorensen of Ephraim entertained the visitors that night, providing them with beds. During the evening various subjects were discussed, including the Robbers Roost gang. Next day, the strangers rode off and the herders moved their camp to the Flat Tops, Galloway going to Hanksville and leaving Sorensen in charge. As the latter was coming into camp in the evening after rounding up the sheep, he found his guests of the night before had again taken possession. "Hello you here?" he exclaimed. "Yes," one responded, and at that leveled a gun on him ordered him to get off his horse and stand there. The men then proceeded to loot the camp, taking two pack outfits all the groceries, tobacco, and apparatus, two groceries, 50 pounds of flour, what oats they could find room for, and a mutton, and went their way. leaving the herder a few pounds of flour and a fry of meat. This is the third or fourth outrage of this kind that has been perpetrated by the Robbers Roost gang during the past few months and still the outlaws go unpunished.

--The Salt Lake Herald., March 14, 1898.

ROBBERS SCARED OFF

.

Butch Cassady Contemplated a raid on Castle Gate.

.

Price Advocate: A little shrewdness on the part of Sheriff Allred in all probability prevented a holdup late last week.

.

Some ten or 12 days ago it was intimated to Sheriff Allred by a certain party who is supposed to be in close relations with Butch Cassady's gang that a holdup at Frank Caffey's saloon at Castle Gate where the miners' checks are cashed and the Price stores, was contemplated about pay day. The sheriff investigated and became convinced that plans were prepared and the necessary arrangements made. Mr. Allred notified all concerned to be in readiness to give the robbers a warm reception but somebody was indiscreet and the gang got word of the preparations for their reception and thought it best to let the job out. It was learned that Butch Cassady, Joe Walker and Leigh [Lay] were to make the raid for the money. It is a well known fact that Joe Walker had been in this vicinity for several days and it is probable contemplating the raid and laying plans for the escape of the gang. It  is also very probable that Cassady and Leigh were not many miles from Price. In fact it is thought they could have been reached in a few minutes ride. The greatest difficulty encountered by the officers in their endeavors to get these wily outlaws is the friends of the outlaws who keep them posted as to any move the officers may have planned. It is possible that an example will be made of some of the parties who befriend the outlaws. Sheriff Allred has purchased five modern rifles for use in case he wishes to at any time hurriedly get a posse together. They are all modern make and will do effective work at very long range.

--The Salt Lake Herald, March 26, 1898.

GALL OF ROBBERS ROOSTERS.

.

Sent Their Complaints to the Governors In This City.

.

Denver News. Governor Adams returned yesterday from a five days trip to Utah. He went there for the purpose of conferring with Governor Wells of Utah and Governor Richards of Wyoming on methods for exterminating the Robbers Roost gang of bandits.

.

We took no steps towards any plan to drive out the gang said Governor Adams yesterday. We found that whatever ideas and plans we had were thwarted by publicity. In fact while we were in conference we received a message from the bandits themselves which took the effect of thanks at letting them know we were considering their case. In other words, they intimated they were ready for us and we could not surprise them.

.

The governor explained that the message had been brought in by a Salt Lake City man who had seen a member of the gang.

.

Governor Adams also said that the meeting of the three governors had been more in the nature of a conference to exchange ideas for future action than it was to form plans to put in force at once.

.

We decided, said he, to allow the county officers to cope with the outlaws to the extent of their ability and if they need aid to furnish it to them. In case of another atrocity. each one of the governors will be able to proceed knowing exactly the attitude of the others. This was not the case before. We have now met and full understand the situation. Governor Adams said that it was the opinion of the conference that should five or six of the bandits be captured, the whole gang would be broken up.

.

The capture of Lant, Tracy and Johnson has served in a measure to quiet the fears of the executives.

--The Salt Lake Herald, March 20, 1898.

The Ballard Bros. store and customers in Thompson Springs, Ut., is robbed by two members of the Wild Bunch. Proprietor H. G Ballard knew the robbers and followed them up into the mountains the next day and was subsequently robbed by them again. He refused to identify them to authorities. (The Salt Lake Tribune, March 19, 1898.)

ROBBERS ROOST RAID.

Five outlaws procure $1500 in gold dust.

HELD UP A PROSPECTOR

HAS BEEN MINING ON THE RESERVATION

Utes Drove Him Off and He Then Fell Into the Hands of the Outlaws--Two of Them Were the Belle Fourche Bank Robbers--Lots of Gold.

Special to The Herald. Price, Utah. Boney Hiles an old Colorado prospector who has been prospecting on White river on the Uncompahgre reservation came into Lower Crossing yesterday having been run off the reserve by the Indians.

Hiles reports that when about 20 miles north from Lower Crossing he was met by a gang of five outlaws from the Robbers Roost country who were headed north and who covered him with their guns and robbed him of some $1500 in gold dust and in greenbacks. Hiles has been panning gold on White river for some time past and sought to keep secret the place of his whereabouts while accumulating large quantities of gold from the placers of that stream but his surprise by the holdups caused him to divulge the facts to the officers to whom he reported. From description given by Hiles, the outlaws were none other than Frank and Thomas Jones, bank robbers escaped from the Deadwood Dakota jail who held up the Belle Fourche bank last August and a negro named Bill Moore who escaped at the same time and who was charged with murder. From the descriptions given it is also thought that Joe Walker was with the gang of outlaws. These outlaws have been known to have been in the Roost region since last November and it is learned that they have taken their departure upon learning of a raid being planned upon them by Marshal Ireland and Joe Bush whose previous raids in that region have given the outlaws cause for serious alarm.

Mr. Hiles reports large numbers of prospectors going into the reservation from Wyoming and Colorado and a large amount of gold being found in the gravel on White river.

--The Salt Lake Herald, April 6, 1898.

.

The movements of Sundance and Logan after breaking jail in Deadwood are not known with certainty. Some think they made it to Hole-in-the-Wall and waited out the Winter there. The Pinkertons thought Sundance wound up at the Kelsey ranch. In either event, they are believed to have returned to Brown's Park in the Spring, giving them opportunity to have committed this robbery. However, tying Moore to them for so long cannot be shown with any certainty. Smokov has him leaving after the breakout and stealing two horses, after which he has no further mention of him. The other four stay together for a brief period, then Sundance and Logan steal a horse and head toward Wyoming. (They may or may not have linked up with Moore again, but the fact Moore steals two horses could imply he was stealing with aiding the other outlaws in mind, and would not preclude some prearranged agreement for everyone to split up and rendezvous somewhere with any supplies/mounts they'd managed to acquire, since Logan and Sundance did split up from Punteney and O'Day in addition to splitting up from Moore as well.)

.

Since Walker was killed in the Price area a month after this event, it is also possible this robbery was committed only by he and associates of his, including an unknown black man. But we cannot absolutely exclude Logan and Sundance from this event.

.

As we will see in the April 8 note, at least one of the men had a letter from Jack Moore, rustler and foreman of the 3B ranch and friend of Butch and the Wild Bunch, proving that some members of the Wild Bunch did commit this robbery, one of whom may have been named Charlie Green.

ROBBERS SCARED OUT BY IRELAND AND BUSH

.

Interesting Letter Written By One of the Outlaws Last September.

.

Had Planned a Big Raid.

.

Special to The Herald. Price Utah April 8 "Boney" Hiles , the prospector who was robbed by supposed members of the Robbers Roost Gang on the 5th inst. and who went to Denver on Wednesday last has just written a letter to an old friend in Price inclosing a letter which he found inside a hatband of an old hat which one of the outlaws exchanged for the hat worn by him. The letter is dated Hanksville and is thought to be from the notorious thief Jack Moore and contains a tip to a fellow outlaw located in Baggs Wyo. warning him of certain movements on the part of the officers and also contains an allusion to some big robbery under consideration by the outlaws.

.

From the letter it is apparent that the Robbers Roost Gang is a thoroughly organized band of thieves and that allies are located throughout the field of their operations. The letter is as follows.

.

Hanksville. Sept 12 Charlie Green, Baggs, Wyo. Charlie Maxwell, Cassidy and Walker left headquarters two days ago and will be at Kennedys ranch about the 20th. It aint safe to take chances on the big deal. This country is full of officers. A fellow named Ireland has got a big gang out and another killer named Joe Bush has been rooting round. Don't stop in Price when you come down.

"JACK"

--The Salt Lake Herald, April 9, 1898.

.

Owing to the many queries that have come to me in regards to the capture and killing of Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy, I have been induced to write a short account of that experience. As far as I know, I am the only man living that witnessed the scene.

.

In May, 1898, Sheriff Allred called on me to go with him after Joe Walker, who had been rustling Whitmore's cattle. W.M. McGuire had followed Walker to the box canyon on Price river below Woodside, not knowing just who he was following. Walker ambushed him, and a young Whitmore lad who was with McGuire, sent the boy back, then took Bill's cartridge belt and beat him over the head with it, after which he took the horse and saddle and ordered Bill back up the canyon.

.

Blindly, McGuire started out for Woodside, reaching there exhausted at ten a.m. the next day. In the meantime, Walker and his pal left the stolen cattle, backtracked a few miles, and took another trail to Range valley. Sheriff Allred had completed his posse about two p.m. that day for Woodside, where we met McGuire.

We went on to Box canyon, picked up the outlaw's trail and followed it to the Range Valley cabin, where we met some of the ranch hands and inquired about Walker, but got no satisfaction from them. After scouting, we picked up the trail again, headed north to Green River, and met James McPherson, a rancher. The sheriff asked him where Walker was. He said, "Across Green River." The sheriff said, "We'll take you back with us."

.

We traveled up the river across from McPherson's ranch, where he had left his boat. He ferried our camp over and we swam the horses across. After eating lunch at his place, we waited until five p.m., then took the trail up Florence Creek in the night, arriving on the summit at day break, when McPherson told Sheriff Allred to get his fighting men in front, that he was not going further. "They are right down there," he pointed in a northeast direction.

.

We didn't go far until I saw a horse and saddle. The sheriff called to Joe and told him to surrender. "We have come to take you dead or alive. You had better surrender."

.

Our first and only answer was a gunshot. The bullet struck the ground between mine and the sheriff's feet. We did not see anyone shooting, but saw the gunsmoke and began firing at that spot, stepping up closer with each, until we were within twenty-five yards of their bed.

.

Walker had apparently rolled from his bed. He now raised up and ran down the mountain about 300 yards and was shot there. Cassidy, so called, was shot as he jumped up and began to run. Thompson and Schultz, who were with them, put up their hands in surrender. We were lucky that they had left their Winchesters by a big rock, and when they had emptied their six shooters at us they had no protection.

.

We found a sort of table for their frying pan, bacon and groceries. The campfire was by the rock also. While shooting, we noticed the frying pan, their dutch oven, canned beans and coffee pot leaping into the air. Later we found them perforated with bullet holes.

.

When the excitement had calmed, we tied the dead men on horses and started for Thompson Springs on the D. & R. G. W. R. R. Sheriff Allred, Whitmore, Joe Bush, and McGuire took the train and the dead men to Price. The remaining posse took care of the prisoners and the band of horses.

No living person claimed the animals, except two that belonged to Whitmore. The live men said they all belonged to the dead men. We took Thompson and Shultz to Castle Dale, where they were tried, but freed upon lack of accusing evidence.

.

--Account by Pete Anderson from The Sun Advocate, Oct .9, 1941.

(Note: The two newspapers covering this incident differ on whether two different men rode the bicycle, or whether only the "undersized man" rode it. Since one wrote the woman claimed the "big fellow" originally as her husband, while the other that she first claimed "the man who rode the bicycle" was originally her husband, I believe "the big fellow" first rode the bicycle, and the one article that claims the "big fellow" came in on the wagon is in error. The "undersized" man later took the bicycle and came in to claim her after she was taken into custody.)

.

I have had a hard time pinning down what "raid" the man was referring to, but the Deseret Evening News on May 25 carried an article on George Whitmore--an obvious target for retribution--and says he and a posse fought some rustlers, and retrieved some stolen Whitmore horses. No date is given for this event, but it is within the general timeframe of the "under-sized, slightly built man's" claim, and may be the "raid" spoken of. Some think this report may be referring to Joe Walker's death, but there are some major inconsistencies, among them Whitmore's claiming he went out alone in search of rustlers and joined a posse in the field when in Walker's case he started out in Price with an organized posse.

.

The man on the bicycle will later play an important part in an encounter with a mysterious beautiful woman on May 28 who may have been Etta Place.

Two men (part of Etta's three-man entourage, presumably) were waiting with horses at Maple Creek canyon, a mile from Hobble Creek canyon, where Maxwell's flight ended (The Salt Lake City Herald, May 31, 1898). What was believed to be their camp was also found there.

.

Charles Kelly wrote that Maxwell claimed he was expecting support from confederates at Provo who were late in arriving (presumably the men who had arrived a few days earlier in the wagon and on the bike). He seemed--without citing sources--to tie these men to Utah outlaw Pete Nielson (Pete Logan), whose name was supposedly inscribed on the dead partner, William Pearson's, rifle, and claimed they rode out from Robbers Roost to rent the carriage and do the robbery. I can't say how much truth there may be to his claim, but the people in our event came down from Colorado (the woman we know from Grand Junction), suggesting more of a tie-in to Brown's Park than Robbers Roost, which is exactly where we would expect Logan and Sundance to be coming down from.

.

Maxwell admitted (The Salt Lake Tribune, May 31, 1898) that at least one man was supposed to meet him and his partner with horses at the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon.

.

* Or vastly outnumbering three robbers if you take the lower number!

.

As an interesting coincidence, one legend about Etta Place is that she had a daughter after Sundance abandoned her whom she named Florence!

..

My timeline theoretically allows Sundance to have been in Utah in late May when this happened as he next turns up robbing a train in Nevada in mid July after briefly visiting a cousin there.

.

The question may arise as to whether the other two men involved with this were the same men who later rob the train with Sundance in July--"Flatnose" and Logan. Sundance and Logan were always thick as thieves, so if Sundance is in this group (which I must presume if the woman is Etta Place), I would expect Logan to be in it too, but this is doesn't have to be the case. Interestingly, Logan was described at Wilcox by one witness as, "Short, nearly under-sized," making it possible that he was the "under-sized" man who came to claim her.

.

The photo below purports to show Logan with a bicycle. His tight-fitting clothing also reveals he didn't have a lot of meat on his bones, making him fit the general description of the thin, under-sized man who came to pick up Florence/Etta.

In 1899, W. S. Seavey of the Thiel detective agency, in showing off a photo of Belle Fourche robber "Tom Jones" (Harvey Logan) to a reporter, seems to have made mention that Jones had involvement in the Springville robbery in 1898, which would jibe with Logan being one of the men.

.

One mystery is why the town of Eureka keeps playing a role in this incident. It was a mining town with no apparent interest to anyone who wasn't a miner--certainly no place any outlaw would typically find himself in unless he were lying low there.

..

"Flatnose" supposedly worked in an Arizona copper mine once, and it may be he was working there, and the group were going there to link up with him. Otherwise, rail lines ran northwest into Nevada, where Sundance and Logan are next seen robbing a train, as noted, and perhaps they were simply leaving Utah. However, when "Flatnose" was killed two years later, in 1900, his photo was shown to shopkeepers in Price, who verified he had been seen there two years earlier in 1898. Since he is now commonly believed to have been involved in the July 14 robbery of the Southern Pacific in Humboldt, Nv., this would seem to place him--and obviously his partners, Sundance and Logan--in Utah at most five or six weeks from the time I claim they and Etta Place were in Springville.

.

From the photographs brought here last night from Price, a number of business men testify to having seen the bandit here some two years ago.

-- Salt Lake Herald, April 23, 1900.

..

Where the woman, whoever she was, goes from this point is lost to history. However, I have traced her to the expensive hotel where she was staying in Grand Junction before coming down, where her husband was listed by his initials. A woman using that husband's name coincidentally checked into a California hotel at the same time Sundance and Etta could have arrived from South America on their way to the World's Fair.

.

Floremce/Etta probably looked very much like the illustration below in 1898, which is how the well-drerssed young lady of the time presented herself.

.

\..

Logan, possibly due to a dark complexion, may have been called a "Negro" by a witness.

 COULDN'T FIND 'EM HERE.

A Wyoming Officer's Pursuit After cattle Rustlers.

NOTORIOUS CURRIE GANG.

.

A posse ran onto the desperadoes in the Bad Lands of the Bear Paw Mountains and a battle ensued, but the gang escaped.Deputy Sheriff Ricks of Sundance, Wyo., who has spent considerable time in Montana this fall in an official capacity, has returned to his Wyoming home. Mr. Ricks' mission in this state was to search for members of the notorious Curry gang of stock rustlers, composed of George Currie and the Dixon brothers, all said to be members of the Hole-in-the-Wall band of outlaws who have kept this state, Wyoming and South Dakota peace officers in hot water for several years.

..

One of the recent depredations charged against Currie and his companions is the theft of 30 horses from Mr. Preston, a horse grower of Gillette. The band of horses was evidently too large to run out of the country and after taking them towards the Montana line for some distance the whole herd was abandoned and recaptured by the owner. Subsequently Currie took 15 head of horses from the pastures of the Northern Cattle company and reached Montana with them, crossing the Yellowstone river at Terry.

.

Deputy Ricks made up a posse composed of Stock Detective W. D. Smith, Chief of Police Jackson of Terry, Mr. Preston and two of his employees and started on the trail of the thieves. The outlaws did some hard riding, the posse finding a dead hose on the trail, which had been ridden to death. After a chase of 15 days the posse ran onto the desperadoes in the bad lands of the Bear Paw mountains. The fugitives had selected a position commanding the road and fired at the posse with rifles at long range. The posse returned the fire, about 15 shots being exchanged. The desperadoes found the firing too close and fled. leaving their entire camp outfit, consisting of several guns, wearing apparel, grub, etc. Twelve head of the stolen horses were recovered. The trail was again taken up, but was lost in the bad lands.

.

The posse traveled in all 300 miles in pursuit of the outlaws. It is believed by the officers that Currie and the Dixons will now go into the British possessions. They have been hunted during the past three months from Uinta county, Wyoming, where they robbed a store at Big Piney, across Wyoming and Montana. and officers throughout both states and south Dakota are on the lookout for them. --The Anaconda Standard, Nov. 18, 1898.

/

We were on a flat country, the cattle strung out and traveling beautifully, when the drag man working behind with Cassidy came rushing up, and just as the leaders were going to start up the hill he turned back and said that Lowe [Butch] the boss, said to let the cattle rest and graze.

/

Well, I've seen some very mad men in my time--we all rode ahead and joined Champion and Black River who were both boiling mad.

"What in hell's the matter with that crazy son of a bitch to stop us just as we had the cattle strung out perfectly?!"

/

Cassidy again--only I knew he was Butch Cassidy; to all others he was Jim Lowe--rode up at this moment and asked what was the matter.

/

Black River immediately jumped him.

/

"What's the matter?! What the hell's the matter with you, turning these cattle back at the foot of the hill?! If you don't know your business, you have no damned business being a trail boss!

Black River had walked out a few feet in front of us and was facing Cassidy. I could see Cassidy's eyes blazing but he kept his head. I fully expected to see Cassidy gun Black River down. Instead, he apologized to the boys, told Black River and Champion, "From now on, as you know the trail, you handle the head end."

/

After some hard work, we got the cattle strung up and over the hill. From then on, it was smooth sailing over the San Augustine plains.

/

That evening, Cassidy came over and talked to me for several minutes. I told him I fully expected him to take Black River on.

/

"No," Butch replied, "I realized I was in the wrong so I took it."

/

Having seen Cassidy pull and shoot at different times, Black River can thank his lucky stars that Cassidy had a sense of justice. Black River would never have had a chance. I also had a lot of respect after that for Butch Cassidy as a man. He could easily have disposed of Black River, but realizing he was in the wrong, he took Black River's abuse and saved the morale of the crew.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

.

ROBBERS ROOST GANG

.

Desperate Fight With Sheriff Tyler and Posse

.

SMOKELESS POWDER USED

.

ONE MAN DEAD ANOTHER MISSING

.

Desperadoes Fought at Roost and Then Went to San Rafael River--Are Now Surrounded--Intelligence Anxiously Awaited--Outlaws Stole Horses In Moab.

.

All northeastern Utah is excited by the last raid against the Robbers Roost gang and Mr. F. B. Hammond, a well known merchant of Moab, told last night of the present situation.

"The robbers or some of them," he said, "are corralled at present on the San Rafael river and our men under the leadership of Sheriff Tyler had surrounded them at last accounts. Whether they will escape or not is unknown as we have not heard from the 'seat of war for several days.

.

"So far, the casualties have been one Indian wounded and one robber disappeared. He is known to have gone into the first fight but was never seen to come out of it, and the chances are that he is dead. A few weeks ago, 'Blue John,' one of the gang, waltzed into Moab at night and departed with the best horses in the town and Andrew Tangreen, a deputy sheriff, started after them. He passed 'Silver Tip,' another of the gang, and an Indian coming into town for food. They learned, as soon as they reached Moab, that Tangreen was out after the horses and that night they struck out to warn their friend 'Blue John.' The next morning Tangreen was on his way back to Moab to get fresh horses and help when he met 'Silver Tip' and the Indian. They slid off their mounts and covered him with their Winchesters in an instant:

.

"' Do you want us?' they asked casually.

.

"Tangreen looked down the barrels of the rifles and decided that he didn't and rode on to town while the two outlaws rode for life towards the Robbers roost.

.

"They rode fast but Tangteen had gotten to town and Sheriff Tyler with Deputes Tangreen, Day' Wilcox, Westwood and the train robber were hot on their trail. The train robber? Oh, I will tell you about him later. The next morning the robbers were surrounded at sunup and the fight begun The Indian had started for the horse and was shot and was dragging himself over a ridge when last seen. Then 'Blue John' came out. He stood on the highest point a fair mark at sixty yards, and with the morning sun blazing behind him raised himself to his full height, raised his rife and shouted: Drift, Drift, you --- --- ---.' The Lord knows how many shots were fired at him, but he finally stepped back below the crest, apparently unhurt. That ended the fight. Our men had to shoot against the sun and the robbers used smokeless powder. All we could see was their bodies and they fired at our smoke and kept themselves well hid. Where they got their arms and smokeless powder no one knows but they have them, which the posse considers a very important fact and one that calls for caution on his part. 'Silver Tip,' 'Blue John,' and two other white men with the Indian were in the first fight. The Indian is known to be wounded and one of the white men never showed up again so the chances are that he is dead.

.

"Our men came back after the first fight and then the train robber was arrested He gave his name as Wilson when he volunteered with the posse and was arrested ten minutes after his return for train robbery by a Wells Fargo agent and locked up.

.

"The posse stared out again the day after their return and found that the robbers had shifted their quarters and we know that they have been located on the San Rafael river but have heard nothing from them for several days. One thing may be depended upon, however: Sheriff Tyler and his deputies are determined men and if there is any way under heaven to kill or arrest the robbers it will be taken advantage of and they will be brought back dead or alive."

