The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-07-20
Battling Road Agents.
Eighty ofthe Gentry Rented by Forty Dcput,
Marshals.

Marshals.
Rond dngcntsin the bor'lrrStatcs u,rlmom.
ing extinct. II seems Ikea long time ago
that the daily press gave almost daily nr
ronnts of Ill" ,lrp,arlatiols of class of
outlaws But in reality it has 4rmn hut II
very frw years since some great battles were
fought between armed officers and the .lrs-
reri''l"cs Whose sole aim WAS robbery. aud
the robbery of express nnl mail
On the stage lines of tho Western States from
Colorado To California. Stage robmrirs ten
years ago were of ,lay occurrence through
out tlmStatcs aud Territories of that section,
and many an express agcnt aud driver met
death willis doing his duty tn the cumpnny
lirmI,rscnt~l.
IL required courage, bravery aud u thor
nu.h knowledge of h. ,.r of firearms by thu
agents of he express companies 4" stand OF
II squad 0f rO;il-EcItS. and there were brave
men needed when an effort was made ,o cap
tufr band of outlaws. Onr Of thu latest
aud probably the most tnotablrcaptur made
was that in ArizOl,a in 1851. In tl,a, raid Il
baud of eighty hard men wls thoroughly
broken up l'y an ,,rinsi posse of forty Deputy
United states. Marslnls formed in Tomb
stone. The speedy and fatal work dome by
II" law aud order men in that attack str,irk
terror to tli" hearts of tho rohlmr element
,ln.l sine" that time there has been hut littlr
holding up of sta a.,'s hy largnaml thoroughly
road agent gangs.
An 0ih-TIME ENrHi:SS AGENT.
A Denver lt"pulIrnu rrpurtrriiirt Mr. G. 4.
the man wiln was in command
Ut II" posse of men here rrt,rr,, la.
The reporter approached lin with II desire
I" learn something uf the capture uf tlrr,,;id
;li"mis and the r'hImry which load I" it,
We'll. this was one time. at irnst, that l
was k"l. said Mr. bartholomew, referring
I" t" l"hl-nr. "hn, g", even finally. II
fly" years WAS in the employ nf the Wells
inrg" company, but il w;,s hm,tl" enough
This wits "n Ii" 9th "f January 1881. nnl
fnIll" thrs" months rrrviuiiS to that time
I here had "~n u h"l'l-up ON the lIuhlm,
,t;iE"-li". running: from Tumhs,nn" 4" l:is-
III" copper mines, in which II driver aud ii
passenger were killed. w;,s al that time a
I H. krrils 4 Griffith linz running from Yuma
To- lusr"n. The company ordered me tu the
Hslns line, aud during the tl,irr
months our stage had run along witlluu, ANY
;,tirmp, h"illg ma'lr To hold us up. We
usually had Il lar"" Treasure. hut We had rN-
I,s'lin:iN good lurk. and had begun To
thlnk siIuiill escape lr road agents.
',rr'"l Il it'll" tlr,nhl" in tombstone With
gave inr sumr f,arS that i; might In my
turn next. The three i'lHntoa boys aud Two
whom hrlinvr to lm of this
gang "f"igl,iv road agents. cam" into town
ARMED. Tl"r" WAS IL town urlir;," f,rli
ding the carrying nf firearms. and wlrli any
of this gan" "f ,n,Inws ",m"in into town, they
wrr" quickly ,lisarn",I. Upon Ills "rn>ion
IL" Sheriff told hest. iill"ws not To xiv" NJ,
heir arms. Nirg Earl-nnr of the I:;,rp
brnt lnls-wnS Town Marshal. aud when h.
Il',"l 'i"nn,i"s would call upon one nr mora
Of his brothers "r Doe II"lIn,lny. The Mar
slG,l knew tia, il Ii" demanded III" guns of
I llrsr men h" would hay" Ia stand u fight.
III" .lrrntiM' his brothers. Wyatt and Murg.
and Dm II"ll;rlny tn assist him. Tie Clan
ton gam: r'is'al 4" surrender nnl II BATH"
resulted. in whirll I'll" three Enrp hrnlI,rrs
w"r" wounded and Billy ,lanton and th" two
boys aud Ike t'l;nlun wrr,. killed.
IT his l',nd of r,",l agents aud all uf III"
rough gambling aud thirvng element in
Tombstone w"frrli"mi"s "ftl" Earr hers
i"r h" it;,Snn tha, they si"nl in with aud
ns>is;" III" law-anrl-urdrr Imopr uf tli"
town.
The town WIS divided in the WHY illn,
frnntlrr towns usually We're in tlm,s. days
hhl still are III present. except that in Tomb
st"m this division WAS prnhably more
marked than elsewhere. On. side Of rl,r main
street WAS "rrnpi'sl by rollgl, sunonS, gam
aud their accoIllnIrimrn,s,
Will" IN thu" other sid" the stores and better
,'l;'s' nf l"nplr carried IN ,hrir business The
E;rp hr'tll"rs and liullalny. aud manyo
that rl;iss nf nrn who w"i" we'll lrIiavrd
sporting lirl. h"iri"l II; tn" Cosmopolitan
hotel. Will" the thieves and thugs mad" their
rendezvous at the Grnnl.'
