St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-06-13
quill UP. )"

had worked in the mines OF Cali
fornia for two years, but bad luck
seemed to follow me, SO one hot sum-
mer day I threw down my pick and
determined to quit trying to make an
honest living. There was Bill jenkins
running a faro bank and Mexican Jose
dealing monte, and either OF them
made more money in single night
than | did in months work. Rob
bing a stage could be but little worse
than dealing faro or monte, so l de-
termined to turn road agent and rob
other men for living.
| remember the afternoon was in
tensely hot. Leaving my tools in the
mine, I hurried to my half brush and
half canvas hut, put on the only de-
cent suit of clothes I had and set off.
A walk of mile and half brought
me to the nearest town and evening
found me betting at one of the many
gambling gpnes that thrived in the
mines.
Though l had lost many dollar at
gambling. luck now seemed in my
favor, and before the game closed that
night / had won nearly thousand
dollars.
This made me believe that fortune
was now with me, SO | determined to
set off on my exploits rs soon as
possible.
/ bought good saddle-horse, a pair
of serviceable pistols, and adding a
light but handy shotgun, | was ready
to begin my career.
rode up the country some miles to
the next town to study the lay of the
land and get the run of the stages. |
soon found the one carrying the most
gold was that coming south from
Shasta, but this usually had good
many passengers, and in those days all
men went armed. / saw that single
handed it would be useless to go on
the road, so l looked about for day
or two to see whom | could find that
would answer my purpose. The right
man was not easily found, for | wanted
fellow that could be depended upon
| in time of danger, and one that would
stay sober.
At length ! picked up such a man as
I needed, and we two laid our plans
for stopping the stage l have men,
toned. We concluded to have moro
help, and soon found two more who
were willing to risk being shot or sent
to state prison for the sake of making
rich stake on the road.
We were now ready for business.
The Shasta stage passed through Chico
about daylight in the morning, and as
this stage brought down the treasures
from the rich mines of Sishiyou, Yreka
and Shasta, we determined to rob that
at all hazard. We selected spot q
few miles south of Chico, where the
stage had to pass through deep
gulch.
We spread out a lot of hay for our
beds, tied our horses close at hand,
and waited impatiently for the morn
ing that was to bring US thousands or
else q cell In prison. Before daylight
we were up and ready for what might
come.
We saddled our horses carefully and
hid them in the bushes near where
we intended to stop the stage. The
guns and pistols were examined with
care, and then we proceeded to tie IL
strong rope across the road in the
deepest part of the gulch. One of our
men, Gray, was a little nervous; but
nay FIRST pal Slim Jim, and I were as
cool as though we had followed the
business for years. We had not long
to wait after everything was ready, yet
1t seemed an hour before we saw the
cloud of dust that marked the coming
of the stage, half a mile away. We
had planned the whole job carefully,
and each man knew just what he had
to do. Yhis was no time to finch;
yet / knew that it was an anxious
moment to all of US. An instant later
and Jim gave a sharp whistle, and
then we knew that oul work would
soon begin. Too late to retreat now
for we could hear the rumble OF the
heavy coach and see the horses pulling
hard on the bits. On they came, and
i
ger on the box with the driver, and
knew that rich treasure was on
board, for messenger was sent only
when the state had large amount of
gold. Jim said to the other boys:
Take it easy and don't get excited,
for we will soon have d big haul
We kept well out OF sight in the
thick bushes till the stage came tear
ing down into the little gulch, when
the driver saw the trap, but it was too
late, for he had to pull up suddenly to
keep his horses from all piling up in a
heap at the bottom of the hole.
just at that moment we sprang out I
of our concealment, and poked our |
guns right up in the faces of the driver
and messenger.
Pull up I cried, cor we will blow
the top of your heads off.
Pull up they did, and in mighty
short order, for it pitched the passen-
gers almost out OF the stage, and we
could hear them cursing and growing
before they knew what had stopped
them.
Throw up your hands and he id t
quick about it!'' shouted Jim, and in
reply the messenger dropped his gun
and held up both hands, saying,
Boys, you have the drop on me. y
The driver did not attempt to make
any resistance SO Jim jumped up on
the box and took away the messengers
gun and the drivers pistols. Gray
and our other men in the meantime
had the passengers well under cover.
Now, said Jim. I'VE must have
the key to that box giving the treas