Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-29
DAYS OF PONY EXPRESS.
AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE IN WEST
ERN NEBRASKA ON DENVER LINE.
Pleasure Coach Driven Through .
Gauntlet of Bandits and At
tacked by a Band of In
dian HOrsemen.

ing companies to enlist the services of Col
onel James Stephenson of Omaha in Alaska
exploration lave revived memories of cpl
sodes in which he figured in the pioneer
days of the West. Though he has a mill
tary title and is a difnified business man
now, there are many residents of the great
West who well remember when he was
known as plain Jim" Colonel Stephen
son prefers that name even now, though he
won the military title in many an encount-
er with Indians and road agents.
Colonel Jim Stephenson was a pony eX-
press rider and stage driver on the over
land trail until the railroad drove him out
of business. He spent more than a dozen
driving and managing the Overland Stage
Company's line between Omaha and Dem
yer. That was the day when Kit Carson
and Jack slade were known roag ne;Id
Bill Hickok were still in their glory as
plainsmen. At that time there was a great
demand for pony express rlders.ignt
young men of great courage, who could ride
from 100 to 800 miles at a stretch through
mountains and plains beset by wild In
dians and wilder road agents; VINO cared
nothing for danger and were as ready TO
fight as to ride. with but one controlling
idea-to deliver their express pouches at
the other end of the line with the small
est possible loss of time. That was Jim
too heavy to ride a feet horse 100 miles
in a day without killing the animal, his
extraordinary courage and resources nat
urally placed him in charge of the com
pany'S treasure coaches, where even more
courage and discretion were required than
in the pony express riding. But he was
equal to the promotion. So faithfully dld
he perform his duties that he later became
a partner in the company. When the old
Overland line was pushed to the wall as a
ranscontinental factor in transportation.
Colonel Stephenson took a number OF the
big Concord coaches as his share of the
stock, and operated branch lines through
the West to connect with the railroads..
Later the locomotives forced him to aban-
don even this branch of the great enter,
prise in which he had once figured. and
in disgust Colonel Stephenson returned to
Omaha. where he opened a great building
and rented his big Concord coaches to
p~icnicking parties.
Probably one of the most remarkable af-
fairs in his adventurous career was the
ambushing of the coach by the bandit gang
of Three-Fingered Jack. This road agent
was assisted at that time by a band of
fifty Sioux Indians under the leadership
of Roman Nose. The story is well known
in Nebraska, though Colonel Stephenson
dGes mot fa abiS is relating ane ni the II; In lew fa skirm me aes
in which he has been engaged that reminds
him of birthstone, even after a lapse OF
thirty years:
'our company had to send at least one
treasure coach over the Denver line. This
was made necessary by commercial inter-
course. SOmeClmGS INlS COACH CdTIleu 11UU,.
900 in gold. and then again it carried double
that sum. Those were the days when it
cost a pile of money to travel and a pile
of money to send gold by express. 1t was
learning the exact coach that carried the
treasure, but If they were in doubt they
just held up everything that went over the
trail until they struck what they were
after. Why. our company frequently got
as high as 10 per cent for transporting
money between Denver and Omaha. OF
course. that was only when the road agents
were combined with the Indians. and we
were forced to fight and run. toe. Then
our revenue was heavy from passenger
traffic, for it cost 800 in gold to go from
to the Rocky mountains. and there
ha on Monday morning and get into Dem
yer on Saturday afternoon, making 800
miles in the trip. All our big Concords
a man had to pay attention to business
when he got his vehicle started.
well, on this particular trip we did
have rather a warm time. You see, we
at Denver, and the plains were alive with
Indians and outlaws. The Sioux were in
force everywhere and express riders and
stage Il e. d river n were Nehr oe I'M k Fae th every ~, Gay
I took personal charge Of the treasure
coach as far as Kearney. Neb. After that
we considered ourselves safe. We carried.
in addition to the money, five passengers
IN this trip, and one guard. Ben Adams.
1--WE were making good time out on the
trail 200 miles from Omaha before We saw
videttes. who were evidently keeping US
located. 1t was the middle of the after
noon, and a slight rain was falling, when
we were attacked. 1t was near where
the high hill overlooking the Platte. It
was the plan to make the attack in those
days as the coach was going up the hill,
where it was ordinarily impossible to run.
Tho hond NJ tho nnfnrin1lS outlaw Throo.
Fingered Jack. blocked the road dead
ahead. while his Indian allies were not
in sight. There was a station six miles
an effort to drive through the line of road
agents. My six tough horses were quite
fresh, as l had not pushed them very hard
prepared for M actions. They stood with
drawn rifles as we approached. When the
leader yelled out for me to pull up. I
reached forward to obey and at the same
the shoulders of the lead horses. Say.
that was the greatest surprise those fell
lows were ever treated to. Two of their
lumber were knocked down and run over
same time Ben Adams fired both barrels
of a heavily-loaded shotgun into the out
law band as they were huddled together at
killed by those two shots. The passengers
had been warned of what was about to
happen, and one commercial mani think
his name was George GOlden-t0Ok charge
seat with me. From both sides Of our
treasure coach the passengers fired their
pistols at the outlaws. They did little exc
cution, but the bandits evidently thought
they had surprised an army from the way
they scattered. This gave me an oppor-
tunity to reach the brow of the hill before
the road agents were scarcely ready to
act with concert.
''Then they made up for lost time. They
poured a volley into the rear Of our coach.
which killed two passengers outright and
the brave fellow climbed up to the rear
window of the coach, and as the great We
hicle swayed and rolled as we dashed
wildly down the hill poured shot after shot
from his pistol into the outlaw cavalry as
they dashed after us. This probably saved
bandits at a distance and they were afraid
to approach until their Indian allies came
up. But they kept up a rapid fire. The
great hill is two miles long. l think we
consumed about three minutes in making
that distance. 1t was the widest ride I
from being dragged down by the heavy
coach. The wheel horses were In imminent
danger every minute of being caught by
the numbering stage and killed, but it was
death sure If we slowed up. SO I kept my
hand off the brake and let the wheels turn
as fast as they could. Several times it
looked as II We must go into the gulch
to the left, but we didn't.
LAS we reached the foot Of the hill the
Indian hor3emen, with their naked bodies
hove IN sight: Then the whole party
dashed forward with renewed speed. I
did not slacken the coach. but instead be-
gan to ply my whip on the leaders. The
Indians were not SO well mounted as the
bandits. and to this we probably owed our
coonn VIVA ri nc n1rp11