.

Mr. Hammond is stopping at the Walker andwill be here several days.

--Salt Lake Herald March 27, 1899.

Lonie Logan leaves his saloon with Bob Lee, ostensibly to go on a "hunting trip" for a month. (Laramie Daily Boomerang, March 10, 1900.)

--The Salt Lake Herald, June 10, 1899.

.

Participants certainly included Harvey Logan, "Flatnose" Currie and the Sundance Kid.

.

Debate has always raged over whether there were three or six men in the party. Tracks indicated three men. The engineer, conductor one passenger, and Woodcock's statements explicitly indicate six men. Other statements give varying numbers.

..

The biggest question is who was the "Old Man," who handled the dynamite, and apparently had a "Scotch-Irish brogue."

. .

In 1922, May Gardner wrote a long letter to a Wyoming newspaper about her recollections of old Wyoming, recalling, among other things, being at a ranch when the Wilcox robbers showed up. She claimed to cook dinner for them, later watching them climb a wall to escape as the posse showed up. According to her, there were six robbers, one of which she named as "Lang Thompson," which appears to be a newspaper misprint of Sang Thompson, an early inhabitant of Hole in the Wall. Some corroboration for this could exist in the 1911 book Foreman of the JA6, written by a woman who knew Tom O'Day, and used him as a source of information, even making him a character in the book. She used thinly veiled names for actual people in her book (Harvey Slogan as one example), and in a chapter dealing with the Wilcox robbers, one of six robbers coincidentally is named "Zang."

.

A newspaper reported that a woman threw what appears to have been a very suspicious fit of fear so extreme that even after the robbery was over, some thought she would not survive. As the robbers were either partially or greatly outnumbered by armed crew and passengers (depending on whether there were three or six of them), it is not impossible the woman was working with the robbers as a plant to help keep the male passengers out of the fray. If so, this may be a second appearance of Etta Place after Springville, though this is simply speculation.

.

One of the robbers had a Scottish brogue.

.

One big man*, with a Scotch-American brogue, was the only robber who acted violent. He swore a good deal and kicked some of the trainmen when they did not move fast enough. Engineer Jones got a bad lick on the head with a gun.

--Account by mail clerks Bruce and Dietrich, Chicago Inter Ocean June 3 1899.

.

* This would correspond to a man identified in the locomotive as in his 50s, and graying. Bob Goodwin points out that Herb Grice--a possible participant--was from England in a region where the accent did sound a bit Scottish.

.

Logan hit the engineer for not moving fast enough, or not cooperating:

.

The engineer was compelled by the robbers to uncouple the mail and express cars, and pull ahead and endeavored to do some but the train was so situated that he could not get into position without backing up to take up the slack. Upon reversing the engine, one of the two bandits covering the engineer and fireman mistook the engineer's action for attempting to escape and struck him in the head with a revolver, knocking him against the side of the cab but not stunning him.

--Rawlins Semi Weekly Republican June 3, 1899.

.

The robbers weren't fooled by the lie about the train behind being filled with soldiers.

.

Jones, the engineer, tried to bluff them by saying that they had the passenger train and that there was four carloads of soldiers in the next section, but was responded to by the bandits that they did not care if there was forty carloads of soldiers.

--Rawlins Semi Weekly Republican June 3, 1899.

.

Some robbers were friendly.

.

After shooting into the car and got the clerks out, one of them said, "Now, boys, don't get scared. You're just as safe here as you would be in Cheyenne."

--Laramie Daily Boomerang, June 6, 1899.

.

Most robbers--but not the one in the locomotive, at least--primarily used rifles as arms.

.

The trainmen were all covered with rifles and the robbers took their time.

--Columbus, Neb. Journal, June 7, 1899.

One of the clerks asked for a chew of tobacco and was given some by a robber.

--Laramie Daily Boomerang, June 6, 1899.

..

The precise number and identity of the robbers is debated. The engineer claimed six, and is usually claimed to be the only one naming that high a number. Others did claim three, but still others certainly claimed more than three robbers:

.

Five of the robbers carried away two loads each from the safe and must have secured a large amount of plunder.--account from mail clerk W. G. Bruce in Ogden (probably repeating what he heard from mail clerk Dietrich when both were interviewed together right after the robbery).

--Barbour County Index, June 7, 1899.

Six horses were reportedly observed.

.

The robbers put the money and valuables into canvas bags, and returning to the engine, compelled the engineer to run to a point near where six horses were tied.

--New York Sun, June 3, 1899.

..

Conductor Storey explicitly telegrammed about six robbers, corroborating engineer Jones' claim.

.

A telegram from Conductor Storey received at the Union Pacific headquarters throws some additional light on the occurrence and supplies details that were missing earlier in the day. Conductor Storey says the robbers flagged down the train with red and white lights and stopped it one and a half miles west of Wilcox. There were six in the gang and four of them got in the engine. The conductor came forward to ascertain what stopped them and one of the four men on the engine covered him with his gun and compelled him to be quiet. The two remaining bandits went for the mail car. They cut off the tourist and special cars and took the remainder of the train a mile further west. There they blew in the side door of the mail car and during the excitement Storey got away and ran back to flag the second section and prevent a collision. Then the robbers tried to blow up the bridge, but without inflicting sufficient damage to cut off pursuit.

.

The next move of the gang was to take the mail and express cars to the top of the hill between Aurora and Wilcox, where they blew open the safe. The express matter was damaged, but the baggage escaped with only slight injury. Conductor Storey was unable to estimate the value of the "swag" that was secured.

--Kansas City Journal, June 3, 1899.

.

The engine was making considerable noise, and I asked the robber if I might come closer to him for fear some order might be given and I might hear it. Then the explosion occurred in the mail car and I dropped my lantern and ran to the rear of the train.

--Storey's testimony at Bob Lee's trial, Wyoming Tribune, May 25, 1900.-Storey's testimony at Bob Le.

..

Though regularly claimed he believed there were only three robbers, Joe LeFors actually claimed six:

.

There were six men in the Wilcox affair. Lonny Curry was killed at Kansas City, George Curry was killed north of Thompson's, Utah, and Bob Lee was sent to the Wyoming State Penitentiary for a term of ten years. The three remaining members of the gang--the Roberts brothers and one other--are still at large.

--Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 17, 1900.

.

Woodcock's verbiage sounds like he was describing a large group, not simply three men:

.

"I could have got some* of them with my shotgun, but they had other train boys with them, so I was afraid to shoot. They all had their faces blackened. some* had handkerchiefs over them also."

--C. E. Woodcock quoted in the SF Chronicle June 3, 1899.

.

* My emphasis.

..

This doesn't sound like a man who only saw three men. If all he saw were three men, I submit he should have spoken in less-generalized, more specific terms because of the small number of people he was dealing with: "Two wore masks, one didn't," etc.

.

Thus, all this "some" talk indicates talk indicated he was observing a larger group of men, not three, and was speaking in generalities because of the number of people he was seeing.

.

"The first holdup I was in took place in Wilcox, Wyo., in 1899 by several bandits of Butch Cassidy's gang."

--C. E. Woodcock, Ogden Standard Examiner, Aug. 3, 1930.

.

Beyond that, in a detailed account just after the robbery, Woodcock is reported to have seen six men, and the Union Pacific even provided descriptions of the six!

.

Stories of the hold-up

As told by the Mail Clerk and the Express Messenger

.

Not an event of an Enjoyable Nature--Woodcock the Express Messenger Shaken Up--Bruce, the Mail Clerk, and His Experience in Connection with L. L. Deitrich,

.

At 10:20 last night the train which was held up at Wilcox, Wyoming, yesterday morning, arrived in Ogden, nearly nine hours late. There were a number of people down to the train to hear the stories of the passengers and train men, but the passengers knew nothing of the matter, and the train men had left the train at Green River.

.

The only men who came through with the train were Mail Clerk W. K. Bruce and Express Messenger Ernest Woodcock, and their stories are interesting. The train robbed was the west bound train, due at Ogden at 1:40 yesterday afternoon, and was composed of the Portland mail car, the Ogden mail car, a car of the California mail, and the express car, and two passenger cars loaded.

.

The hold-up occurred at a point between the stations of Aurora and Wilcox, and the robbers had selected a spot where they were eight miles from a telegraph station on the west, and ten miles on the other, and just at the foot at a hilly rise on the grade. When the train was stopped, it was just at the foot of the grade and just as it had passed over the bridge just west of Wilcox. The train was stopped at 2:18 AM, and the story of Bruce follows:

.

"I had just worked up the mail to where I could lie down for a little sleep, when the train stopped. There was no answering whistle or anything to indicate the cause of the stop, and I was surprised and annoyed. The man had climbed on the engine and had asked the engineer whom was in the mail and express cars. He told them 'Sherman' was in the mail car, and a moment after the train came to a standstill some one called outside the door of the car, 'Sherman, Sherman come out here.' Deitrich was standing near the door and I wanted him to see what the fellow wanted. He opened the door and the fellow says, 'Sherman, come out of there.' I told them Sherman was not there, and they said, 'Come out of there, and damn quick, too.' I says, 'Go to hell,' and slammed the door shut, and then there came a bullet through the side of the car which just missed me. I called to Deitrich to turn the lights out, and then they called out, 'Come out of there or we'll blow you out.' and they laid a stick of dynamite against the door of the car and shattered it. One of the robbers was ordered to get into the car, but he only stuck his gun inside the door and fired a few times. There were four shots fired through the car. One of them passed through the water tank and ricocheted around through the car until it was spent, and here it is," and he showed me a battered 45 bullet. "After the explosion we decided we better get out, and we were received by three of the robbers. Their actions made me think they were amateurs. They told us to stand 'out there,' indicating a spot twenty feet from the track, and then, 'No, up against the car,' and we stood where they told us to stand. When they had got us lined up, they called to the messenger but he came not. They put a stick of dynamite against the car and blew the door out and part of the car also. Woodcock came out looking as if he had been hurt. He had his gun in his hand and they took it away from him and lined him up. Prior to this, however, they had run the train up to where their camp was, having taken two Portland clerks and put them in the passenger coaches, which were uncoupled from the mail and express cars, and at the camp were two more of the gang, making the only men I saw five in number. Here they compelled Deitrich to light the cars, and after he had climbed down out of the express car they laid a bundle of about twenty sticks of dynamite on the safe, and the explosion shattered the car and blew the safe out of all semblance to its original self. They never touched the mail car. The five then took a load apiece from the safe and carried it to their cap, about a hundred yards away from the tracks, and then returned and repeated the operation. This is the only means at guessing at the amount of the booty. Just as quick as I got a chance, I left for the other end of the train and ran down about there quarters of a mile to flag down the second section, but the train men had gone before me. The last I saw of the robbers they were walking over the hills to the north, and headed for Laramie peak."

.

The engineer did not move fast enough and they hit him over the head with a gun, making a bad scalp wound. After they had left he took the engine and ran down to Medicine Bow, from where first news of the robbery was sent out. Meanwhile the second section had been standing east of the bridge, which the robbers had tried to blow up after the first section crossed. It remained there until daylight, and then came the work of clearing the track. The bridge was not badly damaged.

.

Woodcock's story does not differ from that of Bruce, except that he saw six men instead of five. He is pretty badly used up as a result of the explosion and loss of sleep. The fear of both he and the mail clerks is that the robbers would put dynamite under the cars and burst the gas tanks, which would have meant death for the whole party. He has no idea of the amount of plunder, but says the robbers made two trips each to the safe and to their camp. They told him to get out of the car, but he turned the lights out, and then they blew the door open. The concussion was very great and the side of the car was partly blown in. When they blew the safe open there was only a fifth of one side of the car left standing, and that was cut off. Everything was a complete wreck.

.

Bruce was for ten years a cowboy in the Wyoming range, and is well acquainted with the ways of the range men. He does not believe that the gang was the Hole-in-the-Wall gang, or the Robbers Roost gang, or the McCartys, or Butch Cassidy's crowd. He says they acted like amateurs, and they did not act like range men, from whom these gangs have been recruited. As for descriptions he says it was so dark he could not give an accurate description of the man who stood beside him with a gun during all the time they were doing their work.

.

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MEN

.

Last night the Union Pacific posted a reward of $1000 for the arrest and conviction of the men who did the holdup, and the following description was furnished by Agent Corse:

..

The leader of the party--about 50 years old, 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches high, thin, round nose, light canvas coat, weight about 157 pounds.

.

Second man--Dark complexion, black woolly hair, slouch hat, dark suit, about 5 feet 8 inches or 5 feet 9 inches high, weight, 170 pounds.

.

Third man--Five feet 8 inches or 5 feet 9 inches high, black hair, weight 160 or 170 pounds, black suit, large shoes or boots.

.

Fourth man--Quite small, about 5 feet 6 inches high, dark complexion, gray hat, pants inside his boot, weight 160 pounds.

.

Fifth man--Weight about 150 pounds, drooping white cowboy hat, canvas leggings, black leather shoes, brown overalls, corduroy pants, light medium length overcoat; a Texas twang to his voice; had a carbine with a long wooden stock.

.

Sixth man--about 5 feet 8 inches or 5 feet 9 inches high, weight 150 pounds, stubby, sandy beard.

.

Len Deitrich is well known in Ogden, and was a lieutenant in Torrey's Rough Riders. When the robbers ordered he and the engineer onto the engine he did not move fast enough and one of the robbers gave Len a swift kick and batted the engineer over the head with a gun, making a bad scalp wound which bled profusely. Len is a dapper, polite young man, but he is sore because he says it is the first time a man ever kicked him that he did not kick back.

.

The robbers were well supplied with dynamite [and powder from Gus Jensen & Bro., in Saratoga], as they left about 200 pounds near their camp, and there was dynamite all along the track, while there were forty pounds left in the express car. The graders are not far from this point, and it is thought that the robbers stole the dynamite from the grading outfit. Bruce says the he believes the robbers will be found right in one of the grading camps.

--Ogden Standard, June 3, 1898.

..

BANDITS HELD THE TRAIN UP

.

Bold Robbery of Union Pacific Express In Wyoming,

.

DYNAMITE USED TO BLOW OPEN SAFES.

.

Make Their Escape and Posses Are After Them.

.

Daring Work of Six Men, Believed to be Members of Utah's Famous "Hole in the Wall" Gang--Destroyed a Bridge and Wrecked Cars--Brutal Treatment of Trainmen--The amount Secured Is Not Unknown.

.

(Special to The Herald.)

Ogden, June 2. --The Union Pacific train due in Ogden at 1:40 this afternoon did not arrive until 10:10 tonight. This is the train that was looted near Wilcox, Wyo., at an early hour this morning. The mail car showed very plainly the disastrous effects of the dynamite used to blow open its door.

.

On this train came in Ernest Woodcock, the Pacific Express messenger, and W. G. Bruce the mail clerk, the former having had a thrilling experience with the robbers. L. L. Dietrich, the mail clerk who was with Bruce, was ordered back to Cheyenne, and took the eastbound train at Evanston. The trainmen who were on board when the robbery occurred stopped at Green River, but the other trainmen coming in tonight gave considerable information on the robbery.

.

The train was the westbound passenger, also carrying mail and express. It was running in two sections, the first section being the one held up. This section consisted of two mail cars, a baggage car filled with overland mail, an express car and two well-filled passenger coaches.

.

This section was due at Wilcox at 2:03 a.m., but it was a little late. It had passed Wilcox and was flagged by a red light between Wilcox and Aurora at 2:18. It was at a point 392 miles East of Ogden, or 132 miles west of Cheyenne.

Mail Clerk's Story.

The story of subsequent developments as given by W. G. Bruce, the mail clerk, is as follows:

.

"When the train stopped, the engineer and firemen were covered with four or five guns in the hands of the robbers, and the engineer was asked what was the name of the mail clerk. He told them it was Sherman, deceiving them purposely. Some of the robbers then went to the forward mail car and called for Sherman. I told them Sherman was not there. They told me to come out anyway. I and Dietrich declined, and promptly put out the lights.

.

"The bandits then fired several shots through the mail car, sending them crosswise, lengthwise, and cornerwise. We still refused to open the door, and the robbers placed some giant powder in the door and exploded it, tearing the door off its hinges. One of the robbers then shoved his pistol through the doorway and fired another shot.

.

"They were going to put more dynamite under the car, when we came out. The two clerks in the Portland mail car likewise were ordered out of their car, and were held in custody, together with the other two clerks.

.

After Express Messenger.

"The robbers then turned their attention to the express, and ordered Messenger Woodcock out. He made no reply, and had previously put out the lights. A shot was fired through his window, and then the door was blown open by explosives, the force of it carrying away a portion of the side of the car. Woodcock got out and was stood up along with the four mail clerks.

.

"Previous to this the train had been uncoupled and the express and mail cars had been run on ahead from the passenger coaches. The robbers then sent two Portland mail clerks back to the passenger coaches, put me and Woodcock on the engine and made the engineer pull the train on up to their camp, about four miles distant, where they proceeded to loot the express car.

.

"Dietrich, the other mail clerk, ran past the passenger coaches, to flag the second section of the train to avoid a collision. The other trainmen, however, had run ahead of Dietrich to flag the second section, which, however, did not come on till daylight.

.

"Meanwhile, the robbers at the express car piled a lot of giant powder on the safe and exploded it. The concussion demolished the car, blowing off nearly all the upper structure, leaving only a portion of one side above the floor. The safe was split in twain and the contents exposed.

.

Carried off plunder.

.

"After the explosion, five of the bandits carried a load of plunder from the safe to their camp, and each returned and got another load. This is the only way of forming an estimate of how much booty they secured.

.

They went about their work in a leisurely business-like manner, and one man was in absolute charge of the job. He was very polite to the mail clerks and the train crew, and this was the case with all but one of the bandits, a burly fellow, with a Scotch-Irish brogue, who swore profusely, and when any men in custody did not move swiftly enough, he hastened them with his boot.

.

Was Afraid to Shoot.

.

The story of Messenger Woodcock is practically the same as that above given. He added, however, that he had a good shotgun in the express car and might have gotten one or two of the fellows after they blew open the door, but the trainmen and mail clerks were stationed amongst them, and he was afraid to shoot, and feared also that the robbers would have murdered the trainmen. The bandits took this shotgun, but the pistol which they had taken from him as he got out of the car they tossed back into the car after they had looted the safe. They also left about four pounds of dynamite in the car and about 200 pounds of explosive stuff was found cached. Quantities of giant powder was found at several other places along the track.

.

None of the mail was interfered with.

.

It was learned, furthermore, that when the robbers heard a report that two carloads of soldiers were on the second section, they exploded some giant powder on the bridge, endeavoring to destroy it, but succeeded only in wrecking the track.

.

When the robbers left, they walked leisurely to the hill where their camp was situated.

--Salt Lake City Herald, June 3, 1899.

..

At 2:18 this morning, just as we had passed Wilcox, where there is only a sidetrack, being about midway between Rock Creek and Aurora, we were stopped by lanterns. Before the train came to a full stop, the rear brakeman, as required by the rules, jumped off and started back to flag the second section which was following. As soon as we came to a standstill, Conductor Storey went forward to see what was the matter and saw several men with guns, one of whom shouted that they were going to blow up the train with dynamite. The conductor understood the situation at once and before meeting the bandits turned and started back to warn the second section. The robbers mounted the engine and at the point of their guns forced the engineer and fireman to dismount, after beating the engineer over the head with their guns, claiming he didn't move fast enough, and marched them back to our car.

.

In the meantime the postal clerks had been working as usual, knowing nothing of what had been going on the outside, think that the stop was made at the Aurora station.

.

Before the robbers came to our car I looked out and saw we were not at a station, but as it was not unusual to stop between stations I resumed work, seeing nothing to attract my attention. In a moment Dietrick looked out, saw several men ahead, and remarked that he thought the trainmen were driving off a gang of hobos, and then he went back to work. In a few moments we heard voices outside our car calling for Sherman, and looking out saw Engineer Jones and his fireman accompanied by three masked men with guns. They evidently thought Clerk Sherman was aboard and were calling to him to come out with the crew. Bart Bruce, clerk in charge, refused to open the door, and ordered that all lights be extinguished. There was much loud talk and threats to blow up the car were made, but the doors were kept shut. In about 15 minutes two shots were fired into the car, one of the shots passing through the water tank, and on through the heavy stanchions. The bullet was afterward found, and proved to be of small calibre, such as the government use, and was undoubtedly fired from one of the new Winchester rifles which are made to use the new Kraag-Jorgenson cartridges. Following close upon the shooting came a terrific explosion, and one of the doors was completely wrecked and most of the car windows broken. The bandits then threatened to blow up the whole car if we didn't get out, so Bruce gave the word and we jumped down, and were immediately lined up and searched for weapons. They said it would do us no good to make trouble, that they didn't want the mail--that they wanted what was in the express car and was going to have it, and that they had enough powder to blow the whole train off the track. After searching us they started us back and we saw up the track the headlight of the second section. They asked what it was and were told. Then they asked what was on the train, and somebody said there were two cars of soldiers on the train. This scared them, and they hastened back to the engine, driving us ahead. They forced us on the engine, and as Dietrick moved too slowly, resisted him with a few kicks.

.

They then ran the train across a gully, and stopped. There were two extra cars on the train, a tourist sleeper and a private car. These were uncoupled, and while this was being done, others of the gang went to the bridge, attempting to destroy it with giant powder, or dynamite, which they placed on the timbers. After the explosion at the bridge they boarded and with the baggage, express and mail cars, went on for about two miles, leaving the extra cars. At the time we were taken to the engine, there were so many of us, they sent Bruce and me back to join the second section.

.

Upon arriving at the stopping place they proceeded to business again and went to the express car and ordered the messenger, C. E. Woodcock, to open. He refused, and the outlaws proceeded to batter down the doors and blew a big hole in the side of the car. The explosion was so terrific that the messenger was stunned and had to be taken from the car. They then proceeded to the other mail car, occupied by clerks O'Brien and Skidmore, and threatened to blow it up but the boys were advised to come out, which they did. The robbers then went after the safes in the express car with dynamite and soon succeeded in getting into them, but not before the car was tore to pieces by the force of the charges. They took everything from the safes and what they didn't carry away they destroyed. After finishing their work, they started in a northerly direction on foot.

.

In the meantime the second section had crossed the bridge in safety, which, while not destroyed, was badly damaged. The passenger train then proceeded to the Wilcox sidetrack, where they waited for some time, fearing that the first section might be sent back on the main line. At length they proceeded and coming up on the scene of the holdup, viewed the surroundings and found behind a snow fence, blankets and quilts, as well as two sacks of giant powder, each about 50 pounds in weight.

.

The engine in the first section had been sent ahead to Aurora, the nearest telegraph station, from which place the alarm had been sent out. We soon followed, dragging along the damaged express car which knocked against sign boards and switches.

.

