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Show oo TRAIN ROBBERY AT MONTELLO RECALLED T When California makes merry' n the Portola festival of October 22 to I 25. at San Francisco, it will doff its . 'vja berlbboned hat to a genuine relic of the early days. In the Portola par- adeB, a post of honor will be given -dt' Charlie McLean No 1 a stage coach ' 'J with a place in the history of the i H state. : -el E. E. Honn. city superintendent ..f the Wells Fargo Express company, to-H to-H day notified the Portola festival com- mlttce that the coach would be en-3 en-3 tered In the parades. . 1 This coach Is a link with the perioii i of Bret Harte and Mark Twain. Ac- ' I cording to Honn. from 15,000,000 I i J $10,000,000 in bullion has been traus H ironed in It Ho many time6 it was R held up no records show, but Black L, Bart. Joaquin Murletta and Vasque7. halted It in their heydey, or were de-J de-J tied by Its messengers. It still car- f ries bullet holes. 1 It wa6 In the Charlie McLean that I Horace Greeley made his noted ride j 1 tc keep a lecturing engagement at . Placervllle. when the name wasn't I Placervllle. but Hangtown. Sam Clem mens was its passenger many times "Si when, in bis newspaper days, he cov- -:M ered the Nevada legislature at Careen , t City Not a few others of equal note j have ridden In it. jJrm The Charlie McLean was built at :'m Concord. N. H . in 185? Shippe'J il around the horn. It was wrecked not I mm far Bouth of San Francisco, when the ; 5ot! Carrier Pigeon went ashore. They got jwS H out of the wreck, and Wells Fargo H9I put lt on tbe Pce1"11 run. It did hSHj duty on many of the most, noted 6tage gHt routes of California and Nevada for 'H yean. jSBl The Charlie McLean held the stage BB record between Reno and Virginia 'jHH, City twenty mileB in 94 mlnutee That was going some in the days be- ! H fore the Pullman. The first seven SBBi miles were made in twenty minutes The coach was in active service as H late as 1906. running from San Mateo jJHL to Pescadero It was off Pescadero xjm that the stage was shipwrecked in 1858. Well6 Fargo sold It before it aB put on this last run, and after nH the Ocean Shore railroad began serv- Hl ing the Pescadero region, the express company hought the Charlie McLean flV back. It is now carefully guarded as a relic It Is still strong, however. 'HH and as capable as ever of carrying IS WH passengers and a ton of express mat- .'oH ter, with six good horses working at cfl, the tugs tH William Hodges, who took the coach over its record run. is the only ?JK surviving driver of Wells Fargo's ov 'jB erland express. He will again handle fjB his old outfit In the Portola parade, faB according to the present plants jHs It is also expected that "Hold the Fort" Ross he was christened Aaron 3mH V will take part in the parade. SjH Ross, as shotgun messenger, guard and driver, is a Wells Fargo veteran UH still on the job. with headquarters in Ogden He 16 expected to be at the BH Mr. Ross has never lost a cnt of BaH the millions he has guarded He got jH his nickname in the '70's, when near SH Montello. Nev.. alone, he stood off laH seven train robbers in a battle of Snfai three hours and twenty minutes He rtjH killed one and wounded three. His EraH car was twice fired and once dynj.- mlted. but he stood his ground and ifJH won 00 |