The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-05-04
A Female Highwayman.

I gu SCi tUih ptiiouo VI OuC y CdI StAh
ried me pretty frequently up and
| down the road between San Luis
Obispo and Soledad. on the Salinas
River. as | had interests to look aft
err in both ncighborhoods. At such
times, it was necessary for me to
carry, now and again, considerable
sums of money to pay off hands and
do other things connected with my
business. OF course the only WY
practicable to do this was either to
carry the money on my person OF
send it by Wells-Fargo. Sometimes
| did the one, sometimes the other
for though stage robberies were al.
most unknown in that section, ]
thought it as well not to show my
hand, and SO sometimes simply
packed the coin in my saddle-bags
or in some of the many ways known
to old timers, and trusted to my pis.
tolls for protection. Now look back
upon it, | am surprised that such q
lonely and almost uninhabited sec.
ton, us the country lying between
Monterey and San Luis Obispo was
then, was not more frequently the
scene of such highway robberies as
we hear of now. ! suppose, though,
the road-agent of those days had
more profitable fields to work, and
that probably accounted for the i'm.
munity we enjoyed.
"Well, some time in March, II or
y. | forget which, | had occasion to
make n trip from the neighborhood
OF Jim Lows, as the next station
south of the Salinas Crossing at
Soledad is called, to San Luis Obispo
on business, partly to get money to
pay my shearers and ctheIs-all
that neighborhood was little better
than Il vast grazingground fol
sheep and cattle, and March was one
of the busiest months in the year fOl
both classes of stock .raisers, the
cattle-men being engaged in brand
ing and the sheep-men very frequent
ly in shearing. AS the gang | had
came from the north, and had made
dates ahead for other ranches, ii
was necessary for me to pay them
off in coin. Mexicans-all the sheep
shearers in those dayswere Mexicans-
do not like checks, even though they
known that they are perfectly good,
as their custom is to gamble off at
night what they have earned during
the day, and when gambling they
prefer the jingle of the hard cash, to
say nothing of its convenience in
measuring the extent OF a stake. ]
had about twenty working for me
for the nast fortnight, and as their
earnings averaged some four dollars
a day apiece, my pay to them alone
footed up something like q thousand
dollars, besides what was coming to
the fleece binders, s,i ,kers, and
Others. / calculated that about fif-
teen hundred dollars would see me
through, and SO, as | say, about
the end of March | rode into Jim
Lows and leaving my horse there
boarded the south-bound stage for
San Luis when she came along.
"The rivers were running pretty
high that spring. remember, and We
had some difficulty in crossing the
San Anton some miles below, the
sands having shifted at the regular
crossing. However, we got to the
Pleito Ranch all right, where we
changed horses. took dinner, and
again started OH our journey. There
was, however, one more river to
cross, and that was the Nacimiento,
lying between the Pleito and San
Miguel, after which it was plain sail
ing clear into San Luis. This is an
other tributary of the Salinas, with
treacherous quicksand bottom,
which we could hear grinding omin-
ouSly under the swollen water
brought down from the Coast Range
on the west happened to be the
only passenger in the stage that trip,
and while the driver and myself were
discussing the feasibility OF risking
the.passnge, a man, whom / recogn-
lied as a rancher who lived close by,
rode up and advised us not to tryit,
as his own wagon had been nearly
carried down the stream that morn
ing. saying. ut the same time, that
If we cared to, we could put up at his
place allnight. .isthepast two days
had been clear. there was every pro-
liability that the freshet would go
down before morning, and after n
brief consultation We concluded to
do so.
eve shall have to pay, thorgh,
said the driver, soto voce. with a
wink, as he turned his leaders from
the bank; and pretty roundly, too
mind that. Old Williams is hard
one. I've got stalled here once or
twice before, and the comply gave
me HI for it, you bet. It's just nuts
for the old man to ketch the stagein
tight place. Did We note how he
was layin' for us as We come up?
The rivers too high, though, this
trip to fool with, an i amt agoin'
to risk my life for no comp'ny, least
wise not for no sich wages az Pm
getting and with n vicious crack of
his whip to the off leader, he turned
into the yard where our host was
awaiting us.
II wasn't surprised at the caustic
remarks of the driver, as old Will
Hams parsimony was the talk OF the
country side, although rumor had it
that he was worth many thousand
dollars in cash, besides herds of cat
tie in the foothills and roaming
along the Salinas.
We passed the time as best we
could till supper was called, when we
went in and were received by our
hosts wife, woman of about sArty
years of age, who had meanwhile
-. Il Al A. It'll.