Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-30
TALE OF THE DESERT
sOOn,d Wife Bstrays the Plans of Arizona
Despe1adosA
BIG HOLOUP FRUSTRATED IN TINE
Rooty Arrives at Camp, bat Robbers
Fan 60 come-Remarkabie High
way of the Airord q
Gang.

The building OF a thieves highway"
aver a trackless desert for eighty miles
from Mohawk Summit, in Arizona, across
the border into Mckee - the latest ex-
plot Of the Alvord gang, Jne %. the mOst
desperate bands of crooks that ever N
tested the southwest. Ire road was he
result of three months labor by the oct-
laws. II was built as means of escape
from the scene Of great holdup planned
for August IL Of this year. II was :nviA-
ibie and impossible for nursusrs, yet an
open highway over when the thiu-es mlg't
gallop without a change of horses at the
rate Of eighty miles a day,
The men who Quilt this magic road are
Burt Alvord, train robosr, murderer. es-
capped convict and TIE partner Of the &C
torious Billy Stiles; Wills Wool. who is
wanted for robbery and murder. and Jnr
Alexander, who IL now under arrest
charged with counterfeiting, bigamy and
robbery. The bait which lured them to
the task was 100000 in gold bullion witch
each three months is brought down fr.,m
the King Of Arizona min unds lef locked
up over night N the s.fe nj the littl1 a,a-
ton Of Mohawk summit. sixty miles east
Of Yuma.
Plan Ho1duD and Escape.
experience taught the trio Of desperado4s
that there were two rropo lions 10 ne con-
sidered: First. the booty must be secured
and, secondly, the robDcrs must he able to
escape with 1t without beng followed aud
caught. AS for rae frs proposition, lie
trio simply planned ths tlmeworn sswocp
on the little station, the hurried shooting
OF the surprised guards, the blowing open
OF the cafe and securing of the bullion aud
then the wild ride off into the night ard
across the parched de ,eit that stretches
away for hundreds OF miles sDuth frcIn Mo-
hawk station.
1t was a desperate enough scheme. but
one in which the Alvord gang nad always
been successful None of the three crooks
has ever been caught during holdup
proper-all have served tine through 5e-
ing captured by pursu,ag posses while at.
tempting to get away from the scenes of
the various crimes.
1t was therefore to the second proposi-
ton that the outlaws gave the most
thought. How, could they eli1s tIe posse
Of hardriding, understanding. deter mined
men that would lie gathered even in The vi
entity of little Mohawk Summit ana would
pursue them until horsehesh or manflesh
could go no farther2 How rearh safety
they might hide ~ the SDr5ra filslncssss
Hard TO Get Across Desert.
Across the border was Billy stiles, AL
words old partner, with his band Of 1OC
renegade Yaqui Indians which had ter.
rorized Sonora. For Burt Alvord and his
gang Mexico meant perfect safety. SC
with heads together the trio planned fcI
days about ways and means to get across
that eighty miles Of desert between Mo.
hawk Summit and the line.
To begin with, they knew their mus
tangs could not carry at any speed the
four hundred and some odd pounds Of gold
which they hoped to secure through the
robbery. The weight would so impede
the travel of their horses that capture
would be predestined certainly. 1t was
decided quickly that the gold must be
cached early IN the flight. In the end a
place on the ocean desert marked by three
cactuscs and situated about FIVE mites
south of Mohawk Summit was selectod FOR
the cache.
hole was dug there and covered
with mesquite brush so that 30 desert wan.
derer might notice II and vst ali be IN
readiness for the burial of tho gold. AZ
some date subsecLe 10 the rchbsrv the
outlaws would come back and dislntsr The
bullion.
Plan "ThfeveS' highway"
The finer problem and the one on which
the three men racl{ed their brains for day.
was how to distance their pursuers aftei
the hurled burial OF the gold. There
would be men In the pursuing posHe VIII
would ride as hard as they, There woule
he wiry little mustangs under some o
those pursuers that were faster than any
that the desperadocs might secure. Ever
with an hours start II the race was fairly
run the game OF desert hide and seek would
30 against the outlaws. So the probler
was big one-one worthy OF the criminal
genius that Burt Alvord Is. His solution
was the thieves highway"
II was a thorough knowledge OF condi
lions on the desert that allowed Alvord I,
noive the problem. He knew that withou
water n mustang can travel only abou
forty miles across a sandy waste He knew
that even to go this distance the pace mus
he restrained and the animal "nursfd'
carefully. The hot. dry air parches tn
throats OF horse and rider so thst bot,
give out. Forty miles across desert with