The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-10-06
DID THE KASOTA JOB
Geo. Sontag Says They Held Up the
Express Year ago Last July.
Makes a Full Confession of Their
RObbing Raids.
Admits the Western Union Robbery
Also.

SACRAMENTO, Cal, Oct. 2.-George
Sontag, the noted train robber, now
confined for life in the state prison at
Folsom, has made confession of all
the train robberies in which he. his
brother John, now dead, and Chris
Evans operated together, including
the affair at Coils, on the Southern
Pacific, the last sensational crime OF
the kind. in California. DetectiveHuge,
of Wells, Fargo & Co., and Division
Superintendent Wright, OF the South.
ern Pacific, and shorthand writer
heard the story, amounting to nearly
10000 words. Sontag also told about
the recent bold break at Folsom, in
which two cOnvicts were killed, and
Sontag himself was seriously wound
ed. Sontag's story adds but little to
what has been published about the
crimes of the gang, except as to their
methods.
SOntag saw his brother John when
he returned from California to Man
kato, Mimi, in May, 1891, and told
him he had robbed couple OF trains
in California. George was asked to
come out here and helpJohn andChris
Evans hold up train at Ceres, Cal,
but did not take the trip, so the other
two did the job alone. John fed to
Minnesota after this affair and imme-
diately planned another robbery. The
brothers settled on No. on the Mil.
waukee road, running from Chicago
to Minneapolis. Western Union juno.
| tIOn was selected as the spot. The
Sontags, who then called themselves
COntant, took their mother toChicagC
and had a ride on the train they in
! tended to hold up. When all was
ready they sent their mother to Ra
cine. Wis. Sontag's story of the West
erD Union robbery reads:
! We went up to WesternUnionJ unc
tion and laid for No. 3; the train came
along and we took her up the road {
little way. OF course after we go1
through, we made tracks right int
Racine and got everything put away
/ went back to Chicago, met my fam
lily and went back to Mankato. w,
got 81, 400 out of the robbery. w,
would have got $1OO,OO0if my brothe
had not been too quick in the act.
Soon after that the brothers cam,
to California and George met Chri
Evans. George got sick and returned
to Mankato, Soon letters came from
his brother in California, suggesting
another hold-up near Chicago. Georg
objected as he was figuring on biz
robbery somewhere near Chicago dur
ing the worlds fair, in which .he eX
pected to clean up couple of hundred
thousand dollars. Finally, Chri
Evans, who had called himselfCharle
Naughton, went east and he AM
George held up train at WestSprln,
Lake, near Kasota, Mimi. They go
nothing out of this job. The detec
tives were hot on their trail and the
left for the west The rest of the con
fession deals with the California rob
berries, giving IN detail the movement
of the trio up to the time Sontag wa
arrested at Visala. He declares tina
Evans wife and daughter had n
knowledge of the crimes.
The price of this confession. was, ii
is said, some sort of a pledge that Son
tags sentence will be reduced. More
over, the Evans family has1not treat
ed Sontag's aged mother well, an,
this was doubtless part of the despe1
ADDS reason for making clean breas
of it. The confession will not do mucl
harm, for the evidence against hin
was already ample.
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