The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-29

They lifted IOVey $ DOuy SeHtly - -
the boot and laid it by the roadside
bTIt life had passed out instantly. Their
the passengers realized what the sllo
had meant, and one of them tainted
when they placed the bloody remains
of the messenger inside or the codCn
The murderer was still standing DS
the fence, calmly gazing toward tnt
stage. He remained there ten minutes
after the attack then turned ana hur'
ried away Common opinion was thai
Sharp had done the shooting, but SIN
weeks later William Evans, an ex-con-
vict. was captured and confessed thal
he had killed Mike Tovey.
George NJ. Hackett, who was a IA
nous shotgun messenger for nearly
| twenty years, sent a reminiscent let
ter, shortly before his death at MaryS-
ville in 1895, to a friend.
ION the goth of June, 1876, wrote
he, the stage between Oroville ana
Forbestown was robbed by two masked
men. They secured Wells, Fargo q
company's express box, $500 in gold dust
| and 4 small amount of coin The next
[ day. on my return trip from Forest
| City at q point about eighteen miles
| from Marysville, 1 noticed two mask
| ed men come out of the brush into
/ the road about $50 yards ahead otatne
stage.
when they saw me raise my gun,
| they ran back into the brush. L jump
| ed off the stage and rushed after them.
! [ had pursued them about 200 ydrdS
| through thick brush when 1 happened
upon their camp. There L found their
| clothes. They had intended to rob the
stage in their undercIothing. In the
pants pockets l discovered $3.50 In com
l also picked up a valise containing the
gold dust that had been taken from the
OrOville stage the day before.
II gathered UP the stuff and carried
/ it back to the stage. We drove along
for half mile until we were past the
brush. Then 1 got off and started back
to- track the robbers. The stage went
on towards Marysville with the clothes
and recovered plumber. [ slipped UP on
one or the robbers in the brush while he
was looking for his clothing. l 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 Stanffeld house, about
quarter of a mile away, left him under
guard of a man there, and hurried back
to look for the other fellow, but | was
unable to find him. The prisoners
name was Harry Norton, alias Liver
pool He was sent to state prison for
fifteen years.
ION the 18th of July, 1882, the stage
between La Porte and MaTysville was
stopped by a masked man at a point
about five miles from La Porte. We
learned afterward that it was Black
Bart He ran out in front of the lead
ers with a shotgun in his hands. AS
soon as l caught sight of him | blaZed
away, hitting him in the head. He in
stantly pointed his gun at the driver,
but before he could shoot fired again,
knocking his gun out of range. He
turned and ran, but fell down, lost his
hat and mask, scrambled up and diSap-
peared before 1 could reload and get
another shot at him. This happened
about z o'clock in the morning. That
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 an oak tree. l shot at him on
sight, and he returned my fire like q
flash, hitting me in the face. 1 jumped
off the stage and chased him into the
brush, taking aim as 1 ran, but my
gun snapped, and before 1 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. af-
ter many perilous years OF fighting
with ,highwaymen. A native of Au-
gusta. Me, tall, long-limbed, muscu-
lar, 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 sc because the company wished to /
save him from the desDeradoes who |
sought to take his life. |
Blair's brother was q Nevada senator, /
and lived at Phoebe. He owned a saw
mill near Auburn, and thither the fear /
ess messenger went to become superin-
-endent. He was hauling a load of
wood one day with team of unbroken
when they ran away on the
mountain grade. Blair was hurled
rom his seat, the wheels passed over
lis chest and crushed his lungs. a
ew months later he died, and they bur-
ed him at Auburn, where a tombstone
rected by the express company tells
simply of the last resting place of as
laring man as ever called California
lis home.
Blair's life as a treasure guard was a
cries of thrilling adventures. In 1872
he little mining town of Phoebe, New,
vas hellhole of humanity. fostering
With criminals. gamblers and disrepu-
able women. There was a college bred
Dung faro player there who was
reat friend Of the superior judge. The
heriff was busy suppressing lawless-
ess in mining camps and had no time
y uGGu lHG TeD6ciIeQ complaints Oh CeS-
ised Mormon pedlerS, who drove over
rom Utah with produce and were fire.
uently held up and robbed on the 200 |
lille hOmeward trip, invariably by an
Id man. with gray hair and gray
card. Continued SHOWS checked the I
lists of the Mormon pedlers, so one s
ay the old man stopped the regular
tage. Eugene Blair was on the driv-
RS seat. With his characteristic {
ioIr he oh hot AIe,o 7
nd the robber, fell dead with '
double charge of buckshot I
trough his body. his cooked !
I'm exploding harmlessly in the air :
s the triggers yielded to the impulsive t
cath clutch. Blair jumped down, J
auled the mans hat off, and, to his v
1rprise, the gray hair and gray whis- {
ers came off with it, revealing the :
ell known features of the young gam 9
Ter. When the body was brought into
ioche the judge wept over it, and then a
1t down and wrote q sympathetic, but C
0n-committal, letter. to the mother, q
hose entreating letters in the young 2
ANS cabin showed that she had "
loaded with him to return to the east d
n home. d.
Several weeks later a woman in deem
burning arrived in Phoebe, having q
200 miles by stage from the q
earest railroad station. 1t was the ~
Fad robbers mother. She had come M
iH way across the continent for the e.
mains of her son. She had entered Sc
lie town in the very stage in which his q
angled form had been carried, and ~
it'll the very shotgun messenger who III
Id killed him, but no one suspected Al
n identity and nothing was said of m
e disgraceful sensation that had W
Tired all Phoebe. She sought the al
dye. He adjourned court early and !
iTTleu ABOUT, warning men say