| Show J GG silo T GUN C Ci i OF EARL BA Y lA DA YS VS 0 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 ie 0 00 1 4 San an Frncisco Francisco Gal Gail Unique in may many hing California I stands nt to the front a as a I state rIch in deeds of wid wild daring by tat that pioneer element made the early mining stagIng staging and racing days of the golden west memorable among the records of the nations growth The such that for for forty forty ty years California Nevada Nevada Oregon and Idaho wih their stage tage lines crIss crIsscrossing crisscrossing crossing and penetrating the rich mountainous offered the most tempting Inducements cement to high waymen an made a a system of that reache reached it its perfection on the Pacific slope The shotgun messengers wIth whom this artcle article has to deal were and sti still areS are the e ver very incarnation of human fearlessness They rode upon the front seat of the stage one foot on the treasure treasure box one hand gapIng grasping the lock and the other hand genty gently clasping the barrel of the shotgun mae expressly for the busi business business ness of opposing the sudden and ever robbers expected attacks of f desperate masked MIke Tovey Eugene Blair Gerge George GeorgeM M Hackett Shotgun Jimmy Brown Jimmy are names oj of probably the most fa famous famous shotgun messengers ever known I It is wih with their actual actual experiences that I I the succeeding paragraphs deal deal From surviving friends from old leters letters and from other sources have been collected I Ithe the thrilling incidents that indicate but buta a part of what these men and their fellows went through In their danger 01 and trying business I It is plain fact far more entertaining than fiction because persons are sti still living who knew the men and remember the tern roads fc they had on lonel lonely mountain terr II Mike Tovey who vho was murdered by a I highwayman In Amador county on onI I July 15 fe years of I thrilling experIences as as a shotgun mes messenger had no no peer as tn n indomitable and absolutely fearless guardian of treasure boxes oxe HIs assassination aroused intense feeling and his funeral at attracted hundreds oC the l lit littIe te tIe cemetery In Jacksn Jackson where he was laid to rest under n iv great mound of fowers flowers He was a native nathe of Illinois a oter of powerful build wih with steel gray eyes which few could elude HIs friends were in evey every mining tOW on the Pacific slope for he wa was gene JUS to a fault fault and a good storyteller though hE he would never relate his own experIences In 1881 he had a sensational s shooting fight wih with two robbers In western Ne Nevada Nevada vada One of his frIends has given the story On the Bodle Bodie stage said aid he were Mike Tovey and a new new eXtra extra gard guard and five or six passengers When the coach arrived at the spot pot where the theother theother other stage had been robbed Tovey got down and by the U light ht of a lantern found the mens tracks In the he dusty road As there was little travel at that time of nIght the tracks were ere They led long along in th the direction the stage stage was going Every little while Tovey would get of off and make another examination to see ee I If the fellows had left the rad road Finaly Finally he had the stage sop stop at the fork where the Han Hall and Simpkins road about ten miles from the scene scene of the robbery He took the ithe lantern l ving his shot shotgun gun on the drivers set seat and again stepped forward Just as he reached the head of the near leaders two reached shots were fred fired almost simultaneously miss ing Tovey and kUng killing the horse Tovey dropped his lantern darted dared back behind the stage lights and grab bet beil his gun At Atthe the fame name instant one ana of the robbers yelled YU You were tryIng to sneak up on us were yoU and with a frightful oath exclaimed I If thero theres wih a shot fred fired wel well ki kill you al all Tovey cled called back as though he were frightened What are you kicking about Theres nobody talking about shooting but yourself I If you want anything come out and get it Then he whIspered to the new gard guard to sup out on the other aide of the stage and attend to the robber over there while he looked out for the one on hIs side The robber approached slowly In the darkness and when he got to the shoulder of the wheel hore horse Tovey shot him dead The temporary guard scram bled b behind hInd the stage and let of off both barels barrels but missed his man Tovey hurried d round and was In the act of fring firing when Shar Sharp P the ether robber pulled his trigger and put a bulet bullet through arm causing him to drop his gun which went of off when it struck the ground I Sharp sprang back into the brush and everybody thought he had escaped When Tovey examined his arm by the stage lights the blood was gushing from i it so freely that i it seemed an artery was severed and that attention must be given it at once The temporary gard guard who shoot straight and o oxe e of the Dassen passengers gers started wih wIth Tovey Toey for a fa farn house close by where his arm dressed They had got but a few h bun dred yards from th the coach when the theother theother other robber who had been lying low and listening stepped up to the