The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-29
THRILLING Life of the Shot Gun
Q Messenger i'm the Early
G. = g Days i'm California.

, stands pre-eminently to the front as 6
; state rich in deeds of wild daring by
that pioneer element which made the
} early mining. staging and ranching
days of the golden west memorable
among the records of the nations
growth. The conditions were such that
for forty years California, Nevada
Oregon and Idaho, with their stage
: lines crisis crossing and penetrating
the rich, mountainous countries, offered
the most tempting inducements to
/, highwaymen and made necessary a
system of treasure guarding that
reached it's perfection on the Pacific
slope.
The Shotgun passengers. with
whom this article has to deal, were and
still are the very Incarnation of hu-
man fearlessness They rode upon the
front seat of the stage one foot on the
treasure box, one hand grasping the
lock and the other hand gently clasping
the barrel of the. saWed-off shotgun,
made expressly for the business of OPP
posing the sudden and ever-expected
attacks of desperate masked robbers.
Mike TOvey, who was murdered by
a highWayman in Amador county on
June IS, 1898. after twenty-five years
of thrilling experiences as a shotgun
! messenger. had no peer as an indo-
mitable and absolutely fearless guard
| ian of treasure boxes. His assassina-
ton aroused intense feeling and mis- flu
neral attracted hundreds of people to
the little cemetery in Jackson, where
he was laid to rest under a great mound
/ of flowers He was native of Hi
! nois, siX-footer of powerful build,
with Steel-gray eyes which few could
elude. His friends were in every min
! ing town on the Pacific slope, for he
/ was generous to a fault and a good
story teller, though he would never re-
late his own experiences.
! In 1881 he had a sensational shooting
fight with two robbers in western Ne
vada One of his friends has given the
story. "On the Bodle stage" said he,
were Mike Tovny and five or six pas
sengers. When the coach arrived at
the spot where the other stage had been
robbed Tovey got down and, by the
light of a lantern, found the mems
tracks in the dusty road. AS there was
little travel at that time of night, the
tracks were undisturbed They led
along in the direction the stage was
going. Every little while Tovey would
get off and make another examination
to see if the fellows had left the road.
Finally he had the stage stop at the
fork where the Hall and Simpkins road
VI dllCIlGu Oil, CiUOuL leH llilleS LIOlu lliC
scene of the robbery. He took the Ian
tern, leaving his shotgun on the drivers
seat. and again stepped forward. Just
as he reached the head of the near
leader two shots were fired almost sim
ultaneously, missing Tovey and killing
the horse.
"Tovey dropped his lantern, darted
back behind the stage lights and
grabbed his gun. At the same instant
Of 10 rOhhpT.c IraIIaSs
trying to sneak on us, were you" and,
with a frightful oath, exclaimed: If
there's a shot fired well kill you alli'
"Tovey called back, as though he
were frightened: What are you kick
ing about? There's nobody talking
about shooting you but yourself. If
you want anything come out and get !
it Then he whispered to the new |
guard to slip on the other side of the |
stage and attend to the robber over !
there while he looked out for the one |
on his side.
1.-The robber approached slowly in the |
darkness. and when he got to the |
shoulder of the wheel horse Tovey shot |
him dead. The temporary guard scram-
bled behind the stage and let off both I
barrels, but missed his man. Tovey
hurried around and was in the act of
firing when Sharp, the other robber,
pulled his trigger and put bullet
through Tovey's arm, causing him to
drop his gun, which went off when it
struck the ground.
Sharp sprang back into the brush
and everybody thought he had escaped.
When Tovey examined his arm by the
stage lights the blood was gushing from
It so freely that it seemed an artery
was severed and that attention must
be given it at once.
"The temporary guard, who couldn't
shoot straight. and one of the passen-
gers started with Tovey for farm
house close by, where his arm was
dressed. They had got but few hun
ired yards from the coach when the
other robber, who had been lying low
and listening, stepped up to the coach ]
md ordered the driver to throw out the
express box. He then cody proceeded {
% smash the box open. Tovey, weak $
md almost fainting now from loss of {
blood. heard the significant sound of !
he axe. and pleaded to be led back,
10 that he could get a shot at the man. s
Finding that of no use, he swore at the t
lew guard, and called him all kinds of '
coward, but could not induce him '
o return and tackle the fellow. The I
'obber took $3.50 from the box, with J
'ut paying any attention to his dead 8
Dartner. S
ION May 2. 1892. Tovey was shot at +
L Olll ciIADuSll IlCdl DllN GU INdllSily III !
IaIaveras county, and he returned the I
ire. During the fusillade a young girl f
assenger was killed outright while the q
river was so badly wounded that it II
vas feared for a while he would die. o
'ovey escaped with a shattered arm. b
lie jumped from the stage during the V
ghting and pursued the man, but did d
ot get him. Many people thought it S
'aS Sharp, who had been released from e
rison and had long before vowed that q
e would kill Tovey. a
"A few minutes past o'clock on the a
lorning of June 10, 1893, a man came t
ASKING into jackson behind a foaming &
orse and shouted the startling news a
nat the stage from lone had been at
lcked on the Morrow grade, about five h
lilies from Jackson, by a lone highway s
ian. who had murdered Mike Tovey. k
hot the driver Dewitt Clinton Rad v
life, and two of the horses. The town b
as swept by the exciting information. F
Within twenty minutes the sheriff and s.
posse started for the scene. At $40 n
clock the coach, minus two of it's W
orses, drove into Jackson, half hour n
tie, bringing the body of Mike Tovey. p
The stage. at the time of the muir e.
er, was travelling at a normal gait.
lillian Shallenberger of San Fran n
SEQ sat on top, the other passengers il
eins inside. There were fiat stubble n
elds on both sides of the road and, al d.
'gether, the place was most unlikely h
II a hold-uD. Some men were work. re
hay field not,a quarter of a mile II
way. The coach was whirling along m
ose to stone fence 1t was broad w
lylight and the dangerous parts of h;
e journey were supposed to have been h,
Used. II
Without a sign or an instant's warn st
g, 2 shot came from the fence and ju
Used through Mike Tovey's body, HI