Train Robberies

Train R o b b er s

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

“ The Ho dup Men

A DDRE S S BY

I LLI N K N W A M A . P I E RTO

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lntermtium Assoc iation Chiefs

é kd’ A M E S T O W N , V A .

1 9 0 7 .

C o mm H I E N I S o r W I LLI M A P I K E R '] A . N ON C h ic a g o ”

A . P I N KE RTON N at Y rk R OBE RT o .

N o v E M B E R 1 , 90 7

‘ ( un I ) t l I W x ' m n A . I Rm m wr A . P l s u mc ru x P h lm n a m ! N u , g e w Y rk .

P I N KE RTON . W I LL I A M A .

I

’ ‘ ON . O P I N K E R I T h e l a t e R BE RT A

H A N DS E RE TOFORE my addresses have been upon sub

w hic h u s jects with most o f are familiar and , while I know there are among those present , members o f this Association who have had more or less to “ " d o with the apprehension o f the train robber or hold - up

' ot he r c ount r criminal , a product we have that no y has ex cept as our fugitives ; I believe some reminiscences of ill these outlaws w be o f interest . As the detective agents throughout the United States o f

many railroad , express and stage companies and o f the ’ c o - W o American B ankers Association , and e operating ith p

o ffic ial s t ff lice , United Sta es marshals , sheri s , railroads de t ec t ives and various other law en forcement authorities , for o ver fi f t y years our agency has b een engaged investigating

many o f the robberies o f railroad trains , banks and stages by this desperate robber ; my father , the late Allan Pinker t on I , my brother Robert and , o ften in these years person a lly taking part in running down this now almost extinct outlaw . It is somewhat remarkable as will be noted throughout my talk , that in many instances brothers were

no t abl t he members o f individual bands , y Reno brothers , ‘

R e it enhouse John , Frank , Sim and Bill ; the brothers ; the

K. Miles brothers , James and Joe , all o f Indiana ; the

Farrington brothers , Levy and Hillary , o f West Tennes r see ; the James brothers , Frank and Jesse ; the Younge

o hn s brothers , Cole , Jim , J and Bob ; the Logan brother , , Lonn t h e C o llins Harvey and y ; brothers , part of the Sam

Bass gang , Joel , Will iam and Albert ; Bud and Willi am M e Daniels , part o f the Jesse James gang ; the Dalton

brothers , B ill , Bob , Emmett and Gratton o f Kansas ; the S Burrows brothers , Rube and Jim o f Alabama ; the ontag

brothers , John and George o f M innesota ; the Gates brothers

o f M c C art h r Cal i fornia ; the Jones brothers ; the y b others , and Tom and B ill o f Colorado ; the Cook brothers , Bill

Jim o f Arkansas , who were part o f the Dalton gang and

the Carver and Kilpatrick brothers o f Texas .

” The hold - up robber originated among bad men of the

s. gold mining camp Unsuccess ful as a prospector , too lazy

to work , and with enough bravado and criminal instinct

fi rst to commit desperate crimes , he robbed prospectors

en and miners route on foot to stage stations , o f their gold d ust and nuggets , becoming bolder , looting stages and “ ” - u eventually a fter the railroads were built , he held p rail

way trains and robbed express cars .

we also h nd them from the dare - devils o f the Civil

War , those from the Southwest who engaged in guerrilla

warfare , where , as the pride o f the States which sent them

to the front and , because o f their ambuscades , raids and

lawless acts during the war , they were received as heroes w hen they returned to their homes . The James boys , the F Youngers , the Renos , the arringtons , the war giving them t he reckless li fe they longed for and experience fi t t ing them

for the li fe o f crime they inaugurated immediately a fter .

I n the early days o f the plains , the cowboy , with criminal b V ' inclination , noted for deeds o f daring , began his career “ " cattle rustling and horse stealing , and then became a

Ms1 5$§ - u of hold p stages and trains , committing the most of 1 these robberies since 875. Also certain sensational newspapers and publishers o f ” yellow covered literatu re , by exploiting and extoling the cowardly crimes o f these outlaws and fi lling the youthful mind with a desire for the same sort o f notoriety and ad “ venture are responsible f o r many imitators o f the hold ” u p robber . “ The hold - up man operated as the footpad does to —day !

V m concealed in ambush awaiting his icti , suddenly pouncing upon and commanding him to throw up his hands , “ ” covering him by thrusting a revolver in his face , then relieving him o f his money and valuables . Usually the “ - u i hold p man to avoid identif cation and arrest , covers hi s face below the eyes w ith a triangular cloth or pocket hand

c kerchie f , tied back o f the head , wore a so ft hat well lown over his eyes , although in many o f the great train and bank robberies shortly a fter the war , no masks o f any kind were worn .

The average train robbery band formerly consisted o f

fi v e in . reeent from to eight men , but years success ful rob b eri e s have been committed by from three to fi ve men and in a few instances by a lone individual .

Usually in these train robberies , one member o f the band , with red lantern or flag , at a lonely spot would signal the train to a standstill , or one or two would board the “ blind end ” o f a baggage or express car and nearing the r point selected for the robbery , would climb over the tende “ ”

fi rem an . into the locomotive , cover the engineer and while others o f the bandits uncoupled the express or money car and forced the engineer t o c arry them a mile or two a n distant , where the ears and s fes would be forced ope with dynamite . Resistance usually resulted in the death of

those who interfered . Our study o f the murders com m itt ed by these desperadoes shows fully 90 per cent to be

assassinations , those killed generally being de fenseless , or the outnumbering desperadoes by pouncing on their V ictims x when least e pected , giving them no chance for their lives . Tn Escapes were u sually made w ith horses waiting , in

charge o f a con federate at the place o f the robbery , and

r c ov o ften with elays o f horses previously arranged , for

fi ve : ering or six hundred miles , until they arrived at the r

homes or hiding places . There is no crime in America so hazardous as ” b l t - u - o l p robbery . Over two thirds o f those who have been engaged in these crimes , were killed

e o r whil operating , or in resisting arrest , from their “ ( wounds , lynched by posses , or as is known lied with ” h on i t eir boots , while nearly all others were e ther captured or sentenced to long terms o f imprisonment or driven from

the United States , becoming exiles in distant foreign climes .

Those at large are constantly in fear o f arrest , l iving se

cluded l ives , and risking no chances o f discovery by com

m un ic at in g with friends . S ho rt l v a fter the close o f the Civil War there was an

epidemic o f train robberies in Indiana , especiall y between I ndianapolis and New Albany on the Je ff ersonville and R R Indianapolis . , now part o f the Pennsylvania Rail r way System . My father , rep esenting the Adams Express a i Comp ny , who were the principal losers in these ra ds , and “ ” had - u l l fl who determined to disband this hold p band ,

( l er ok d iffic ul t o this t task . It was early determined that the robberies were perpetrated by a desperate gang who made Seymour and the adj acent town o f Rockford th e ir h d t he ea quarters , practically under the leadership o f Reno

t bro hers , whose parents , hard working and respectable had settled on an Indiana farm years be fore and raised a family fi ve o f boys , John , Clinton , Sim , Bill and Frank , and a girl .

f h e Laura . During the later part o f the Civil War all o t “ brothers , except Clinton , known as Honest Reno , began i R e t enho use s K. criminal careers with the brothers , Jame and Joe and Miles and John Ogle , counterfeiters , and Peter c u b o unt v Mc artney , an expert sa fe b rglar , all o f whom , as ‘ u j umpers , had swindled the Government out o f large s ms A . t t of money the close o f the War , the Renos and heir a I h ssociates had retu rned to their homes at Seymour ,

and in diana , with plenty o f money , dissipating , gambling i l t u ging in other vicious dissoluteness . Other younger men i n o t their neighborhood , bserving these reckless expendi ures , naturally desired to likew ise acquire money quickl y and soon with the Renos and their con federates , including Albert

Sparks , Henry Moore , John Gerrold and Thomas Henry , “ ” formed hold - up bands for robbing express messengers on railroads near Seymour . Robbery a fter robbery fol

influenc e s and lowed , arrests were numerous , but power ful desperate intimidations by the criminal s and their friends i made their conviction practically imposs ble . Farmers sup posed to be inimical to the band were terrorized , by their cattle being poisoned or maimed and their homes and barns burned until a reign o f terror actually existed all over

Southern Indiana . The Renos met their fi rst Waterloo during the \Vinter o

1 867 and 1 868 . John Reno had robbed the county t reasur

' th at M o er s o ee Gallatin , , o f and returned to

Seymour , Ind , the stronghold o f his criminal brothers , and

' h W e . here , considered he was sa fe But on plans arranged by my father for a certain day , John Reno was decoyed by one o f our secret operatives to the Seymou r depot for t he ff arrival o f a through train , on which a Missouri Sheri with six deputies arrived and pounced upon Reno and pulled ’ him aboard . There was no time for Reno s usual savior , t o the writ o f habeas corpus , or any other legal technicality prevent his removal ; a good friend had looked a fter the telegraph wi res so that no detaining despatches could head o ff the train and John Reno was landed over the Indi ana

line into jail at Gallatin , Mo . , where he was soon convicted 20 and sentenced to years in the Missouri Penitentiary ,

serving every day of his sentence .

