Show BA3DITS OF THE DESERT III Some Old Time Holdups of the Bullion Business in Arizona From 1850 until recently Arizona has been the favorite resort of bandits and highwaymen Both Mexicans and Americans Ameri-cans indulged in the practice and it is said that many a snug fortune now belonging be-longing to respected citizens was founded in that way But be that as it may many a bar of bullion started from the mines to the railroad and failed to reach its destination Years afterward the bones of its custodian would be found L bleaching in the sand but they could tell no tales and the robbers went unknown 1 un-known unless the sudden rise of some struggling citizen from poverty to affluence afflu-ence directed suspicion in which case the matter was allowed to drop One ofthe latest and boldest of these robberies occurred in 1SSS little way out from Phcenir and Its result has deterred The Mexicans from any attempt at its S repetition The Vulture mine the property of Senator Sen-ator Tabor was then worked by an English j En-glish syndicate with man named Grib I QbIG as superintendent In taking away the bullion an armed guard of five to tenS ten-S men usually accompanied it riding tare tar-e oagh ahead and behind to prevent them all being killed by a single fire from ambush One morning in Ausust of 1888 Gribble with one companion in a buggy started to Phoenix with fortytwo pounds S of gold bullion His guard consisted of two men 6a horseback who were sup I pcseoVio ride one 200 yardsln advance end the other 200 yards to the rear but it aitcrward developed that they were riding together S I When the eavaicaae reached a lonely I place oa lite desert near Negro wells the j road made n abrupt turn to the right i ana < directly facing the turn about ten i < u < 2 C f J if ode distant was a clump of greasewood j From behind these bushes a deadly fire was poured in on them by three Mexicans Mexi-cans They had selected their targets and Gribble and two others were killed at the first fire The other man who was mounted on a thoroughbred horse attempted at-tempted to make his escape but the bul lets from the Winchesters overtook him and he fell dead about 300 yards distant One of the Mexicans took his horse and strapping the bullion before him on the saddle the three made across the desert toward Mexico Late In the day the stage from Prescott came by and the driver discovering the bodies broughttlie news into Phoenix By daylight next morning a posse of white men with Indian trailers were on the ground and began She pursuit Late in the day four of them came upon the I robbers while they were trying to cut the piece of bullion to divide it theyevi I dently wishing to separate They showed fight and the whites returned to Vulture I for reenforcements and going back as rapidly as possible found that the robbers I had separated and two of the trails were lost In the mail pass of the Eaglo Tail mountains Pressing on the trail of the other they reached the Gila on the evening even-ing of the next day Here they found the fugitives horse mired in the quicksand quick-sand with a leg broken his rider having taken his blankets and the bullion which he still had In his possession and started dQwn the rIver on foot He had ridden the horse more than 100 miles without food or Water and in trying to rush him across the river which was swollen tho horse had become mired and in a frantic effort to free himself broken his leg Tha pursuers shot him and followed b jankof the river to the ferry a few miles below where Governor Powers had some Mexicans at work on a boat Riding up to the fence they asked him if he had seen such a man describing the one they wanted Before Powers could reply the i Mexican who was sitting on his blanket in the shade of the house and within hearing of the conversation started to run up the hill and toward the brush The white men began shooting and he ell dead He had come to the house on foot a few hours before and had obtained permission to rest there until they had repaired the boat so they could put him across the river In his roll of blankets they found the piece of bullion with Gribbles blood dried upon it The thieves had tried to cut it in two but had failed and they had separated the leader doubtless having given the other two the slipihe The dead robber was found to be Ynocinte Valenzucia a trusted Mexican employed at the mine The other two robbers were never covered nor were the citizens ever able to fasten suspicion on any one Cincinnati Commercial Gazette I |