Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-01-23
a FEMALE BRlGAND.
,"' ""h'aht'c Career of La Caramboda
the Iseaut,fuI

IN" H"nhnt'c Career of La Caramboda,
the Beautiful.
rev OF Us have heard Of La Caram-
h"da, the female brigand Of Mexico.
We have female brigands in Lon
dom no doubt, but their natures are
coarse. and they lack that spice of
Romano" which surround such charac
tiers in Mexico. They are too near
nome. Now. La Carambc las career
would furnish material for a thrilljpo
novel. She WAS as beautiful as a
hour, with long black hair, brilliant
eyes, clear complexion, of command
ing stature in fact, regular Venu,
(whrn in r''poSc). But woe to those
who came acro>, her in her schemes of
blood and pillagc. She never forgot
and never forgave-this terrible
woman, What a chance has Ouida
lost. We should have dubbed her a
''hrnd IN prtlicoats, but she di>daincd
such things u commonplace. Her
rohhrrlr- We're masterpieces of ingenll-
NY. No two of them were done in the
more politely, her male assistants, num-
hrrrd many and devoted spirits. One
of her schemes was to bide her time in
some town until she found one or two
men of means who were going by the
diligence TO some distant point and
then To take passage with them. More
than once She took the driver into her
confidence. but wh;>n this could not he
done she readily deceived him or
qul"ttd him with Il bullet. \ perfect
mistress of the art of Discrimination and
possessing 4 soft and in>inuating man
ner. she had no difficulty in working
herself into the good gracc- of travel
cr1. who did not look for a Mexican
bandit under her attractive gliiSc. In
this way >h" easily discovered who had
money and valuahlcS and who had not.
If she found man who appeared to
be oi some consequence, but who did
not have much money, she BETRAYED
him into the hands Of her confedcrates,
who held him for ransom. If her
victim proved to be well supplied with
cash he usually met . violent death
within twenty-four hours. Leaving
town before daybreak in company with
two travelOrs whom she had marked
for robbery, she would coyly accept
the customary innocent attentions at
their hands. and perhaps indulge in n
little conversation with them. An
hour later, when we'll on the journey.
watching her opportunity, she would
draw two revolyerS, and. before they
bullet in the back of each of them.
The driver. busy with his team, and
perhaps paid not to be too attentive to
what was going on behind him. would
not disturb her. With her booty Sc
cure. she would take her own time
about leaving the stage. always waiting
until point convenient to the fastness
OF some of her confederates was
reached.
1t was known that the highways We're
infested by robbers, and it was not
thought strange that an occasional
murder was pcrpetrated. but the simi-
larity he ween several cases soon at
tracted attention. and various expert
ments led to the discovery that a
woman. operating first on one road and
then on another. was at the bottom of
them. The plausible stories told bv
the drivers served to mystifv the officers
more than anything else. They always
asserted that highwaymen had done
the work, and if inquiry was
made at one end of the route for the
woman who started it was always said
that she arrived at her destination I'M
M IL A1 hn Al, nf t,ln |,
and of any regular means of commu-
nication made it possible to keep up
this deception for a long time. When
the woman found that she was sus-
pectcd she abandoned this plan of
operations, and. remaining with the
robber band to which she was attached.
devoted the greater part of her time to
the abduction of wealthy agriculture
lists. Her plan in these cases was very
much the same as in her stage robbery
enterprises. First winning the conf
dence of her intended victim and get
ting him involved in some intrigue. she
would betray him at the proper time
into the hands of her associates. who
would spirit him away. and presently
open negotiations for his return. While
these were IN progress she would be
busy setting her net for fresh victim
a hundred miles away.
La Caramboda had many lovers,
many dctractors; but she was re-
markable woman. and died game to
the last. She was lowering about the
San .Juanaco hacienda, with the inten-
ton of securing the abduction of the
good Don Civelo Vasquez or one of his
sons. when n dastardly fellow, who
had long served in her train. deserted
and communicated her secret to the
authorities. BY treachery she was
made prisoner. Her friends tried
rescue. A scrimmage followed. and n
bullet from one of her own set crashed
through her brain. The chains were
removed from her limbs. She was
buried by the roadside. Pail Mall Cd
zetfe.