The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-13

fatal shot, which had entered under
his right arm and came out through
his left breast.
ShaIlenbe made a grab for the
driver. but Radcliffe mumbled hurried
Iv: 81, ook out for Tovey; I'm not hurt
And the passenger caught ToVey just
in time to prevent him from lunging
oyer the boot. While this was going on
the robber fired two more shots in
rapid succession at TIE horses. striking
the off-swing and the off-wheeler in the
shoulder.
Two hundred yards down the road
the driver checked the terrified team.
and then discovered the blood pouring
from two of the animals,
They lifted Tovsy's body gently from
the boot and laid it by the roadside, but
life had passed out instantly. Then the
passengers realized what the shots had
meant, and one of them tainted when
they placed the bloody remains of the
messenger inside Of the coach.
The murderer was still standing by
the fence, calmly gazing toward the
stage. He remained there ten minutes
after the attack, then turned and hur-
ried away. Common opinion was that
Sharp had done the shooting, but six
weeks later William Evans, an eX-eon-
Wet. was captured and confessed that
he had killed Mike Tovey.
George NJ. Hackett, who was a IA
nous shotgun messenger for nearly
twenty years, sent reminiscent letter,
shortly before his death at Marysvil1e
in 1895, to a friend.
ION the goth of June, 1885," wrote
he, the stage between Oroville and
Forbestown was robbed by two masked
men. They secured Wells, Fargo & Co.'S
in q
small amount of coin. The next day,
on my return trip from Forest City,
when at a point about eighteen miles
from Marysville, I noticed two masked
men cone out of the brush into the
road about $50 yards ahead of the stage.
when they saw me raise my gun
they ran back into the brush. l jumped
off the stage and rushed after them. l
had pursued them about 200 yards
through thick brush when l happened
upon their camp. There l found their
clothes. They had intended to rob the
stage in their undertaking. In the
pants pockets l discovered S256 in coin.
1 also picked up a valise containing the
SOld dust that had heen taken from the
c pro tho day before
Il gathered up the stuff and carried it
bat- ~ .4.e sage. We drove along for
half a mile until we were past the
brush. Then l got off and started back
to track the robbers. The stage went
on toward Marysville with the clothes
AMI recovered plumber. l slipped up on
one of the robbers in the brush while
ne was looking for his clothing. 1 sud-
denly called to him to throw up his
hands He did so, dropping his gun and
mask on the ground. l marched him TO
the Stanfield House. about a quarter or
mile away, left higl under guard of a
man there, and hurried back to look
for the other fellow. but l was unable
20 find him. The prisoners name was
Harry Norton. alias Liverpool He was
sent TO state prison for fifteen years.
ION the 18th of July. 1882, the stage
between La Porte and Marysville was
stopped by a masked man at point
about five miles from La Porte. We
learned afterward that it was Black
Bart He ran out in front of the leaders
with a shotgun in his hands. AS soon
as caught sight of him | blazed away,
hitting him in the head. He instantly
pointed his gun at the driver, but be-
fore he could shoot I fired again, and
knocked his gun out Of range. He
turned and ran, but fell down, lost his
hat and mask, scrambled IN and dis
appeared before I could reload and get
another shot at him This happened
.
same day, about 2 O'Clock in the after
noon. when within fourteen miles of
OroVille / saw another masked man
with a shotgun. He was standing be-
hind IN oak tree. / shot at him on
sight, and he returned my fire like a
flash hitting me in the face. l jumped
off the stage and chased him into the
brush, taking aim as 1 ran; but my
! gun snapped. and before l could reload
he was gone. 1 never heard who the
! fellow was"
Eugene Blair, one of the most cele-
/ brated shotgun messengers that ever
( lived, verify, "a man who knew no
fear met a tragic end at Auburn in
/ 1884 after many perilous years Of fight
/ ing with highwaymen. A native OF
! Augusta, Me-, tall, long-limbed, mus
/ cular, quick, a terror TO road agents, A
man who had killed robbers and cap
( tured others, Blair was retired from the
! service with a pension at the age of &c
! because the company wished to save
/ him from the desperadoes, who repeat
| eddy sought to take his life. Blair s
! brother was a Nevada senator, and
! lived at Phoebe. He owned a sawmil
near Auburn, and thither the fearless
messenger went to become superin-
/ tendent. He was hauling a load OF
I
broncos, when they ran away on the
mountain grade Blair was hurled
from his seat, the wheels passed over
/ his chest and crushed his lungs. A few
months later he died, and they buried
him at Auburn. where tombstone
erected by the express company tell:
simply of the last resting place fof a:
! daring a man as ever called California
his home.
Blair's life as a treasure guard wa!
a series of thrilling adventures. II
1872 the little mining town of Phoebe
! New. was a hellhole of humanity, fes
/ tering with criminals. gamblers and
| disreputable women. There was a col
lege-bred young faro player there wh'
was a great friend of the superior
Judge. The sheriff was busy suppress
ing lawlessness in mining camps anC
had no time TO heed the repeated com
plants of despised Mormon peddler
who drove over from Utah with pro
duce and were frequently held up ant
robbed on the 200-mile homeWard trip
invariably by an old man with gra,
hair and gray beard. Continued snow
checked the visits of the Mormon ped
dlers, so one day the old man stoppel
the regular stage. Eugene Blair wa
on the drivers seat With his charac
| lit oAOI DOln
at once, and the robber fell dead wit
a double charge of buckshOt thrOug
his body, his cooked gun explOdin
harmlessly in the air as the trigger
yielded TO the impulsive death clutch
Blair jumped down, hauled the man
hat off, and TO his surprise the gra
hair and gray whiskers came off wit
it, revealing the well-known feature
of the young gambler. When the bod
was brought into Phoebe the judg
wept over it, and then sat down an
, wrote a sympathetic, but non-commit
, tai, letter to the mother, whose er
treating letters in the young man
!, [ ca hin shoNad that she had nIeada