1 868 During the W inter o f , there were heavy robberies ’ o f o ffic es sa fes o f county treasurers in Western Iowa , the

C o . last occu rring at Glenwood , Mills , Iowa , when

was stolen . Our investigations had determined the crim

inal s A l e to be Frank Reno , Sparks , Miles Ogle and Mik

ounml Rogers , the last named a wealthy land owner o f C B lu fi s , a pillar o f the Methodist Chu rch and highly respected i n his community . Following a robbery at Magnolia , Har

1 3 riso nvill e f , we had traced the robbers to Council Blu fs , ’ where a watch on Rogers house resulted in the capture , the day a fter the Glenwood robbery o f the criminals named , the proceeds o f the raid still in their possession , they quickly shoved it into a kitchen stove , from which we recovered it partiall y burned . They were all taken to Glenwood , Iowa ,

I 1 868 b rok e v ail but on April , , j and fled , Frank Reno going to Windsor , Canada , where he became associated w ith

Charles Anderson , a clever burglar and general criminal and with him eventually returned to Seymour .

Gl enw od f robb er Shortly a fter the y , Walker Hammond , w e C a fter ards noted as a counter feiter , and Mik olleran , of “ ” - u f Seymou r , held p an express messenger on a Je ferson “ v ille railroad train , robbing him o f only to be held ” l up by the Reno brothers and relieved o f their p under . Hammond and Colleran were convicted and sentenced to long terms o f imprisonment in the Indiana State Peniten i t ary .

Subsequently Frank , S im and Billy Reno, w ith M iles ” a — u Ogle and Ch rles Anderson , heavily armed , held p a

' train near Seymour , threw the messenger into a ditch from ’ the moving train and robbed the Adams Express Compan y s s For - - F a fe o f this crime , Anderson and rank

Reno were arrested at Windsor , Canada , and a fter a contest t lasting all Summer , were remanded for ex radition and later in charge o f Pinkerton detectives were lodged in the N e w

Albany , Ind . , j ail . Meanwhile , Sim and B illy Reno were arrested in Indianapolis , Ind . , and also lodged in the same jail . Henry Moore , Gerrold and Sparks and an unknown

1 4 M I LE S OG LE . ” M m R H . O ne o f t h e fi rst train robbers . e ber en o Band old ups ' - u M . I . . R R . man who held p and robbed the J . had bee n

arrested at Seymour , and while enroute to the Brown stone j ail were forciblytaken from their escorts and lynched by excited citizens who had become incensed at the outrage s

the Renos and their associates were committing .

This was followed by a Vigilance Committee , supposed

to have come from the neighborhood o f Seymour , visiting

a t he — the New Albany j il , battering l n doors , over powering the guards and hanging Frank , Sim and Billy Reno and i Charles Anderson in the j ail corridor . N ot c e s were also

2 eo l posted in publ ic places about Seymour , naming 5 p p supposed to be affiliat e d w ith the Renos and warning them that i f any house , cattle or other property was destroyed , the Committee would “ meet but once more to clean

“ in c om m uni v out the friends o f the Renos remaining the t .

These drastic , though apparently necessary measures stopped train robbery in Southern Indiana ; there has not been a train robbery there since and the identity o f the

Vigilantes is still a secret .

The State o f M issouri has probably produced more train robbers than any other state i n the Union and of whom the

James brothers were the most desperate and vicious .

Among the Kentuckians who settled in Clay County ,

. . and Mo , be fore the War were Doctor and Mrs Samuels ’ thei r sons , Frank and Jesse James , sons o f Mrs . Samuels

. W war previous marriage hen the broke out , the brothers j oined the Quantrell band in their guerrilla warfare . After

1 6

e A n the the Jam s boys , under the leadership o f Bill

d ersoii “ and operating with Cole , Jim , John and Bob Young

e r , Clell and John Miller , Charles Pitts , the Tompkins _

brothers , Jim Cummings , Dick Liddell , and other members ’ uant rell s o f Q band , began prowling through West and r Southwest Missouri and Easte n Kansas , looking for what spoils they could get and for years committed a series o f

1 n the most despicable crimes o f that period Missouri , Ken “ - u ba tucky and Minnesota , holding p nks in the day time , c robbing trains at night , murdering respe table citizens who resisted them and killing offic ers who attempted their ar rest

‘ The published reports o f the exploits o i this band had more to do with the making o f bad men in the West than anything W hich occurred be fore they began operating or

S i nce . A t the time Jesse James was killed and his brother sur rendered the statement was made that neither was ever

o r offi c ers arrested captured by , State or Federal , but Judge M o 1 86 Philander Lucas o f Liberty , , states that during 5 ’ 1 866 about eleven o clock one morning , the James boys ,

w ith Clell Miller , Jim Poole and George White , rode into fi rin off Liberty , g their revolvers and acting like a lot o f ’ M eff ert s Indians ; that they entered saloon , had drinks , and as they le ft the saloon Sheriff Rickards arrested and dis

armed the James boys , marched them into the Court House , arraigned them be fore him and that he committed them to

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the County jail . As a matter o f fact , there were then no c harges against them .

As a rule the James and Younger brothers and their as t sociates , a fter each crime , woul d return o their home ,

M o e V i Clay County , , where they w re irtually mmune from a rrest , either through fear o f them by the respectable ele ment or through the friendly aid they received from the i r admirers .

' The fi rst o f t he ir robberies w e were retained to investi

1 8 1 r gate was that o f June 3 , 7 , when the James and Younge

, brothers visited Corydon , Wayne County , Iowa , intend

s ing to rob the county treasurer o f recently collected taxe . ’ Jesse James entered the treasurer s o ffi c e offering a one ' but t he hundred dollar bill for change , clerk in formed him d o f the absence o f the county treasurer , who hel the com

b anl ' bination o f the locked sa fe , but suggested that a new

- f across the square , opened that day and which had one hal

c e o f its apital on deposit , might accommodate him , wher upon Jessie consulted w ith his associates and the robbery o f n f the new bank was agreed upon . O Jesse o fering the one

f o r hundred dollar bill , the cashier opened the safe the

o f change , only on turning around to look into the muzzle ’ two revolvers . Jesse s associates who had meanwhile en

t ered the bank , then forced the president and cashier into

fi f t e en aback room , emptied the contents o f the sa fe , about t housand dollars into saddle bags , relieved a new depositor , n a negro preacher , who had entered , o f his ha d ful of money ,

l t h e n then mounting their horses f ed from town , passi g on

‘ i w ay in o the r a public meeting , the utskirts , where a site

for a new school house was bein g discussed , and which

' y o ffic e accounted for the count treasurer s absence from his , and saved his sa fe t rom being plundered .

fi red As the bandits rode by the meeting they , in the

rifles m air , a fusillade from their revolvers and , at the sa e time in forming the gathering of the robbery of the bank and advising that they return to town and start a new bank .

Robert Pinkerton , then a young man , w ith a poss traced the outlaws through the lower counties of Iowa . Then w f with an Io a Sheri f , the balance o f the posse having with s drawn , cont i nued into Mis ouri as far as Cameron Junction , e f a cross road station , wher the Sheri f le ft for additional help but Robert Pinkerton continued follow ing the trail to t e h Missouri River where the band separated , some cross F ing at Sibley erry , others at Blue Mill Ferry , all meeting e ~ a fterwards at the Old Blu Mill , from which point they

e continued South , evidently making towards the James hom h . e n t e in Clay County Her , Robert Pinkerton , recognizi g

folly o f continuing alone withdrew .

On 20 1 8 July , 73 , the James brothers committed their “ " i - u f rst train hold p robbery on the Chicago , Rock Island fi fi f n P i . t ee o 81 ac c R R . f , w recking the train miles east f Council Blu fs , Iowa , murdered the unarmed engineer ,

fi rem an t h e wounded the , inj ured passengers and robbed ex

’ press car o f a large amount o f money .

1 1 8 t he January 3 , 74 . the James brothers aided by

Younger brothers , Clell Miller and J im Cummings , com “ ” m it t ed - u the i r second train hol d p robbery , this , on the

n M o n Iron Mou tain Road at Gadshill , , flaggi g the train to “ " a standstill and h o l rl - up and robbi ng it o f J n C L E L L M I E R B I C H A D E LL a nd LL W LL . !J am es b and ] Kil ed b o e fter N o rt h fi el M i d . k l y p s s a , i n n ba n ra d .