The men all wore long masks reaching below their necks, and of three that I observed, one looked to be six feet tall, the others being ordinary sized men. The leader appeared to be 50 years old, and spoke with a squeaky voice, pitched very high. They appeared not to want to unnecessarily want to hurt any one and were quite sociable and asked one of the boys for a chew of tobacco, Our train was delayed altogether about two hours.

--Account by Robert Lawson, Wyoming Derrick, June 8, 1899.

.

A lack of tracks suggested three robbers (although LeFors was the tracker, and admitted he had a hard time finding the actual tracks from other posses' riding through the area), and that was the number settled on, relegating crew reports to the contrary as mistaken. Reports of the robbers' movements are contradictory, however, and imply two groups of men.

.

The train crew seemed to report seeing 6 horses tied nearby.

.

The robbers stored the money and valuables in canvas bags, and returning to the engine compelled the engineer to run ahead to a point near where six horses where tied.

--The Washington DC Times, June 3, 1899.

 .

In march of 1897, Lydia King from Hawthorne, Nv. mailed out a blank book to a post office, and requested that the mail clerks sign it, stamp it, and pass it along to other post offices, and some day mail it back to her when all the post offices they could get it to signed it for her. She received it back in September of 1899. One of the entries was very interesting. It read:

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If these signatures are somewhat shaky, you must excuse us. We have just been held up by five masked robbers at Wilcox, Wyo., and was signed WG Bruce.

A notation by a different clerk said, Mail car door shattered and baggage car blown to pieces.

--Detroit Free Press, Sep. 18, 1899.

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The robbers may have intended to rob the passengers./

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WARREN McCORD'S STORY

Traveling Agent of Northwestern Road Was on the Train.

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Warren McCord, traveling agent of the Chicago Northwestern with headquarters at Denver, gave a very lucid account of the holdup last night at the Knutsford. He was a passenger in the tourist car of the first section, having been unable to get a berth in the crowded Pullmans which were in the second section.

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"I believe that the only reason the robbers did not come through the sleeping car was because they had been delayed so long in getting at the safe in the express car or because they got enough money from the safe and did not want to take the risk of getting more from the passengers. They had intended to go through the sleeping car for they told Engineer Jones so.

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"'Hurry up and run the engine out.' said one of the gang to him in the cab of the engines, 'for we want to get back to the sleepers.'

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"As it took them more than an hour to do the work and daylight was coming rapidly, it is possible that they thought it better to get away as quickly as they could. It is strange but true that not more than three persons in the tourist car knew of the holdup at the time that it occurred. The robbers had broken the glass door of the vestibule to get at the lever which uncoupled the tourist from the express and mail cars. Then when they had taken the engine with the two mail and the express cars a mile away there was a terrible noise from the explosion of the safe but it didn't awaken the people of the tourist.

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After the robbers had done their work--there were six of them--they made the engineer, fireman, mail clerks and express messenger go up the track about 200 feet, telling them to remain until they were out of sight and they struck off to the north over a low hill. Someone went over and made an investigation while we were waiting. He found a corral made of wire netting in which there had been horses, two new quilts and two sacks of dynamite, a sufficient quantity to blow up all Salt Lake. This stuff had been left behind.

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"The purpose of the robbers in blowing up the trestle west of Wilcox was to keep the second section which they thought was filled with soldiers from coming upon them during their work. But the attempt to destroy the trestle was a failure. Only one tie and a stringer was misplaced. The injury was not sufficient to keep the second section from coming on. Just as soon as our return engine whistled for its back flagman to return.

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"It is evident from their knowledge of trains and cars as shown in their work of uncoupling the tourist from the mail and express cars that they were well prepared. And the fact that they knew a second section was coming and believed it to be filled with soldiers lends additional proof. Engineer Jones said that all of the six men wore masks and that their faces were blackened underneath them, so that identification was practically impossible."

--Salt Lake Herald, June 3, 1899.

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PURSUED BY 200 MEN.

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THE TRAIN ROBBERS' TRAIL WAS LOST SIX MILES FROM THE START.

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THEY EXPECT TO FIND IT AGAIN.

Posses Are Coming From Casper And Other Points To Surround The Gang--The Slivered Express Car Is Now In The City--Engineer Jones' Story.

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Information from the scene of the Union Pacific west of here this afternoon is to the effect that the chase after the train robbers is being continued with persistence by the companies. Two hundred armed horsemen and riflemen are scouring the northern part of Albany county. The chase is systematically conducted. In addition to the posses which started out yesterday from this city, Rawlins, Dana, Medicine Bow and Wilcox, posses have been organized at Casper, Douglas and other points toward the central part of the state on the other side of the mountainous raises about Casper and are closing in on the robbers from that direction. The posse from Rawlins went down the north bank of the Platte. All these posses will be picking up good men through the country they pass, and it is expected that by tomorrow 300 men will be hunting the bandits. The Union Pacific officials and detectives stated this afternoon that they were hopeful of catching the men. The bandits are certainly well surrounded at present, but there are bound to be many openings for them to slip through.

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The first posse did not get away from Wilcox until 12 o'clock yesterday, and they were consequently eight hours behind the holdups. The trail carried them directly northeast from the railroad toward Laramie peak. The trail was easily followed for six miles north, but at that point, when the robbers struck into a grassy country, the trail became faint and was finally lost. They left a fine trail for the first six miles, and the heavy impressions of the horses' feet in the soft soil showed that they were making good time. It is suspected that at the point where the trail was lost that the robbers may have removed the shoes from their horses so that they would leave no trail whatever. Only three horses' tracks were discovered on this trail, and where the other three robbers were, or how they were traveling is a question. Some men who have been on the ground declare that here there were but three robbers, but engineer W. R. Jones declared this afternoon that he saw six men, and he believes that three of them escaped in a wagon instead of on horseback.

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Mr. Jones made the following statement to the Boomerang representative this afternoon:

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"We were flagged at 2:14 o'clock yesterday morning 1 ¼ miles west of Wilcox station and told that we were held up. The man who did the flagging understood his business and did everything right. The man who used the lantern was a large man and perhaps 30 or 35 years of age. The other man who was at the engine with him was an old man of about 50. I could see his gray hair. He was the leader and carried the dynamite. One of the robbers got on the engine and said: 'Now, you --- --- get off quick or I will put light through you!' When I got on the ground I was told by the old man, the leader, that he had enough dynamite to blow up my train. He and the other robber took myself and fireman John Walsh back to the express car and they told me to tell the messenger to open the door and come out. The messenger kept quiet and the old man says, 'I'll wake him up,' and he placed a stick of dynamite in the end of the door and blew it open. Then they sent me in the car to 'see whether he is dead.' The concussion had dazed him, but he had his gun and when they sent me in the door I was rather afraid that he would shoot me for a robber. When he saw me he said, 'Who are you?' I told him I was the engineer and that the train was held up and that they threatened to blow the car up if he did not come out. He decided to come out and the robbers went for his gun. Woodcock put his hand around in his pocket to take his gun out, but one of the robbers struck him across the hand and with an oath told him to 'Take your hand off that gun--I'll get it,' and the robber took his gun.

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"Then they took us back to the mail car and the clerks were aroused by a stick of dynamite. They dressed in about three minutes. The robbers made Walsh do the talking with them. They were not armed and were easily cared for. There was no one in the short line baggage car and when Woodcock told them so they discredited him and one of them said, sticking up his gun, 'If we find a man in there, it will be all day with you.' All were covered with guns as soon as they appeared. The leader of the gang said to me, those --- --- in the coaches back there are out of luck for I am going through them,' but they did not have time to carry out that part of the program. I was told to pull up on the bridge, and the old man said that he would place ten pounds of dynamite under the bridge and when he told me to 'go,' I was to pull out 'damned quick, too, or your train will be blown out of the country.' And the robber was right, for the last coach was only fifty feet off the bridge when the explosion occurred and pieces of the bridge were thrown 200 feet in the air. Before the men robbed the car they told me to uncouple the baggage and express cars from the train, and one of the men held a gun on me from the opposite side of the train and told me he would give me just five minutes to uncouple. A passenger stuck his head out of the car window and one of the robbers stuck his gun into the fellow's face and told him to keep his head in. They cursed me while I was uncoupling the cars. I set the air on the rear cars so that they would not run back into the damaged bridge. I was four minutes in uncoupling. so one of the robbers said. Then they took us back to the engine and told us to pull out. I had a light engine on an up grade and the train did not start easily, and it was because of this little delay that one of the smaller men of the robbers who was on the engine said: 'I'll fix you, you --- ---,' and he struck me over the head with his revolver. I tried to dodge it but could not. The blow dazed me; then he pulled back to hit me again and the blow caught me against the hand. It was at this time that the old man told him not to kill me. We pulled up half a mile west and they told me to stop. It was at this point that the cars were uncoupled. Then we pulled a mile and a half west, where we were stopped and told to get off the engine and go up the track 150 yards and stay there until they got through. Walsh and myself went up the track and they began to blow up the safe and get the money. None of the men went with us. They left soon after they brought us back and we went on to Medicine Bow and gave the alarm. The men used the vilest and most profane language I ever heard. They were tough. Each man carried a brace of fine Colts revolvers and each one had Winchester repeating rifles besides."

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General Manager Dickinson went west last night and has been at Wilcox most of the day directing and planning the pursuit of the men.

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The loss today is placed by current report at $34,000, besides perhaps $5,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry.

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The express car and damaged safe were brought in this morning from the west and they are attracting large numbers of curious people. With the exception of the running gear the car is a total wreck. The top of the safe has a hole blown into it and has a hole as large as a man's head, and part of the door is blown off. It is estimated that a charge of ten pounds of dynamite was placed on top of the safe, and this did all the work. The explosion must have been terrific. Nearly the whole superstructure of the car was blown into slivers. A canary bird that was in a cage was blown to pieces so that only one or two feathers were found, but the cage was left intact, strange to say. A fine dog that was in an adjoining car got loose and jumped from the door and is lost.

The dynamite used in this work was manufactured in California and is an entirely different brand from any used on the railroad grade, which disposes of the theory that the robbers were railroad graders. These men had been camped three or four days about two miles from the scene of the robbery. They had not been noticed because there are so many men scattered along the track, many of them idle. One of the men bought a lantern near there and the company has a good description of him. Engineer Jones thinks he could recognize three of the men. They had their faces blackened and wore handkerchiefs across the face just below the eyes, leaving the tops of their faces exposed.

--Laramie Daily Boomerang, June 6, 1899.

 ,

Butch may not have been present, though his attorney was among the passengers, and acted suspiciously.

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Horses found nearby with some of the loot were (arguably) traced to Tom O'Day, Bob Taylor and Manuel Armenta.

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The men wore masks made from white napkins possibly taken from a restaurant, and used "great profanity" during the robbery.

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In May of 1900, a Pinkerton agent named Murray, when identifying the body of "Flatnose" Currie, stated that he was the treasurer for the gang on the Wilcox robbery, and that $28,000 had been stolen there, $5.100 of which was in unsigned bank notes (Salt Lake Herald, May 29, 1900). According to him, the gang was waiting until Spring to meet with Currie and make the split of the money, the plan being interrupted by his death. I question all this, but interestingly, there is a claim that just after Currie died, Logan, Carver, and another man appeared at the Webster ranch, claiming to be looking for money buried by "Flatnose"!

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In Laramie, Wy., the Union Pacific sent out the #4 train at 7 AM with horses, equipment and possemen to chase the fugitives, but this was not the famed "Super Posse."

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15 miles North of Casper, on Salt Creek Road, the robbers drove off the posse by their first use of smokeless powder.

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Five robbers were supposedly hidden in a cave near the Muddy Creek Road ranch, one of which was identified by ranch-owner Emery Burnaugh, who supplied them, as Butch Cassidy.

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One of the robbers (possibly Harvey Ray) is thought to have been wounded, and later died.

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Shortly after the robbery, there is a claim that three newly-arrived cowboys in Brown's Park cleaned up, donned suits, and left the area in a buckboard, claiming they were cattle buyers. Some believe they were Butch, Sundance and Elza Lay. (According to Ann Bassett, Elza Lay left her a map to where his cut of the gold was hidden.)

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Shortly afterward, Sundance was supposedly seen in a flashy new suit with a pair of pearl-handled Colts, partying in the Roundhouse Saloon at Linwood, Ut., along with Butch, Harvey Logan and Elza Lay. The gang then headed to Brown's Park

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When eventually asked by lawyer William Simpson if he had been in on the robbery, Butch claimed he was in on the escape, but not the actual crime.

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The original plan may have been to rob a Denver and Rio Grande train near Price, Ut., but due to a heavy influx of recent prospectors to the area, the plan may have been changed.

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A posse under Joe Hazen and Oscar Hiestland found the trail of the Wilcox robbers and exchanged shots with them at Pine Bluffs. A stand-off resulted until the robbers rode up a steep hill and escaped during the night. Heistland, his horse shot, had to walk several miles to find another.

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A "James Lowe" checks into the White House hotel in Salt Lake City.

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Lonie, still in the company of Hattie Nichols, again spends the spent the night at the ranch of Mrs. Black near Harlem, on his way to Jim Thornhill's.

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The posse stayed on the trail of the robbers but lost it in the Big Horn Mountains.

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OUR CORRESPONDENT TELLS THE STORY

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The chase after the train robbers and developments up to the hour.

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Telegram received this afternoon how they made their escape

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Special to they Sun-Leader.

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The chase after three men who robbed a Union Pacific train a week ago this morning is still in progress. It has been interesting from the start. After the Sun-leader correspondent left the trail Monday morning to bring in his dispatches, it was followed by the posse for seven miles to Castle creek where Sheriff Hazen was killed.

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At Castle creek the robbers turned their horses loose Monday night and at sun-up Tuesday morning the posse cached there and found the horses, they having strayed some distance. Then the camp of the robbers was found, and between it and their horses the tracks of three men were discovered. Sheriff Hazed said: "Here they are, boys, right in here. Here are their tracks." His remark was answered by a volley from the robbers, who were but a few yards off, and the brave sheriff fell, rose up and ran a short distance and then fell again.

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Detective Wheeling, who was near Hazen, and Frank Webb returned a few shots, but at the affair at the rocks the robbers could not be seen and they use smokeless powder, could not be accurately located.

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After Hazen was shot the men stationed themselves about in the washouts and sage brush, each selecting his own position, and a camp was established several hundred yards distant, A small party went after a wagon, which they luckily secured from some immigrants, and after several hours Mr. Hazen was found and carried across the creek to the wagon by Chas. Mallaby and some other cowboys and brought to town.

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About 9 o'clock Tuesday morning Dr. Leeper and Mr. Gill crawled into the washout from which the robbers had done the shooting, came out and reported them gone. They had crawled through the washouts to the creek which is very crooked, with perpendicular land banks. There was considerable water in the creek and it was muddy from recent rains. For five miles the robbers walked up the creek in the muddy water which, by Tuesday morning, had settled and cleared so that their tracks could be seen. It was believed they had left Monday morning immediately after the shooting and consequently had 24 hours' start.

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The men of the posse were worn out from loss of sleep, hungry and discouraged, and decided to return to Casper. But they soon met a party of reinforcements with supplies, and taking fresh courage, turned again to the north to take up the trail. About four miles, as the bird files, from the place where Hazen was shot the robbers struck an old road running along the top of a high and narrow ridge. During Monday night they followed this road for nearly 15 miles. About daylight they had separated. Two of them [Logan and "Flatnose"] arrived at Nelson Bros.' sheep camp, five miles southwest of French's oil wells, at 5 o'clock Tuesday morning. The larger man of the two ["Flatnose"], who seemed in a happy frame of mind, kindly assisted herder Melia in getting breakfast and also offered him the loan of his gun to kill a mutton, which undoubtedly would have been relished. The shorter, dark complexioned man seemed downcast and had little to say. After breakfast the two men trudged on slowly towards Tisdale's pasture.

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Twenty-four hours later the posse breakfasted in the same vicinity, and your correspondent, who had since leaving Casper Tuesday morning ridden 70 miles without seeing a human being, took breakfast at Lou Scott's sheep camp at French's Wells on Dug Out creek, 20 miles from Kaycee. Here the reporter was overtaken by five men of the posse, and with them went on to Kaycee. It developed that the two robbers had separated probably on Tuesday, and that night reached Powder river by different routes. One had traveled along the French road for miles, his tracks being very plain, even within a mile of Keltonbacks & Young's sheep camps, which are on the south Powder, seven miles from Kaycee. The other had traveled along the old Buffalo-Casper freight road, and probably reached Kaycee about daylight Wednesday morning. He had walked 50 miles since the fight.

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The people in the village had not heard of the robbery until informed by our party. The sheriff of Johnson county had been there alone, leaving Wednesday morning, but the citizens had not known his business.

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At 7 o'clock Wednesday night your correspondent left Kaycee, arriving at Tisdale's, 20 miles south at 11. At Tisdale's United States Marshal Frank Hadsell, ex-United States Marshal John McDermott, Detective Wheeling and 40 men were in camp. They left Thursday morning for Kaycee. They were joined Wednesday night by Joe Laforce, who represents the Montana Stock Association, and Sheriff W. H. Miller of Weston county. These gentlemen had, since the evening before, made a ride of 150 miles, changing horses four times.

Your corresponded arrived here last night at 11 o'clock, having ridden in three days 175 miles.

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Last night Union Pacific detective Tubin and guide left here for the front. They were well supplied with provisions and bedding for the posse. Two of the horses captured from the robbers are old work horses and the third is a race horse, it is thought. Their saddles they must have stolen from some farmer, and one bears the brand of the Denver Manufacturing company. Some gold and silver watches were tied on the saddle.

--Cheyenne Daily Sun-Leader, June 10, 1899.

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The robbers may have had cached food at Teapot Creek.

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[Posseman] Mr. Buck says the men are evidently being assisted as they left a nice piece of the loin of a beef in the rocks [at Teapot Creek] and it is believed this must have been left for them within a few days, as it was in good condition.

--Daily Boomerang, June 7, 1899.

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Logan and Sundance then linked up with Bob Lee and Lonie Logan in Choteau County, Mt., and split the money.

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Butch and Sundance are said to have spent some of the stolen money in Silver City, NM.

They had 6 horses with them.

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Word comes out of Wyoming that the railroad has secured the services of some "noted manhunters" who will be given "plenty of money" and all the time they need to track down and kill the robbers even if it takes years to do it. (The Salt Lake Tribune, July 25, 1899.)

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This seems to be the first allusion to a "Super Posse" being formed with the task of taking out Harvey Logan and/or Butch Cassidy, though it does not actually appear until 1900.

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SEARCH WILL CONTINUE

Noted man-hunters to hunt the bandits down.

Cheyenne, Wyo., June 24.--While the sheriff's posse has returned, the soldiers have been ordered back to quarters and the Indian police have been recalled, the search for the Wilcox train-robbers will continue for an indefinite period, as several noted man-hunters have been engaged by the railroad and express companies, and these men will track the robbers to their death. They will be furnished with plenty of money, and can spend even years in the work, if necessary.

-- The Salt Lake Tribune, July 25, 1899.

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Butch Cassidy, back at the WS ranch, informs Wm. French that McGinnis (Lay) will be moving on, and leaving the ranch.

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Elza Lay and Bruce "Red" Weaver then leave the WS ranch to link up with Will Carver and Sam Ketchum for the train robbery at Folsom, which would result in Lay's capture and incarceration.

--Natrona County Tribune, July 13, 1899. 

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Sundance now disappears and isn't seen again for certain until September of 1900 when he participates in the Winnemucca robbery. If he didn't know her before (and I now believe they were already a couple), it's during this time he would have met and courted Etta Place.

A Negro member of the Wild Bunch, known to reside at Robbers Roost, is captured at Richfield. The man gave his name as Ed Wright, and on him was found a letter from Silver Tip, asking if he "had any of those good tools."

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THINK THEY HAVE A ROOSTER

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Negro Arrested in Gleenwood With Letter From Silver Tip.

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Special Correspondence. Richfield, Sept 1. The negro who was supposed to have stolen the valuable saddle from Matthews stable a few nights ago was captured Thursday afternoon at Glenwood. The capture now turns out to be what the officers believe a most important one. A letter was found on the negro from Silver Tip Hawkins stating when he would be taken from Provo to Loa for trial and wound up by asking the negro if he had any of those good tools. It is the belief of the officers that the negro who gives his name as Ed Wright intended to liberate Silver Tip from the custody of the sheriff of Wayne county who will pass with his prisoner from hero to Loa tomorrow. He had taken a horse belonging to a man living in Elsinore, the saddle from here, and armed with a new shotgun and cartridges which he purchased here the day before the thefts he had gone into the mountains along the road which the sheriff would pass. He was seen by several parties going toward Loa and this furnished the trace which led to his arrest. The horse had got away from the negro, however, and he was on his way back to Glenwood to try and recapture it when he was arrested by Sheriff Coons. He at first denied the stealing but finally admitted that the he had taken the saddle and had left it at a sheep ranch on the mountain. When asked why he followed the horse back when he was almost sure of being found out, he said he did not want to go away very far that he had business around where he had been.

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He is very anxious that the charge against him be made petit instead of grand larceny. He was well posted on what constituted the offenses and wanted the officers and Mr. Matthews to value the saddle at less than $50.

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The sheriff of Wayne county on his way after the prisoner Hawkins last Thursday met the negro crossing the mountain east of Glenwood but did not have suspicion him at the time When he arrived here and was informed of the capture and the letter found on the negro made a careful scrutiny of him and is convinced that he is the negro who has been connected with the Robbers Roost gang. He had seen the negro at the Roost and is quite sure this is the same one. Circumstances tend to prove this is correct and it is fortunate that the negro was taken into custody before Silver Tip was taken back as it is probable there would have been a tragedy. His preliminary hearing will be held tomorrow at 2 o'clock.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 18, 1899.

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We do not know much about this man. He had been arrested before for assaulting a woman. Was his name an alias? Possibly. Was he Bill Moore, the escaped prisoner from Deadwood? Again, possibly. We do not know. We only know there is a claim he was seen at Robbers Roost, and that he knew Silver Tip Walls, one of the first outlaws of Robbers Roost.

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Tom O'Day returns to Buffalo, Wy. (Buffalo Bulletin, Oct. 5, 1899.)

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Among Lyle's effects was a discharge from Troop G, First U. S. cavalry, better known by the name of Torrey's Rough Riders.

-- Kansas City Journal., Oct. 23, 1899.

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Train Robbers Captured Again.

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The Wilcox train robbers, or at least one of them, have been caught again, so dispatches say, but the truthfulness is doubted by many. The supposed robber gives the name of James P. Lyle, and it is claimed was betrayed by a companion by the name of Donald. A dispatch from Ogden, Utah, where the arrest was made, says in part:

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"The story by the man Donald is a straight one, and while he claims he was not implicated in the robbery and hold-up, he knows all of the greater and minor details. The story he claims is one told him by Lyle, and he says Lyle has always claimed that he was one of the party which held up the train, and that the gang numbered seven men. Among the robbers were two McCartys and Butch Cassidy, Lyle and three others.

