The St. Louis Republic., 1901-12-22
Old Cattleman's Story of the
Robbery of the Red
Dog Stage.


en,barrassin' for Q boy like Tom. who's
been a-l,yinr sort O. FREQ on lively for
likely numbah Of years, sab. an I couione
STAN It, sab, I'm too modes to be a Met-
od.s. So explains an 'polosizes to d eid-
ers; then ehins out Tor d. BaptiS toiks
next door. An it's all right I'm at peace
now: All so does In d Bapt!s' church. san.
is go inter d watah, kersausel an dar yo-
Is safe in d. love OF a. lamb.
Following these revelations OF my friend
concerning tho jaunty fashion in which the
"boy Tom wore his religion as well as his
name. I maintained a respectful silence for
perhaps a minute and then venturea TO
change the subject I had been going over
tho vigorous details Of q Western robbery
In tho papers. After briefly telling the
story as I remembered 1t. in Its broader
lines at least. carried my curiosity to that
interesting body politio the town OF WOLF
Vile.
In tho old days. asked. did Wolfvills
ever suffer from stage robbertes. or the op-
erations Of banditti Of the traiif'
"woltville" responded my friend. goes
sg'inst that hold-up game SO often We lose
the count. Mostly, 1t don't cause more'n
a passin' irritation. Them rohberfes an
rustlin's don't. spealin' general. mean much
to tho public at large. The express comp ny
may guash Its teeth some. but after al.
comm down to cases. what is Weiss
Fargo howl to usf Personal. were out let
ters an INSISTS from homo, an I've oehelo
! individools who gets that heated about II.
you don't dare ask 'em to nbate ontil they
cools: but as q common thing. we-aH ooh
suffer no practical set backs We're sny
letters; but sech wounds Is healed by time
NC yQin u
comfort we can from SWARM lot an
turn. to the hopeful footurs for tho rest.
Thars ono time. however when WoNvills
gets wrought up.
(which the Wolfvills temper. usual. is
cam an onperturbed that away. Iha.s
q steadiness to wolfvi1le that shows the
camp has depth: It can lose without think
In of sooicide. Il can win an not get drunk.
The wolfvills emotion sets sQuar an
steady In tho saddle. an It takes more than
mere commonplace buclin' to so much an
throw its foot loose from q st1rrup, let alone
send It sailin' from its seat
'.On this yere occasion, however. WOLF
vile gets stirred q whole lot For that
matter, the balance Of South East Arizona
gives way likewise, an. excitement II gen
raj an. shorely mounts plumb high. re-
members plain, now my mind Is on tbs
!! subjick, how Red Dog goes hysterical COM
plete. en-. sets up nights an screams Which
the vocal carryin,s on Of that prideless VII
lage u . shame to coyotesl
cts hold-ups that so wrings tho publios
fseain.A Stages u stood ups passengers,
mail-baes an sxpfsaD boxes gets cleaned
out for their last chip. An It amt confined
to Jest one trail This festival Of crime In
cIoodes . whole region. an twenty stages
In as many different places an almost a.
many days. yields up to these yers bandits.
Old Monte, iookS like, u q speshul fav'rtte;
they 60 through that old drunkard twice
for all thar u In the vehicle The last time
tho gyard gets downed
'sNo; the stage driver amt In no peril OF
balm plugged. Thar's rooles about stage
robhin' saIns q, thar Il to farobank an
poker. It's Understood by all who's inter-
sstea, from ths manager Of the stage COM
paoy to the gent In the mask who's
holdin' the Winchester on the outfit. that
the driver don't fight He's thar to drive.
not shoot; an when he hears the su'ges-
ton Hands upr that-away. he stops the
team, sets the brake, hooks his fingers to-
gether over his head. an nacherally lets
them road agents an passengers an
tered way. Tho driver, usual. cusses out
them brigands frighttul. The laws Of tho
trail accords him them privileges imposin
no restrictions on his mouth. He's plumb
free to make what insultin' observations he
Will. 20 long a. he keeps his hands up an
don't start the team ontil he's given the
proper word; the same comm from the
hold-ups or the guards: whoever emerges
winner from said emeute4
sAs I states, tho last time Old Monte -
made to front the iron. the Wells-6arEo
gynrd gets hlled a. full OF lead as q bag OF
bullets, An as to tho business Of loot an
nluuder. them miscreants shorely harvests
q back load. It catches Old Man Enright q
heap hard, this second break these yess
fslons rnakea i/iN'
.Charokes Hall an. mo u settin' In the
Red Light, whNin' away time between
beverages with arguments. when Enrishs
comes ploddin' along In with them tdins'
Cherokee an me. by 4 singlar coincidence
Il discussin' tho topic of .probity' that a.
way, although our loocubrations don't hour
ish mono concernin' stage rustlin-' Cher.
okee is saytn':
..Now. I holds that trade-what you all
might call commerce. Is plenty sappenin' to
the integrity Of folks. Meanin' no asper-
sions on any gent in camp. shorely not on
them proprietors OF tho Now York Store,
what resterates Is that never meets the
marty who makes his livin' weighin' things,
or who owns par Of scales. who's ackate-
lv on tho level that away. Which them
balances looks like. exercises spell on
gents moral principles. He's no longer on
tho sQuar..
.vm r'ared back on my hooks organiz'
to combat them farcies OF Cherokees.
when Enright pulls up Q char. BY tho
clouds ON his face, both mo an Cherokee
sees thar's something on the old chiefs
mind lot. wherefore We lays aside our own
dispootes,-which after all. has no real
meanin'.s an Is what Colonel William
Greene calls .ac'demic.' an turns to
Enright to discover whatever 10 up. Even
Black Jack feels thars news in the air an
brings the nosepaint without bein' prompt
ed. Enright freights his glass an then
| says:
"sYou-al hears OF them noomeerous stage
,obberies? Well, wolfville lose ag'in. my
seq this trip am put in the hole particular.
| II I understands the drift OF my own pri-
yate affairs. thars over forty thousand
| dollars Of mine on that stage. bein' what
| balance Is doc me from that last bunch OF
cattle. It's mighty likely though she's in
drafts that-away. an Jest dispatches ono
I Of my best riders with lead horse to scat