23 i e r \V . \V t c h the investigation o f this robbery Joseph , one

ou r 1 0 1 8 w as o f detectives from Chicago , on March , 74 , l overpowered , bound with ropes and put on a horse , Cle l Miller and Jesse James taking him from their home in Clay

M o . County , , to near Independence , Jackson County , Mo , where they assassinated him , leaving h is body at the cross ing o f the D eeringt on and Independence road where t h

Iowa Sheriff le ft Robert Pinkerton three years before . A few days later Louis Lull , a former captain of police h in C icago , but then in our employ , in company with an — u y f ex Dep t Sheri f and a man named Daniels , met John and

M ont e aw St . Jim Younger on a road near g Springs , Clair

M o f County , , and in the e fort to arrest them , Lull killed

John Younger , but was himsel f mortally wounded , dying six weeks later . Daniel s was killed and Jim Younger was y seriousl wounded .

The James brothers band also committed robberies on fi P i . ac c R R . Kas the Union , at Munsey , , in December , 1 8 R P ac ifi c R . . 75, securing also on the Missouri

M o 8 1 8 6 at Otterville , . July , 7 , securing and when

M c Da niel s t he , one o f band being arrested with part o f the

o w as bo t y . killed in an attempt to esc ape .

w a s 1 8 6 n Thei r next seriou s crime in September , 7 , whe i they attempted to rob a bank at Northf eld , Minn , and

L . . killed the cashier , J . Haywood Citizens o f the town fi ht l opened g and killed Bi l Chadwell . Clell Miller and

im a nd Cha rle y Pitts . Bob and T Younger Jesse James

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r were wounded . Cole Younger picked up Bob and ca ried A l . a r o him away on his horse few days l te , C e , Jim and _ in Bob Younger , surrounded a swamp, were captured . f ' Frank James managed t o get J esse into Dakota and

’ to River w here ff and thence the Missouri , they stole a ski made their escape .

n Cole , Jim and Bob Younger were sentenced to lo g

S helw at er n terms o f imprisonment in the , Min , State

Prison .

1 6 1 8 . September , 99 , Bob Younger died in prison 1 0 1 0 1 July , 9 , Cole and Jim Younger were pardoned by

. 1 8 the M innesota State Board o f Pardons October , i 1 0 2 m St . . 9 , j Younger committed suicide at Paul , Minn 1 882 April 3 , , Bob Ford , a former associate o f the f James boys , for a reward of o fered by Gov . Crit ’ tendon for Jesse s body dead or alive , killed him while he

S t . . was hanging a picture in his home at Joseph , Mo Bob and Charles Ford surrendered themselves for this crime and

. were convicted and sentenced to death , but pardoned by Governor Crittendon and paid the thus to Gov er nor Crittendon is due the fi nal disbanding of the Jam e s brothers band o f outlaw s and in this he was aided b y Sheriff Timberlake o f Clay County and Commissioner o f Police

o f C raig Kansas City . Frank James afterwards surrendered to the Missouri

authorities , stood trial , and was acquitted of the Gallatin , sur M o . , bank robbery Governor Crittendon re fused to render him to the Minnesota authorities and he sub se

26 ' I quently settled in W estern Missouri , and so far as know ,

is now l iving a straight forward li fe . Jesse James and the Youngers are all buried at the

scenes o f their boyhood days i n \V est ern Missouri .

Charley Bullard , alias Piano Charley and Ike Marsh , “ “ alias Big Ike who fi rst came into prominence as hold ” u . p robbers , have had rather an interesting career 1 86 3 In 9 , Bullard and Marsh concealed themselves in

R . Hudson River R . train between New York City and “ ” f - u t h e Bu falo , held p , bound and gagged the messenger of

o . Merchants Union Express C , and stole one hundred thou sand dollars .

Bullard and Marsh were arrested in Canada , extradited Y N . . and lodged in the White Plains , , j ail for trial . from “ ” - which , aided by Billy Forrester , an old time associate , t hey escaped .

20 1 86 November , 9 , Bullard and M arsh w ith Adam “ ” Worth and Bob Cochran , stole from the Boyl ston Bank , s n Boston , Mas , cash and secu rities , valued at four hu dred and fi f ty thousand dollars and fled to Europe with thei : plunder .

A t \ the Vashington Hotel , Liverpool , Bullard met and n married a beauti ful bar maid named Kittie Flynn , we t to

Paris , opened the famous American bar at Rue Scribe , where his wi fe ’s beauty and engaging manners attracted m any American visitors as well as making it the head

. 27 quarte rs o f American gamblers and criminals who her

- planned many o f their European crimes .

Bullard was , however , eventually , arrested and a fter a sentence o f one year in Paris for keeping a gambling house ,

' t he Unit ed returned to States , was arrested in N ew York City for the Boylston Bank robbery and sentenced to t w e nt v ’ in at - s years the State s prison Concord , Mas , from which I 1 8 8 he escaped September 3 , 7 , and fled to Canada , where he was arrested for a sa fe burglary and sentenced to fi ve years imprisonment at Kingston . A fter serving this , he

S hinb urn i: went abroad and w ith Max , the notorious ban

V i v burglar , was arrested in the act o f robbing a Bank at eres , Belgium . Bullard was sentenced to seventeen years imprisonment , in the Belgium penitentiary , where he died

1 8 0 . in the early part o f 9 Bullard was well educated , spoke

fluent l English , French and German , y ; was a skill ful pianist , “ ” from which he gai ned the sobriquet of Piano Charley .

A fter the Boylston Bank robbery , Ike Marsh separ ated from Bullard and with George Mason burglarized the

an P a . First National B k o f Wellsboro , , for which he was arrested , convicted and sentenced to seventeen years

imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary , Philadelphia . W hile there he became a stationary engineer , and a fter his n release , having re formed , followed his vocation as an e gi

n l . eer in Philade phia , and is still so employed there

In the early seventies , Levy and Hillary Farrington ,

from near Gilliam Station , West Tennessee , William Taylor ,

I

28 ’

W . illiam Barton , formerly a railroad brakeman and Georg m Bertine , all from Western Tennessee , com enced train “ ” hold - up robberies on the Nashville and N o rt hw est e rn and “ ” an d - u Mobile Ohio Railroads , and a fter each hold p the f only trace o f the robbers would be a ski f , le ft by the bandits

flo at ing bottom up on the Mississippi .

u 6t h 1 8 1 O the o f October , 7 , a train on the Mobile and

R . R . n Ohio at Union City , Ten , was attacked , the guard and messenger overpowered and the sa fe o f the Southern Express Company robbed o f I was then sup e rv is

P at ing for ou r Agency , all train robbery cases , and w ith

A ent o f C o rick Connell , Special g the Southern Express B edlow m en and an assistant named , traced the , as usual ,

- f to the Mississippi River , where an over turned ski f was

found and trace lost . A fter a most thorough scouring o f

the country and up and down the Mississippi River , we learned o f a party o f strange men in a swamp near Lester ’s n Landing , Ten , where we subsequently determined , they , to

a cover their real business o f train robbery , had opened n small store . This we surrounded and attacked ; the trai

r re obbers , who were heavily armed resisting and in the sult in fi ht g g , Henry Bertine was killed and Hillary Far t ring on and William Barton escaped . Hillary Farrington ,

w e o f traced to Western M issou ri , near Vinita , on the edge ff Indian Territory , where with the aid o f a deputy sheri

and some residents o f the neighborhood , we surrounded the

fi nall h t e house in which he was secreted , but y had to set

to it in order to dislodge and arrest him .

29 A few days later Levy Farrington was arrested nea r

r s A . n Fa mington , Ill , by the City Marshal and Robert Pi k

erton , while William Taylor , the last of the band , was ar

rested by Patrick Connell and mysel f at Real Foot Lake ,

o . . Tenn . , and all taken to Uni n City , Tenn , for examination When Levy Farrmgt on arrived here in the custody of Rob

A . ert Pinkerton , a friend named Toler, in attempting his C rescue , shot and killed the Assistant ity Marshal and

seriously wounded a railroad watchman at Union City . Toler was pursued and captured and a Vigilance Committ e e

was formed . Recognizing what might take place , we suc c eed ed in getting Barton and Taylor out o f the hotel where

c onfi ned they were and heavily guarded , to the Memphis , .

Tenn . , jail , but being unable to get the other prisoners away , the Vigilance Committee overpowered the local offic ers who were guarding them and that night shot and killed Levy

Farrington and lynched Toler . Taylor and Barton a fterwards pleaded guilty to train robbery and were sentenced to long terms in the State

Prison at Nashville , Tenn .

