The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-02-01
A BR AVE MAN.
The Heroic DEFENSE Of Toss in
the Erpress- Cur at NOH-
feiiO, Mr..
surrounded by Confident Robbers, He
Braves Death in Three Terri
BILE Forms.
Ogden Tut III Tclc. nm. 1

ogden ITt Ii TecG AMI
The attempt to rob the Central Pacific
train III Monticello, Ncy. at | o'clock yestsr
day morning, was one of the boldrst scns
ures ever made, and was not failure hr
cause the plans OF the robbers miscairc,t
On the contrary. their arrangements for car
rying out their bold scheme were completes
The great mistake which they made was In
tacklng a train which carried one OF The
bravcst men in the world With less brave
and determined man to deal with the ut
tempt would have proved successful, for the
attack was vigorous and persistent and con-
tinucd almost without intermission for
three hours. until the baifled villains with
drew from the scene. leaving the heroic
Ross wounded but victorious. To him alone
is due the credit of having saved the ex-
press-car and the entire train
Mr.. oss has been in the employ of Wells,
Fargo 4 Co. over sixteen years, and this Is
the third unsuccessful attempt which has
been made to rob the treasure under his
charge Eleven years ago. while holding
his shotgun on the treasure coach of the
Montana line. he was held up by n band of
road agents. but killed several and got away
from the rest Of the crowd. This last nj.
tempt has seldom been cQualed anywhere
for the bravery and persistence Of the rob-
beers and the stnbbOrnness Of the defense.
Mr. Ross stated that the point selected by
the robbers for their operations was one of
the loncliest places OH the line Of the desert
region in Nevada. In q Sagcbrush desert, the
center Of section sixty miles In length,
where there IL no night telegraph station.
@Ihe san Francisco and Ogden express Trains
pass at - o'clock a IN, at Iccnma, ten
miles east Of Monticello. Wcleft Toano west Of
Montelio, on time, our train being III charge
Of Conductor cassin. checked the way
bills received ut that station. nd down and
went to sleep. The next thing which was
aware OF was rap at the car door, ~ ii mn
agent had called and, supposing the train
was Mt Tccoma, got up and looked cut.
when man pointed Il gun al me anil said
Hop out, we are gong through YOU.
i jumped back and pulled the door to and
hooked It. They went over to the opposite
side and said:
~Open up the doors and jump out We
are going To rob the train
Il replied: Just wait till I get nv boots
on
Never mind your boots. Hop right ont
here and we will get through with you. and
then you can get Your boots on'
Again the men outside said: Open up,
or We will burn yoa out and murder sou.
Il then got in position and Shot through
the side of the car. Nothing was done for u
few minutes, until one OF the robber, asked:
Amt YOU ICING to open UP the door and
| come DUTY
tOld lHeih j WAS not coming ont An
| other demand was made for me To hop
out made no reply To that They then
| stationed one man ut each corner of the car
| between me and the baggage car, AMI five
| shots We're fired simultaneously from
different quarters. all ranging toward
| the center OF my car. Those were the shots
| that struck me-onc on hngcr one
| on the hip. and one Just below
the breast, near the watch pocket They
| then SCOT up on the end OF the car 10
uncouple the train, whercupon fired two
| shots through the end Of the car st this
| time they heard No :. the west bound ex-
| press-train, coming. They backed our train
/ up and went on the side track. and sent two
| men down the road to meet No > When Ii
came up heard Conductor Clement ask Cas-
| sin: What are you doing here: | want To
| speak to YOU The robbers aimed their
guns Mt Clements head and told him To pu |
out. and he did"
The nearest telegraph station was thirty
| miles The robbers then conn elled the
brakeman to uncoullc the express, move ii
forward, and forced the engineer 10 run
| ahead, and back down To wreck the oNpress
car. which was attempted three tines with
out success, the holes in the doors being
| guarded by the stubborn messenger Sew
eral attempts TO burn the car were unsuc,
cessful owing To the scarcity of wood, and
after renewed attempts TO Kill him through
the doors, they mounted their horses aud
| rode away