Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-21

Almost over are the days when men
with pistols and masks stopped stage
coaches to rob the passengers ana loot
the treasure boxes. Outside of Chicago
highway robbery is lost art. The
danger, the thrill, the fear OF being ''held
up used to be common experience in
Montana up to the time when the rail-
roads came and caused the relegation
of Gilmer & Salisbury's palace coaches
to the broken down corrals back of the
old station house barns, there to rust
and fail to pieces, monuments to pioneer
times and civilizations advance. The
memories that cling around the old
wrecks would enrich the pages of west
ern history could they be PIT into type,
but the Buck Fanshaw's of the past were
men of action not words, and SO the stor-
les the latter could have told have been
forgotten with their deaths.
In one of the lasa stage rCbber;as that
occurred in Montana it was my fortune
to be one of the victims, and this fact
may excuse the use of the personal pro
noun in this narrative.
1t was in the summer Of 80. Butte
then a city of 5000 people, was very
lively place. Helena also was having a
boom owing to the development of the
Drum Lummon mine and The organlza-
ton Of the Helena board Of trade. There
was no railroad to the capital city then,
but there was good wagon road leading
through Elk Park canyon over the top Of
the main range Of the Rockies, through
Wickes thence down the canyon to the
metropolis of Last Chance gulch. 1
had been appointed Montana commissions
er to the Denver Mining exposition, and
n Hyici an ,I
Marysville to make arrangements FOR an
ore exhibit The stage was schei eiuled to
leave Butte at o'clock in the morning.
That was before sunrise, in October, and
some lively work was required to get
away on time. The driver, as soon as the
Stable boys had hitched up, first drove
to the postoffice for the mails. then 10 the
express office for the treasure box, then
to the old st. Nicholas for the passengers
and finally to the stage office for the
waybill and final inspection. Just before
sunrise we pulled out, driving briskly
through the streets to the fiat below the
city, and heading towards the park with
as fine four-horse team as ever pulled
a load. The passenger list was snail.
Inside the coach We're Eddie Foy a vari-
ETY. actor, who had been playing at the
Iheater comi1ue, of this city, and a
workers who, having been performing
all night had not vet removed the paint
from their faces for fear of catching
cold. So redoent of beer were they. and
SO likely to give continuous perform.
ance as soon as they should realize they
were Still on a stage, that I decided to
allow Mr. Foy a monopoly of the enter
tainment, resolution strengthened by
che fact that one of the last passengers
to board the coach was Chinaman,
VINO eXuded opium and soapsuds from
every pore. The only other passen ger
besides myself was a man named W;-
IiamS miner by occupation. Another
passenger had been booked, young
Engllshman named Ferdinand Chad
bourne, scion of a noble "Lunnon"
family, who had been sent to Helena
the year before, that being as far as he
could be sent with the money available
and the place in which there was the
least likelihood of his making enough of
his own to pay his fare back. His
iordship had confided to people hehadr1et
In Butte that he had succeeded there in
raising the trifiing sum of 500 to "tie
up mining prospect near Helena. and
was returning to that place to make-the
payment necessary to hold the property
till he could horganze'' company in
London. MIR. Chadbourne, however, had
either visited the Comique the night be-
lore or struck faro game which some
bystander told him was easy: but. in
either case, he missed connection with
the coach.
WILLIAMS WAS CHEERFUL.
Williams. however, proved a most
companionable fellow traveller and
had fund of good stories In order to
make things pleasant for the driver. I
had bought a bottle of rye and when
Williams and he had consumed it, the
former brought forth a bottle of his own,
which they also disposed of and pro-
nounced fine. Williams appeared in fact
anxious to overload the driver, propos-
ing drink, 1t seemed, every time the
coach passed tree, and the forest was
not sparss for the first few miles. Yet
the jehu was thoroughbred and had
not been driving stages with old Mon
tana pioneers on the front boot without
learning to stow away a liberal share of
what he called ''tanglefoot." When l sug-
gested that the second bottle would not
last half way to Helena, Williams re-
piled that he had another in his pocket,
and made the driver take an extra drink
over the good news, though 1 noticed he
didn't drink much himself. Three hours
after the start we reached Basin where
Johnny" Lawson then thought he had
discovered a bonanza and later pulled up
a. Boulder which was the dinner station.
There we changed horses for the third
time and after meal started up the long
grade of the mountain, now penetrated
by the Montana Central railroad tunnel,
and which was SO steep that the driver,
though half asleep. asked all male pas
sengers to get out and walk. To this
Williams demurred, but reluctantly
climbed down and trudged along with