For very many years a fter train robbery in West Ten nessee was an unknown crime .

1 8 Hulfi sli In 77 , Sam Bass , Frank , William N ixon , w Henry Under ood and James Berry , a gang o f cowboys , under the leadership o f Joel Collins , near B ig Springs , Neb . , “ ” - u P fi i R . ac c R . held p a Union train , stealing in gold , with which they started on horseback for Texas . Joel

Collins . son o f a preacher , came from near Dallas , Texas ,

30 w w and was one o f four brothers , all of hom ent wrong ex

t . cep Joe , who was a prominent respectable cattleman Col

H ulfi sh l ins and , ten days a fter the robbery near Ellsworth ,

Kas . , and resisting arrest by United States troops were shot and killed : the money they carried with them was recovered .

w a About two eeks later Jim Berry , who was traced to farm near Mexico , Mo . , was also shot and killed resisting

r . a rest Bass , N ixon and Underwood escaped , N ixon sail

i n r . g f om New Orleans , La , to Spanish Honduras , where he is still a f ugut ive and where he invested his share o f the

b e . ro b r y , gold , in business

e located and caused the arrest o f Henry Underwood

and . returned him to Kearney , Neb , where he escaped from j ail and was last heard from as in the Indiana State Prison .

Sa m C o . . Bass returned to Denton , Tex , where he has

n H e had m a . been a deputy Sheriff , and r y friends soon

' organized another band of train robbers , consisting o f Wil e l iam and Albert Collins , broth rs o f Joel , James Pikes , Joe

Herndon , o f the Collins homestead , Henry Jackson and “ ” Arkansas Johnson . They attacked the Southern Express

R . C o on the Texas and P ac ifi c R . and the Houston and

x R 1 8 R . Te as Central . and in the fall o f 77 committed a

- . c o robbery at Mesquit , near Dallas , Texas We operated

h ex as wit the local authorities and T rangers , resulting in i W illiam the arrest of Collins , Pikes and Herndon , the latter

two were convicted at Tyler , Texas , and sentenced to li fe n i imp riso ment in the Un ted States Penitentiary at Detroit ,

Mich .

3 1

W . L . K B ROC . o i e o f im w A ss c at Ru be and J Bu rro s . u R . . p a train on the Illinois Central y , near Sardis , Miss H e was subsequently killed by a posse , searching for him ,

I ro k in Middle Florida . c served a short term in the peni

n i r t e t a y .

1 8 1 In 9 , a fter the train le ft Tower Grove , a suburb of “ ” S t ; Louis , two masked men boarded the blind end o f the e ~ xpress car , crawled over the tender and forced the engi n fi rem en eer and to stop the train at a cut near Old Orchard .

where two additional men , also masked , boarded the rear e nd o f the car . The messenger re fused their demand to

open the side door o f the car , turned down the light , se I m m di c ured his revolver and began de fending his trust . e

ately a heavy explosion occurred , tearing the car to pieces a nd fi ll in d eb r1 s g the air with flying , a piece o f which struck

the messenger in the hip , knocking the revolver from his

hand . Then the robbers , entered , opened the sa fe w ith

— nitro glycerine , taking the contents , and escaped .

C o - operating with Lawrence Harrigan , then Chie f of Police ,

' a nd W illiam Desmond o f the detective department o f St .

- . C . Louis , Mo , we determined the hold ups to be Marion

- I I ed e et h not o rius 3 g p , a Western outlaw , James Francis ,

S t . Louis burglar , Dink Wilson , an Omaha burglar , and

. he S t . d t Adelbert Sly o f Joe , Mo , at one time a river for

C o . American Express , and who had stolen from

t . we had hem learned Sly gone to Los Angeles , and there

A . Robert Pinkerton , aided by Detective Whittaker of San Francisco and Detective Hawley o f Los Angeles arrested

35 M I H E DG S P TH A R ON E . l f m S F x Sto e ro t . L oui s San rancisco e press him and later the San Francisco police , a fter a desperate struggle arrested Hedgepeth in that city . Hedgepeth and Q l S t . y were returned to Louis , convicted and sentenced to

20 . years imprisonment Sly is now at Liberty , but Hedge

e . peth . a fter his release continued his li fe o f crim

no w 1 0 f ! Is , October , 9 7 , awaiting trial at Council Blu fs , 1 Iowa , for a sa fe bu rglary there on September , l P s n n . ea a d o . Francis was killed near , Kas , resisting arrest

Y . \ N . Vilson shot and killed Detective Harvey o f Syracuse , ,

Y . w as N . for which he electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison , ,

D D et ec and his brother Charley , who was with ink when B Y . f N . tive Harvey was killed , who we located in u falo , , and caused hi s arrest , was sentenced to prison for li fe .

1 8 1 ~ In 9 . at estern Union Junction on the Chicago , M il i R R . s. w St . VV aukee Paul not far from Racine , , a train “ was held - up and on the express messenger re fusing t surrender the express car was attacked with dynamite lit erally blowing the sa fe to pieces and the messenger barely escaped with his l i fe . ifi ; R . P ac c R . Later at Mankato , Minn , on the N orthern “ a similar robbery was attempted . The identity o f the hold u s p in these two robberies was unknown , but in the latter case , two suspects having purchased tickets for Cali fornia v ia Ore w e Portland , , , by telegraphing the numbers o f these

tickets and descriptions o f the suspects to our Portland ,

Ore o ffic e , the suspects were put under surveillance ,

o \ 1 and id entifi e d l cated at salia . Cal as John and George n Sontag , brothers , originally from Mankato , Mi n , who

37 h a . d j oined Chris Evans , an associate Our watching o f them developed the fact o f their purchasing dynamite , and other circumstances towards veri fying the suspicion against them , but not establishing evidence to act upon , our sur ve illanc e was stopped for the time being .

A t C o . . 1 8 2 Collins Station , Fresno , Cal , August 3 , 9 , “ ” - P ac ifi c R . R . u s a Southern train was held p , the expre s car dynamited and stolen . With the in formation o f our previou s investigation the railroad detectives and e V press special agents established the fact that the robbers were t he t men we had followed to Visalia , Cal , and an attemp

o ffic ers to arrest them resulted in one o f the being killed ,

n . A another da gerously wounded , and the bandits escaping

- oc regular man hunt , one o f the most exciting that ever curred on the P ac ifi c Coast followed for months thro ugh

fi nall st; the mountains o f California , resulting y in the arre o f t o George Sontag , who , forty hours a fter was sentenced life 1 C a . . a imprisonment in the Folsom , , Penitentiary Sever l months a fterwards John Sontag and Chris Evans were cap t ured a a fi ht , fter long and desperate g with a posse , both

o ne were badly wounded , Evans losing his right eye and arm .

John Sontag died in j ail , soon a fter his arrest . E vans

a was sentenced to li fe imprisonment , but escaped from j il at n 2 8 1 8 Feb ruarv Fres o , December , 93 ; was recaptured ,

1 8 1 8 FOISUI I] , 94 , and is now serving a li fe sentence in the ,

Cal . , prison . C H R I S E N V A S .

i o f t a A ss oc ate S on g B ro s .

l 2 rifle st o e . ooo pointing a at him , while a con federate $ , from

’

. A the paying teller s cage and decamped posse , who pur sued the robbers , killed Jim Wallace , one o f the band , the i . O other escaping the stolen money , three ten dollar and nine twenty- dollar bills were new unsigned bank notes and

I . T . through these Bill Dalton was traced to Ardmore , ,

'

8 1 8 . and on June , 94 , was killed while resisting arrest Nearly every member o f this gang “ died with his boots

t h A fter the death o f Bill Dalton , Bill Cook collected remnants o f the Dalton gang and formed one o f the most desperate and notorious bands o f outlaws , desperadoes and in we . murderers in the st The band at various times , F cluding Bill Cook , Jim Cook , Jim rench , Bill Dool in,Craw “ ” “ ” ford Crosby , alias Cherokee Bill , Buck Wightman , “ ” Columbus Means , Thurman Falding , al ias Skeeter , Joe

Jennings , Charles Cli fton , Sam Brown , George N ewton , “ " Perry B rown , George Newcomb , alias Slaughter Kid . “ ” Charles Pierce , alias Bitter Creek , Tom Quarles , Elmer OI Lucas , Lou Gordan , Curtis Deason , Yantis , Henry Mun “ ” i ! . son , Tulca Jack , Dick Yeager and p Wyatt Bill , Torn ,

- I n Jim , Lulu and Rose Cook were hal f breed Cherokee dians .

” “ 1 8 1 8 July , 94 , Bill Cook , Skeeter , Cherokee B ill ,

- u Henry Munson , Curtis Deason and Elmer Lucas , held p a Frisco train at Red Fork , A rk . Munson was killed trying

. d . to escape , but Deason was captured The others escape

t o t he Deason was sentenced a long term in penitentiary .