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The story of the escape from the officers when it was reported from the officers when it was reported that they were surrounded and could not get away is told by Donald. He says that the gang, when they got away from the gang at that time, went on over the Big Horn mountains, down into the Wind River country, on down toward the Sweetwater and again touched the Union Pacific, and Green River, where they took trains for all directions."

--Wyoming Derrick, Oct. 26, 1899.

Storekeeper Elton Cunningham claimed that Sundance visited Butch--who was bartending at the time--in Alma, NM., late in 1899. Around the same time, Ben Kilpatrick was hired on at the WS ranch under the moniker of “Big Johnny” Ward.

Logan cousin Bob Lee indicated that Sundance, using the name of Frank Scramble, made his way to Texas after the Wilcox robbery and sent money back from the area around Galveston for horses used in the robbery.

However, Sundance is traditionally believed to have remained in Montana, working at the N Bar N ranch through the Winter.

If it's true Sundance was in Texas during the Winter of 1899 through Summer of 1900, he may have met Etta Place during this period if he did not know her previously. Either way, their relationship must have heated up during this time, resulting in an engagement and marriage at some point.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

According to the article, Sundance couldn't help shooting off his mouth to a waitress.

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When Kid Curry came up to Malta a year ago last Winter, Longabaugh was with him, and they made no attempt at concealment. One day the two men went into a restaurant in Malta, and Longabaugh asked the woman who waited on them if she remembered them.

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"I am Harry Longabaugh," he said, "the man who held up the Great Northern passenger train, and I don't care who knows it!"

--Anaconda Standard, July 4, 1901.

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This is the same thing he did in South America that got he and Butch in trouble.

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The article goes on to state that he and "Kid Curry" traveled together and exchanged some mutilated money (consistent with what happened with the money at Wilcox) in the Cascade bank, and that "Curry" was soon killed near St. Louis.

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The paper is obviously in error on the latter claim, and could indicate Sundance was traveling with Lonie (who was on the run in January), not Harvey; or it may simply be confusing Lonie with Harvey, who supposedly left Kansas City to meet up with Sundance in February.

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Possible culprits may have included Harvey Logan, Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan, the Sundance Kid, or Butch Cassidy.

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Newest research suggests the real Tom Capehart, and not Harvey Logan, may have done the robbery, or that Oscar Wilbur and William Wilson were participants

Cousin Bob Lee was later arrested at the Antler Club in Cripple Creek, while he is dealing a game of stud poker.

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According to a newspaper report, when he was killed, the aunt supposedly looked out a window and spotted four agents approaching in a four-horse sleigh and told Lonie, whereupon he bolted out the back door where other agents were approaching in second sleigh. Then his running gunfight started. (Laramie Daily Boomerang, March 10, 1900.)

LAST STAND OF TRAIN ROBBER

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Particulars of the Killing of Outlaw George Currie.

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DEFIED THE OFFICERS AND WAS SHOT DEAD.

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Took No Chances With the Daring Bandit.

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Posse feared He Was Playing Possum and Poured Bullets Into His Prostrate Form as He Lay Upon the Ground--Indications That He Was Almost Famished for Want of Food--Career of Crime to Escape Justice.

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The story of the capture of George Currie the notorious outlaw has not been told in full because of the difficulty having occurred at a remote section of Grand county. But there arrived yesterday in Salt Lake of one the men who was concerned in his capture and for the first time the real story of the affair becomes known.

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The two sheriffs posses that caught Currie were not looking for him at the time and after he had been killed they did not know for some time whom they had had taken. Mr. Fullerton, the cattle owner, had employed the sheriffs of Uintah and Grand counties to look for cattle rustlers who had been bothering his herds for some time. Several days ago, when out on the range, he ran across two men who were changing brands on his cattle and he determined to have them taken. These two posses under Sheriffs Preece of Uintah county and Tyler of Grand county had gone up the Green river valley until they found a camp which to them seemed to have been the home of the rustlers. They found a large space that that had been burned away by campfires and they determined to follow the trail leading up the river. On Monday night they had lost the trail which they believed to be that of the rustlers they wanted but which was in reality the trail of Currie's horses, which had wandered a long way from his camp. The next morning when they started out again they separated, one posse going on the north side of the river and the other staying on the south side They hoped in this way to find where the horses would go to water at the river and thus pick up the trail again. But about 9 o'clock the posse on the south side of the river saw Currie and called to him to throw up his hands. He replied that he would never do that and they opened fire on him. He had been jumping from rock to rock to keep under cover from the fusillade of shots, and after he had fired from one of them he quit.

The posse believed that he was playing possum and did not dare to approach too near. But the men on the other side of the river came up nearer and opened fire on him from the side where he was not protected by the rock.

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Found Him Dead.

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After several shots had been fired and he made no reply, they went up to him and found that he had been killed sometime before by a bullet through the head from one of two rifles in the crowd. The wound was made by a Winchester 30-90 calibre and there were two of these in the posse which fired on him first.

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Currie had no food with him when he was killed and it is not believed that he had had any for several days. He must have been almost starving. He had nothing but a roll of blankets among which was a quilt that had evidently been made for him by a woman. In the middle of it there was a piece set in on which were painted the pictures of birds. It was done by an amateur country artist. His gun, which was on the rock in front of him was in the same position as when he had shot with it, for his nerveless fingers had simply dropped from the trigger. It was one of the very latest improved Winchesters such as is used in the army and will shoot at least two miles.

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The officers have figured out that Currie must have been going for food. It is believed that two other men had been with him and that they had gone some days before for food as they were not so well known as he. But it is believed that having heard outside that two posses had gone into the Green river valley to hunt cattle rustlers did not dare to return with provisions for Currie and he, having faced starvation as long as he could, determined to go in search of food.

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His horses had wandered a long way from his camp and he was in search of them at the time that the posses came upon him. It is known now that he and the two others have been in hiding in the Green River valley since December. But it is not thought that they are the men who were found by Mr. Fullerton changing the brands on his his cattle.

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Had Bad Reputation.

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But these sheriffs and their deputies are more satisfied with the capture than they could be with the capture of mere cattle rustlers, for Currie has a reputation among train robbers and bad men in the west that is well known.

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He was first heard of during the cattle invasion in northern Wyoming in 1892. Officers were looking for Chapman and Ray, two noted cattle thieves at that time. They were friends of Currie and he was afraid that he was wanted too so he ran away. His employer George Bissell told him that there was no danger and that he was not wanted but he would not be persuaded to remain and since that time he has been an outlaw. He was next heard of in Johnson county, Wyoming, where he shot a deputy sheriff. He was one of the leaders of an attempt to rob the Belle Fourche bank in South Dakota in June, 1897, but he and several others were captured. They were taken to Deadwood and placed in jail, which they broke out of on Sept. 1 of that year. They were next heard from in January of 1898 near Huntington, Utah, where deputy sheriffs tried to capture them. Little was known of Currie's whereabouts until the time of the Union Pacific train robbery of last year and then it became generally understood that he was one of the leaders in that job. Since that time he has been very quiet.

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He is so well known that he had to keep far from civilization in order to escape capture. That is why it is believed he has been hiding in the Green river valley since last September.

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PREFERRED DEATH TO CAPTURE BY OFFICERS

(Special to The Herald)

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Price, Utah, April 22--The killing of George Currie, alias James King, ends the treacherous career of one of the most desperate characters that has terrorized southern Utah and western Colorado as well as parts of Wyoming. The officers and men who participated in the rundown deserve much credit for the work they did, particularly Sheriff William Preece of Uintah county who ran the gantlet of a furious fusillade from the desperado's savage rifle.

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A prominent citizen of Price went to Thompsons yesterday and recognized the dead bandit as James King, who for the past two or three years has been in Emery county working for different cattlemen. Among those who knew him, "King" was reputed to have been one of the best marksmen in the county either with rifle or pistol but was always genial and a good fellow among those who associated with him.

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The fight with the officers was not of a running nature as has been reported particularly that portion wherein the outlaw was killed. It was a fight to the death, the fight of a desperate man who would die rather than be taken alive, and at no time did he evidence a disposition to retreat, more than to shield himself from the fusillade of bullets that was being poured upon him by the officers from two sides.

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Outlaw Was Surprised.

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When Officer Preece came upon him he was without horses and did not have even his coat. He had neither money nor papers of any kind on his person and it is thought he was searching for his horses which he had hobbled out, having no feed in his camp quarters which he had been scared out of by Sheriff Tyler of Grand county earlier in the day.

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When he was first sighted by Preece and his men he was commanded to capitulate, to which he replied "Damn if I will; I will die first!"

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At the same time he fired point blank at Sheriff Preece with his rifle, the ball burying itself in the ground at the sheriff's side. At this, the whole posse opened fire upon him. When he turned to walk behind a large boulder he was presumed to have been hit in the back as later developments showed a ball had been fired into his body from behind, passing through to the breastbone.

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At about this time Sheriff Tyler, hearing the firing came to the assistance of the Uintah county posse, they being on the opposite side of the Green river, commencing a rapid fire from that quarter, taking refuge as did the bandit behind rocks or whatever objects would give them protection against the deadly aim of the bandit.

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The Fatal Shot.

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In the meantime, the outlaw had received another bullet through the right temple which put an end to further resistance. Some time elapsed before the officers ventured into open territory, fearing that perhaps the bandit like unto the great generals of Oom Paul was playing possum, owing to a shortage of ammunition, and was endeavoring to draw them out into open territory that he might slaughter them without further ceremony.

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Officer Tyler and his men crossed the river and closed in on him and when they had got in close proximity they discovered him crouched behind a rock on his knees in the attitude he had a assumed prior to being shot through the temple, thus making it difficult to discern from a distance whether or not he was dead or alive.

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In order to protect themselves against further danger, a member of the posse fired another shot into the bandit from behind, making a total of three shots fired into his body, either one of which would have proven fatal. The presumption is that the first shot he received caused his death and was the real cause of his having taken refuge behind the rocks, as he ceased firing shortly after hiding himself as described.

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When he was picked up by the officers his gun was cocked and the chamber contained a cartridge, preparatory to taking a shot.

-- Salt Lake Herald, April 23, 1900.

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Curry's body was picked up, and he was soon identified as one of the Wilcox robbers from the widely published description of him and his peculiar facial make-up. His face was so much "dished" that a ruler laid from the forehead to chin just touched the point of his nose.

--The Columbus Journal, May 2, 1900.

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This story came from Joe LeFors, and is of dubious claim.

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After the shooting, the outlaws stopped at the Turner ranch in Hay canyon, eight miles north and 12 miles east of the shooting, and stole new mounts, saying, "We are going up Hay canyon and will cross the White river. Just as soon as we get some money we will pay you for the horses, providing we ain't killed. One thing is certain--we will never be taken alive!" (San Francisco Chronicle, May 29, 1900).

One of the robbers had Tyler's horse with him, which was recognized by Turner who asked where he got it, and was told, "The man who owned it will have no further use for it, so I may as well have it as anyone else. We want four of your horses, neighbor." The leader also asked Turner if he knew who was involved in the shooting. (Deseret Evening News, May 28, 1900.)

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Earlier in the month, Jenkins had been relating in a saloon about how exciting the shooting of "Flatnose" was, and when warned by friend Frank Lambert to watch his back, prophetically joked that would be the only way the Wild Bunch would finish him off.

--Salt Lake Herald, July 9, 1900.

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The “Super Posse” formed.

Butch and Carver arrive at Powder Springs.

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This is the "official" formation; the idea had already been implemented at times back in Wyoming.

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GUARDING A RAILROAD IN THE BANDIT BELT By William MacLeod Rame.

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For years train robbery has been a lucrative and flourishing industry in the United States, and of late "hold-ups" have occurred with alarming frequency. Recently, however, the Union Pacific Railroad, however, resolved to exterminate the outlaws who systematically preyed upon it trains, and the plan adopted is likely to have far-reaching results. Mr. Raine describe the way in which the Union Pacific "bandit belt" is now safeguarded.

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Not long ago train rubbery was a lucrative profession in the Western States of America. To-day It is on its last legs. Several factors have contributed to this desirable result. The extension of the long distance telephone to the ranch lands. followed hard upon the heels of the settlement of the cow country, was the first set back to the flourishing industry. Now the Union Pacific Railroad has put another stumbling block In the way of the outlaw. It was not enough that the whereabouts of the escaping desperadoes could be telephoned from point to point ahead of them, which necessitated their confining operations to the wilder parts of the country. The Union Pacific had a plan to put (them out of business altogether, and the fiat has gone forth from headquarters that the organized bands of train robbers which have been operating In the "bandit belts" are to be exterminated.

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The territory of the different "bandit belts" throughout the western half of the United States has for a long time been clearly defined. One stretches across Texas to Arizona, along the Southern Pacific line; another zigzags through the Colorado Mountains to the country about the well-known Robbers' Roost. A third--and the most dangerous of all--belts Wyoming in the rough cow district, where lies the notorious Hole-in-the-Wall country. Here, among the Teton Mountains, far from the reach of the long arm of the law, there lurked for many years a nomadic population composed of cattle rustlers, highwaymen and fugitives from justice. The district was a natural fortification, and every settler in it had a grudge against the law. Here desperadoes were safe from n sheriff's posse; the wings of the wind whispered the approach of officers, and long before the emissaries of Justice had reached the spot their quarry had fled.

The Hole-in-the-Wall is a valley situated in the Western part of Natrona County, Wyoming. It lies among the foothills southeast of the Big Horn Mountains. The nearest railroad point is more than a hundred miles away. Casper, Cody and Rawlins are the nearest towns, and these are about one hundred and fifty miles distant.

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Circled by inaccessible mountains inhabited by desperate cut-throats, and situated beyond the utmost rim of civilization, for long the Hole-in-the-Wall was a safe haven for the flotsam and Jetsam of Western crime.

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It was from this place that the famous "Butch" Cassidy gang sallied forth at intervals to hold up trains, dynamite banks and rob stages. After each lawless outrage the desperadoes, hotly pursued by posses of officials, dashed back toward their mountain fastnesses. Here, once hidden in the impenetrable caves, they were secure from arrest.

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This gang formed a veritable trust in outlawry, but slowly and surely the forces of the law have exacted payment from them for their misdeeds. Out of nil the desperate dozen of fearless men who made up the band but two are at liberty. They are "Butch" Cassidy himself and Harry Longbaugh, "The Sun-Dance Kid," and both of these have been forced to leave the country. The others are either dead or in prison.

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The well-known "Black Jack" Ketchum and his brother Sam, both as desperate ruffians as ever existed; handsome Ben Kilpatrick, whose dashing ways and beautiful eyes made him a favorite with women; the Curry brothers, fearless men and lawless, both of them: Matt Warner, Tom O'Day, David Lentz, Elza Say, Bill Carver and others belonged to this redoubtable band of robbers. Each of them was a dead shot and ever ready to shoot. It naturally followed that every railroad within reach was held up by this precocious gang.

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At Wllcox, Wyoming, on June 2d., 1899, a Union Pacific train was stopped by a half dozen armed men. They forced the engineer and train crew to uncouple the engine and express car from the train. Then they ran the locomotive down the line for a mile, blew up the express car, and looted it. Their haul was only three thousand dollars.

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Immediately on hearing of the robbery Sheriff Hazen, of Converse County, set out in pursuit. It was believed that the robbers would be headed off by the Platte river, which was in the flood, but they succeeded In swimming it on stolen horses. Where they went Sheriff Hazen could and his posse took the water as well. It was a close race, but Hazen won.

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The flying robbers were forced to turn and fight at Elk Mountain. It was a rough and broken country, and the outlaws had the advantage of knowing every inch of it. From behind boulder and brushwood they held off the posse five men against two hundred. Hazen exposed himself, and next moment reeled back with a bullet through his heart. Darkness fell, and the gang slipped away across the mountains into the Hole-in-the-Wall.

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George Curry, Harvey Logan and Bob Lee were all known to be in this affair. Then came another daring train robbery on the Union Pacific line. At Tipton. Wyoming, on August 29th, 1900. Harvey Logan, George Kilpatrick and "Bill" Cruzan headed the masked hold ups who stopped a passenger train. Again the mail and express car was uncoupled, run up the line, and blown up with dynamite. Fortunately the safe was practically empty, so that the robbers only got thirty dollars. Joe La Fors took the trail at once with a posse. For days the trail was followed, but was finally lost la the heavy timber near Utah line. The bandits had disappeared somewhere In the notorious Robbers' Roost country.

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Then came energetic action at the Union Pacific headquarters. A body of Rangers were organized to defend the line, under the command of Tim Keliher. From that day to this travel through the "bandit belt" on the Union Pacific: line, so far as robbers go, has been as safe as taking a journey from London to Liverpool. Every train carries with It one or more armed guards. They ride on the engine. In the baggage car, on the dry coaches, or in the sleepers, being Instructed not to stay always at one point of the train. Any gang of bandits at tacking a Union Pacific train now will know it has to reckon on a stiff fight, for not only is each train guarded, but somewhere up or down the line is the patrol body of Rangers, ready to be shipped to the danger zone as fast steam can carry them.

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Through the Hole-in-the-Wall runs a telephone line, which has made it untenable for the outlaws, and Robbers' Roost will soon be no safer. The organization of Kelliher's Rangers is the beginning of the end. Other railroads will follow the example of the enterprising "U. P." and take similar precautions for the safety of their express cars and passengers.

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At Parachute, Colorado, the "Butch" Cassidy gang recently gave evidence of its continued activity. On June 7th, 1904, a train was held up, but no booty secured. An untiring pursuit was instituted and the robbers were run down near Rifle, Colorado. In the fusillade that followed the outlaw leader was badly wounded.

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He was heard to shout to his comrades, "Don't wait for me, boys. I'm all in. Good-bye." Next moment he sent a bullet through his own brain. The notorious "Kid" Curry had gone to his last account. The other men escaped for the time, but this attempt marks nearly the close of what was once a very flourishing industry.

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The personnel of Tim Kellher's Rangers practically ensures the efficiency of the corps. First there is Tim Keliher himself, a big man, weighing two hundred and twenty pounds, who is nevertheless as lithe and sinewy as a cat. He is modest to an unusual degree, but is as brave as a lion. Keliher is the chief of the Wyoming branch of the Union Pacific secret service. He Inaugurated his acceptance of the position by breaking up at once an organized band of train employees who were preying on the company and robbing it of thousands of dollars.

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Four of these employees went to prison, ten of them were confined in the county gaol and fined, twenty of them lost their positions. Keliher was a much hated man, but he went on quietly with his work.

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The rest of the Ranger company are as noteworthy as their chief. Joe La Fors is a deputy United States marshal and cattle detective known all over the West. He it was who brought to justice the notorious Tom Horn, who was hanged at Cheyenne for killing settlers at so much per head for the big cattle companies. La Fors, Tom Meggeson and Pat Lawson are among the best trailers in the country. Indeed, Keliher says that La Fors can follow a trail at a hand gallop. Fink was sheriff of Buffalo County, Nevada. George Hiatt is an ex-deputy sheriff, and Jeff Carr has been a law officer at Cheyenne ever since the town was a frontier cattle camp. All of them are dead shots and "as game as wild cats." At Cheyenne may be found the headquarters of the Rangers. At this place their specially fitted gear is kept when it is not on the road. In point of fact, it is nothing more than a baggage car prepared to accommodate them. In one end of it stand the horses, while at the other is accommodation for the men. A number of folding cots, a score of blankets, half a dozen cowpunchers' saddles, a pack saddle, a rack for arms, some canteens, a tin stove, and a pantry are all packed into this narrow compass. This pantry contains such necessaries as coffee, bacon, canned goods and salt. Sometimes, while on the trail, the Rangers kill a cow and cook it on their campfires. Of course, these cots and other impediments are not carried while actually following outlaws. Then the men travel as light as possible, their heaviest baggage being the arsenal of weapons which each one has with him.

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Chief Keliher keeps in close touch with all his men, and can, within thirty minutes of the time of receiving a wire, get his car under way for the scene of the hold-up. A special engine stands ready in the yards at Cheyenne. The men are summoned, the horses are hurried from their stable by the gang-plank, and into the night goes steaming the Rangers' special, with a clear right of way over every train on the track. Within six hours they can be at any point of attack within the "bandit belt." Suppose a train to be attacked at midnight. By daybreak Joe La Fors and Meggeson will be following the trail with eagle eyes.

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The horses also are picked out of a hundred candidates. They are native Westerner like their riders, and each of them is as tireless as his master. Strong legged and wiry, they never look for the end of the road.

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The district which is patrolled lies between Medicine Bow, one hundred miles west of Cheyenne and Green River, Wyoming. It covers about one hundred and fifty miles of broken rock country, which is very little known and sparsely settled. Here the line swings through the bad lands about Point of Bocks, Wamsutter, Fort Steele and Bed Desert. If the day is clear enough the mountains surrounding the Hole-in-the-Wall may be seen in the distance. The worst parts of the line are, of course, patrolled most. Red Desert is a sheep grazing country, and is not used by the herders in summer. Riding swiftly across this desert, a band of train robbers could reach the railroad with being detected. It is to forestall this that the Rangers ride the line.

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Both men and horses are kept in constant requisition to patrol the line and watch for suspicious characters. Occasionally the car is sent out to Medicine Bow or Point of Rocks as the case may be. Here the Rangers and their horses are unloaded. They ride along the line, watching for suspicious characters of whom they may have heard. Meanwhile their special follows a parallel course, keeping in touch with the men and picking them up at any point agreed upon. At no time do the men get more than a mile or two from their wheeled base of supplies, unless they are on an actual chase.

--The Fulton County News, April 26, 1905.

CASSIDAY IN WYOMING

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Cheyenne, Wyo., July 23. Reports have been received here from Carbon county which state that Butch Cassiday, the notorious outlaw and train wrecker, has been seen in the southern part of that county in company with a number of well known outlaws. It is feared Cassiday is planning a raid on the railroad or the banks of some of the small towns south of Rawlins. Officers of both the railroad and a county will take every precaution to prevent a holdup.

--The Salt Lake Herald, July 24, 1900.

A white Arabian used by Butch and left for young Vic Button was probably stolen from Kittie Wilkins, a famous Idaho horse breeder, whose prize Arabian. "Powder Face" was taken about the same time.

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The horses were tethered to telegraph poles.

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C. E. Woodcock was again on duty during the robbery, and managed to hide some cash inside a telescope. (Indianapolis News, Sep. 1, 1900.)

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The railroad first learned of the robbery through the Conductor using a pay telephone.

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Jim Thornhill claimed the robbery was planned and implemented by Harvey Logan in retaliation for Lonie’s shooting.

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A Mrs. German swallowed a $500 diamond ring to make sure the robbers didn't get it.

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Before leaving, the robbers required an express messenger to give them grub for the journey. (The Scranton, Pa. Triune, Sep. 1, 1900.)

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There is a claim Woodcock was quoted as saying: "They have gone off with fifty-five thousand, boys!" as the robbers rode off. (The Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 4, 1900.)

