The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-12-28
ANTERIOR TO ROAD AGENTS.
How Boone May Ended the Career
of Desperado.

development was Boone
May. To him more than to any other
one man is due the credit OF clearing
the country of stage robbers. Neither
Buffalo Bill nor DIR. Carver could excel
him in the use of either a rifle or
pistol. He equaled Fenimore Cooper's |
Pathfinder in GOODNESS and courage.
Bo-d err life never produced a more re-
markable man. The Black Hills are
filled with stories of his skill and
bravery.
Boone's greatest adventure on the
road occurred in the fall of 1878. One
Towle, noted desperate, had robbed
Union Pacific express train near
Green river. He was as cool and de-
termined cutthroat /; ever appeared
in the west. He would have done
credit to the, famed Murrill organiza-
ton. His gang was known and feared
from the sink of the Humboldt to the
Missouri river. Its robberies were
startling in boldness and frequency.
The alarm was SO great that a reward
of 81, OCO was offered for Towle's head.
The prize was to be increased. to e. 900
if the highwayman was taken alive
The Green river robbery made the
Union Pacific road too hot for the
gang. 1t broke for the Deadwood line.
Towle had his eye leveled at the
treasure coach. At that time it carried
from $50, 900 to $3.50, COO, and left Dead
wood twice a month. He began to rob
the passenger coaches. He held up
four Within q week. Toward the end
OF the week two coaches met at Lance
Creek, the halfway station. Each was
>etsarded by two armed messengers. 1t
was near pightfall. All the messengers
received orders 70 ."et'En to Deadwood
by the up coach. Boone VA confident
that the gang was at Old Woman's
Fork, some distance below, and that it
would hold up the down coach. He
told Scott Davis, the captain, of his
fears and asked leave TO continue with
the stage bound south. Davis replied
that the orders were imperative and
not optional, and they must be obeyed.
Boone again protested, but in vain.
He sat upon his horse and saw the
Cheyenne coach fade away in the gath
ering twilight. 1t had hardly disap-
peared before he was so impressed with
the idea that he declared that he would
follow it in defiance of orders. Zim-
norman, a comrade shouted $50
ahead. I'll stand by you.'
They dashed after the stage at full
gallop. Old Woman's Fork was fifteen
miles away. Boone and Zimmermen
were few rods behind the coach when
the fork was reached. AS Boone had
foreboded, the coach was halted upon
entering the brush lining the bank.
In twinkling the armed messengers
sprang from their horses. Boone ran
into the sage brush to the right of the
stage. He saw robber in the road at
the heads of the horses. A pal stood
at the roadside near the rear of the
vehicle. He heard rattling in the
brush and was on his guard. He turn
ed like a fash. Both Boone and the
robber fired simultaneously. The
highwayman fell dead. Boone was
unhurt. In second he dropped the
| man at the head of the team. The
rest of the gang was hidden in the
| brush at the left of the road. thinner
man stationed himself near his part
ner. He saw man in the rear of the
coach, and brought him down at the
first fire. Boone then shouted to the
driver to go on. The robbers ordered
him to remain. The driver picked uI
the reins and hesitated.
"Drive on" Boone repeated, in a
clear, cold tone. eff you don't, I'll
kill YOU"
The driver knew the voice. He
evidently feared Boone May far more
than the robbers. "Geedap," he shout.
ed to the horses, and the team dashed
into the shallow but rapid stream. The
messengers were left to make the tigh'
alone. There were eight or nine o
the desperadoes in the scrub. The
two wounded robbers in the roaC
crawled toward them for protection
They opened a hot fire. There was
much random shooting, each aiming
at the flash of the gun. The highway
men finally secured their wounded
comrades and withdrew. Boone
stumbled over the man he had killed
while making his way back to his
horse. He was positive that he hat
met the Towle gang, and fancied thai
the one he had killed might prove to
be Towle himself. The suspicion wa:
strengthened by his knowledge of the
bandits bravery and determination. Ii
Towle had been alive, he would hard
ly have allowed his associates to with
draw from the fight in so inglorious
manner.
Stopping in the starlight Boone seized
the corpse by the coat collar an6
dragged it through the scrub to the
bank of the stream. There he covered
it with brush and left it. He ther
Joined Zimmerman near the scene o
the robbery. They mounted thei
horses and rode back to Lance creek
The robbers made no secret OF the
death of their leader. He was thu
desperate slain by Boone at the frs
shot. Along in November Boone
slipped run to Sidney, and gallopet
over to Old Woman's Fork. He foun'
the body of the robber beneath tn
} brush where he had concealed it. III
air is so clear and dry in Wyoming il
the autumn that bodies OF men or Q
animals rarely decay. They dry on
and become partly mummified. Boon
found Towle's body in fair condition
He cut off the head showed it into
grain sack, and carried it int
Cheyenne, where he received the 81,