43

' 1 1 8 July 3 , 94 , at about ten o clock in the morning , Bill “ ”

Cook , Elmer Lucas , Jack Star , Tulca Jack and one othe

“ - O . u rode into Chandler , T held p the Lincoln County M . . d Bank , killed a citizen named J Mitchell , who had trie to give the alarm rode from the town followed by a posse

fi f en - who came up w ith them and a t e minute battle resulted .

One o f the bandits , Elmer Lucas , was badly wounded and

. 1 captured , the rest escaping Lucas was sentenced to 5 years in the penitentiary .

20 1 8 October , 94 , this band wrecked the Kansas City and

I . T . h Memphis express at Corretta , , by throwing a switc

running it into a string o f empty cars , marched the engineer

fi rem an t h e and to the baggage and express cars , forced d messenger to open the door but , as the messenger insiste that the sa fe was locked and could not be opened until i t

reached its destination , the gang went through the train and m obtained about $50 0 from the passengers . While still e

gaged in this , a freight train whistled nearby and the bandits

fled .

2 1 8 W at o o a ! October 3 , 94 , at , the bandits under B il ’ Cook s lead , drove ever y citizen to cover and then robbed

e very store in town . v 1 1 8 No ember 3 , 94 , some o f the gang led by Bill Cook ,

- u Cherokee Bill and Jim French , held p a Missouri ,

\V b anl< n Kansas and Texas train , at y , a bl ind siding , withi

I T . four miles o f Muskogee , . . , by side tracking the train

They attempted to enter the express and baggage cars , but

t he failing , shot out all the windows in the cars , riddled s d i es of the cars and then robbed the passengers .

45 W I L L I M M I A NE R . A n t e P a c ifi c s b s . . 8 1 0 f old im C o a t st age a n d trai n rob er E caped A ug , 9 7, ro m W i t P t t r h b w h e estm ns er e ni en i a y , B ritis C olu m i a , re h e w a s se r v i n f t f g a li e sen en ce . 2 8 1 8 November , 94 , Jim French and several others a “ - h r T . u C ot ah I . , , held p nine people in a store , plundered

fi rin . the store , the bandits retiring without g a shot

Little by l ittle , however , at the cost o f the lives o f many brave offi c ers and the expenditure o f a large amount o f

o r money , the members o f the Cook band were exterminated imprisoned and after the United States Government had 2 off ered $ 50 each for the capture o f these outlaws . Nov 2 1 1 8 8 t he ember , 94 , Jim Cook was sentenced to years in “

. e 2 2 1 8 penitentiary for murder Nov mber , 94 , Skeeter F t . . at Scott , Ark , pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the

. 1 2 1 8 U . S . penitentiary February , 95, B ill Cook in the fi f . t Court at Fort Smith , Ark , was sentenced to y years in

Y Y . 0 N . the N . State Penitentiary at Albany , January 3 , ”

1 8 I T . 95, Cherokee B ill was captured at Nowata , . , a fter he had started to organize a new band . Others o f these outlaw s killed while resisting arrest were Ol “ Dick B roadwell , Yantis , Charles Pierce , alias B itter “ ” Creek , George Newcomb , alias Slaughter Kid , B ill Dool “ ! i in Tulca Jack , Henry Munson and p Wyatt . ” M c Donald t h Black Jack , who was originally one o f 1 8 6 Dalton gang , began operations in the Southwest in 9 w ith George Musgrave , Bob Hayes , Cole Young , Bob Lewis “ ” - u and Sid Moore , principally holding p general stores and o ffi es post c and killing those who attempted to arrest them . 1 8 6 August , 9 , they unsuccess fully attempted to rob a

. 18 6 bank at Nogales , Arizona October , 9 , they attempted to fi P a i . rob an Atlantic 8: c c R . R train but a Deputy United

States Marshal , who was on the train , organized a posse ,

47 killed Cole Young and the others escaped w ithout getting any booty . The others were eventually killed resisting ar “ a ” rest , Bl ck Jack , the last o f the Mohicans , so to speak ,

1 8 . C o . being killed in Grant , New Mexico , in 97

VVest Old Bill M iner , who escaped from the New

B . C . 8 minster Penitentiary , New Westminster , , August , 1 0 9 7 , where he was serving a li fe sentence for the robbery ifi P a R R . c c . o f the Canadian train at Furrer , British 1 0 6 Columbia , on the early morning o f May 9 , 9 , in his early criminal career was one o f the most remarkable single handed stage and train robbers who ever operated in the

- o i — t far West , always going about his work in a matter fac way , never posing as a bad man , and never taking human H “ l i fe . e never belonged to any organized band of hold u ups , generally worked alone until later years he picked p others to assist him . 1 86 As early as 9 , he served a term for stage robbery in

8 h e . . 1 San Quentin , Cal , prison In 79 , a fter his release , with others , robbed the Del Norte stage in Colorado , o f

- A . n thirty six hundred dollars associate , Leroy , was cap t ured e s and hanged by a Vigilance Committee , but M iner

e caped with the booty , to Chicago , then to Michigan , wher he posed as a Cal i fornia capitalist , until his money was ex haust ed when he again returned to Colorado and committed “ ” - several other hold up robberies .

1 88 1 im In , Miner , J Crum , Bill Miller and a man named “ ” - u Jones , held p a stage between Sonora and Milton , Cali

f o rni . a . All were captu red except Jones . Crum con fessed

48

B B L A C K A RT . ” k t h e P . O. 8 t t b o f t h e ie s Bl ac B art , s age an d rai n rob er S rra . Miner is said to have originated the expression , Hands ” u fi rst p , and was one o f the highwaymen to operate on the

P ac ifi c Coast .

1 8 1 88 alif o r From 77 to 3 , stages in the mountains o f C ” - u w a nia were held p by a lone highwayman , always e ring

u c a conical circus clown hat , an old linen duster and a j t

bag about his lower legs .

A t - u n times , near the intended hold p he would arra ge

a screen o f j ute bagging or canvas , placing behind it dum mies made o f slouc' h hats on sticks and all so realistic as to

readily deceive . While ordering the dummies not to shoot t e c he until he directed or her was some sign o f resistan e , would request the driver to please throw out the box and ” mail bags , the box being the treasure box or safe o f the

'

W C o . . ells Fargo Express , containing a large sum of money

He was always polite to the passengers , especially to the

'

ladies , and a fter each robbery there would be a few lines of “

P . O. doggerel poetry , signed Black Bart , the This and the handw riting showed the lone robber to be o f more than

rufii an ordinary intelligence , well bred , and not o f the t vp e .

First a mail coach in the Sierras was attacked , next he w Sisk i o u ould be heard from in the y Mountains , on the o h old trail into Oregon , and so , altogether committing w - h t enty t ree robberies , and for whose apprehension , a large ff d reward was o ered . Only once did a driver get a goo s fi f t a look at him and de cribed him as an American , y ye rs a e o f g , with long gray hair , thin face , deep set eyes , promi d i nifi nent teeth and somewhat g ed appearance .

3 ! ' The only record o f Black Bart ‘ being shot at was on 1 88 i n November 3 , 3 , between M ilton and Sonora , Tuol om ne County , about three miles from Copperopolis , i u . On art c . Y Cal , on the old mail road from osemite this p c t h lar trip , Mc onnell , the stage driver , allowed a boy o f neighborhood , who had a gun , to ride w ith him , but the lad got down j ust be fore the stage was stopped and had gone into the woods . The robber who , as the stage approached ,

had used fi eld a as was his custom , power ful gl sses to de “ ” - u termine i f an armed guard was aboard , as he held p the stage asked the dr iver what had become o f the man w ith “ ” he the gun . The driver told him t truth , but as Bart started off with t he boxes and mail bags of gold valued at

- h y e fi f t forty four hundred dollars , also hundred and y

M c C onnell dollars in coin , the boy returned and snatching

rifle fi red the from him , four shots at the retreating robber , but failed to hit him

’ ”

r t . Immediately a fte this , as well as a fter Bar s othe robberies , detectives promptly explored the surrounding

fi re fi ndin country , this time near a camp , g a slouch hat , ff it silk handkerchie f and a linen cu with blood stains upon , ff the cu having on it a laundry mark . This was the fi rst real clue and resulted in the detectives fi nding the San Fran cisco laundry that had placed the mark on the cu ff and d t erm inin E s C . t g that it belonged to one Bolton . The arre “ ident ifi c at ion and of Black Bart followed . H e was also E . E known as Charles Benton and Charles . Bowles , had lived at an unpretentious boarding house i n San Francisco , passing as a mining man and which accounted for his o c F R N K S H E R A C LI F F B . i h w a v m a L ne H g n . r i n k F r k b e o T a n ba a nd a o ba n Ro b r .

