The Colorado statesman., 1907-10-05
TREASURE IN BOOTS
MERCHANT BROUGHT DUST SAFE.
LYTo THE EAST.
His Precious Packages Concealed In
Seemingly Worthless Foot Cover
Ings, Montana Man Came Through
Without Arousing Suspicion.

Henry Ellinger came to Montana in
the early COS. Then greenbacks were
practically unknown in Virginia City.
Gold dust was the circulating medium
and every counter and bar was equip
ped with gold scales and instead Of
being dollars and cents the reckoning
medium was ounces and penny
weights.
When his stock of goods was sold
out, says the Anaconda Standard, Mr..
Filing decided that 1t would be good
Investment If he should make a trip
overland to the states, purchase a new
stock of goods and continue in the
clothing business. He had about $10,-
900 in the best of gold dust to his
credit in the banks then established
in Virginia City and a question which
bothered him sorely was how to get
this money to civilization without los
ing it. for road agents often disputed
the right of way with the stage
coaches and they levied frequent trib-
utes on the passengers, sometimes
stripping them to the hide.
Wells, Fargo & Co. made a practice
of shipping gold dust east for the
miners, but this was expensive, the
ratio for insurance being sometimes
as high as 10 per cent on the amount
carried. This meant great deal of
money to a man, even in those days
and Mr.. Filing thought he could find
way to get his money to Omaha
which would beat that scheme all hol-
low.
After considering the matter in its
different phases he finally expressed
the money to his own order as far as
Salt Lake City, taking passage on the
same coach. To Salt Lake City the
express rate was not so high and prac.
tically the danger zone of road agents
was passed after this point was reach
ed, the Portneuf canyon and Beaver
canyon in Idaho and the section along
the Beaverhead valley between the
Pete DAILY ranch and Williams juno
ton, in what is now Montana, being
the most dangerous.
Mr.. Filing and his gold dust ar
rived at Salt Lake City without In
cident. For some reason the road
agents had not learned that the coach
carried great amount of treasure and
no attempt at hold-up was made.
though more than one of the passen-
gers breathed hard and had his heart
in his mouth when some unexpected
stop was made during the dark hours
of the night, for the coach travelled
night and day and as fast as four or
six horses could bowl 1t along, and
1t made an average speed of about
ten miles an hour.
After days rest In Salt Lake City
the journey was resumed. The express
company knew that he had the dust
and knew he was going on to Omaha.
SO they were watching him. The morn
ing the coach was hitched up and
drove around the hotel after him he
wandered into the back yard of the
hotel and spied pair of boots not
too badly worn, which some one had
discarded.
These gave him an idea. His gold
dust was in two packages and, secur-
ing stout buckstring string, he tied
the two boots together by their ears
and, putting a part of the gold in
either bootleg, he threw them into
the bottom of the coach with the re-
mark that his boots hurt him and
that he was taking the old ones along
so that he could change IL his feet got
to hurting him too badly.
Nobody had suspicion that there
was $4,000 in those old boots, and
Mr.. Filing kept them under his feet
aight and day until he reached Omaha