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The robbers cunningly gathered a string of wild horses, then removed the horseshoes from their own horses and let the wild ones free to mislead posses as they escaped.

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After being notified of the robbery, the Union Pacific, through Special Agent Tim Keliher, dispatched a train with horses and equipment to aid the posses searching for the robbers. Joe LeFors, working under U.S. Marshal Frank Hadsell, participated and chased the robbers for a couple of days before their trail was lost and the posse gave up.

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"Why you're the same man that was in the other holdup."--Harvey Logan to C. E. Woodcock at Tipton, (Laramie Semi-weekly Boomerang, Sep. 3, 1900).

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Postal clerk Pruitt, who was in charge of the mail car, cut loose from the balance of the train with the baggage car Wednesday night, has returned to Cheyenne. He says that he was lined up with the trainmen while three robbers were dynamiting the express car. The robber on guard stood close by him and talked freely. Among other things, he said:

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Bandit Ruminations.

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Don't know how we will fare here, but we did pretty well at Wilcox. We got a little short of money and come down to get some more. This ain't the train we wanted. That one came through a week ago and carried a lot of government gold, but the man who was a goin' to stop her backed out when he seen two cars of bums on board, thinkin' as how they was officers. We'd have done well on that train. But bein' here and needin' money, we thought we better tackle this one, as we are pretty sure she's got money in the safe. We don't want to kill anybody, but we might just do it just the same. We really ought to have killed the engineer in the Wilcox affair, but let him off with a rap on the head. If we ever come across him again and he acts that way we'll have to let him have it. There's no use in anybody acting smart with us. I wish those fellers would get a move on, for we want to get away from here. We gave it to old man Hazen on Tea Pot Creek because he followed us, and if anyone else follows us this time we'll give 'em the same dose. We ain't a skeered much, as we know roads in this country that they don't and anyway if they got close we could give it to 'em."

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…The denials of the Union Pacific Express company aside, it is believed the robbers secured many thousands of dollars from the wrecked baggage express car. While the robbers were at work in the car, it was noticed that they stooped over frequently and picked up articles from the floor which they hurriedly thrust into their pockets. When the car reached Green River, three $20 gold pieces were found on the floor, indicating that a sack of gold coin had been broken open and its contents scattered by the explosion. Then too, when the robbers ran away from the car, it required two men to carry the sack of plunder and load it on a horse.

--Denver Republican, Sep. 2, 1900.

CAN'T CATCH TRAIN ROBBERS SAYS ONE OF THE PURSUING PARTY.

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Special Correspondence.

Saratoga Wyo. Sept. 15.

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All hope of capturing the four men who held up, dynamited and robbed the overland express train at Tipton three weeks ago has been given up, and the crime goes on record as one of the most successful and daring robberies in the history of the west.

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Not once has a glimpse of the outlaws been obtained since they mounted their horses and rode away in the darkness after securing the treasure contained in the safe of the Pacific Express company, and their present whereabouts is a mystery to the railroad and express officials and the United States officers.

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The identity of two of the robbers has been decided, however, and this may aid in their capture sooner or later. Deputy United States Marshal Joe Lefors of Cheyenne, who was first on the trail of the bandits with a posse of men and who followed the outlaws for several days through the bad lands south of Tipton until their trail was lost in the sands of the desert, returned to Saratoga a few days ago from the chase and went on east to Cheyenne. While here, he was interviewed as follows:

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I think I know most of the men the participated at the hold up of the Union Pacific train at Tipton, and they are no strangers to the law, either. I also know that two of their number are none other than the notorious Roberts brothers,* the Ute half-breeds who have terrorized the country from Arizona to Montana for several years, and who are two of the three men who held up a train at Wilcox over a year ago.

[* A reference to George and Tom Dixon from Arapahoe county, Co., whose mother was a Ute Indian, known as the "Roberts brothers," though Logan and Sundance also called themselves the "Roberts brothers" on occasion.]

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There were six men in the Wilcox affair. Lonny Curry was killed at Kansas City, George Curry was killed north of Thompson Utah and Bob Lee was sent to the Wyoming state penitentiary for a term of ten years. The three remaining members of the gang, the Roberts brothers and one other. are still at large. I have personally been antiquated with the outlaws for many years. We worked the same roundup in Johnson county together. I knew they were bad men and because I would not take part in their crimes they came to hate me. I took my money and invested in a small bunch of cattle It was not long, however, until they rustled every head I possessed and I was left without a dollar. I made up my mind to rid the country of them and with some friends worked to this end. When the bank of Belle Fourche was robbed, the outlaws made straight for Hole in the Wall country and holed up for the winter after killing six beeves for a food supply. I wired to Cheyenne officers to assist me in running the robbers down as I knew right where they were located, but before assistance came a heavy snowfall made it impossible to push into the mountains and early the next spring the outlaws got away. A year ago last May I notified the Burlington Northwestern and Union Pacific roads to be on the lookout for a holdup and in less than a month the Wilcox robbery occurred.

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The Tipton holdup and the Wilcox affair were managed in exactly the same manner and the robbery executed in precisely the same way: After the robbers left the scene of the Tipton holdup they rode their horses out on the prairie a distance of seven miles and cooked breakfast They were mounted on the very best of horses and led a pack horse. It was very evident they did not fear pursuit but they did fear running into an ambush as they took every precaution and avoided deep canyons and high rocks which might conceal anyone. After eating their morning meal, the robbers rode straight across the sandy desert for a distance of seventy miles without even halting their horses for water. They rode both day and night and from their manner of traveling they were directed by compass. After we followed their trail for several days a heavy rainstorm melted their tracks from the sand and we were unable to determine which direction the robbers had gone and were forced to give up the chase. The route of the robbers was well chosen and was through a wild and uninhabited country. I believe the outlaws have gone to Arizona where they will probably remain for a few months or until next spring when they will make their appearance again at some point along the line of one of the transcontinental railways.

--The Salt Lake Herald, Sep. 17, 1900.

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Around the same time, Powder Face, the prized Arabian stallion of famed Idaho horse breeder Kitty Wilkins-Baker is stolen, and is believed to be the white horse eventually given by Butch to Vic Button.

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A woman near Grand Encampment spots what she believes are four of the robbers riding toward Hahn's Peak. (The Salt Lake Herald. Sep. 9, 1900.)

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Marshal Hadsell went to investigate the following day.

Others attribute it to the Sundance Kid, Harvey Logan and Will Carver, placing Butch at Tipton. (Dan Buck and Anne Meadows.)

In a 1911 newspaper interview purportedly by Sundance, he indicated that he, Butch and Will (George) Carver pulled the job..

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That Logan had no role in this robbery is obvious in that the banknotes weren't taken. Logan would never have left them, whereas Butch was smart enough to leave them so they wouldn't be traced to him as he made his escape across country

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Some believe this was coded talk for the burnt bills and charred gold from the Wilcox robbery when the safe was blown open. Marshal Frank Hadsell of Wyoming, informed by Rawlins lawyer Homer Merrill (who, in turn, was told by Jim Rankin), noted that the robbers were spotted in Rawlins exchanging said currency, where "powder-burned currency" and blackened gold coins quickly showed up in local saloons.

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The robbery also bears the hallmarks of a Butch Cassidy operation but for the fact the robbers did not use masks.

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There was a cold wave hitting the west as the Winnemucca robbery took place. On Sep. 18, the temperature in Winnemucca was 30 degrees. (Laramie Republican, Sep. 18, 1900.) ,

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The posse was initially stymied by being unable to find riding horses, and had to commandeer draft horses to chase the robbers with, which slowed them down (Ogden Standard Examiner Sep. 26, 1901). This is what probably allowed the switch engine, that started after the robbers behind the posse, to outrun the posse in the four-mile stretch of track between town and the main rail line.

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The robbers were so adept at leaving false trails to mislead pursuers that they even fooled an Indian tracker, causing the posse to lose a day in going the wrong direction. (Nevada State Journal, Sep. 28, 1900.)

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An example of what the local Winnemucca ranches looked like that the gang had horses stashed at.

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Former Two Bar foreman Hi Bernard later admitted to Ann Bassett that he paid Horn $500 each for murdering Dart and Matt Rash, which caused her to immediately divorce him.

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After the robbery, the entire West was on the lookout for cowboys laden down with stolen double eagles (the equivalent of carrying 1,000 nearly silver dollar size gold coins plus smaller size eagles and half-eagles mixed in with the double eagles--not counting whatever Wilcox coins they had, and not counting whatever gold they may have saved over the years). Butch and Sundance, had they retained the spectacular Winnemucca take, coupled with an unknown amount of gold from Wilcox, would have been ticking time bombs for the first suspicious lawman, posse, porter, or railroad agent who spotted them carrying heavy saddlebags or luggage, and investigated. While there is no firm evidence apart from the useless word of Harry Longabaugh, Jr., it is the author's belief that Etta Place was used in the Winnemucca robbery in a support role, and that she ferried the gold to Texas by train, a woman with a heavy trunk conveniently hiding 70+ Lbs. of hidden gold arousing no suspicion, whereas traveling men were being given a second look as a matter of course. (See Siringo's A Cowboy Detective as an example of how he and his partner were accosted by a mob after the Tipton robbery just for being strangers trying to check into a hotel.) We know, for instance, that Sundance gave his rifle away before he boarded the train for Texas--an unthinkable act if he has $20,000+ in gold to keep safe. If, however, the gold was safely in the care of Etta Place, and Butch and Sundance were traveling light, needing only side arms for personal protection, his casual attitude makes much more sense.

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The photo below shows an Old West saloon and roulette table where men are playing with $20 double eagles. The man on the right appears to be playing with a stack of approximately 100 double eagles. Ten such stacks would equal the general bulk of the take from Winnemucca Butch and Sundnace would have been trying  to hide, not including any extra money from Wilcox or other robberies they took with them. I have pasted them into the photo to give an example.

Charley Siringo later told by Jim Ferguson, who aided the men before and after the robbery, that the participants were Harvey Logan, Ben Kilpatrick and William Cruzan.

Anna Bassett, Ladore Colo.:

You are requested to leave that country for parts unknown within thirty days or you will be killed thirty days for your life. Committee. 

FRAIL WOMAN FEARS HUSBAND WILL KILL HER

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Possesses a Secret Which Would Send Him to Prison.

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MRS. PERKINS' ROMANTIC TALE

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Says Her Husband Is One of the Three Men Who Recently Robbed the Bank at Winnemucca.

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Special Dispatch to The Call.

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SACRAMENTO. Nov. 17.-- If the story told by a dressmaker named Mrs. Perkins is true, and the circumstances seem to bear it out. she offers splendid material for the pen of the novelist. A frail, destitute young woman, with a two months' old baby at her breast, seeking protection for herself and child from the fury of a husband whose secret she possesses. This is the light in which Mrs. Perkins, seamstress, presents herself. The secret is one which would send her husband to the penitentiary perhaps for the remainder of his life could it be told in court and substantiated by corroborative evidence. On September 19 at noon three masked men walked into the First National Bank of Winnemucca, Nev., and with cocked revolvers made all present hold up their hands, threatening with instant death the first man who offered resistance. Two of the men held guard while the third forced Cashier Nixon to open the safe and take out three sacks of gold coin. The robbers threw the gold into a large sack which they carried, together with all the gold in the office drawer, and then, still covering the bank officials with their revolvers, marched them ahead to an alley in the rear, where three saddled horses were waiting. The robbers mounted these horses with their booty, some $15000 and dashed cut of Winnemucca like the wind toward the mountains.

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The alarm spread and citizens fired shots after the fleeing horsemen, but without effect. A posse was organized, but its search was fruitless.

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Because the knew that her husband is one of these three bold robbers is the reason assigned for Mrs. Perkins' fear that he will kill her. At one of the houses where she roomed last week it is said that Perkins walked through all the apartments of the house one night with his hand on his revolver and then threat on his lips that he would kill her.

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Mrs. Perkins came a few months ago from Nevada and her husband recently followed. She could not be found in the city to-day. Whether there is foundation in the story, it is certain that the Sheriff's office here has taken up the case and is working: on it in the hope that it may develop the whereabouts of one of the bold Winnemucca robbers.

--The San Francisco Call, Nov. 18, 1900.

BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT IN SACRAMENTO'S JAIL

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SACRAMENTO. Nov. 26.--A Deputy Sheriff arrived to-night from Los Angeles with J. H. Perkins. He was arrested on a charge of deserting his wife and child, but is suspected of being one of the three men who robbed a bank in Wlnnemucca, Nevada, of $15,000 last September. It is supposed his wife has informed on him.

-- The San Francisco call., Nov. 27, 1900.

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He apparently wasn't returned to Nevada, and neither Dan Buck nor myself have been able to find the disposition of his case. He then disappears from the incident. However, considering he supposedly talked about the robbery beforehand and his wife accused him of the crime, he must be considered a prime suspect for the "fourth man" seen by witnesses hanging around the Winnemucca stables with Butch, Sundance and Carver. Another suspect is rancher Melville Fuller, whose descendant reports to Dan Buck acted as guide to Butch and held a relay team.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

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After they met up, they went out on the town, and returned home late at night, making an undue amount of noise.

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James Horan claimed DeYoung took a total of six photos of Sundance and Etta: four of the famous portrait, and two individual shots. He gives no source for this claim, and must be at least partially right since a photographer would have taken more than one shot to be certain of making the print. In any event, the additional photo(s) have been lost to history.

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Will Carver and George Kilpatrick are seen around Knickerbocker, Tx, driving around in a rubber-tired buggy, posing as horse-buyers. They later case the bank in Sonora.

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Ed Kilpatrick, who reported the crime that night in Eden, claimed Thornton arrived armed and intimidating. Boone Kilpatrick affirmed that "Charles Walker" did the shooting, and that Carver was said Walker, but he may have been pinning the murder on Carver, who was killed in Sonora. Logan certainly used that alias.

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Carver supposedly lingered for three hours before expiring (Houston Daily Post, April 8, 1901).

Around 8 PM that evening, Carver and George Kilpatrick, brother of Ben, came riding into Sonora. At a Mexican store on the outskirts of town they endeavored to buy oats for their horses and failing in this, they tried at Beckett's livery stable, only to again be disappointed. They next entered Jack Owens bakery. Meanwhile, Briant and his officers had spotted the new arrivals and unobtrusively shadowed them.

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Soon two ponies stood tied at the hitch-rack in front of Owens' bakery. The men made the bad mistake of leaving no guard over their mounts to give the alarm in case of trouble. Constable W. D. Thomason struck a match to examine the animals--one a brown and the other a sorrel. The brand on one was that of a solitary pony bought at Sonora a month previously.

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Battle in bakery.

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The officers held a hurried consultation, and decided to go into the bakery rather than wait for the two men to emerge. Deputy Henry Sharp was posted at the side door while Sheriff Briant, Deputy J. L. Davis, and Constable Thomason stepped noiselessly upon the little front porch.

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They drew pistols. Briant stepped inside the open front door and turned to the left. Davis and Thomason followed. Will Carver, wearing two ivory-handled six-shooters in his belt, was at the counter, filling a sack with oats.

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"Throw up your hands," cried the sheriff.

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Instantly Carver grabbed for a pistol, while Kilpatrick made a fumbling motion with his hand preparatory to drawing a six-shooter. Just as Carver's gun flashed out, Briant fired and the bullet broke the bandit's right arm, and entered his body. His revolver clattered to the floor, and Carver fell, his weapon slithering across the room out of his reach.

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Carver was a "two gun" man. Somewhat dazed, no doubt, by the pain of his wounds, he did not attempt to draw his second pistol, but crawled forward toward the one he had dropped. Deputy Sharp, however, darted forward and kicked the weapon away.

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While this was going on, Kilpatrick was putting up a good fight; there was a ceaseless fusillade of shots and the place became full of smoke. The battle continued till the officers emptied their revolvers and Kilpatrick was also down.

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Carver, it was discovered, had been hit seven times, and died three hours later; George Kilpatrick recovered from five wounds and was released as nothing could be proved against him.

--Winnepeg Tribune, Nov. 8, 1930.

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Harvey Logan and Ben Kilpatrick, hearing the gunfire while waiting on the outskirts of town, escaped to Dove Creek.

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Harvey Logan and Ben Kilpatrick, hearing the gunfire while waiting on the outskirts of town, escaped to Dove Creek.

--Quote by Pinkerton agent in the San Angelo Press, April 30, 1902.

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Harriman had done ten thousand times worse to himself in a day than the Wild Bunch could do in a lifetime of robberies.

Logan brother in law, Lee Self, shot by miner William Shurlock in Landusky after pulling a gun on him. (The Anaconda Standard June 12, 1901.)

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Self beat William Berry, a helpless elderly miner, whereupon Shurlock denounced him as a coward. When Self drew, Shurlock beat him to the draw, and shot Self in the face.

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It is unclear whether Self survived or was killed. A June 28 newspaper account claims a coroner's jury found Shurlock innocent of his murder, but the July 21 article from the Anaconda Standard quoted from July 16, claims Self was encountered on the trail, and there is a 1909 claim Self committed suicide.

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Subsequently, two (other reports say three) well-armed men rode up two nights later, cursed when they found the dynamite gone, and spurred their horses before they could be captured, then fled to the mountains.

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800 POUNDS OF DYNAMITE FOUND NEAR U. P. BRIDGE.

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Last Sunday a cowboy discovered 800 pounds of dynamite hidden in a deep ravine hidden alongside the Union Pacific track six miles east of Green river, Wyo., says a dispatch to the Salt Lake Herald. With the assistance of a companion he removed the explosives to another place and notified the authorities. A watch was kept on the ravine and Tuesday night three mounted and well-armed men rode to the place where the dynamite had been hidden. Discovering that the powder had been moved, the outlaws cursed roundly and put spurs to their horses and fled to the mountains before the officers could intervene.

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Officials are satisfied that a plan had been laid to blow up the bridge that spans the ravine and to wreck or rob an express train. Not only the actions of the men, but their talk indicated Tuesday night was the night set for the deed. One of the outlaws was heard to remark that he guessed they would have to pass up the treasure safe this time.

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The accidental discovery of the dynamite undoubtedly frustrated a daring attempt to wreck a train, and perhaps destroy many lives. The company has been expecting an attack from train robbers ever since the Table Rock affair last year, and guards have been riding on all passenger trains carrying money or valuables. Union Pacific secret service men are now at work on the case, and an effort will be made to trail the three men to their hiding place in the mountains.

-- Philipsburg Mail, June 28, 1901.

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While we cannot pin this event with absolute certainty on Logan, Kilpatrick and Hanks, the MO fits them, and no further train robberies took place in Wyomig for the rest of the year. Either they attempted this robbery and moved up to Montana to rob the Great Northern after its failure, or different perpetrators gave up altogether after the plan went awry. I believe the former.

Netted up to $65,000,* gold watches, and a bolt of silk. "Deaf Charley" snuck onto the coupling between the tender and baggage car, and hijacked the train to a prearranged point where he, Logan and Kilpatrick then robbed the express car, blowing up the safe with dynamite. Before leaving, Smith asked for a souvenir, and Logan emptied his .44, and handed it over, saying, "Thanks for your help."

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* A notation in a dictionary found in Laura Bullion's possession when arrested had a notation of "45,500, 51.000 H. in W: Wyoming" in it, possibly referring to the take. She claimed the dictionary belonged to Harvey Logan, but her word on that is questionable. (The St. Louis Republic, Nov. 7, 1901.)

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Fireman Michael O'Neill seemed to identify Kilpatrick as the hijacker:

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"I first saw this man [Kilpatrick] coming over the tender. He had a big pistol in his left hand and a smaller one in his right hand. When he saw that I saw him, he covered me with his pistol and told me to go on with my work. I complied. Then he came toward me and engineer T. R, Jones. He kept one pistol on me and the other on Jones.

"'What does this mean?' said Jones.

"'It mean this is a robbery, and it is going through,' the fellow said as he climbed on the seat by the engineer's side.'

Fireman O'Neill then related in detail the story of the robbery, adding: "After looting the safe and getting the money, they had horses standing there and they rode away at a gallop, shooting all the while."

--The Frederick, Maryland, News, Nov. 14, 1901.

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.The robbers were described as follows:

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One of the men weighs 195 Lbs. He wore a long beard on his chin and a week's growth of whiskers covered the rest of his face. He wore new tan shoes, a black coat and vest and corduroy trousers. His revolver was suspended from his neck by a thong. [This would have been "Deaf Charley."]

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Another of the gang is described as six feet tall. He is not stoutly built. He has sandy complexion and blue eyes. There is a slight scar over his left eye. He appears to be a working man. He wore a black coat and vest and blue overalls. His shoes were black. His revolver was carried in a bootleg scabbard. [This would have been Kilpatrick.]

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The man who did all the shooting with the Winchester is believed to be Kid Curry. He is described as follows: His eyes are jet black. He has a prominent nose and clear-cut features. It is believed he will weigh 180 Lbs. While his shoulders are conspicuously square, they are slightly stooped. He wore a black slouched hat. The gun he had resembled a Winchester.

--The Anaconda Standard, July 5, 1901.

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HOW THE TRAIN WAS ROBBED NEAR WAGNER

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"I guess you better stop down by that bridge," said the fireman to the engineer, who was leaning out the cab window.

"For why?" asked the engineer.

"Because," replied the fireman in an emotionless manner, "some gentlemen want to hold up the train." And then the engineer looked down the barrel of a gun the fireman had previously looked into.

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That is the way engineer Thomas Jones now tells the story of the Great Northern west bound train seven miles west of Malta and two miles east of Wagner. Wednesday afternoon, July 3, a hold-up that was the most perfectly arranged if not the boldest ever seen in Montana.

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From the days of the stage hold-ups down through the short list of train robberies and attempted robberies in the state, nothing more sensational in the annals of crime of that character has been known. The haul of $41,000 was good, too, and that added to the interest in the story. All the United States has been talking about the case.

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The scene of the robbery is a pretty spot, with the vivid green coloring of the late spring still lingering to add color to the landscape. The Milk river swings close to the track at this point, its banks fringed with cottonwood trees.

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The distance from the track south to the stream is not more than 100 yards, which includes a drop over a steep bank down to the water. On the north side of the track the hill rises steeply upward. Just a few yards west of where the engine stopped is a little bridge over a sandy depression.

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South of the river in the clump of trees traces of a camp have been found, and it is thought the men who afterward committed the robbery remained there several days before making the attack. There seems no doubt whatever that they planned to meet this particular train, evidently having information of the $41,000 that was to be in the express safe that day.

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The man who is thought to be Harry Longabaugh boarded the train at Malta, getting on the rear of the engine tender. Conductor A. D. Smith saw him just as the train was starting out and ordered him off. The man "threw down" a 45 revolver--"threw down" is Montana vernacular for drawing a gun--on Smith and told him to go on about his business. Mr. Smith is not a large man, nor is he overyouthful. He obeyed. On the train he reported to Sheriff Griffith of Glasgow, who was as passenger, and together they planned to arrest the man when the train stopped at Wagner, although that station was in another county--Choteau. The train, however, was stopped before it reached Wagner.

