Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-01-23
Throw Up Your Hands.

ThrOw up YOUR hands.
Accounts Of the robbery of OK. Gov
ernor Army, OF. New Mexico, while on
bis way East in September, were pub.
lished, but none DO accurate, detailed
ard amusing as that given BY the ven
cradle frontiersman himself before his
departure for Europe.
I was m my way East, said he. in
four horse stage--the mail stage that
runs between Santa Fe and Las Vegas
the termination of the Atchison, Tope.
ka and Santa Fe Railroad. Ny only
fellow passenger was Mr.. J. F. Strahan,
a New York lawyer. We had ridden
all day, and were within five miles OF
Las Vegas. It was just getting dusk,
when suddenly the coach stopped.
{" Whats the matter?"j Il - l.
Get out here and you'll see what
the matter" the driver answered.
did get out. and was met by amasked
man with doubledbarreled shotgun.
He ordered me to throw up my hands.
said that 1 would not do it. Then he
ordered me to 60 to the side of the road
and sit down. I told him that ! in
tended to stand up and see what was
going on. He swore some, and ordered
one of the other men there were three
of them) to search that old fellow"
They did and found my greenbaoks.
How mitch? We'll, a right 'smart
bunch some that 1 had got together to
60 to England with, They didn't get
my watch or MY silver that time u
Don't point that gun at me-" l
said, II don't know but It's loaded.
1t might 60 off and kill me, and if you
kill me you'll get yourself in trouble
I've got lots of friends around here,
and they'll make it warm for
you, I tell YOU He laughed and
said he wouldn't get hanged il he did.
He'd only get sent up twenty years. 1
told him that if I hsu pistol, Id send
him up in about twenty seconds. You
know I never carry pistol don't
believe in it, and am a non.resistant
on principle. My people were Quakers.
Well, after we had this conversation,
the leader and his men were rummaging
around. Well, guess you had bet
ter search the antediluvian again" The
men looked mo over again, and pulled
my gold watch ont of my pocket.
Now don't take that" said; sits
got my name on it. ana it will lead to
your detection"
Damn his WATCH" said the leader.
So they leftit. and turning to Strahan,
took his watch and chain and $500 in
money. All this time the leader was
covering me with the shotgun. l saw
one of the men beginning to overhaul
the mail bags, and stepped forward.
"Stop!" said the leader.
l told him 1 wanted to see what the
man vas doing.
"Stay where you are" he said.
But l wanted to see, and so l walked
along as l talked, and stood by the
mail bags. Then I advised the man
not to cut the bag. but to cut the strap.
He did so. Then / told him to pour
out the letters, en- he did that. He
began to tear the /, ters to pieces.
Now STOP" said l {" tear off the
ends carefully. You won't get any
thing there. That is Mondays mail,
and no ono sends money in Monday q
mail. Most all these letters are love.
letters. Our boys out here have girls
in the States. and I hate to have their
love-letters torn up"
ends carefully. He didn't find any
money in the first bag, and that was
all he opened. told him the other
bags contained only newspapers and
way mails, and he believed me. I had
a basket OF lunch in the stage, and
said to the leader: BIZ.
There's some lunch, in there. We
might all take a bite"
"Oh, you shut up" said he, and he
laughed, and then he said:
~ guess you'd better go through
that reverend old gentleman again, -"
and they did, and got bag OF silver I
had. While the man was searching me
he turned his side to me, and I saw the
butt OF q pistol in his belt. I made .
grab at it, and he jerked around. As
he did so the cloth he had over his face
was pushed aside, and saw his face
I afterward identified that man. Well,
by talking and joking I kept those fel-
lows there an hour aud a quarter BY my
watch. Within a mile of us there were
three thousand men at work on tho
railroad, and I hoped some would
come. At last eight men did como
along-Mexicans, with hay. When
one of them saw us he picked up two
stones and ran toward Us. The leader
threw up his gun.
"If any Of you can speak Spanish. !"
he said, tell that fellow il he comes
here shall shoot him." Some ono did
tell the man, aud he and the rest ran
away. Then the robbers ordered the
driver to take the harness of the horses,
and throwing our blankets and over
coats on them. the robbers rode OF.
They took that Navajo blanket there,
that am going to take to England With
me and give to Queen Victoria. Two
days later the blankets were found
along the railroad, and the shotgun
broken. B l. drew eighteen buckshot
from one barrel. From these blankets
the mon were tracked to q dance. house
and found dancing. Their trousers
were covered with hair from the horses.
On the next Saturday four other men
hired. horse in, Las Vegas. drove out
four miles. stopped and robbed the
coach, and two of them afterw~rd drove
u u