coach and ordered the drIver to throw out the express box He t en cooly coolly proceeded to smash the box open Toe Tovey weak and almost fainting now from loss of blood heard beard the significant sound of the ax and pleaded to De be led back so that he could get a shot t the man Finding that of no use he swore at atthe atthe the new gard guard ana caled called him aJ all kinds of a but cOuld not induce him himI to return a aad d tackle th fellow The robber took 50 from the box without paying any attention to his dead part partOn On May la 2 1892 Tovey was shot at from ambush near Sheep Shep Ranch in Calaveras count county and he returned the fre fire During the fusillade a young girl passenger was kled killed outright while the drIver was so badly wounded that i It was feard feared for a that he would die Tovey escaped wih with a shattered ar arm He jumped from the stage during the fighting and pursued the man but did not get hUn him Many an people thought it was Sharp who had been released from prison and had long long before vowed that he would ki kill Tovey A few minutes past 1 on the evening evening of June 15 1893 a man me dashing into Jackson behInd a foaming horse and shouted the startling news tat that the stage from froni lone h had d been at at attacked tacked on the Morrow grade about fe five mies miles from Jackon Jackson by a lone high highwayman wayman who had had murdered Mike T Tey To Tovey vey ey shot the driver Dewit Dewitt Clinton Radcliffe and two of the horses The town wa sas swept sept by the exciting in information formation Within twenty tent minutes th sherif sheriff and a posse for the scene At the coach minus two of it its horses drove i to Jacon Jacona Jackson a half hour late bringing te the body of Mike Tovey The stage at the time of the murder wa was traveling at a noral normal gait lt Wil Vi lam ham of Sa San Francisco sat on toP the other passengers being Inside There were tat flat stubble stubble fields fieldson on bot both sides of the road and ato gether the place wa Was most unlikely for fora fora a a holdup Some Sonie men were working in ina ina a hay feld field not a quarter of a mi mile away The coach was whirling along close to toa toa a stone fence I It was broad and the dangerous p t of te the journey were supposed to have been passed Without a sig sign or or an instants warn warning warnIng ing a shot cm came tr orn the fence and pase passed trough through Mike body close In front of the the driver another shot followed and Shaen bereI berger Sw saw the robber standing a as t the smoke broke from his rife rifle barel barrel That bulet bullet plowed thrOugh t the back of te the drivers seat seat rIpped a shallow fur furrow furrow row In the drIvers back and ent entered red bod b between tween the shoulder bla blades s lust a as i was falling h for dg d from th the frt first fatal shot which had bad entered under his right arm and came out through his lef left breast made made a a gb grab for te the driver but Radcliffe ly Lok Look out for Tovey Im Im not hurt hart And the passenger caught u ht Tovey just justIn In time to prevent him from lunging over the boot boot While this was going on the robber fred fired tw two more shots in rapid succession at tle the striking the and Ul the tn ih the shoulder Two hundred yards down the road the driver check checked d the terrified team and then r d th blood pourIng from two of the anImals They lifted Tov bOdy genty gently from the boot and laid I it by the roadside but butle le life had passed out instantly Then the passengers realized what the shot shots had I me nt and one of them fainted when the they placed the bloody remains of the I messenger Inside of the coach The murderer was still standing by the fence calmly gazing toward the I II I stage He remained tere there ten minutes after the atack attack then turned and hur ned away Common opinion was that Sharp had done the shooting but six weeks later Wilam William Evans an vIet vict wa was captured and confessed that tha t the he had killed Mike Tovey George 1 M Hacket Hackett who was a fa famous shotgun m for nearly twenty years sent a reminiscent shorty shortly before his death at Marysville in 1895 to a frind friend On the of June 1876 wrote he the stage between Oroville and Forbestown wa was robbed h by two masked men They secured Wells Fargo Cos express box in gold dust and a I Ismal smal small amount of coin The next day dayon I Ion on my return tD trip from Forest City when at a point about eighteen mi miles s from I noticed masked men co coe e out of the the brush Into the road about yards ahead of the stage When hen they ther saw me rise raise my m gun they ran back Into the brush I jumped off the stage and rushed after them I had pursued them about yards thick brush when I upon their ear camp Th There re I found their clothes They had intended to rob the i sta stage e in theIr underclothing In the j pants I discovered in coin I also picked up a valise alse containing the I Ibold I bold goki dust that had been heen taken from the C 0 th tb day ay before I gathered up ip the stuff and carried it ba v i e sae we Ve along for half a mie mile until we were past the brush Then I gt got of off and started back to track the robbers he st stage ge went wenton on toward Marysville wih with the clothes