53 H u c asional . e absence pleaded g ilty to his last robbery , but strenuously denied that he was the “ Black Bart ” who committed the others and declared to the Court that it w as only urgent necessity that drove him to commit this crime .

On 1 1 88 i n t h e November 7 , 3, he was sentenced to six years

. H e prison at San Quentin , Cal originally came from De catur , Ills . , where he had worked on farms , and from where B 1 60 in Company , Illinois Regiment , served three years in “ He W the Civil War . was known in his regiment as rest ” n li g Charlie , and so far as could be learned outside o f his “ ” - hold ups had led a respectable li fe , was a teetotaler , a

fi ne man o f education , a remarkably good story teller and since his release he has been seen more or less in hones t occupations on the P ac ifi c Coast . During “ Black Bart ’ s ” criminal career he never took a li fe or inj ured a human being .

1 8 2 a Early in the evening o f November 4 , 9 , at Omah .

n Sherc liff e l W ic Fra k , a ias Sherman Morris , boarded a Sion

P ac ifi c i City and Railroad tra n , and as it neared Californ i a h Junction , Iowa , completely disguised with a false eard , he

G . attacked William Pollock , a N ew York diamond mer chant , w ith a bag o f shot , until it was broken open , then seriou sly wounding him in the arm and shoulder with a revolver ripped open his vest and stole there from unmount ed diamonds valued at twenty thousand dollars , signaled the train to stop , and escaped . As a result of our handling the matter for the Jeweler ;

Sh e rc liff e t Protective Union , was arrested and ried at Lo

54 ” P . UG CA T E ENE BUNC H .

h x r s o b b . K lled v in e So u t e rn E p e s R e r i E ad g A rr st . a gan , Iow , and sentenced to seventeen years in the Fort

Madison , Iowa , penitentiary .

H e - u is believed to be the lone hold p man who , during 2 1 8 M r . 9 , prior to the attack on Pollock , robbed gamblers

a 1n and proprietors o f g mbling houses the Northwest , usu

y eu all entering at late hours o f the night , while all w ere ' gaged in their games and relieving them o f such m onev as they had on hand . H e began his career as a criminal when a boy seventeen years o f age , by robbing a safe at Aurora , Illinois , shot at

ffi r o c e s . the who attempted to arrest him , but was captured Since then he has been engaged in a number o f daring

robberies in the middle and far West . Like the average

pro fessional crim i nal , he squandered his ill gotten gains . 1 0 but but since his release from prison in 9 4 , still young ,

broken in health and prematurely aged he has married and ,

seemingly is endeavoring to lead an honest li fe .

1 888 In November , , a United States Express messenger “ ” - u was held p on a train near New Orleans , La . , and robbed o f Investigation proved the robber to be Captain

F . Eugene Bunch , alias Captain Gerald , a former newspaper

editor o f Gainesville , Texas . Acting w ith t h e special offic er o f the Southern Express

offi c ial fi nall Company , and a local , we y located Bunch in 2 1 1 8 2 a swamp near Franklinton , La . , where , on August , 9 .

he was killed resisting arrest . 0 1 8 1 a September 3 , 9 , Oliver Curtis Perry boarded

Y . R . . R . N New York Central train at Albany , , sawed an

t o opening through the rear door , crawled over the freight

56

revo ltier l C the centre , covered the messenger with a and S t O nve thousand dollars and some j ewelry , a fter which nea

Utica he made his escape by cutting the air brakes , thereby i bringing the tra n to a stop .

2 1 1 8 2 February , 9 , Perry again boarded an express Y train near Syracuse , N . , concealed himsel f on the roo f o f the express car until the train was in motion and then with a rope fastened to a hook in the roof o f the car while fi f t the train was traveling y miles an hour , lowered himsel f to a window and , covering the messenger w ith a revolver

~ ordered him to throw up hi s hands . The messenger at tempted to pull the bell cord , but Perry shot him in the ll f o w m . as hand , the messenger o g with several shots Just

fi red h e Perry his last shot , the train pulled into Lyons and , in attempting to escape drove the fi rem an and engineer from W a locomotive hich stood on a siding , started the engine at full speed , but was followed by railroad employees on another locomotive , who subsequently overtook him and a fter considerable shooting caused his arrest .

On 1 May 9 , follow ing he was sentenced to 49 years and

.Y . N . three months in the Auburn , , State Prison , from

2 2nd w as 1 n which he escaped October , but recaptured less n 2 h tha 4 hours . Soon a fter s ow m g s i gns o f insanity he was trans ferred to the asylum for the criminal insane at M at t eaw an 1 0 1 8 , from which he escaped April , 95, but four weeks later was arrested by a railroad detective at Wee

N . . hawken , J This detective had a dispute with the Super . ’ i nt end ent hin o f the railroad about Perry s capture , killed

hi s and was hanged in New Jerse y for his crime . A fter

58 ' M at t eaw an return to Asylum , Perry destroyed both eyes ’ with a saddler s needle and is now a blind raving maniac .

Y . N . Perry was born in Amsterdam , ; at fourteen was sent to a State Reformatory for burglary ; a fterwards served a

Y . N . term at Rochester , , then went to Minnesota , burglar ized a s e n tor , served three years in the Stillwater , Min . prison , became a cowboy , returned East and imposed upon

fi nall religious people by pretending to re form , and y com “ - m it t ed the hold up crimes as alleged .

o f. Bert Alvord , a train robber , was once City Marshal f f Wilcox , Arizona , and Deputy Sheri o f Cochise County ,

f earl e ss d i1i ent said to have been a , . g and conscientious “ ” ofli c e r o - u , became a train r bber and hold p as he claimed , on account o f a reward of offered for the arrest o f “ ” ” - u - u a hold p which he was not able to collect , held p a train and took from the express messenger d ec l ar ing he had earned this money and that there was no other it way to collect , therea fter committing many robberies , but

fi nall was y hunted down by the rangers and rurales .

1 0 2 In January , 9 , Alvord j oined forces with Bravo Juan ,

Augustine Chicon and Bill Stiles , Texas and Mexican out laws , working along the border . Alvord and Bravo Juan e wer captured in the Sierra Madre mountains o f Sonora , e T xas , tried and acquitted . Later Alvord and Stiles were

' arrested for a train robbery at Cochise . Alvord was sen

t enc ed . to two years in the penitentiary at Tombstone . Ariz , but with Stiles awaiting trial in the same j ail on six indict

s h o n 1 1 0 ment and t irteen other prisoners December 5, 9 3,

3 9 H R RY H A SC W A RT! .

W h b k S t . L i o o F R . w h w W m ile ra em a n o n o uis an d S a n ra nc sc y i t Ne t n att , u rd ered x Ke o i h le e press mes seng er l l gg N c ols . Sto broke j ail , this being the second time Alvord and Stiles t escaped from hi s prison ; on the previou s occasion . Stiles seriously wounding the j ailer . Alvord was later recaptured

nd . served his time in the Yuma , Ariz , penitentiary and

1 0 . was released during October , 9 5

Kellogg N ichols , a United States Express messenger , was found murdered in his car on the Chicago , Rock Island

P ac ifi c R . R . . and train , at Morris , Ills , on the night o f

' 1 1 886 1 0 0 March 3 , , the sa fe open and mostly $ h i h b . t e ills , stolen t ere from My personal invest gation at time , assisted by Frank Murray , then Chie f o f Police , o f

S u erin~ Jol iet , and a fterwards for many years one o f our p l t end ent s T . S ec 1a , John Smith , Chie f p Agent of the Chi fi R . ffi e r P ac i c R . o c s cago , Rock Island and and other de ve10 p ed that N ichols had been shot in the shoulder with a i . 2 h s 3 calibre pistol , a kind not used by train robbers , and brains literally beaten out with a car stove poker , which , was returned to the hook where it belonged and where any ordinary criminal would not have placed it a fter makingthe i use that was made bf t .

These circumstances together with being un favorably impressed with the statements of Newton Watt , baggage

l e man and Harry Schwartz , front brakeman o f the train , d to the suspicion that N ichols was killed by either \Vatt or Schwartz because N ic hol s by tearing OPE the mask o f the ' n robber had recog ized the wearer . The following day on the railroad tracks near Minooka , between Joliet and Mor ris , where N ichols was last seen alive , was found a mask

6 1 F R E D V H I TR OC K i m s V . , ali a s J C u m m ing L e . f m t . o n t rai n robber St ole ro S L ou i s 8: Sa n F rancisco e x press train .

