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Show 12A Sun Advocate, Price, Utah Wednesday, March 12, 1986 Looking back ... astle Gate robbers always a step ahead By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor After the Castle Gate holdup on April 21, 1897, posses chased the outlaws, but seemed to always be at least hours behind and some of the time they were days behind the fleeing outlaws. About noon that on Wed- nesday, Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay held up the payroll of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company at their office in Castle Gate. The two men escaped with $7,000 in gold coins. Posses were raised in Carbon and Emery counties and raced towards each other in an effort to catch the fleeing robbers before they reached Buckhorn Wash. They failed and Cassidy and Lay made good their escape. One week later, the Eastern Utah Advocate of April 29 told about the escape and the folly of the attempts to catch the robbers. CASTLEGATE THE HOLDUPS DOINGS THE OF success in evading the law once more will give them greater confidence than ever. The $7,000 they captured would be a handsome sum for them to devide (sic) up among the faithful in their camp, and the indications are that payday last Friday at Robbers Roost was celebrated with more levity than it usually is at Castlegate. The newspaper then gave a mention of the robbery again and then went on to describe the escape route taken by the robbers and indicated that there were four robbers escaping with the cash. The newspaper article continued. Sheriff Donants posse made the error of going to Gordon Castledale posse kept in the field. Wednesday evening the Castledale posse got mixed up with that from Huntington and one man in the latter posse can thank nothing but luck for living now. A rifle ball cut the stirrup strap under his leg and entered the flank of his grey mare, but did no further damage... L.S. Dickinson came down from Salt Lake with a posse and other men here joined them.. They left Greenriver at 3 a.m. Thursday and reached the crossing of the San Rafael at 7:30 a.m., on the road to Hanksville. They took a guide with them but he would go no further than the Halvreson ranches, and the posse pushed on to Iron Springs wash where they expected to intercept the bandits. About noon Thursday Mr. Bacon, the mail driver Cleveland next morning he discovered that the robbers had cut a wire fence in Cleveland and gone through the day before. His posse and that from Huntington gave up the chase on overtook creek instead of keeping straight on the road to Emery county, and on reaching the second POSSES SENT AFTER THE ROBBERS NUMEROUS Their Identity day and them and was pumped with much difficulty as to what information he had. He finally told how four men with five horses had crossed the road near him about an hour after the the posse left the Halversens ranch, and they had camped about five miles up the canyon the night before. The posse returned to the San Rafael crossing but by that time the bandits had a start of six hours and it was useless with jaded horses to follow them up, so Dickinson with his men returned to Greenriver. Upon leaving Cleveland the robbers evidently secured fresh horses at Peters spring on the cedar mountains, and crossing over the buckhorn flat went down the San Rafael to Sulphur springs, where they went over into Black Dragon canyon. Going down that some miles they recrossed to the San Rafael and camped at the old Tidwell ranch Wednesday night a short time. From there they proceeded next day some fifteen or twenty miles down the lower San Rafael canyon until they reached the other crossing, and then made for the Dirty Devil river and reached Robbers Roost sometime Thursday evening. Their pack animal was evidently loaded with the gold and their food. It is admitted that they are now as safe as though they had been swallowed up by the earth and thus the Carpenter holdup will probably end. A man well known in Price has made a proposition to the P.V. Coal company to oust the robbers and clear out Robbers Roost with heavy guns, if they will guarantee expenses and furnish men to assist him, but as yet the offer has not been accepted. And thus ended the Castle Gate payroll robbery case. The outlaws were never captured in this area, although just 13 months later two were killed in the Book Cliffs above Thompson and another two captured. Probably none was involved in the payroll robbery. The money was never found and there were never subsequent reports of its surfacing in circulation which has led many would-b- e treasure finders to surmise over the years that it is buried somewhere between Cedar Mountain and Robbers Roost. Some have reported over the years their beliefs that the money was buried in Bull Hollow on Cedar Mountain, in Buckhorn Wash, in Spring Canyon at Mexican Bend on the San Rafael River, in Black Dragon Canyon, on top of Sids Mountain or in the Roost. Probably the money changed hands again from the robbers almost as fast as it did on that Spring day in Castle Gate just 89 years ago. Married Couples Deduction couple who files a joint 10 of the qualified earned income, up to $3,000, of the lesser earning spouse. A public service message from the IRS A two-earn- return may be able to deduct Almost Certain They Are Still At An Offer has Been Large Made to Dislodge them With Heavy Guns The daring Castlegate highwaymen are still at large and there is now not one iota of a possibility that they will be captured. The chase in search of them has practically been given up and there are only a few men still out following the trail. These men are headed by Tom Lloyd and it is understood that Pete Buirisson of Emery county is among the number. They may probably go down the San Rafael a long distance and even make Robbers Roost, but it is very doubtful that they will accomplish anything... The robbers are doubtless cooing and having a glorious time in their rugged fortress on the Dirty Devil river, and their BONK BE TO CLEAR 'k. vo. ALL LAMPS 50 iff Nea Jp OFASVeT 1 4988 FRtlCMR5 PoV.c'R5 e cuteEp'es on ENDTABLES towa"- - ices irtat b-nquis- NO $0088 0 JjJ hed'. Errors in filing u periods noted Candidates intending to file for local board, justice of the peace or Miller Creek Water Special Service District races have more time to file than was originally thought. Carbon County Clerk Norman Prichard said persons intending to file for the two local school board seats which will be up for election will have until June 25 to file. Those wanting to run for one precinct justice of the seats peace currently up for election have until June 30 to file of the for candidacy. In addition, two board members will be elected for the Milier Creek Water Special Service District. Those terms will be for four years each. The filing deadline for those offices will be Sept. 19. The filing for all of the offices begins on Mar. 17, Prichard said. With the exceptions noted, all other filings must be completed by 5 p.m. Apr. 15. Persons running for offices which apply only to Carbon County must file with the county clerk. All national, state y and local offices in jursdictions are required to file at the office of the lieutenant governor at the state Capitol. The filing dates remain the same. Prichard also noted that the Sun Advocate erroneously reported that the county clerk and county sheriffs offices have the highest filing fee. The highest filing fees are actually for the county clerk and county attorneys offices. The filing fee for those wishing to run for sheriff is $158.75. The proper filing fee must be paid at the time the candidate files for election. For further information or filing materials, contact the clerks office at or come in during regular business hours. A li 27as to EVER '.thing y T0i eS: multi-count- 637-47- 00 v $179 M WALL WALL 1Si $ SACRIFICE WE WOULD SELL THE CARPETON THE FLOOR, BUT IT'S WORN OUT Hi 0J1BGEB |