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As it was speeding along toward the little bridge Longabaugh crawled over the tender and poked his gun into the cab. Both fireman and engineer were taken off their guard, and rendered a verdict that the man had the drop on them. When instructed to stop at the little bridge, Engineer Jones demurred, saying he had only a little water in his engine.

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"Well, you've got enough for fifteen minutes, haven't you?" said the robber.

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"I guess I have," said Jones.

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"That's all we want," retorted Longabaugh.

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Just in the spot indicated the train stopped, and two armed men came up from under the bridge. Sheriff Griffith had his head out the window by this time. Realizing the situation, he opened fire with his revolver. He had fired only two shots when one of the men, supposed to be Kid Curry, whirled about and opened fire in the direction of the sheriff. His first shot from a rifle splintered the window sill and the sheriff withdrew his head to keep it from being blown off.

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The story of what followed is well known. Engineer and fireman were first ordered out of the train and placed on the north side of the track near the engine. The express messenger, George Smith, joined the group under compulsion, and then came Mail Clerk Martin out of his car under guard and lined up with them.

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One of the three men stood guard over the party. Kid Curry began shooting down one side of the train and then the other, jumping back and forth from one side of the car to the other and shielding himself behind the prisoners, and Longabaugh tackled the express car. The mail car was first behind the engine, the baggage car the second, and the express car the third.

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Curry's shooting was rapid and accurate. George Woodside, the rear brakeman, was his first victim. As the train stopped, Woodside swung to the ground, only to receive a bullet in the shoulder. Little Mary Wilson, 14 years old, a passenger for a state of Washington town, came next. She looked out the window out of curiosity and a ball went through her arm, inflicting a severe flesh wound. A. W. Douglas, traveling auditor of the Montana Central and Great Northern, also got curious and received the same punishment, a bullet through the arm. This checked all curiosity on the part of the passengers.

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Passengers in the smoker, just back of the express car, were warned to go back further in the train, as an explosion was about to take place. The fool always to be found in a panic contributed to the wild excitement that already existed in the train by rushing back yelling: "They are coming through! Hide everything you've got."

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It is said on excellent authority that there was a wonderful display of hoslery in the cars in the next few minutes. There were some ludicrous scenes, people hiding their valuables in all sorts of odd places, immediately forgetting where they were.

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Meantime Longabaugh was working briskly at the front of the train. He called Fireman O'Neill to his assistance and gave him some pointers on train robbing as a fine art. O'Neill was given three little bags of dynamite to carry, had to hold the tools and in other ways to act as slavey. The robbers were seemingly well aware of the fact that the express messenger had not the combination of the two through safes, so did not bother that official, but speedily and expeditiously Longabaugh drilled holes for the explosion, put it in and exploded first one safe and then the other.

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The explosions wrecked the car, leaving the frame on the tracks a mess of splinters, but not damaging the running gear. Planks and pieces of ventilators were scattered for 100 yards. The explosions shook the whole train and contributed not a little to the fright of the passengers.

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George Cunningham, who owns a ranch two miles north of Wagner, was riding by, a quarter of a mile away. He stopped to look on as the work began, Curry remarked that the man didn't look good to him, "rubbering there," as he expressed it, and began shooting at Cunningham. The latter turned his horse and tried to get away, but the fourth shot hit the horse in the hip, passed through its body and came out through the cantle of the saddle.

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Cunningham, of course, was furious. He started at once for Wagner and sent the alarm for Malta, from which came a few men, who joined Cunningham and Sheriff Griffith in the chase which was organized presently.

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When all was done and the robbers had gathered up their spoils in a gunny sack, they strolled across the little stretch of open sward and dropped down over the bank. At this point many critics think the people on the train had a chance to do some judicious shooting. Those on board, however, explain that they had no rifles and that revolvers were no match for the arms the robbers had. Further, they say that to have run up to the bank over which the men had disappeared was too great a chance to take.

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Before leaving, 45 minutes after they had stopped the train, the robbers had warned the engineer and conductor not to start for 20 minutes. The train waited hardly that long, for the robbers, crossing the river on a raft they had ready, disappeared in the grove after their horses.

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Sheriff Griffith, Cunningham and two employees from Cunningham's ranch started in pursuit, going south. Malta and Glasgow were made in each to raise a posse. Under Sheriff Richard Kane at Glasgow had some small luck getting Colonel Robbins and two others to join him. He took them to Malta by special train, where he engaged Pete Saunders, an old cow-puncher, as guide. The justice of the peace at Malta had rounded up some good horses for the posse, but before it was ready to start some miscreant had driven them off. This caused a delay until midnight.

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This fact only illustrates the sympathy there is throughout that country with the robbers. The Curry gang has many friends, even among the better class. There are good, upright citizens--in the eyes of the community--who will tell you confidentially that they would join in the chase for what they term "blood money," referring to the reward. And if they grow real confident they will tell you that they wouldn't mind placing a few horses out on the prairie in a convenient place if they thought the boys needed them. Train robbing, in the eyes of a large number of citizens in the vicinity of Malta is by no means a crime so long as it is not accompanied by murder. To be sure, there are some citizens who, in equal confidence, will tell you that the robbers should be apprehended; that they are entitled to no sympathy; that their wounding of a helpless little girl was a bit of heartless brutality and that to give sympathy to the men is criminal, but these citizens recognize that the sentiment of the community is against them, and they do not talk too loudly of their beliefs.

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Why? Because they fear, whether their fears are groundless or founded in fact, that if they take too prominent a part in the chase or talk too freely some retribution will be visited upon them. They tell of innumerable cases of horse and cattle thievery, they point to the running off of Smith & Trafton's bunch of horses two nights after the robbery as an example of spite work, and when they go out of town they go armed. It is curious, by the way, all say how the men in that country carry Winchesters when they go out in the range for any purpose. Revolvers do not seem to be big enough for them. Nobody seems to be harmed by the practice, however.

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Of course, Malta, Glasgow and neighboring towns--anything within 50 miles is neighboring up there--were greatly excited over the robbery and the start of the posses, and as the telegraph spread the story the train on its way westward with its wounded was met at each succeeding depot by larger crowds.

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As already told in the Standard, representatives of this paper dispatched to the scene immediately after the robbery traced the route taken by the men for 30 miles south and east, gathered news of the posse as the chase progressed, sent it back by couriers to the Malta telegraph office and furnished the only reports that the railroad companies and the authorities in the outside world received until the chase was abandoned.

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From the south bank of the Milk river the three robbers, riding respectively a brown, a gray and a buckskin horse and leading a bay, headed across the long rolling ridges of the prairie to the south bearing a trifle east until they came to the Malta road, 14 miles south of that place. It was a rapid, wearing journey, over the sun-baked, sheep-eaten and scanty turf, beneath a blazing sun that rolled beneath the heat waves along the horizon until they shaped themselves into dazzling mirages. Now and then an alkali hole, its water brackish and cloudy with the chemical, the banks white with sediment, was passed. Here and there the white shelter tent or canvas-covered wagon of a sheepherder could be seen. Most of these were avoided. One or two, however, the robbers passed close at hand and called to them to message in tones of bravado: "Tell 'em we are going south!"

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They passed the ranch of senator Ben Phillips, 25 miles south of Malta, and a mile or so beyond the hog ranch of Jack Ellis, where they were seen by Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, and a little further along by Jim Jackson, who asserts that Kid Curry recognized and spoke to him. Here the trail disappears.

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The posses followed as best they could with poor mounts and some of their members not accustomed to hard riding. Cunningham was first to quit. He returned home Thursday, pretty well tired out. The guide, Pete Saunders, became disgusted with affairs and left the posse near the Circle C outfit, 40 miles south of Malta, Friday morning. His party had ridden through to that place from Malta, stopping only at Phillips' ranch for breakfast, in 11 hours. It had passed the sheriff's party, which had remained over night at a sheep camp, somewhere en route, but was joined by that crowd later on Thursday at the Circle C.

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From there the route south was taken by the posse to the point on the Missouri known as Rocky Point, 100 miles south of Malta, under the guidance of George Baker, and old trapper who has been working as a wolfer for the Circle C outfit.

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They worked about there until last Monday without avail, having trouble getting horses and meeting with many discouragement. Then they returned home, reaching Malta Tuesday.

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In the meantime, following up on the large reward, offered immediately on the news of the crime reaching St. Paul, Ronald Stewart, general superintendent of the Great Northern Express Company, went to Havre, from which place he and the railway officials have directed the search in other directions.

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Ihe description of the men who did the hold-up, as telegraphed broadcast by the express company is as follows: One of the men weighs 195 pounds. He wore a long beard on his chin, and a week's growth of whiskers covered the rest of his face. He wore new tan shoes, a black coat and vest and corduroy trousers. He revolver was suspended from his neck by a leather loop. This is believed to be Longabaugh.

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Another of the gang is described as being six feet tall. He is not stoutly built. He has sandy complexion and blue eyes. There is a slight scar over his left eye. He appears to be a workingman. He wore a black coat and vest and blue overalls. He shoes were black. His revolver was carried in a bootleg scabbard.

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The man who did all the shooting with the Winchester is believed to be Kid Curry. He is described as follows: His eyes are jet black. He has a prominent nose and clear-cut features. It is believed he will weigh 180 pounds. While his shoulders are conspicuously square, they are slightly stooped. He wore a black slouched hat. The gun he had resembled a Winchester.

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Longabaugh has long been a friend of the Curry family, and has many of their same characteristics. In 1892, he, with Billy Madden and Harry Bassett, held up the Great Northern train only a few hundred yards out of Malta. The scene was just west of the railroad bridge which spans the Milk river as the road leaves the town on its way west. The three men then did not understand safe blowing--a trick which Longabaugh has learned since. They went through the passengers, but their returns were small. Madden and Bassett were captured, the one getting six years and the other eight years. Longabaugh made his escape over the same route as that he took the other day. In recent weeks he has appeared in Malta and has not tried very hard to escape recognition.

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The Curry family history is interesting. There were three boys, two of whom, have met violent deaths. Those who knew them when they first arrived in Northern Montana 15 years ago say they were all bright and intelligent youths, ordinarily of quiet manner and possessing many companionable traits, Their blood and breeding were wrong, however. They were from guerilla stock, their father and his father before him being "gun fighters," engaged desperately in the border warfare of generations ago in Kansas and Missouri.

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The boys settled in northern Montana, not many miles from the scene of the recent robbery and made a number of friends, They were gay and reckless, but also had streaks of industry. Also, it must be admitted, they had streaks of dishonesty. Partly by rustling unbranded colts and partly by business-like methods they accumulated a large horse herd on their ranch in the Little Rockies and became quite wealthy as horsemen in that part of the country are reckoned. About them clustered a number of wild young spirits, and presently they conceived the idea that they had some sort of divine right to rule the whole country.

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About this time the little town of Landusky spring up in the Little Rocky district, a town far from railroads and telegraphs, as it remains to-day. Pike Landusky was the ruling spirit there, and he being of fighting Kansas-Missouri stock himself, and a quarrelsome sort of fellow, resented the Curry rule, The feud grew until blood was demanded on both sides. One day in January, 1894, Kid Curry, the youngest of the trio, went into a saloon in Landusky. The story goes that Landusky attempted to draw his gun, but the Kid, with the marvelous dexterity for which he is noted, seeing the attempt, drew his own gun and killed Landusky. The case is spoken of as one in which a man was killed after he got the drop on another.

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At once Kid, or Harvey, to give him his proper name, fled. It was rumored that he had gone to South Africa, but this was an error. He went, it is believed, to Wyoming, where he had been before. He roamed about a good deal, and at one time was located in the Hole-in-the-Wall country, which has sheltered so many criminals and found an apt pupil.

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Johnny and Lonnie Curry remained about the Little Rockies and renewed an old quarrel with Jew Jake. Jake is a well-known character in Northern Montana. About 10 years ago he was living in Great Falls, and one day went on an excursion to Nelhart, then a new camp. Bob Pontet was city marshal of the Falls at that time and was on the train. The two had a row. When Pontet tried to arrest Jake the latter resisted and they began firing at each other on the train. Scattering bullets wounded several people, including some children, and one bullet went through Jake's hip, necessitating the amputation of he leg. Jake was punished further by being sent to the penitentiary. When he got out he went to Landusky and opened a saloon and heartily entered into a quarrel with the Curry boys that had started before he went to the penitentiary.

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Johnny and Lonnie, when they had nothing else to do, used to go into Landusky and bombard the old man's place. One time they kept him in a state of siege for several days. Jake, on the other hand, always traveled abroad with a sawed off double-barreled shotgun, looking for the boys, but neither side ever made a killing.

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After the Kid killed Pike Landusky, Johnny Curry took up with the Widow Landusky. She and a man named Winters were contesting title to a ranch, which she wanted to give to Johnny, but Winters had taken forcible possession, and refused to be ousted. Johnny, who, by the way, was one-armed, rode out one day and told Winters to get off the ranch within a specified period or he would kill him. At the expiration of the period Johnny rode to the ranch and called Winters out. The latter came unarmed. Johnny then put into practice a favorite trick of his. Putting his reins in his mouth he opened fire on Winters with his gun held in his one hand. Johnny was riding a green horse that was not properly educated in the trick. It grew restive under fire and refused to stand still. This gave Winters time to reach down for his double-barreled shotgun and empty the contents of both barrels in Johnny's chest, killing him instantly. This was the first break in the trio. Winters was never arrested.

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Lonnie came next. He had become enamored of an outlaw's life and roamed up and down the country, living a free and easy life. Last year he, with Bob Lee and Kid Curry, held up the Union Pacific train at Wilcox, Wyo. Sheriff Hogan pursued them, but they killed him and got away into Hole-in-the-Wall country. Some months after Lonnie, with Lee, under the alias of Bobby Curry, opened a saloon at Harlem, in this state. They attempted to realize on one of the drafts stolen from the Union Pacific train through the bank at Forty Benton. This led to the discovery of their whereabouts. They got wind of impending trouble, sold the saloon for a song and fled. Lonnie could not cover up his tracks and was traced to Dodson, Mo., near his old home. He was surrounded while visiting his sweetheart. He tried to escape through the back yard, but when he found the escape fruitless, he opened fire on the officers and was killed by them.

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It was not many months before this that Lonnie had turned over the large horse herd belonging to himself and the Kid to Bob Thornhill, who now has the horses in the Missouri valley on the ranch below the breaks.

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Kid Curry has a number of peculiarities. For one thing he is known through Northern Montana as the best roper of cattle ever seen on those ranges. His work with the rope is said to be a marvel of accuracy. He is an admirable horseman, but is desperately afraid of a bucking horse, a trait in his character for which no one has ever been able to account. It is told of him that once while staying at a ranch in Wyoming he, out of gallantry, offered his horse, a beautiful and gentle animal, to the belle of the countryside to ride to a dance. After he had done so he made the awful discovery that that there was not another gentle horse in the corral. He tried to beg a horse from the other cowboys, but they heartlessly refused. In terror lest the girl should hear of his seeming cowardice, the Kid meekly accepted the glass-eyed, biting, fighting pinto bronco that was loaned him. The beast made him ride for all he was worth. He arrived at the dance pale and nearly exhausted, and a few days after he left the country, so keen was his mortification.

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Kid Curry is fond of dress and his taste in that direction is rather flashy. He is absolutely reckless and careless, and since he has been an outlaw has been known to take the most desperate chances. No one who knows him believes he will ever be taken alive. A dead shot with a revolver and rifle, he will be a hard man to capture.

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The identity of the third man has been guessed at by every man who is working on the case, and there are many guesses. Billy Pinkerton says he has information that he is a half-breed. Others think he is a man who worked for George Cunningham, the man whose horse was shot out from under him by the robbers. This man was seen on the morning of the robbery leading horses seen near the scene of the robbery, and since then he has disappeared. It is reported he is on a big drunk in Havre, but many people believe he was engaged in the affair.

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Charles Jones is another man suspected, and the authorities incline strongly to the belief that he is the man wanted. Jones was one of the men engaged in the robbery of the Northern Pacific train at Gray Cliff, below Livingston, this state, about seven years ago, and in the subsequent killings in evading arrest. His accomplices in the crime were all killed by the posse near Kallspell, far across the state from the scene of the crime. Jones was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang for his part in the killing in resisting arrest. The supreme court granted a new trial and he got off with a sentence of 10 years. May 10 last he was released, after serving six years and four months, the other time being cut off for good behavior.

--The Anaconda Standard, July 14 1901.

..

70 miles from the robbery, William Jackson, who knew Logan, encountered the robbers, was greeted by Logan, and noted that one of them had a bandaged head, suggesting he had been shot and hit by Sheriff Griffith. Logan also spotted hotel owner Jack Ellis and asked him to misdirect the pursuing posse, which was only a few miles behind them. (San Francisco Chronicle, July 6, 1901 and the Anaconda Standard, July 8, 1901.)

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A cow puncher riding north from the Missouri river met three of the bandits about 70 miles north of Malta. They asked the cow puncher to notify men following them that they were going south. The cow puncher had only gone about four miles when he met Sheriff Griffith with a posse of 45 men, compromising the best gun men in eastern Montana. They were only about eight miles behind the robbers.

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The posse is growing larger constantly and their horses are being changed frequently. The cow puncher said the third man in the party had a bandage around his head. This was probably caused by one of the two shots fired by Sheriff Griffith, who was on the train.

--The San Bernardino County Sun, July 6, 1901.

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This was the last true Wild Bunch robbery, and the first sign of Harvey Logan after a mysterious three-month absence.

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A saloon girl named "Latrine Liz," said to have been friendly with Sundance and Logan, may have played a support role in the robbery. (The Anaconda Standard, July 8, 1901.) A 4th person was reportedly seen watching horses across the river, which may have been Laura Bullion or another confederate of the gang. (The Anaconda Standard, July 4, 1901.)

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Soon after the robbery, according to Brown Waller, a woman rented a rig in Glasgow, drove through a rainstorm, walked to Tampico, took a train to Hindsdale, obtained a buggy, drove to a coulee near the Walsh ranch, and dug up a cache of money from the robbery. I have no idea where he obtained this claim from, but if true, the woman would have to have been Laura Bullion (if not the enigmatic "Latrine Liz.).

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A rancher in Valley county, Mt.,claimed to have met the robbers who told him to pass on to the posses that they were well and happy (The New York Tribune, July 6, 1901),.

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Three men are tracked to a boat landing near Glasgow, who shot the lock off a boat, and crossed the Missouri to an area filled with caves that could have provided a good hiding place. (Anaconda Standard, July 19, 1901.)

..

WAGNER TRAIN ROBBERS

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Three Men Answering Their Description Stopped Five Hours at the Benton Stage Station.

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Three men answering the descriptions of the Wagner train robbers stopped five hours at the Benton Stage station on Sunday July 14. They left at 4 a.m., going south. They had a pack horse and three saddle horses. All were tired, and said they had been looking for a location along the Missouri river. They took their turns sleeping and watching, and one looking like a half breed, was sick.

--Maysville, Ky., Daily Ledger, July 26, 1901.

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ON THE TRAIL WITH THE POSSE.

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A Wild Goose Chase Into the Recesses of the Little Rocky Mountains.

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NO TRACE OF THE GANG.

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When the fighting men of Northern Montana were called upon to go down into the region of the Little Rocky mountains and capture the train robbers who were reported to be surrounded here, they gleefully got their 30-30 rifles, their saddles and their ammunition, and sallied them forth to do battle. Scores upon scores of miles they rode, over the burning prairie, dodging the fat and prosperous looking rattler and the wicked prickly pear, only to find upon reaching the scene that someone had been dreaming and that the dream had been accepted as fact by the authorities.

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There were no robbers in the vicinity to capture. There was nothing to do but to ride aimlessly about the hills and canyons of the Little Rockies, try to keep other fool deputies from shooting by mistake and cure the dreamer of dreams who had brought about all the tribulation. Then came disgust and a breaking up of the posse.

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It was a queer man-hunt, after all and one that will linger long in the memory of those who participated in its many adventures.

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With the posse from Cascade county went a staff correspondent from the Standard, sent from Anaconda for the purpose. The whole party, 12 men in all, left Great Falls Thursday morning, July 11, under the command of Sheriff Benner, an officer whose energetic and cheerful nature, whose courtesy, courage and unfailing regard for the comfort of others endeared him to the men. The party traveled by train to Chinook, arriving at that place about 10 o'clock Thursday morning. There Ronald Stewart, general superintendent of the Great Northern Express company, had a consultation with Sheriff Benner and then looked to the outfitting of the party. A four-horse team and wagon was loaded with provisions about 2 o'clock in the afternoon the start was made, most of the party riding in the wagon and the remained going in a carriage. Early that evening both groups discharged their loads at the round-up camp of the Bear Paw Pool outfit, 16 miles from Chinook, where the men in charge made the men comfortable. Few of the deputies had brought bedding, a fact that caused much grief before the expedition was over. The cowboys at the camp shared their blankets the first night, however, so all were comfortable, even though a drenching thunder shower came down on the open air beds.

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Start of the Cavalcade.

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Four o'clock in the morning saw everyone up. After a scratch breakfast--there was no regular cook in the party--came the work of selecting horses. The entire herd belonging to the outfit was brought into the corral, which the riders entered with lariats. As a horse would be roped and brought out, some deputy would claim it and in this way everyone was soon saddling up with saddles brought along for the purpose. Shortly after 6 o'clock the start was made, the grub wagon following the little cavalcade. The route was over a distant prairie toward a distant butte, cone shaped, that marked the limit of the Bear Paw mountains, the range in which Chief Joseph made his last, gallant stand and was defeated by General Miles. It was nearly 20 miles to this butte. In those 20 miles the men who had been out of the saddle for several years suffered their first tortures in silence.

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Passing between the butte and the range proper Parker's ranch, rich in the possession of a well of pure spring water, was reached and a temporary stop made. Then the party pushed on, entering the prairie once more and heading for the Little Rockies, standing in a mass of blacks and greens far across the rolling ridges. Hot, frightfully hot, was the day. Noon came when the party was but a few miles from the Parker ranch. Camp was made in a little coulee through which a sluggish stream moved and furnished water for the horses as they ate from the luxuriant prairie grass. After a rest of an hour or so the hot rise was resumed.

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First night in camp.

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Night found the party close to the fringe of the Little Rockies at a place called Bear Springs on the Belknap Indian reservation. An iron spring bubbles up from the earth here. Near it is a comfortable cabin, owned by a squaw who is away for a summer vacation. There was little difficulty in obtaining entrance and the use of a cook stove. Baking powder biscuit, cooked by a versatile correspondent from Great Falls, was a considerable figure on the menu that night. All hands slept out of doors rather than take chances of forming too close an acquaintance with strangers inside the cabin.