D y ied rece nt l . made from the tail o f an old coat and which showed evi dence o f having been torn from the wearer . Ample evidence o f their guilt eventually obtained result ing in their conviction and sentence to li fe imprisonment . “’ ’ att died in the penitentiary , but Schwartz s sentence being commuted by Governor Altgeld , he was released from the

2 1 8 6 . Joliet penitentiary , September , 9

A St . M o 2 1 886 short distance out o f Louis , , October 5,

: a lone highwayman boarded a St . Louis 8 San Francisco

RV . e train , pres nted a forged letter from the Adams Ex Go r press , prevailed on the Adams Exp ess messenger to

open the door o f the car . The robber then compelled the

D F r h rin h . W . o t e am messenger , g , to open the safe and de

l iver the contents , to him , then binding and gagg m o . ing the essenger , le ft him lying on the fl or o f the car

n Robert A . Pinkerto and two detectives from our Chi

offic e r cago , several weeks a fterwards arrested Fred W it t

Kas rock , formerly o f Leavenworth , , for this robbery , who then admitted that four to h y e other men were concerned with him in the crime and that to each he had sent a por tion o f the stolen money that the robbery was conceived by

George Haight , a former express messenger and associate d

with him was Thos . Weaver o f Chicago . Aided by the local

police , o f his con federates we arrested Weaver in Chicago and ’ . W it t ro k Haight in Nashville , Tenn , two o f c s friends

in Leavenworth and two in Kansas City , to whom W it t roc lc had given some o f the stolen money and a Chicago printe r

63 V who printed the forged letter head . \ e recovered 90 p e r cent o f the stolen money .

VVitt roc k W , Haight and eaver all pleaded guilty and s were entenced to long terms in the Missouri penitentiary .

W it t ro c k served his sentence , returned to his old home in

Kas u . Leavenworth , , and died q ite recently

n M O A . the M ineral Range Railway , Michigan , at , 1 1 8 ~ September 5, 93 , at a crossing in the woods , called Bos t h ton , i n a sparsely settled country , masked men boarded locomotive and express car and forced the express messen ger to deliver to them a package containing seventy thousand

a dollars in currency , the pay roll of the Calumet Hecl ffi n C o . o c e a Mining As there was no telegraph at Boston , n alarm was not given until the train reached Calumet , whe n ifi ot ed . the local authorities were and arrested Jack Butler ,

— an ex convict , and Jack King , at that time the champion

Cornish wrestler o f the United States .

“ 0 1 For the American Express Company , I took charge

' this investigation , going w ith the manager o f the company ' r and several assistants to the scene o f the robbe y . Our

investigation assisted by the local authorities showed that .

the robbers had used a horse and buggy to escape with , . and of which w e obtained a good description from the natives thereabouts ; also a close examination o f the foot

prints o f the horse , showed he wore racing plates , instead

o f the usual heavy shoes worn by horses o f that section . “ ” id ent ifi ed K ‘ This horse was subsequently as Camp , the

- f ro m i property o f a Red Jacket , M ichigan , saloon keeper ,

64

- i whom the hold ups had obtained t . Our work resulted in

the additional arrest o f La Liberty , a former railroad fi re

man , Dominick Hogan , an American Express messenger ,

and his brother Edward Hogan , who had planned the rob

bery . La Liberty made to me a con fession that the stolen

at . money had been placed in his trunk , the depot , but on

searching the trunk we found only eleven hundred dollars . It was then determined that the night depot master at Mar

uet t e q , M ichigan , and a local livery stable keeper had stolen ’ re the money from La Liberty s trunk , resulting in my i h cover ng altoget er o f the stolen . A ll o f these men were convicted and sentenced to long

terms in the Michigan penitentiary .

1 8 f In the fall o f 95, at Aquia Creek , Sta ford County,

w a Virginia , two men , shortly after the train was under y ,

c r boarded an express train , one the express a and the other f the locomotive , cutting the locomotive and express car rom i t ak e t hem the balance o f the train , forcing the engineer to a considerable distance where the express messenger was

sa f e bl ow n overpowered , the _ and over ten thousand dollars “ ” —u stolen , the hold p men escaping , notwithstanding a battle

with a posse .

Shortly a fterward a stranger display i ng considerabl e

money , was arrested at Port Royal , Virginia , from whom A Robert . Pinkerton , representing the express company ,

who was investigating the robbery , obtained a con fession .

The robber proved to be Charles J . Searcey , of Texas , and M or anfi eld e he implicated Charles Morgan , al ias g , whos

66 P AT ROW E C . arrest we brought about in Cincinnati . Searcey was sen t enc ed to ten years and M o rganfi eld to seventeen years in

V a . the Richmond , , penitentiary

1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 r0 b ~ During 9 , 9 3 , 9 4 and 9 5, several train

h d . eries occurre in Cal i fornia , Colorado and Oregon The identity o f the robbers could not be settled at the time b ut we eventually determined that they were committed by

George and Edward Vernon Gates , brothers o f Cali fornia . 1 1 0 h who on March 5, 9 5, at Lordsburg , New Mexico , wit “ ” rifle s attempted to commit a series o f hold - up robberies and who killed themselves when the offic ers attempted to

arrest them .

t he Pat Crowe , notorious as kidnapper o f Eddie Cudahy , i son o f John Cudahy , the m llionaire Omaha packer , for

ac , , which crime through a miscarriage . o f j ustice he w as c quitted and a fterwards acknowledged being the abdu tor , t pleaded guilty to train robbery on the Chicago , Burling on

R . 1 R . 8 and Quincy in 94 , about which time there were a

V St . number o f attempts upon trains in the icinity o f Joseph , r Mo . Crowe was supposed to have the Taylor brothers o

St . Joseph associated w ith him .

A fter these robberies we located Crowe in the M ilw au

- kee Work house , and had him held , charged with a diamond

robbery in Denver , Col . Be fore the extradition papers

offi c ial s arrived he sent for the o f the Chicago , Burlington

R . R h and Quincy . and stated that he was concerned in t e

68

. a robberies near S t . Joseph Certain parts o f his story p

eared e p very improbable to me and I went to Denver , mad arrangements w ith the police authorities to permit him t o plead to these train robberies in Missouri . The night the arrangements were completed , Crowe escaped from the j ail .

‘ all t he Crowe , after his escape , w rote me that statements made by him were falsehoods . Later w e caused his arrest

. H e S t . . in Cincinnati was taken to Joseph , Mo , where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in the M is f souri States Prison at Je ferson City , from which he wrote

offic i al s letters to the railroad and mysel f , threatening to kill all who had to do with his prosecution .

When his sentence expired in Missour i , Crowe was r m turned to Denver for the dia ond robbery , but through friends it is claimed he compromised the matter . Crowe has lately written a book telling how he com m it t ed H some o f his crimes . e claims he now intends to atone for all the crimes he ever committed by d em onst rat ing to the young the folly o f cr i minal li fe .

H e 1 n ff was lately tried for robbery Council Blu s , but acquitted .

One o f the most notoriou s bands o f train robbers and “ ” - bank hold ups who operated in the West and Southwest ,

1 8 1 0 2 was from Wyoming to Texas from 95 to 9 , known “ ” as the Wild Bunch . A fter each robbery they would “ ” hide in the Hole in the Wall country o f Wyoming , and a fter the excitement had blown over would return to the i r headquarters in small cities o f Texas .

This band from time to time i ncluded Tom Ketcham . ” alias Black Jack , leader , who was hanged at Clayton , New

26 1 0 1 ff M exico , April , 9 , for k illing Sheri Edward Farr , of

W hal ensb ur e t t g, N ew Mexico , who was att mp ing to arres “ ” him for a train hold - up

Will iam Carver , alias Bill Carver , second leader , 2 1 0 1 killed April , 9 , while resisting arrest in Texas for a

murder committed at Sonora .

m 2 1 0 0 F e Sam Ketcha died June 4 , 9 , in the Sante , N ew

inflic t ed Mexico , penitentiary , o f a wound by a posse o f offic ers attempting to arrest him for the robbery o f the

R . R . C o . . Colorado Southern at Cimarron , New Mexico

M c Gu i nne ss Elza Lay , alias , is now serving a li fe sen

Fe en1t ent 1 ar tence in the Sante , N ew Mexico , p y for par “ ” t ic ip at ion with Black Jack Ketcham in the Cimarron tra in

robbery .

Lonny Logan and Harvey Logan , alias Curry broth

. M o 2 8 1 00 ers Lonny was killed at Dodson , , February , 9 ,

while resisting arrest .