"Wlmt had this lieht and tn. .nuuity l~-
TWEEN tiI" tumgii> and the mitci clns, uf men
Ia do with ill" holling-np uf Your stage"
asked he irInIrtrr
We'll. il had this tn do with it: Tie :,r-
ti"n of these boys Indicated that they were
tn ilir thieves and liuhl-llJs, and
! lI"lr talk was proof enough iln, they w"l,.
friends of The WrllsF;ir%n company. These
outlaws were determined Ia "NtrriniInt" lIul.
la'iay and til" Enrl'> if possible. 4 few weeks
after tlIis fight they again shot aud wuinlri
Nirg Earp while he wns passing along the
street.
Il had been warned l,y .,nnl riiz"ns that
w"ul'I i"' atia"k"i aud was urged tn keep n
careful watch an the road Many IL time. "s-
l"rlhlly at Tucson, crowds of men would
start and make l"'ts upon my coming back
:iliv" ar dead TN the 9th day of .Ianl.nry,
When VIZ had made about half Of the thirty
eight mills To lss"r. noticed The dust from
horses feet and ;ll>u wllrrrt heir racks ceased
4" appear and appeared again in tl"roAd !
to til" driver that ] ,louglt We
should catch il that day, W" had riisSrd
both stations. Charleston and Hereford. and
w"r' thin eight miles of ID" end uf our trip.
when five men rode out from III" brush and
fired upon us. They ,li.l not c"inlli;lnl us To
hall. nor did they utter any w,r,!s. ! WIS
;,rm,d with II ,luuhlr-bHrrrlr,l shotgun. fur
liiSl"'l M" by The '.nlml,nny. and my own long
ranged rifle turned l,m,sr with my sliu, gun
and tn" driver turned his leaders around 10
I'm,
wounded aud limpiu:, aud three Of them fill
down before W" had pr.m.a,lml far and after
wards died Will" at II distance rNLa,,s,r,l
MI my rifle cartridges except nuc. Til" vii
lains kept themselves hid by Ill" brush. 81
thh, only got one ufthrIn aud killed one
horse.
"'rl" firms. ceased aud the rou,l agents
sent ~ MrNirnn I" ask m" to surrender. !
s"E' hem word Il" go tn il" devil II" lr-
turned aud repeated his request aud | gave
Him the same reply. The driver aud l,;issrn-
gers l""gr,l III" to consider their lives, r.-
lnin'ling m" That had only one riil" ear
fridge aud HAT my shotgun would not reach
The ;lttnrkiilg party. Willie they. l"in" nriurl
with rifles. could ,.il;lin where they were aud
kill the driver and myself and ,I"n apprnnrh
ind kill tn" passengers if they Desired ! CON
Si,lrrrd thu matter nwli" and concluded it
would h' l"t'"r in til" end To Civ" up the
s6.5n0 in gold in 'l" tr,'surr.hrx than in
give up our lives tn 'lirs'' numbering rubhrrs.
felt satisfied that the result would lr The
sending out of IL l,n>sr uf men wlru could and
would clean NJ this whole band of ruH,l
agents. | CAV" the driver III" privi.
egg of signaling them To approach.
Ny dissemination to let them have
lr tr.asilr" almost fursonk me wll"n |
';iw thosr iiv" mounted men take Ii" buxaml
nnv" "l. felt lik" giving til" leader III" last
'iilr ball. but knew it would br death to all
,f us. and the ho" of frnriuring them in the
u''lr. KEEP, mo from doing
Whit was your n'Ni lmuvr.'
"Tlnr" w;lS but urr move To make then.
That w;iS To move on into town ON foot. fur
'ur horses were dead. When todd til" story
h" business men aud mining suImrin,rnlrnis
started in 4" rails" lr,sSr Of ii,rn 'u capture
h" r'il'l agents. III whi"l they wrr" endorsed
by the miir'l States district attorney and
wns given command. gave Wyatt Earp
'i'nr@, of Zen of Ii" tnr'y m",i and ! took III"
others. u" nr'"l unlrr my orders never
saw >, lravrr nor II morr efficient man than
Wyatt Enrr IL" WIS e.nllrnany and
Kind i'll his conduct toward his nrn aud rem
lrr,ri III" very valrnl,l" service
is i, not rrol',blr hat Wyatt, Enrp was
urged To his good work !y II spirit ufr,.yrng,. |
iris i, fact that his brother Murg was
killed before His p.sS" started OUT
Ill is probable iiiai the death ufhis brother
WAS ;,n incentive t"hnr'i"r work. but Wyatt
Earp is In;n WHO hli"ycs in r.h, and jus
lee and h" WAS r"n'ly al any Tim" Ia render
his assistance. in wirt;,r" upon thieves and
ho!,l-ni.. Now. want t" say 'o N"l that
Wyatt f.;,rp aud all ul his four brothers were.
mon Of principle. aud they were lighters who
were no! nfr;'i'! of iil,n "i 'l"yil They w"r"
Ill valuable men upon urIsi"rS of tlIiS kind. |
ln'l their uuMlllEun'>> to nsS,n'i;itr with the |
'uiig'l rirmrn! uf Tombstone wns IL sutii-
'irmt guarantee I" me that they did their
work h,.:;,ls they hrlirvrd in the right and