Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-09-08
Copyright, 1900, by Frederick Reddall
FOURTH DAY.
TIE nAII0N GANG.

plain which forms the eastern part OF
Colorado and leads up to the foothills
Of the Rockies foes in ambush were
preparing a rare surprise for John Dra-
per and his party.
Hounded from camp to camp, their
hands against every mans, band Of
choice and congenial spirits known as
''the Dallon gang" had taken last ref
uge In the broken country lying be-
tween Colorado Springs and Denver,
but back from the railroad. Under the
lead OF the notorious Jim Dallon. who
was wanted" by the sherifs Of half
q dozen counties. these desperadoes
herded together and made final stand,
for months defying every attempt at
capture.
Horse stealing. highway robbery,
murder, the rifling Of express messen-
gers and on occasions holding up"
stagecoaches and railroad trains were
among the crimes chalked up against
this particular gang, with the result
that the governor Of Colorado had Of
fered a reward of $1,000 for the cap
ture Of Dallon himself and 5000 head
for the arrest Of the subordinate men,
bers of the band.
This proclamation had for time
deterrent effect, and for some weeks
the country was quiet. But 1t was
merely lull. Jim Dallon, like Reuben
Filley. was meditating and planning a
grand coup. one that If successful
would land him in comparative aff1u-
ence for the rest Of his days and yield
q rich "divvy" for each Of the minor
rogues.
The scheme was ingenuity personi-
fed and one that could be put through
with little or no bloodshed, for Dallon
was growing, cautious and crafty. He
had his paid and secret agents in Den
yer and the surrounding towns and
consequently was early apprised Of the
coming gathering Of railroad magnates
from all parts of the Union. Then 1t
was that his darling and daring plan
was conceived. He had heard or read
of the deeds Of Italian and Sicilian
bandits, SO for change he determined
to take leaf out of their book and do
q little kidnapping on his own account,
holding his prisoners for rich ransom.
Calling the leading spirits Of the
gang around him, Dallon divulged the
main points Of the scheme, which was
received with gross chuckles and
hoarse grunts of satisfaction. 1t only
remained to select the victims; the rest
DaIlon believed would be easy.
"Beats the express business all hol-
ler!' exclaimed Leather Jack, the Sec
ond in command, flinging his sombrero
on the ground in an ecstasy Of delight
"Right you are, my boy" echoed Bill
Root. "Best of 1t ls there'n be no
shootin to bring Shurf Ramsey smellin
round. The hull job can be done in a
nice, genteel style 80 as nobody's feel.
ms II be hurted."
Trusty emissaries rode off in differ
ent directions, one toward Denver and
q second to Colorado Springs, less than
30 miles away, with orders to pick up
any news that might be stirring. By
midday of Friday. May II, they were
all back in camp with the necessary
information, and then Dallon's plans
were rapidly matured.
The robbers retreat was in the foot
hills midway between Colorado Springs
and Denver. Here the whole face OF
the country Is scanned and cut up as
though In some past age the rival
giants Fire and Water waged mighty
battle with Mother Earth. To heighten
the havoc and confusion the hand Of
man has still further marred and scar
red the surface In mad quest for the
precious metals. But mining In this
locality was soon. played out" and
nothing but abandoned claims, rusting
machinery and rotting cabins remained
to mark where once thousand picks
had rung and dug and delved.
Leading to one Of these worked out
camps few miles back from the rail-
road q spur Of track had been built on
which cars had been loaded with ore
for the smelters at Denver. This side
track. after leaving the main line.
made q gradual descent to the bed Of
a dry canyon. along which 1t led for a
couple of miles until 1t ended abruptly
where the solid cliffs Of granite quartz
narrowed so as to almost touch each
other. The empty cars used to run
down this gentle incline by gravity
and when loaded were drawn up again
by a locomotive sent down for the pur-
pose. OF course there had been a
switch at the point where the spur left
the main track. but when the workings
were abandoned the railroad men had
not gone to the trouble Of taking 1t out,
but had simply withdrawn the lever
and spiked the switch.
The locality was perfectly well
known to Dallon, and the scheme he
had hatched was certainly an ingenious
one. The whole force Of the band NOV
ed over to Bone gulch, as the dry tor
rental ravine was pamed, and pro-
ceeded to make themselves as snug as
circumstances would permit.
"There's nothing to do, boys, till