George Cu rry , alias Flat Nose George , third leader ,

killed near Thompson , Utah , April resisting ar ’ r f est by a Sheri f s posse .

now — Bob Lee , alias Bob Curry , serving a ten years

W om in f o r sentence in the Rawl ins , y g, State Penitentiary ,

b P ac ifi c n W ilc ox 2 the rob ery o f the Union trai at , June ,

1 899 . Among the bank and train robberies committed by t he

” ' : Wild Bunch in recent years were Butte County Bank , ’ e member American Bankers Association , Bell Fourche ,

‘

h 2 8t h 1 8 . Sout Dakota , June , 97

' P ac ifi c - u W il c o x Union Express train hold p , , Wyom

2 d 1 8 . ing , January , 99

7 2

P ac ifi c - u VV o Union Express train hold p , Tipton , y h 2 t 1 0 0 . 1 0 0 ming , August 9 , 9 About 9 , a fter these robberies , “ ” v o under the leadership o f Har ey L gan , alias Kid Curry , “

0 . C . s the band included Hanks , alias Camila Hanks , alia “ ” “ ” ' Dea f Charlie ; George Parker , alias Butch Cassidy “ Lon b au h Harry g g , alias Sundance Kid ; and Ben Kil “ ”

. patrick alias The Tall Texan A part o i. this band on “ ” 1 1 0 0 - u t h e September 9 , 9 , at the noon hour , holding p

‘ offi c ial s w it h rifles and revolvers , robbed the First National

. n Bank , Winnemucca , Nev , a member o f the America ’ Bankers Association , o f in gold .

1 0 1 Lo n bau h July 3 , 9 , Logan , Cassidy , g g , Will Carver , “ ” \fV a Ben Kilpatrick , Deaf Charlie Jones , alias Hanks , at g ” - u ner , Montana , held p a Great Northern Express train , securing o f unsigned bills o f the National Bank o f Montana , and the American National Bank o f Helena ,

' “ t ll Mon , and for which Ben Kilpatrick , alias The Ta

' ” N O S t . M 0 Texan , was arrested by the police in Louis , , vemb er 1 0 1 s 5, 9 , w ith a number o f the unsigned stolen bill

H e fi f t e en in his possession . was sentenced to years in the

Columbus , Ohio , penitentiary , since trans ferred to the

’

G a . s United States Penitentiary at Atlanta , In Kilpatrick room o f the Laclede Hotel , the pol ice arrested Laura Bul a lion , a companion o f Kilpatrick , as she was leaving with as satchel containing several o f the unsigned bills . She w convicted o f being an accomplice and sentenced to two years

’ and six f . months in the Missouri Penitentiary , at Je ferson

1 1 0 1 December 3 , 9 , at Knoxville , Tennessee , two police men who attempted to quiet a pistol fight over a game o f w ho pool were shot by one o f the participants , a stranger

74

- u a fterward held p the occupants o f the saloon , backed out o f the rear door and j umped thirty feet into a railroad

w a s cut , but eventually traced and arrested in an exhausted

i condition from cold , exposu re and njury from his j ump .

id ent ifi ed We subsequently this man as Harvey Currey , alias Harvey Logan . Logan was convicted and sentenced to a term o f twenty years in the United States Penitentiary at

W a n Columbus , Ohio , for uttering bank notes stolen at g n ~ o n w hich notes the signatures had been forged . O Novem

2 1 0 2 ber 9 , 9 , while awaiting trans fer to that institution , he “ ” made his escape by holding - up the guards in the Knox i H ville j ail ; flee ng to the mountains on horseback . e has not been recaptured .

O. C . Hanks , alias Camila Hanks , o f Texas , another

. 2 1 0 1 one o f this band , in Nashville , Tenn , on October 7 , 9 , ff o ered a merchant one o f these notes , circulars describing

us which had been sent by . broadcast throughout the United

. h States The merchant became suspicious and telephoned t e.

o c police who responded quickly , but Hanks noting w hat “ - u o ffi c er curred , quickly drew a revolver , held p the tem

o raril t h p y , j umped into an ice wagon and forcing out driver drove rapidly down the street ; abandoned the wagon and at the point o f his revolver captured a buggy and in this escaped through the marshes to the Cumberland River , where he forced two negroes to row him across in a boat i and was lost trace o .

On 1 1 0 2 o ffi c e rs April 7 , 9 , he was killed by in the streets

a . 1 8 2 o f San Antonio , Tex s , while resisting arrest In 9 , “ ” Hanks and Harry Longb augh held - up a Northern P ac ifi c train in B ig Timber , Montana , for which Hanks was ar

76 ETT A P L A C E .

M rs . Kid L o ng b o ugh .

o f h W il d Bu nc .

77

t rested , convicted and sentenced to ten years in the Dee

Lodge Penitentiary , from which institution he was released “ 0 1 0 1 old - u April 3 , 9 , rej oining hi s companions in hold p

robberies .

, ” h L on b au h Butc Cassidy with Harry g g and Etta Place ,

rifle Re a clever horsewoman and shot , fled to Argentine ou public , S th America , where they , it is said , have been j oined by Logan . Being expert ranch men they engaged in cattle raising on a ranch they had acquired , located on a piece o f high table land from which they commanded a of 2 c a t ur view 5 miles in various directions , making their p practically impossible During the past two years , they ” committed several hold - up bank robberies in Argentina

Lon bau h in which Etta Place , the alleged w i fe o f Harry g g , i t O is said , perated with the band in male attire . We advised he t Argentina authorities o f their presence and location , but they became suspicious o f preparations for their arrest , fled from Argentine Republic and were la st heard from on the

Southwest Coast o f Chili , living in the w ild open country .

Edward Estelle , alias Conn . Edd ie , George Gordon , “ alias Brooklyn Blacky , William B rowning , alias “ ” “ ” B row ne P a y y , Thomas Clark , alias . Butch and Johnn ” “ ” 1 0 2 - u Bull , all yegg men , on August 5, 9 , held p a train

t R . R . . o f the Chicago , Burling on and Quincy , near Marcus

. a s fi rem an Ills , fter ubduing the engineer , and conductor , and shooting up and down the railroad track to intimidate

the passengers , secured three thousand dollars from the ’ d s A am Express Company s sa fe in the baggage car .

79

W I L L I M I A B RO W N NG . Y e x H u gg E p res s old p . Ofii c ers F an-l John J . Shea and Special Thomas Dwyer

lusk e . James A . M c C y Morris in an ante morten statement “ ” con fessed to the Illinois Central hold - up ; also to an at

- u P ac ific tempted hold p o f a Chicago , Rock Island and

2 1 0 . train near Leets , Iowa , July 9 , 9 4

Although the hold - up men have usually been successful “ ” - u in their holding p o f stages , trains and banks , there have been occasional instances where the “ tables were turned ” on them .

One o f these was near Gilliam , Missouri , shortly a fte 2 6 1 0 6 h midnight , Sunday , December , 9 , w en a lone robber ,

who had boarded the train at Slater , Mo . , compelled the sleeping car porter and the train conductor to accompany him through the cars , the porter awakening the passengers

in the Pullman sleepers , collecting their valuables and hand

ing them over to the robber . As the train reached Glasgow ,

M o , the next stop for the train , the robber disappeared , but whil e the conductor was reporting the robbery to a tele “ ” - u graph operator , the hold p by signal to the engineer

started the train , although the conductor succeeded in hav ing it stopped and in forming the engineer o f what had occurred

t h e started through the train , when he met porter . the flag “ ” “ ” - u - man and the hold p man . who under the hold ups d irection were continuing to relieve the passengers o f thei r

b e valuables . The robber again forced the conductor to “ ” - h com e a member o f the hold up party . O reaching the “ ” - u t h last car , the hold p locked the flagman and porter in

’ ladies toilet and started t o take the plunder from the flag

8 3 ’ B man s hat . Elias . Haywood , the conductor , watching “ - u o ff h is what was occurring , found the hold p robber guard , grappled with him and both wrestled about the car

fi nall floor , but y the robber released himsel f from the con ’ duc t o r s grasp and disappeared out of the door on the plat

fi rin r t h e form , the conductor g several shots a fter him with robber ’ s revolver which the conductor had captured during the struggle . The conductor believed the robber had j umped or fallen from the train which was running at forty mile s an hour , but on going on the car platform , found the hold up man crouching on the lower steps , gave him a severe t h beating , pulled him back into the car and held him until train pulled in at Armstrong , Mo . , where the police , having ifi not ed . been by the Glasgow operator , were in waiting m The robber gave his name as Jesse Clyde, Ru sey , and “ ” claimed that his brother held - up the Chicago passenge r M o 8 1 0 6 train near . Glasgow , , on November , 9 , at which

he time a similar robbery was committed , and from whom received his instructions how to operate .

What I have maintained that no crime pays and that 95 per cent o f criminals die in debt and frequently in want is “ ” most aptly illustrated by the history o f the Hold - up Rob ” ber . I know o f few train robbers or hold - ups al ive and out

- o f prison to day . Only in a very limited number of in stances are these in com fortable circumstances and from

honest means only after giving up their lives o f crime . Crime does not pay '