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The first incident to cause any excitement occurred just before the springs were reached that evening. A man on horseback riding the opposite direction stopped to talk with the party for a minute and to inquire most earnestly its business. He was a red headed freckled faced individual with a nose so tiptilted that it looked as if it might have been driven upward by a blow. When he had passed on, one of the men in the party said the stranger was Lee Self, an old friend of the Curry gang. Self's horse was fagged, though at the time he was met he was riding slowly. After leaving the party he passed out of sight over a ridge. A member of the posse rode up over a higher ridge and reported that as soon as Self was out of sight he began to push his horse as hard as possible. The theory was advanced that Self was acting as messenger between the outside world and the robbers in their hiding place. Oddly enough, Self was met near Parker's ranch on their return trip. This time he wore a broad smile, apparently pleased over the failure to capture the robbers.

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Quaint Burying Ground.

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From Breed Springs the party jogged along over more prairie hills and dales, in one place passing through a deep, dry coulee, far up the side of which stood a lone cross and a collection of boxes. The curious ones rode up to investigate and found the place was a burying ground, the boxes containing the remains of several Indians. One was Standing Bird, an Assiniboine who rendered the government services as a scout during the Indian wars and later passed from this vale of tears, mourned by a large family. Nearby was a box containing the body of what was evidently a chief. Several of the senses were apprised of the fact that he had not been dead very long. Nearby was the body of his horse, shot through the head, the skeleton of the head still containing a government bridle. A big tea box on top of the pile contained the remains of several infants.

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Soon after passing this spot the party descended a little hill into the broad, picturesque and romantic valley in which is located the Belknap sub-agency, a collection of solidly-built little cottages. About it cluster teepees in great number and several Indian log cabins. At the extremity of the valley the substantial store buildings of the St. Paul's mission with the rising walls of a new edifice were passed. Then the road seemed to disappear into the heart of a wooded hill, the first of the Little Rockies.

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Into a Beautiful Canyon.

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Riding along, the party suddenly turned a bend and plunged into one of the most charming canyons that can be found anywhere. It is like the famed Rocky canyon near Bozeman, though on a smaller scale. The limestone walls rise 200 feet on either side, jagged and broken and stately. In one place there is a beautiful natural arch in the canyon wall. A deliciously cool mountain stream rolls and tumbles down the canyon, the road running part of the way in its shallow bed. Dense foliage fills the canyon. The play of light and shade upon it, the cool restfulness of the whole scene made it most gratifying and charming after the ride across the naked prairie hills. Everyone was loath to leave.

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After a short rest, the party pushed on up the trail and, after a mile or so, out of the canyon into a wild forest. The road presently wound through a clearing in which is situated the reservation saw mill. Then the road climbed several miles. "Strawberries," yelled a man in the advance guard. Sure enough there were strawberries, little luscious wild ones that delayed progress several minutes while the party ate them.

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In the center of a forest glen, close to a running stream, noon camp was made. After luncheon, the horses were dragged from the rich blue-joint grass they were nibbling and a fresh start made. Up the road climbed, steeper than ever, until the summit was reached, and there a magnificent view was spread out, panorama-like, before the eyes. Far, far in the distance was the break that marked the course of the Missouri. Off the left in the distance was a series of rolling desert hill--the famed badlands. Close at hand was the level spread of the prairie.

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Approaching the Prairie.

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The cavalcade moved down the steep hill, leading horses. Half way down a grateful summer shower came to cool the heated bodies of men and horses and at the bottom several of the party swung off to ride half a mile up a little gulch to the mining camp of Landusky to find something else that was cooking.

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Out from the hills the road took the party past the substantial house occupied by the Landusky family. Beyond it on the hill side was a little white fence about the grave of old Pike Landusky, killed by Kid Curry, now the object of the chase.

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Six miles out of he prairie was a patch of green on the landscape. It was the Gill & Winter ranch where the posse were to rendezvous. On the way thither one of the advance guard stopped to look at a bunch of horses. These horses, by the way, are the property of Jim Thornhill. They are what is left of the Curry herd, owned at the time the Curry boys were comparatively decent citizens and had a horse ranch in the vicinity. The Valley county deputies, riding down from the hills, saw him and in an excess of zeal made a swift ride of several miles for him. Cascade county men, seeing one of their companions apparently in danger of attack, galloped to his assistance. Explanations followed and all was serene.

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The ranch was the objective point of the party. In it, camped in the ranch house, was found the large Valley county posse, raised in Glascow and Culbertson by Sheriff Griffith. Down the little raise and across the stream was the Choteau county party with a tent and grub wagon. Alongside it the newcomers made camp, rustled some beef at the ranch house and enjoyed a good dinner.

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The Valley county crowd had come in the day before to join the five pioneers first brought down by Sheriff Griffith, and the Choteau county crowd had come next. In the latter outfit, which was headed by Under Sheriff Crawford, was Stock Inspector Harry Lund. The Valley county crowd had in its ranks a Methodist parson from Glascow, the Rev. Mr. Luther, who is a good horseman and an energetic deputy: Dr. Hoyt of Glasgow, two carpenters to build coffins and a number of others, including some excitable young men who brought the jeers of old timers down upon the whole crowd. Pinkerton Detective Callahan also was with the Valley county party. Sheriff Griffith was in general charge of the whole camp, having been first on the ground. Under Sheriff Crawford deferred to him, though it was in Choteau county. The ranch itself is a picturesque place with its log cabins and dense foliage along the stream banks. In front of the ranch house stands the hitching post where Johnny Curry was killed by Jim Winter.

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All three parties had made long rides to reach the camp. The Choteau county men had come over the route just traveled by the Cascade county party, and the Valley county men had ridden down from Malta, a distance of 65 miles, taking a day and a half for the trip.

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When all three parties were gathered together the wise men of the party--the sheriff and detectives--consulted together. Up to that time no organized work had been done, the individual deputies had been searching the Little Rockies and riding patrol through those hills and down toward the Missouri river.

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At the conference it had been disclosed that absolutely not a clue had been obtained, not a trace of the fugitives had been seen since they disappeared on the day of the robbery, Wednesday, July 3. There was nothing save a theory that the men were in the Little Rockies. The falsity of the stories of the men being surrounded was apparent.

All were disappointed.

Of course the men who had been brought all that great distance were disappointed. Some of them took no stock whatever in the theory of a mountain hiding place. Now that the situation was plain before them believed--and there are many men familiar with the country who share the opinion--that the robbers had relays of horses at convenient points and made a long ride clear out of the country. Still all were willing to give the theory a fair test.

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Hardly had the conference broken up when Ab Fuhrman, a deputy from Glascow, came in with what is now believed to be a pipe dream of having seen a mysterious man leading three horses out of the brush who had run away when the deputy fired at him. In a wild ride in the face of a terrific wind and thunder storm, 50 men or more rode away and galloped across the prairie and over the hills for 25 about miles without result. This added to the general disgust.

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The next day came the big ride. All hands turned out early in the day and rode off to search the hills. The start was all right but the finish was strangling. A number of the deputies who thought only of the $6 a day they were getting made early sneaks and returned to camp. Others, as already related in the Standard, went to Landusky, filled up on firewater and tried to shoot up the town, with disastrous results to themselves.

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Searching the Hills.

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Enough men were left, however, after these desertions to make a pretty thorough search of the hills. Under Sheriff Crawford and Stock Inspector Lund had more luck than most of the party. They heard of a man having seen three men camped on Lodge Pole Creek on the north side of the mountains several days after the robbery and went over to investigate. Like other reports it was fake. The prospector had seen only one man and he was a prospector. The same two officers also heard a wild tale of a dark man who answered the description of one of the robbers having acted in a mysterious manner about the cabin of a farmer only a few hours before. They rushed to investigate the rumor only to find the mysterious man was a member of the posse riding the territory assigned to him. Sheriff Benner and one of his men came upon seven strips of colored calico wound around a tree in the hills. When they reported it some were inclined to think it might be a signal, but finally it was decided it was a medicine sign put up by Indians.

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A woodman's cabin was found in a gulch in the hills. It was surrounded and opened, only to be found empty. A few other bootless chases after fakes and dreams were made and then all hands returned to camp.

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The men interested in catching the robbers were all pretty we'll disgusted with this method of pursuit and were of the opinion that not one-quarter of the men engaged in the pursuit were required. Accordingly the next morning the three posses broke camp and started home. With half a dozen men and a grub wagon, Under Sheriff Crawford and Stock Inspector Harry Lund struck out to investigate the bad lands for signs. It doubtless will be several days before they are heard from. It is understood that a posse of 20 men from Lewiston, stationed along the Missouri watching the crossings is still on duty, but hope of catching the robbers in this part of the world is practically abandoned.

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Cascade and Choteau men returned over the route they had come, riding 62 miles the first day and reaching Chinook at 7:30 a. m. last Tuesday.

--The Anaconda Standard, July 21, 1901.

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Curiously, Lee Self is mentioned as being encountered, though he was supposedly shot and killed a month earlier.

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* He had supposedly threatened to fill Winters' gut with lead in the past.

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"Deaf Charley" Hanks checks into a tenant house and saloon on College street in Nashville (possibly under the name of William Parkey)

At some point, Hanks seems to have been arrested for vagrancy. (The Nashville American, Oct. 28, 1901.) Unable to pay the $10 fine, he was sent to a work group for two days until "friends" tracked him down and paid the fine, freeing him. Why he had no money on him is a complete mystery. 

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DESPERATE ESCAPE

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Suspected Criminal at Nashville Fight

Way Through Line of Officers, Tires

Horses and Kills Blood Hounds

in a Thrilling Flight

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Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 28. A desperate man fought his way clear of two city detectives here and after a thrilling chase made good his escape. In his race for liberty he utilized a two-horse wagon team, a horse and buggy and a riding horse, all forcibly taken, while two dead blood hounds mark the first portion of his trail.

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Officers believe the man is one of the gang that held up the Great Northern express near Wagner, Mont., last June, his attempt to get change for a $20 bill of the series secured in the robbery attracting the attention of the police to him.

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At 10:30 in the morning a raw boned man about five feet ten inches high, with florid complexion, offered the bill in payment of a small purchase made at a store on the public square. Difficulty in making the change caused the salesman to closely notice the bill which proved to be on the Montana bank to which the stolen bills were consigned.

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The police were quietly notified, the clerk meanwhile delayed the matter of change.

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Detectives Dwyer and Dickens were soon on hand and approaching the man demanded his name.

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"Ferguson" was the reply and after another question or two Detective Dwyer informed the man he was under arrest.

Quick as a flash Ferguson had a revolver in each hand and started for the door. A hand-to-hand fight ensued, both officers grappling with the stranger who proved more than a match for them. Using his pistols as clubs he fought his way to the door and fled down the street.

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A passing ice wagon caught his attention and the three Negro occupants were soon out of his way. Then at a terrific clip, the wagon was headed across the Cumberland river bridge into East Nashville, a fusillade of shots following it.

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Out Woodland street went the flying team but a sudden turn into First street, brought it to grief. One of the horses fell and broke his leg, but the fugitive was not to be delayed. Running across First street, he held up an old negro who was driving by in a buggy and the flight continued. Out on the commons he sped.

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Once the buggy overturned but quickly righted. Finally the tired horse was abandoned and after a dive into Shelby Park on foot, the supposed bandit secured another horse, hitched at a point near the park. Then after a sensational ride the horse was left and the fight continued on foot. Further out the pursuers found two of the bloodhounds used in the chase shot to death a short distance apart, and after that the trace of the man was lost.

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When the buggy was abandoned the man threw away a wallet containing $1,040 in ten and twenty dollar bills, of the Montana bank. Chief of Police Curran now has the money.

The Plymouth Tribune, Oct. 31, 1901.

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Fights His Way to Liberty

Nashville Tenn. Oct. 28 . A desperate man, George Parker alias Butch Cassity, cowboy, murderer. and train robber wanted for complicity in the great Northern $83000 express robbery at Wagner, Mont., escaped from the very clutches of the law this morning and the chase after the fleeing desperado makes up one of the most exciting days in the history of the Nashville police department. News of the thrilling dash of the bandit spread through the city in a very few minutes and it was not long until many citizens armed with pistols rifles and shotguns joined Chief of Police Curran and Sheriff Hurt and their men in an effort to apprehend the man but as the case stands he outwitted them all. He went to the Newman Co. dry goods store and after making small purchaser presented a $50 bill in payment. It was found that the bill was one of those stolen from the express train. A telephone message was sent to the police and the bandit was detained. Detective Dwyer and Dickens responded. Detective Dwyer asked the man his name to which he responded, giving the name of Ferguson.

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"We are officers and you are under arrest," said Dwyer at the same time, placing his hand on the man's shoulder.

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Quick as a flash, without uttering a word and before the officers could pull their pistols, the prisoner with both hands threw back his coat and jerked from their holsters a brace of forty five caliber pistols holding them in either hand, commanding the officers to permit him to pass them. Dwyer had his pistol while the other officer had his pocket "billy" filled with shot. They grabbed the prisoner from each side and a desperate hand-to-hand encounter followed in which neither of the three men had a chance to use a pistol. Dickens brought his billy into play up on the head of the bandit but he fought on like a demon. For three minutes the three men struggled in a small space near the foot of the store only a few feet from the door. In some unaccountable manner the desperado, a man of Herculean strength, threw the officers from him and made a dash into College street.

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Before the officers could recover themselves, the man ran down the street where a large ice wagon was passing. On the wagon were three negroes. The bandit threw one pistol in the holster he wore, catching one of the horses by the bridle. He commanded the negroes to leave the wagon, stating that he needed the team. Two were on the pavement in a jiffy but one refused to give up and did not leave the driver's box until after his life had been threatened. The desperado, grabbing the reins and a big whip, jumped to the driver's seat, whipped up the horses and was off in a minute, the team going up the grade, fire-engine fashion. As the bandit drove up College street, Detective Dwyer re-opened fire on the fugitive and missed. The desperado proceeded on his way to the Cumberland river bridge applying the lash to the steeds at their every jump. The wagon swayed to and fro as it went over the bridge, narrowly escaping a collision with other vehicles. In the flying ride the desperado lost his hat. With coolness and deliberation, the bandit decided upon his next move. He was certain he was being pursued by two and perhaps a dozen officers and citizens down Bridge avenue. At the corner of First street he noticed a buggy with a good looking bay horse attached. His brain acted quickly. The ice wagon team was slow hitched to a cumbersome wagon. This team could not stand the race against more fleet footed animals and the driver decided to abandon the vehicle. He threw the horses, killing one and leaping from the wagon marked with four bullet holes, leaving a trace of blood behind on the seat, he told a negro who was standing near by to take charge of the team. Again he showed rare presence of mind. Running across the street he held up an old negro who was driving the bay horse which belonged to Maj. M. J. Dodson. After securing the Dodson rig the bandit drove on at a frightful rate. Across the rough fields he went to a saw mill near the river, passing across several gullies where telephone poles are trimmed for use. There were several hundred of these poles. The bandit did not falter for an instant when he found himself hemmed in but whipped up the faithful steed and sent him in a mad dash over the timber, buggy and all. Some of the poles were a foot or two apart but he did not mind this, his only thought being to bush the horse along in the sensational drive for liberty. Leaving the pole yard he came to a fence. He hesitated a moment and then tore down a section driving through without stopping for an instant. The buggy turned over but the next instant it was set aright. The horse was whipped up and again was sent across the country at a gallop stopping not for wire fences or other obstructions The horse was tiring and to stay with him would mean arrest. Abandonment gave hope, so jumping from the buggy which had remained intact during the long, hazardous drive. he started through section of Shelby Park on foot.

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The bandit noticed a horse tied near the river. He cut the hitch strap, mounted the horse bareback, and again started off in a gallop. The ride for the next few hundred yards was as sensational as the trip across the telephone poles. This time the animal had to jump through wire fences and over gullies and ravines anywhere from ten to fifteen feet deep. At last he was stalled in a triangular wire fence with a thirty foot gully a few feet ahead. The animal was then abandoned by the fugitive.

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The man was being closely pursued by Detective Dwyer and Patrolman W. H. Giger, and several shots were tried by the officers and the bandit when last seen was going due east. Penitentiary bloodhounds were put on the trail but the path had been traversed by officers and they could not track him.

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Capt. Henry Curran all available policeman and Sheriff Hurt and his men along with several Constables were all in the chase by this time. When he abandoned the buggy, fearing he should be apprehended, perhaps, he threw a wallet bulging with greenbacks in the air. Capt. Curran now has the money, $1200 in $10 and $20 bills of the Bank of Montana in his possession. They answer the description of the stolen money in every detail. When last seen, the man was bleeding at the head perhaps from a pistol wound but more probably from the effect of the clubbing he received from Detective Dickens at the Newman store.

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In all probability he is in league with Anna Rogers alias Maudie Williams and has been here since the time of her arrest. Following the trial of the woman a story was afloat that three men, confederates of the woman, were present at the trial. The police investigated but failed to discover anything. Perhaps the story was true. Telegrams have been sent all over the country, especially to the surrounding towns, to be on the lookout for the fugitive. Several hundred people assisted the officers today, scouring the country. An effort was made to locate Supt. Gaylor of the Pinkerton Agency at Chicago who left here Friday night. He is now in the South at work on the case.

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The fugitive is regarded as one of the most desperate criminals in the West. He is known in criminal records as a bank robber, highwayman, cattle and horse thief, as well as train robber. He has served a term in the Wyoming State penitentiary for grand larceny but was pardoned January l9, 1896.

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At midnight the police and county officers had found no trace of the fugitive, and it is believed he has made his escape.

-- The Adair County News, Nov. 6, 1901.

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Earlier that morning, Hanks tried to get a shave at the Young barbershop, offering a dollar for the job when refused, but the barber would not violate the law. A deputy there, noting his hip pockets were bulging, thought he could be one of the train robbers they were looking for, but failed to act. (The Nashville American, Oct. 29, 1901.)

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After fighting his way out of the city and into the woods, Hanks wound up in Texas where he died in a cathouse gunfight with three deputies.

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Sundance signs a legal document as witness in Chubut.

She was also smoking a cigarette.

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She is identified as "Laura Bullion" by George Postel of Mascoutah, Il., who had known her in Texas. (Minneapolis Journal, Nov. 7, 1901.)

SUBMITS TO INTERVIEW WITH THE NEWSPAPER MAN.

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"Well." she began, in answer to a question. "I don't know what you-all want to know about me, 'cause I've done told everything I know and a heap more, I guess," she added, with a glance at Chief Desmond and a smile.

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"Yes, you know you lied to us," observed Chief Desmond; "now I want you to tell us the truth."

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"Yes, I lied to you about some things," she said, "but that was when I was excited and didn't know what was the best to do. But I've done told you-all since then everything I know."

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"Well, tell us about your connection with this man 'Rose,' [Ben Kilpatrick whom they thought was Sundance] and how you first met him and all about yourself," was suggested. and how you first met him and all about yourself," was suggested.

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"Well. I'm going to tell you-all on the start." she said, "'cause I take it you're for the newspapers, that they ain't nothing blood-and-thunder about me. How I come to hook up with this man Rose was because I'd been hooked up with Bill Carver. Carver was in the business, too, and when he got shot up down Texas way his pardners kind o' thought I'd feel lonesome without Bill nor nobody to look after me, and take care of me. so Bill Cheney [actually a Pinkerton informant, though a friend of the Kilpatricks] he brings me and Rose together, and we've been together since. That's all they is to it."

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"How old are you, Laura, and where were you born?"

,

"I'm 26 years old. and I was born in Arkansas somewheres. I don't know whereabouts. I don't know as I ever remember my parents. They split up when I was a kid. The first place I remember being is down in Tom Greene County, Texas. My grandfolks lived on a ranch on Knickerbocker, Tex. That's where I got to know Bill Carver. Carver was raised on a ranch down there, and so was the Ketchum boys, Sam and Tom. I never got much schooling, 'cept a little now and then in the district school.

,

"Part of the time I lived out and part time I helped at home, but you-all know how it is in small country places they ain't much for a girl to do, and when a girl ain't got no parents to look after her and teach her how to do right, she just naturally gets to running wild. I got brushed up a heap agin Bill Carver, and he sort o' took a shine to me, and me and him went to Fort Worth. I expected Bill was fixing to marry me, but nothing ever come of it. I knowed Bill had been train robbing, but he told me he'd reformed, and as far as I know, he didn't do nothing in that line while I was with him. 'Course, he'd leave me ever little while and go away for days, but I never asked him no questions.

,

"The Ketchum. boys, they was raised around there, too, and while I knowed them, I never went with 'em none. They went up Northwest after awhile, and was killed there.

,

TELLS ABOUT TRAIN ROBBERY BY CARVER BOYS IN TEXAS.

.

"Carver and some more boys held up a train down Texas way last spring and hid out in the woods. In April Bill and [George] KiIpatrlck come out o' hiding into town to get some provisions and horse feed, and they was both shot up by the Marshal and his posse. Then I was left to do by myself. and I guess some of Bill's pardners kind of felt sorry for me and so when they got away and went up North they kept looking out for somebody who'd take care of me. Bill Cheney, he told me so, and so one day when Bill was up to Douglass. Ariz., where my grandfolks moved, he meets this here Rose and the boys told him to bring Rose down and stake me to him. Cheney brought Rose down to Fort Worth and said, 'Laura, this is John Rose. He's a good fellow and he'll take care of you.' So we Just hooked up like that, and that's all they was to it.

.

"Did you know he was a train-robber?"

.

"Well, he didn't say nothing and I didn't ask no fool questions. I'd read about the Wagner robbery, and when I saw the money Rose had. I had a kind of idea what it was I was getting into. That was about a month ago. He gave me all the money I needed, and treated me right. and I didn't care no more. We went from there to Hot Springs and from there to Memphis, and then to St. Louis. We didn't stop at Nashville.

--The St. Louis Republic, Nov. 8, 1901.

.

.

Laura Bullion sentenced to 5 years in prison for forgery.

.

Logan certainly made the best record with a revolver at the shooting gallery on Gay street when in this city last week before he shot the policemen. To the admiration of a crowd of spectators, he made an even ring around the target with bullets and did everything else that a perfect marksman can do.

-- The Journal and Tribune, Dec. 17, 1901.

. .

According to a recently discovered newspaper article citing police sources, Logan then made his way to a Negro bowery druggist, paid him to put together some sort of concoction to blacken his skin to pass as Colored, then called a Negro hack to drive him to a train station, whereupon he headed for Newport, and wound up in Jefferson City.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

..

During the trip, Sundance sends a letter home from a Chicago hospital.

.

