The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1918-07-31
Recent DEATH RECALLS A
TRAGEDY OF BY-CONE DAYS
Jealous Husband Murders Stage
Driver and Passengers In Stage
Driven BY His Wife

The death of John ID. Sullivan
which occurred near Fallon July IL
revived memories of one of the most
thrilling melodramas ever enacted
IN the west.
1t is story of husbands jeal1
ously, OF Che murder of half score
OF innocent people and of the in
trepid courage of a woman, the
whole forming a drama that If seen
on the movie screens today would be
set down as the product of the vivid
imagination of a highly paid scenar-
10 writer.
The opening scene of this tragedy
ago and there are in Fallon today
few whose recollection of the hor
rors surrounding the awful affair is
as distinct as If the events were
those of yesterday.
Among these Thos. Dolf recounts
with minute detail the incidents at
tending every feature of the bloody
tragedy the names of the leading ac-
tors being well known to him.
The time was the period when the
stage ran from Lovelock to
Boyers Ranch and the driver of
the stage that figured in the
case was found brutally murdered
in his bed, suspicion at once
falling upon the husband of a wom-
an with whom the unfortunate vic
tim was supposed to be too friendly.
Knowing the urgency of the mails
being carried on schedule time
this woman with rare courage
declared that she would drive
the stage and mounting the box
directed the passengers to take
their seats and started ON the
trip that was to end so tragically
handling the four horses with the
skill of a seasoned driver.
Among the passengers was the
son of j. d. Sullivan whose funeral
was held last week, but who never
survived the full journey of that
day. AS the stage rounded a point
on the road shots were rained upon
1t from a distance and at the end of
the fusilade not one soul was left
alive with the exception of the wom-
an driver whose life was spared
for purpose that subsequently
developed. The murderer satisfied
that his thirst for human life hads
left none other to tell the tale but
the woman, approached the stage
and to her horror her worst fears
were realized as in this monster she
discovered her own husband
With his gun at his side he
mounted the seat and commanded
this fearless woman to drive with
her CORY freight toward Boyers
il being his evident intention to
leave the stage at a familiar point
on the road after adding his wife to
MS HSt OF NicllHls,
The mind of this wonderful wom-
an did not permit her courage TO
forsake her and doubtless convinced
of his designs upon her own life
sought to circumvent them and as
they approached spring or water
ing place on the road, with a cum
ming and persuasiveness that would
have done credit to trained diplo-
mat induced her husband to dis
mount and water the team.
He plans had been carefully out
lined and as her husband was engag-
ed at the spring with the team she
quickly grasped the gun she had
slipped away from him and with
deadly aim shot him dead.
Were there not living testimony
to bear out the facts of this bloody
tragedy the story of the rounding up
of the team and hitching them to the
stage and the drive to Boyers Ranch
would be received with skepticism,
but the climax of this bloody drama
rests in the fact that the woman
drove the stage to its usual stopping
place at Boyers Ranch when the
a,most unbelievable evidence met
the gaze of the horrihed onlookers,
the lifeless bodies of the passengers
being strewn about the bottom of
the stage,
II is not to be wondered at that
the story of the bravery of this wom-
an found its way into every corner
of the State and for many years
formed the topic of conversation at