The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-09-30
,"HOLD UP YOUR HANDS"
HOW BRAVE STAGE MEN DEFY
THE FIERCE ROAD AGENTS.

The stage from Auburn to Forest Hill
was bothered by stage robbers few
years ago, and shotgun messenger was
put on to protect it, says the San Fran
cisco Examiner. On the first trip out he
was expecting trouble because the box
contained large sum of money, and
when, at a turn in the road, man
stepped out with rife in his hands,
the messenger did not wait for any
order to halt, but blazed away and filed
with buckshot a prominent citizen Of
the county.
The prominent citizen being dead, his
friends asserted that he was going out
on the road to guard a dangerous spot
and assist in protecting the stage, and
that the messenger had made a deplor-
able mistake and had fired too soon.
There was no evidence to show that the
man intended to hold up the stage, be-
cause the messenger didn't give him time
to order the driver to stop, but there are
folks In Placer County who insinuate
that it is no dead sure thing that the
messenger made such of mistake after
all. They say that a man who goes out
on the road with rifle to assist shot
gun messenger in protecting stage,
without taking the precaution to notify
the messenger that he will be there, has
more public spirit than good sense, aud
their grief over his death is greatly miti-
gated by the reflection that the
number of fools is diminished by one
Black Bart was almost always success
ful in his attempts upon stages, but he
didn't fool with messengers very often.
He made a mistake once, aud tried to
hold up the Laporte and Marysville
stage when George HacSett was on the
box. Hackett just missed blowing the
top of his head off, and Bart retired to
the woods with two buckshot in his
scalp. About three miles further along
the road another ambitious road agent
showed up, aud Hackett again unlim.
bered his gun. The second robber ran
away, leaving trail of blood.
Messenger G. II. Ward, who had a
brush with Road Agent Miller near Red
ding last March, and missed killing Mil
Ter only because the hammer Of his gun
was bent aud didn't strike the primer,
has had several lively meetings on the
road.
In 1884 Ward was on the stage going
from Clogerdale to Mendocino City. In
the night two men sprang out of the
woods and ordered the driver to stop,
but the stage was on steep down grade
and the driver couldn't have stopped il
he had wanted to. The selection of such
piece of road as the scene of hold-up
showed that the robbers were amateurs
and did not understand the art of stage
robbing. One of them fired almost i'm
mediately after giving the order to halt,
aud filed Wards hand with a lot of
ragged bits of lead. His weapon ap-
parently was a musket, and in place of
shot he had loaded it with scraps whit
tied from a bullet.
Ward returned the fire and hit one OF
the robbers, and as he turned in his seat
to get another shot rifle bullet fired by
the second robber plowed through the
breast of his coat and made hole in the
drivers hat. The firing frightened the
horses, and they ran down the grade aud
took the coach out of range. Wards
hand was badly mangled, but not per,
manently disabled.
News of the robbery was wired that
night to San Francisco, andthe next day
Detective Thacker went to the scene to
investigate the affair. He was joined by
"Don" Stanley, Sheriff of Mendoclno,
and the wounded messenger.
The three officers first carefully exam
ined the ground where the men stood
when they ordered the driver to stop, and
there they found an axe and cofTee-sacK
Spots of blood were discovered on tn,
ground, and some broken brush close 10y
showed that the charge of buckshot tired
by Ward had passed about the height o
mans knee. Clearly the robbcr haC
been hit in the upper part of the leg.
Nothing else was found there, anC
the three officers began the slow auC
tedious work of trailing the robber,
through the woods. They had gon,
over the mountains toward the coast an(
had about thirty-six hours start. Th
officers did not expect to catch up witt
them, because the robbers not only haC
q long start, but could travel faster thar
the pursuers, who had to follow tAei
trail. The most expert trailer must e,
slowly at times, and frequently he is de
layed long time by losing the track
and being obliged to make circuits in or
der to find them again.
In the pursuit of the Mendocino rob
bers Thacker and his companions spen
about u week in the mountains, but the
never caught the robbers.
John Martin, of Calistoga, brother-iu
law of Charley Foss, and himself,
noted stage-driver, is the Inventor of
method of knocking out road agent
without the assistance of a shotgun mess
senger. Martin had job of hauling
treasure box over the mountains on
dark night, and as there were no pa.
sengers he hitched to a light buggy
pair of well-bred, mettlesome horses b,
longing to himself, instead of using au
of the stage company's stock. TIL
horses were feet and spirited aud ha
been trained to obey their masters voic,
They would stop instantly at word, c
spring forward at run, and when Ma
tin was behind them the reins and viii
were scarcely needed at all.
At dark and lonesome place in Il
road, when the horses were joggir
along easily, a man stepped out from Il
brush with a gun in hls hand aud stoc
directly in front of the team. Mart
barely caught sight of the dark fgur
and, sizing up the situation in a fasl
he leaned forward and spoke sharply
l.