The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-02-24
AN OLD-TIME CRIMINAL.
He Began His Career in Sacramento
Forty Years Ago.
Pierre Ridge Relates the Story of His
Long Criminal Life-He Retires
at the Age of Efghty-two.

There are only few of the present res
1dents of this city who will be able to re-
call the criminal operations of Pierre
Ridge, who full forty years ago began in
This city his remarkable career of crime.
de was lately released from the Folsom
Hrlson, and went direct to San Francisco,
where he related to an Examiner reporter
the story of his criminal career since 1851,
most of which time he has spent in jail.
Pierre Ridge is 81 years old now. He
mas been in California since 1S48, and
most of that time he has spent in prison.
dis life has been one long story of crime,
and he likes well enough to tell it. On
Monday he sat in Chief Crowley's outer
office, wearing large white sombrero
and smoking clay pipe with very
short stem. One of his eyes is gone, but
the other, notwithstanding his age, is as
sharp as ever.
''WelI, 1 don't know as it'll do me any
good to tell you the story of my life," he
began, as he crossed his knees, blew a
cloud of smoke from his mouth and
-winked meditatively with his good eye.
m trying to live square now. pve had
enough Of prison and / don't want to
serve any more time behind the walls.
But l suppose it'll not hurt me much.
Tim, there" nodding to Detective Balm
bridge, has got it all down in the book
That is, he's got some of it; but there's a
lot more about things Ive done that he
never can get. l wouldn't tell my own
brother about them.
HIS EARLY LIFE.
81 was born in New Orleans in 1870"
ne continued. My father and four
brothers were all butchers and Pm
1fnl.a 7 Al
Mexican War in Colonel Jack Hayes
Texas regiment. Then 1 came to Cali
-ornia and arrived at Los Angeles in De-
cember of 1913. l stayed there all winter
and came to this town in the spring of
$40. In February / went up to the mines
n Plumas County. Rabbit Creek was
The name OF the camp. In 1850 | went to
Oroyille. The 'diggin' was good there
and during the four months / staid |
made plenty of money.
1T was there l fell in with fellow
named Tom Bell and his partner, Rattle
snake Dick. We went to Sacramento to-
gether, and at saloon at l. and Second
streets called 'The Shady Corner kept
by fellow named Welsh, we met Bill
Thompson and Charley Jackson. They
belonged to gang of crooks and we
Joined them. The sign of membership
vas a bullet with a cross on it. If one of
us was in trouble he could show that
would do anything he could. There
We're twenty-three of us altogether.
i was going by the name of Bob Nor
gan then. Me and Bill Thompson went
10 Placerville and held up the Placer
lille and Sacramento stage. Thompson
got, the dust and we met in Sacramento
and divided 1t. | was arrested and SEN
fenced TO six years in the brig The
brig was all the prison they had then.
It lay at anchor out in the Sacramento
River and was fitted up with cells. All
prisoners were ironed at night.
THE ESCAPE FROM THE BRIG.
''They put me and Red Nike in a cell
together and one night we cut our man
&cles, filed the bars from the window.
and dropping down into the river swan
ashore. Red Mike went to Yuba Dam
after that and was killed.
Il went down to San Jose under the
name of Charley Buford and opened a
butcher shop. The quicksilver mines
were being worked at Almaden then.
and they used to get the money to pay off
with by stage from San Francisco. One
day L went out about three miles and
made the messenger throw out the sack
with 81, 200 in it.
81 then went back to San jose I was
arrested afterward and served seven
,.ears in San Quentin. They were put
ting up the stone building there and we
used to sleep on barge at night. Then [
went to Napa.
''Black Jack Brown and me went into
Levi Solomon's store, and while Jack
was talking about buying something, /
carried off the box with So, 800 in it. l got
fourteen years for that'and Jack got ten.
IN 1862, while I was serving that term.
there was big jail break, andI got away
Snd went up into Lake County. In 1866 /
held up the Big River stage, twelve miles
above Cloverdale, aud got the express
box containing S2l 900. / carried il down
to Cherry Run and buried it. was ar
rested for that and sentenced to twenty
enc years. But Governor Haight par
coned me after had served four months
because l told the express company
where to go and find the money.
IN AN ARIZONA PRISON.
SIN 1876 l was sentenced to three years
in Fort Yuma for an Arizona burglary
after that l went to Folsom for two years
for burglary committed in Yuba. Nv
next terms was five years from this city
for burglary, and | completed my last
term in Jail two months ago, when I was
released from Folsom after serving three
years for burglary.
''Of course 1 held up lots of stages and
committed other crimes for which [ was
never punished. In 1854 I met an old
yeddler named Ben Levy on the trail
from Colfax to Nevada City. He used to
aide around the camps on mule buying
gold dust. / made him give up his sack.
which had ninety pounds of dust in it,
end then pushed him and his mule over
the grade. Levy's leg was broken and his
mule was killed. l lost all the dust the
same night playing faro.
81 killed man once. | thought / was
going to hang for it, too. 1t was in Placer
Vile, when jim Johnson was Judge.
Lie Owens and Tom Walker were deal
ing faro at the Clinton House. A fellow
A IO.,l,
take up one of my bets, and when l
Wouldn't let him he threw glass at me-
shot him through the head, and then
ran over into a miners tent across the
slough. The vigilantes came after me to
hang me, but the miners began to shoot
and they went away. Two weeks later
Judge Johnson examined me, and | was
acquitted on the ground of self-defense.
After got out Of the barge l went to
Sacramento in '54, and stole box of dust
from Jim Mclean. 1 hid it in my room,
and policeman named Burke found it
there one day while Tom Jackson was in
the room. He was found guilty and SEN
fenced to nine years, although he was
entirely innocent. Jackson was one of
the men who helped lynch Center and
Williams in 80 for numbering a fellow
named Boot jack
SOME UNFINISHED CRIMES.
II was broke in the city once, when I
saw Captain Shaw of the ship Onward
coming along Sansome street. / put a
rock IN my handkerchief and laid him
out and then took his watch and S74. An
hour or two later he came in the saloon
where L was playing poker with his
money.
''In 1870 stole 5000 worth of iewelry
from store on Third street, near Mis-
sion, and gave it TO Aleck Wright to sell
for me. He never gave it back to me nor
sny of the money. He was afterward
l-illAl IE LII