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Show The unsolved robbery of Coltharp's Store in 1898 (Special to the Vernal Express) By Kerry Ross Boren A little more than eightly years ago. an event occurred which is still remembered by a few in local folklore circles the day Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay visited Vernal and incidentally in-cidentally robbed Coltharp's Store. But the actual robbery was never much publicized because of embarassment to certain individuals, but after eighty years, it is worth recounting. In the spring of 1898 Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay stopped for dinner at the Darling ranch a few miles out of Vernal. Ver-nal. Butch proceeded to shoot the heads off several chickens as he rode into the yard and Mrs. Darling came screaming out of the house. Cassidy soon calmed her down by giving her twenty dollar gold pieces for each of the chickens, and then he and Lay proceeded to aid in plucking them for a meal. Since money was scarce at the Darling household, the lady was grateful. During the meal, Cassidy and Lay learned from Mrs. Darling that her husband was away, and that he had not worked in some time, having come down with "gambling fever." He spent most of- his hours'-and money at the Antlers Saloon in Vernal, where Charley Crouse ran a sporting game. As a result, Mrs. Darling was left to care ca-re for the ranch, do the chores and tend the children, with little food or money to provide her family. The two congenial outlaws were dismayed. When, Mr. Darling returned home that evening, he was greeted at the door of his house by two armed men. They proceeded to lecture him sternly on the neglect of his wife and family and then instructed him to harness his team to the wagon. They then followed him into town, just at dark. Mr. Darling was instructed to back the wagon up the closed rear door of William Coltharp's store, which Cassidy and Lay then broke open. They then forced Mr. Darling to aid them in loading the wagon with groceries, linens, clothing, and even a new washing machine. Cassidy thereby lectured Mr. Darling once more on the evils of gambling and the neglect of his wife, and told him to take the items back to his ranch and give them to his family, and not to report itor the sheriff would surely think he himself had robbed the store. He added that if he ever heard of Mrs. Darling being neglected or mistreated again, he would return. Perhaps the story might well have ended there, for the robbery was never credited to Mr. Darling, the unwilling participant, but another event happened happen-ed that night simultaneously which affected af-fected yet another Vernal resident-young resident-young Tom Vernon. Tom., who was then a young man of eighteen, recalled in later years how it happened. He was coming down the street in front of Coltharp's Store when two men rode up, dismounted, and handed him the reins of their horses, offering him twenty dollars in gold to hold them for a little while, which he did. A short time later the two men emerged from behind Coltharp's Store and grabbed the reins of their horses. One of the men-Cassidy-yelled to Tom "You had better get out of here, boy, we have just robbed the store!" Tom was dumbfounded. "Where can I go?" he . retorted. "I just helped you do it!" Cassidy told him that he was welcome to ride along with them, and Tom, scared for his part in the crime, rode away with the outlaws to Baggs, Wyo., and never returned to Vernal. At Baggs, Cassidy gave Tom $500 with which to start a hotel and saloon, and here Tom Vernon remained to become a respected citizen until his death only a few years ago. Frank Swain heard the story in later years from Mr. Darling and repeated it, while Tom Vernon verified the unusual robbery, having been another unwilling participant. To this dav. the robbery of Coltharp's Store in 1898 remains an unsolved crime on the county court records. A little bit of Vernal's old intrigue solved after more than eighty years, adding a small token to the crowded criminal career of Butch Cassidy. |