Harvey, Hughes and myself entered the room bunched up together, Harvey slightly in front. I was prepared for trouble for before entering the room. I had removed my slx shooter from the scabbard and had stuck it into the belt of my trousers. I had on no vest and as I walked into the room kept my hands folded over my belt, my right hand resting on the butt of my gun. Just before we entered, "Red" Souter inclined his head to the right to indicate that the man was on that side of the door. When I first saw him, he was sitting just to the right of the door and not more than four feet from us. At that moment, he swung around in his chair, drawing his gun. As he did so and rising, I noticed that he pulled his hip pocket out with the gun. He fired at once, the muzzle of his weapon being almost against Harvey's stomach. Harvey and Hughes grabbed him at once. As near as I could see, Harvey had hold of his shoulder. His right hand was free. I pulled down Hughes' shoulder with my left hand and fired over it into the man's breast. All this happened within a second or two. My second shot followed the first immediately. After my second shot, the three moved to the other corner of the room All this time, the man's right hand was free and he was pointing his pistol over Hughes' shoulder at me. I pulled down on him the third time but a woman [Lilly West or Mattie Freeman, the two soiled doves working that night] got in range behind him and I was afraid to shoot. A moment later they moved, and I fired the third time. That was the bullet that hit him in the head.

.

I want to make it clear that the man's gun was pointed at me all the time after the first shot. Of course, I know now why he didn't shoot, but I had no way of knowing then that he would not fire at me. I know now that he didn't fire again because my first shot had so paralyzed him that he couldn't pull the trigger. Instinctively, he kept me covered, but the bullet through his heart had taken the strength out of him and he couldn't shoot. Neither Harvey nor Hughes had drawn their weapons and I believed then and believe now that if I din't kill him he would kill one or all of us.

--Account of "Deaf Charley's" shooting by "Pink" Taylor from the Houston Daily Post, April 24, 1902.

.

His identification was aided by a tag in a coat borrowed from his brother in October, which read, Made for Wyatt Hanks. (Daily Arkansas Gazette, April 18, 1902.)

BOLD ACT OF BANDITS.

A Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific Railway Train Is Held Up.

SCENE OF CRIME NEAR CHICAGO.

Express Messenger Kane Is Shot Through the groin by One of the Desperadoes-- One Robber captured.

Joliet, Ills. July 5. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad's through express train No. 5, bound for Omaha and Denver, and which left Chicago at 10 p. m., was held up by robbers at Dupont. Ills., an hour later. Express Messenger Kane was shot through the groin by one of the robbers, and is in a critical condition. The local safe was forced open, but the amount of the booty secured is not known. Charles Nessler, who climbed over the tender of the engine and told the engineer and fireman to stop the train has been arrested. Nessler. however, is believed to be the unwilling accomplice of the robbers, as he obeyed their commands at the point of a revolver. The detectives are hot on the trail of the robbers. A special train is waiting at Coal City for a pair of bloodhounds which are to be rushed to the scene of the hold-up.

.

According to Nessler's story, only two robbers were concerned, though the detectives think there were more. Nessler is about 22 years old, of frank appearance and intelligence, and claims to be of respectable parents. He says he went to Niles Center recently to visit a cousin. He started home, and having no funds was beating his way, taking the train at Chicago. At Englewood they climbed on the bumpers back of the tender, and had scarcely secured this position when two men also climbed up. They said nothing in particular until Midlothian station was reached. Then one of the men climbed over the end of the tender upon the coal and ordered Nessler to follow. Both men had adjusted black masks to their faces. At the point of a revolver, Nessler was told to go forward to the cab and tell the engineerto stop the train half a mile beyond. Thoroughly frightened, he did so.

.

The engineer and fireman regarded the request as a joke and laughed.

.

"Look up there," said Nessler.

.

The trainmen did so and saw two revolvers pointed toward them. this is no joke," said the robber. "Stop the train or I'll kill you." The engineer shut off the steam and brought the train to a standstill at Dupont switch.

.

The engine crew were taken back under guard, Nessler being compelled to remain In the cab and keep quiet. Demand was made on the express messenger and baggagemen to open the door of their car under threats to blow it up with dynamite. The door was opened and the robbers rushed in. A struggle ensued and Messenger Kane was shot in the groin.

.

The robbers attempted to open the through safe, but were unsuccessful. The local safe, however, was forced open. It is not known what money was taken. It is reported that a bag of jewelry and some money was found in the safe, but railway officials say practically nothing of value was secured. The robbers disappeared.

.

Kane was taken to Linley Park for treatment, and later removed to Englewood Hospital. The police here have a satchel and a quantity dynamite found in a car near the scene of the robbery. None of the passengers were molested.

TRAIN ROBBERY.

Bandits Hold a C. R. I & P. Express near Chicago.

July 5. At the general Offices of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railway a dispatch was received of a daring attempt at train robbery. The dispatch is as follows: "Train No. .1, which left Chicago at 10 p. m., was held up near Durant, Ills.. 19 miles from Chicago. Express Messenger Kane was shot through the groin by one of the robbers. The bandits undertook to cut off the two front cars of the train. It is thought that there were three robbers in the party. One of them, who came under the tank and undertook to give orders to the engineer is under arrest, and has been taken to Joliet. The messenger was taken to Englewood for surgical treatment. It is not thought his injuries are fatal."

.

Engineer Goodell and Conductor Coffey were in charge of the train. The dispatch is signed by Conductor Coffey.

--The Evening Bulletin., July 5, 1902, Maysville, Ky.

.

ROBBERS' TRAIL GROWS WARM.; Men Who Held Up Rock Island Express Train Seen Near Chicago -- A Posse Closing In.

CHICAGO, July 5 -- The pursuit of the robbers who held up the Omaha and Denver express on the Rock Island Road Thursday, near Dupont, narrowed down this afternoon to a search for two young men, believed to be experienced criminals, who lived in an Englewood rooming house for two weeks before the robbery.

--New York Times, July 5, 1902.

.

IN PURSUIT OF BANDITS

Half a Hundred Men Are Scouring Country for the Rock Island Robbers

NO TRACE FOUND AS YET

BELIEVED DESPERATE BATTLE WILL ENSUE IF PURSUERS CATCH SIGHT OF QUARRY

EXPRESS MESSENGER KANE WILL RECOVER

Charles Nessler, Who Claims He Was Forced Into the Deal, Is Under Arrest -Goods Stolen Consist of Cheap Jewelry.

.

CHICAGO, July 4.-With half a hundred men on their trail, and the promise of a desperate battle and probably death for their portion if they should be overtaken, the two bandits who halted the Rock Island railroad's Denver Limited train at midnight Thursday and escaped after seriously wounding one of the express messengers, are still at large.

..

All during the night and through today they pushed on through the farming country, stealing a buggy or a wagon here and there, and abandoning the teams when they were too exhausted to carry them farther. Farmers and residents in the little town in the vicinity of the raid swept over the surrounding fields and prairies in the hunt, but never a glimpse was had of the fugitives. Occasionally a rumor of their whereabouts was obtained, but the utmost haste in organizing a pursuit failed to overhaul them.

.

Kane Will Recover.

.

James Kane, the veteran express messenger, who was shot down by the robbers while he stood with his hands elevated above his head, was brought to Chicago, and, it is believed, will recover.

.

Charles Nessler, the dupe and decoy of the bandits, who was captured on the ground after they had fled, was brought from Joliet during the day by Sheriff Magerstadt, but the officers do not believe he will be of much assistance in running down the fugitives.

..

The attempt upon the strong boxes of the United States Express company that were journeying toward Omaha and Denver is admitted to have been one of the best planned raids of recent years, but it was poorly executed, and the bandits tried to carry out the programme without sufficient force to protect themselves from an attack.

.

Looking for Big Money.

.

The detectives engaged in the investigation and the pursuit now being pushed all over Illinois are satisfied that the robbers hoped to force the big safe which contained somewhere in the neighborhood of $90,000, and only the precipitate shooting of the messenger defeated them in this project. When they fled they carried with them several packages of cheap jewelry, valued at about $300, and a quantity of catalogues and patent medicine bottles, which they apparently thought were bundles of valuables.

.

General Agent Wygant, of the United States Express company, says that the robbers secured less than $150.

.

Kane Is an Old Messenger.

.

OMAHA, Neb., July 4.-Express Messenger Kane, who was shot during the hold-up on the Rock Island road at Joliet last night, lived in Omaha, and was well known there. The train arrived in this city considerably behind time. Passengers on the train, with few exceptions, knew nothing of the affair until after it was over. Several Omaha banks, for whom consignments of money were carried, report the safe arrival of their currency.

--The Saint Paul Globe, July 5, 1902.

.

--The Saint Paul Globe, July 5, 1902.

.

"KID" CURRY'S GANG.

Believed That They Held Up the Rock Island Xpress.

.

Chicago (Special). That members of the "Kid" Curry band of bank and train robbers, wanted for alleged complicity in the recent Union Pacific holdup, perpetrated the robbery of the Rock Island express train at Dupont, Il., is believed probable by detectives, 100 of whom are working on the case.

..

Charles Nessler, the boy who was stealing a ride on the train when it was stopped, described the men to detectives and his description is said to tally with photographs and descriptions of "Butch" Cassidy and the "Sundance Kid," alias Harry Longbaugh, alleged members of the Kid Curry gang. It was officially stated by an officer of the United States Express Company that the robbers secured only $50 worth of jewelry.

..

They carried away a package of worthless vouchers and other papers, but overlooked a package containing $100,000.

--The Fulton County news., July 10, 1902. 

The letter was sent to Ed Hanlon, who reported it to the press.

.

LETTER FROM CURRY.

.

North Montana Man Claims to Have a Missive From the Desperado.

.

Edward Hanlon, an old friend of Kid Carry's, who resides in the Little Rockies, has received a letter from the train robber.

.

The letter is written in pencil, in bold hand, and its contents mirror daring character of the writer. Curry states that he managed to get the letter out of the jail in the following unique manner:

.

With an ordinary rubber band he bound the missive into a small wad and with another band shot it through the bars into the street as a small boy would shoot a stone in a flip. On the back of the envelope he wrote the words, "Please mail this letter, and the supposition is that it was picked up by some pedestrian, who mailed it in accordance with the written request.

.

"I will get out of this scrape yet," writes the most desperate criminal since the days of Jesse James. "I will show those people that they are not fooling with a soft thing. They call me the Napoleon of Crime, and you should see how they flock to see me when the trial is on.

.

And when I get out of this, Ed, look out for me. They talk about Harry Tracy, but if I don't give 'em a better run for their money than that dub Tracy, then my right name is not Harvey Logan. I'll cut my way through h--1 before they'll take me again.

.

I am now waiting for my sentence. It'll be a light one for the people here are with me and I've got all sorts of friends. Well, good-bye, old friend. It won't be so long before I'm back in Montana, and when I am, there'll be hell to pay.

--Fergus County Argus, Dec. 3, 1902. 

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

CATCHES A BAD MAN NAPPING

.

Business Man of Thermopolis Takes Four Shots at Tom O'Day and Lands One.

.

THERMOPOLIS, Wyo., Feb. 21. (Special Telegram.) Tom O'Day, notorious bad man, was wounded in a fight here today with a citizen and for the first time in his checkered career he received a bullet, although he has been fired at no less than 300 or 400 times. O'Day quarreled with Louis Bagby, a local business man, over the handling of one of O'Day's racehorses.

.

Bagby palled a six-shooter and fired four shots at O'Day point blank. The first shot took effect in O'Day's left cheek, but the others went wild.

.

O'Day for the first time in many years was unarmed, having left his gun in an adjoining room, but he attacked Bagby and drove him from the house. He afterwards appeared and paid a fine. Bagby was arrested, charged with assault with intent to kill. O'Day was for years a member of the Currie gang. He was tried for complicity in the Belle Fourche bank robbery, but was acquitted. He is a big man, of iron nerve, a crack shot.

--Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 22, 1903.

.

QUEER WEAPONS USED BY BRAVE O'DAY WHEN SHOT

.

Thermopolis, Wyo., Feb. 21.--Tom O'Day, who was tried and acquitted on a charge of robbing the Bridger, Mont., bank, and who is widely known as a man of reckless courage, was this morning wounded in a fight with Louis Bagby, a business man, but routed his assailant, in spite of the fact that he carried no weapons.

.

O'Day is the owner of a race horse and Bagby has been taking care of the animal for him. At breakfast O'Day accused Bagby of misusing the horse. Bagby was enraged by the charge and, whipping out a six shooter, shot O'Day through the face, inflicting a serious wound. O'Day sprang to his feet and Bagby continued firing until four bullets left his gun. Though unarmed, O'Day made no attempt to escape, but seized cups and plates from the table and rained them on Bagby. Bagby took to his legs, followed by O'Day, but escaped down the street.

.

Without waiting for attention to his wound, O'Day went to the office of the Justice of the Peace and gave himself up, offering to pay a fine for disturbing the peace. The Justice refused to consider his proposition, believing that O'Day was right in the quarrel. Bagby has not yet been arrested, but will probably be so before the excitement caused by the fight quiets down.

.

O'Day's action in fighting, unarmed, an armed man is in accordance with his reputation. He is said to be absolutely fearless, and to have at one time been a member of the celebrated Curry gang. He has been shot at no less than 400 times during his career.

--Wyoming Tribune, Feb. 22, 1903.

.

The source for this is a cousin of Adkins.

.

But another report by his attorney and a relative of Sheriff Fox has him in Georgia and later in Kentucky, while the story around Logan's lost writings has it that he departed for Kansas City with a relative after hiding in Knoxville for two weeks.

.

If either the claim by his attorney or family is legitimate, it demolishes the Adkins scenario.

.

Whatever the case, Logan eventually headed for Montana, and wound up in Texas..

.

According to the July 2, 1904 Anaconda Standard, Logan's guards claimed he had tried to bribe them before with an offer of $1000.

TALKED WITH HARVEY LOGAN.

.

Knoxville Attorney Says He Met the Escaped Bandit.

.

Knoxville. Tenn., July 9. A letter received here today from L. C. Houck, an attorney of this city, who is now at Lithia Springs, Ga., states that he saw and conversed with Harvey Logan last Saturday. He states further that Logan enjoined him to say nothing about meeting until five days had elapsed. He inferred from Logan's conversation that he proposed to sail for a foreign country. Logan is the Montana train robber who escaped from the Knox County Jail, June 27.

--The St. Louis Republic, July 10, 1903. (The Guthrie Daily Leader states it was in Atlanta, however another section of the July 10 Republic says: A Knoxville attorney writes to friends in the Tennessee city telling them that he met and conversed with Harvey Logan, the escaped train robber convict, last Saturday at Lithia Springs. Ga. He says he did not tell of it sooner because Logan enjoined him to say nothing of the meeting for five days.)

--Statesville Record and Landmark, July 31, 1903.

* The same paper claims Logan told a cellmate (though this is questionable as he had the floor to himself, so this can only be true if he had some access to interacting with other prisoners at times): "They haven't enough bars here to hold me, and I'll get away if I have to kill every jailer and guard who tries to stop me. After I have given these fellows the slip I am going back to my old home in Missouri…I want to see the ---- who killed my brother."

.

The state of Wyoming drops an open case against Harvey Ray as one of the Wilcox robbers, believing him to be dead.--Wyoming Derrick, July 16, 1903.

HARVEY LOGAN.

.

He Shot Two Men Who Attempted to Arrest Him.

S.

Adairvlle, Ky., July 15. It is reported that a stranger made his appearance near Red Oak Tuesday and was recognized by Russell Ellis and Ernest Fox as Harvey Logan. They procured weapons and attempted his arrest. A battle ensued, but Logan was too quick for them. Ellis was shot through the chest and Fox was wounded in the head. Three shots were effective. Logan made good his escape. Logan is the bank robber who recently escaped from prison in Knoxville.

--The Evening Bulletin, Maysville, Ky. July 15, 1903.

.

Fox (the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 15, 1903) claimed to be the son of a Knoxville attorney and relative of Sheriff Fox, that he had been to the trial and seen Logan personally, so that was how he recognized him! Apart from the stranger's being good with a gun vs. two opponents, this report could also be credible because of a separate report from a man in an August newspaper account, who also reported talking to Logan in Kentucky. These two, taken with the report of Logan's lawyer's that he consulted with him on July 4 when Logan is supposed to have been on the run with Sam Adkins, are a death blow to the claim he was hiding in North Carolina with Adkins.

.

PRISONER'S LIFE SAVED BY OFFICERS

.

Effort to Hold Up Wyoming Deputies Fails.

.

CHEYENNE, Wyo., July 21.--A bloody battle was narrowly averted in the mountains six miles north of Thermopolis today, when Sheriff Fenton transferred Jim McLoud, the alleged murderer of Ben Minnick, from the city jail at Thermopolis to the county Jail at Basin. Sheriff Fenton left Thermopolis at 6 o'clock with his prisoner under the escort of the Basin Light Artillery of forty men, and fifty deputies. Armed men had been sent out at sunrise and they reported that a large force of cattlemen and the friends of McLoud were camped on the trail near Cottonwood Creek and from preparations being made they intended to hold up the Sheriff and his party and deliver the prisoner. Consequently, when Fenton left Thermopolis he went ahead, expecting a battle.

.

Scouts guarded the advance, the front and the rear and either flank, but when the cattlemen saw that the soldiers were alert for battle they quietly slipped away and by making a detour carried Thermopolis. With them was Tom O'Day, the notorious character, who is alleged to have been mixed up in the killing of Minnick, and for whom Sheriff Fenton has a warrant. McLoud was at once placed in the cell formerly occupied by Walters, the condemned murderer, who was shot to death by a mob Sunday morning, and a strong guard placed about the Jail, expecting a battle.

--The San Francisco Call, July 22, 1903.

HARVEY LOGAN SAID TO BE COMING TO MONTANA

.

Missoula Police Receive Letter From a Man Claiming to Be Cousin and Old Pal of the Bandit.

.

Missoula. Aug. 21--A strange letter from Knoxville, Tenn. came to Chief of Police Hollingsworth's address yesterday. The writer states that Harvey Logan, the Montana desperado who escaped from the jail in Knoxville several months ago, is now either at Missoula or a short distance away, and is coming in this direction.

.

The letter is signed by Ed Kelly, who declares that he is a pal and cousin of the famous train robber. He states that his object in telling of the whereabouts of Logan is revenge. An extract from the Letter reads: You may doubt this, but I know that Logan is either in Missoula at this writing or else is not too many miles away. I saw him at a certain place in Kentucky less than a week ago, and then he left for the Northwest. saying that he would stop in Missoula for a while. He has friends there. His object is to work there as a laborer until the excitement about his escape has subsided. Then he will go after the Great Northern and Northern Pacific trains again.

.

"I hope you can locate Logan, and that he will be sent to the pen. He promised to aid me in a certain way if I would help him to get away, but failed to stick to his word, and now I will run him down. When he left me he had on a black felt hat, brogan shoes, a gray shirt and a brown suit of clothes."

.

Chief Hollingsworth does not believe that the letter was written by a friend or relative of the escaped outlaw, but that the writer was none other than Logan himself. His theory is that Logan has returned to Knoxville and wrote the letter to throw his pursuers off the scent.

--The Butte Inter Mountain, Aug. 21, 1903.

.

From Lost Cabin they went to Belle Fourche S. D. where in broad daylight they they up and robbed the Belle Fourche bank. All the robbers escaped with the single exception of Tom O'Day who was drunk and fell off his horse and was captured. .

--Pinkerton Supt. James McParland, quoted in the Sep. 13, 1903, New York Sun.

.

This is the first possible record of the saloon claim that I can find in the papers, but he did claim this at his trial.

"KID" CURRY IN MONTANA

.

Noted Bandit and Escaped Convict Positively Identified by Men Who Know Him.

.

Borrowed a Horse and Saddle to Press on North. Capture Will Not be Easy.

.

Special to The Journal. Helena, Mont., Sept. 18. Harvey Logan, commonly known as Kid Curry, the noted train robber who recently effected a sensational escape from the Knoxville, Tenn., jail, while awaiting transportation to a federal prison to' serve a 20-year sentence, after having been convicted of forging signatures to the national bank notes stolen in the Great Northern train robbery at Wagner, Mont., in 1901, is again in Montana. A special from Chinook says that Curry was seen there last Tuesday. He was positively identified by men who were personally acquainted with him during the many years his gang made its rendezvous in northern Montana.

.

For several weeks the state has been flooded with Pinkerton and railroad detectives who, however, had not come in close contact with Curry. He has innumerable friends in northern Montana and it is doubtful if his capture will be easily effected despite the fact that his whereabouts are now known. Curry called at the ranch of James T. Moran near Yantic, Tuesday night and enforced the loan of a horse, saddle and bridle. He informed Moran with whom he is personally acquainted, that he intended going further north. Last night the horse, bridle and saddle were returned, but by whom it is not known.

What Moran Says.

Mr. Moran in an interview said: "When Curry first appeared at the ranch, I took him for a tramp, so dilapidated was his appearance. We had a short conversation and before a dozen words had been uttered I recognized my caller. In the course of a few moments he made known his wants, the best horse, saddled and bridled, on the premises, and seeing that he was armed and knowing well his disposition, I promptly acceded to the demand. Curry told me that he had visited several Montana towns and was aware that detectives were on his trail, but gave no evidence of fear. He told me he was going further north, but did not state how far. He probably crossed the international border into Canada.

.

"Twenty-four hours later the horse, bridle and saddle, were returned in a mysterious manner, so I am led to believe that Curry's professed movement to the north was a subterfuge."

-- The Minneapolis Journal, Sep, 18, 1903.

DESPERADOES EXPECTED AT CASPER, WYOMING.

,

Tom O'Day's Friends are Heavily Armed.

,

MARCHING ON THE JAIL

,

Nearly 300 Have Left "Hole in the Wall"-- Sheriff Has Sworn In 150 Extra Deputies and a Desperate Fight Is Expected--Will Shoot Prisoner Rather Than Surrender Him.

,

Cheyenne, Wyo., Nov. 26. Sheriff Webb of Casper, today received a warning that between 250 and 300 heavily armed friends of Tom O'Day had left their "hole in the wall" rendezvous with the intention of raiding the Casper Jail and rescuing O'Day who was arrested a few days ago for alleged horse stealing. The sheriff at once swore in 150 extra deputies and armed them with repeating Winchesters. Tonight every road leading into Casper is patrolled by deputies and one hundred men surround the jail. Inside are others with instructions to shoot the prisoner in case the deputies outside are unable to repel an attack. The citizens of the town have armed themselves and the strength at the Sheriff's command is fully 250 men.

,

The "Hole in the wall" is seventy miles from Casper and the friends of O'Day are expected to reach Casper between midnight and morning. They were last seen passing the McDonald ranch in Red Valley, on the road to Casper nine miles from the Hole.

,

The attacking party is said to have been recruited from the ranks of the "bad men" of half a dozen counties and is led by Jack Smith, a notorious desperado. Foreseeing a possible repulse, the outlaws have prepared to stand a siege in the hole, which is a natural fortress.

 .

The first news of their approach to Casper is expected from pickets who have been stationed far out on the roads. If the Jail is attacked a sanguinary battle will result and O'Day in all probability will be shot to death or lynched.

--The Stark County Democrat, Dec. 1, 1903.

Date/event

May have happened

Notes

.

Was this one of the Dixons? A mistaken identification of Harvey Logan? An outlaw really named Frank Jones? I cannot say with certainty.

.

Tom O'Day is convicted.

He was sentenced to six years.