recovered plunder I slipped up on one o of the robbers In the brush while he was looking for his clothing I sud suddenly suddenly denly caled called to hIm to throw up his hands He did so dropping his gun and and mak mask on the gound ground I 1 marched him to the House about a quarter o oa of ofa a mie mile away left hf ha under gard guard ot of a aman aman man there and hurried back to look for the other fellow but I was unable to find him The name was Harry Norton alias Liverpool He was sent to state prison for to fifteen years On the of Jui July 1882 the the stage between La Porte and wa a aI stopped bY a masked maske man at a point about five mies mileS from La Porte We I lear learned afterward t that hat I it wa was Black Black Bat Bart He ran out in front of the leaders wih with a shotgun in his hands Au As soon I as I caught sight of I away hitting him In the hOad hea He instantly pointed his gun at te the driver but be before before fore he could fred fired again and knocked his gun out of range He turned and ran but fel fell dow down lost his hat and mask s scrambled up UD and and dis disappeared disappeared appeared before I could reload and g get t tI I another shot at hm hIm This happened about 7 in the moring morning That about boul 2 cl ck in tIle the after afternoon ameda noon when urt n miles of Oroville I saw another masked masked man wih with a shotgun He wa was standing be beI behind I hind an oak tree I shot at hl on onI I sight and he my fre fire lr a fah flash hitting me in the face I jumped I of off the stage and chased him into the I brush taking aim as I rn ran but my gun snapped and and before I could reload hE he wa was gone I never neier heard who the fellow was Eugene Blar Blair one of the most cele celeb b t messengers that ever lived verily a man who knew no fear met a trac tragic end at Auburn in 1884 after many perilous years of fight ing wih with highwaymen A native of Augsta Augusta Me tal tall mus muscular muscular cular quick a terror to road agent agents a aman aman man who had killed robber robbers and cap captured captured others Blair ivan a retired from the wih with a pension at th the age of 36 because the company wished to save him from the desperadoes who repeat repeatedly edly to take his life BlaIrs brother wa was a Nevada Nevada senator and lived at Pioche He own owned d a sawmill near Auburn and thither the fearless messenger went to become superintendent superintendent He wa was hauling a load of wood one day wih with a team of unbroken broncos when they ran away on the grade BlaIr was hurled gade wa from his seat the wheels passed over his chest and crushed his lungs A few months later he pled died and they burled buried him at Aubur Auburn where a tombstone erected by t the e express company tells simply of the last resting place of lof as darIng a man as ever caled called California hi his home Blairs life as s a treasure gard guard was wasa a series of thrilling adventures In 1872 the little mining town of Pioche NeV Nev was a hellhole of humanity fes festering festering with criminals gamblers and disreputable women Ther There was a col young joung faro player there who was a geat great friend of the superior judge The sherif sheriff w was busy suppress suppressing Ing lawlessness in mining camps and had no time to heed the repeated com complaints I plaints of despised Mormon lonon peddlers who drove over from Utah wih with pro produce produce duce and were frequently held up and robbed On the homeward trip invariably by an old man wih with gray grayhair grayhair hair and gay gray bead beard Continued snows checked the visit visits of the Mormon lormon ped peddlers diers so one day the old man stopped the regular stage Eugene Bair Blair was wason on the drivers seat seat With his charac characteristic quickness he e shot both bar barels els at once and the robber fel fell dead wih with witha a double charge of buckshot through his body his cocked gun exploding harmlessly in the air a as the trIggers yielded to the impulsive death cluth clutch Blair jumped down hauled the mans hat of off ad and to hi his surprise the gy gray grayhair hair and gay gray whiskers came of off with i it revealing the features of the young gambler Wen When te the body was brought into Pioche the judge wept over it and then sat dow down and wrote a sympathetic but lut noncommittal tal leter letter to the mother whose en entreating treating letters in the young mans cabin showed that she had plea pleaded d wih with him to return to the eater eastern home Several week weeks later a woman in deep mourning arrived In Pioche havig having journeyed 2000 mies miles by bj stage stage from the nearest railroad staton station It was th the dea dead robbers mother She had come halfway across the continent for the remains of her son She had ha entered the town in the ver very stage in which his bis mangled for form had been carried and wih with the ver very shotgun messenger who had killed him but n m one sus suspected suspected her identity and and nothing was said of the disgraceful sensation that had stirred an all Pioche She sought ta tha I judge He adjourned cour court early early and hure hurried abou about warning m to say no no wor word tat that might let the mf mot Ith of the Ignominious end of her boy As Ashe he wa was |
