The Coolidge examiner., 1931-10-23
!; STAGE COACH
TALES
B y E. C.. TAY L o r
Last of the Road Agents

D AYMOND HOLZSE-he insisted
IN his name was spelled this way
although it usually was spelled
SOltZ by the police-was probably
the last of the notorious highway
men or road agents who preyed
upon the old stage coaches in the
! Northwest.
He operated in Wisconsin and
Michigan in the 1S90s, and was fa'
nous as a crack shot. He prac'
| ticed shooting by firing at a bulls
eye while riding swiftly on a horse
Sometimes he would toss ur hazel
nuts and crack them with revolver
shots. He was of the same type
of gunman famous through the
| Southwest a few years earlier.
In the spring of 1890 a stage
coach was held up between Pulcifer
and Budnel, Wis, with small loss
The holdup was laid to Holzse.
One morning soon after that, Her
man Rafath was driving his stage
coach from the north toward Sha-
wano. He looked around and stared
into the muzzle of a revolver point
ed at his face. Behind the gun was
| HOlZse.
There were two passengers on
the coach, Thomas Ainsworth,
known as a wit in that section, and
a Menominee Indian.
Rafath at once brought his horses
to a stop, and HolZse ordered the
mail pouch be thrown out. Rafath
asked AinswOrth what he should do,
and Ainsworth advised him to obey
the command.
After the mail was surrendered,
the bandit ordered the driver to
produce all his money. Rafath
handed him $11. HolZse demanded
more, but Rafath insisted that was
all he had. In later years he said
he had S45 in a vest pocket and had
saved that by lying to the bandit.
HOlzse took 1915 from Ainsworth,
all that gentleman had with him.
I'm sorry it isn't an even $10,'
Ainsworth told the bandit. Il still
owe you a quarter. Come and col.
lect ii some time"
Holzse ignored the Menominee In.
dian, and ordered Rafath. Aims
worth and the Indian down the
road. They walked a hundred yards
away and turned around to see
Holzse ripping open the mail pouch.
They could hear him swearing be-
cause the pouch contained nothing
Of value
After that stage holdup, Holzse's
description was broadcast through
out Wisconsin, and a constant watch
was kept for him by police and
stage coach drivers. The sheriff a
short time later took Rafath to look
at suspect he had captured. but
it was not Holzse, and the man was
released.
the bandit after that, but never en-
countered him again. A youth who
often substituted for Rafath as
driver of the coach. however, did
not take any chances. He whipped
up his horses whenever he saw a
suspicious-lOOking man standing by
the roadside, and many a prospec-
tive passenger was left swearing
when the stage ratified past him at
a fast clip.
Holzse loved the limelight and II
proved his undoing. He held up
stages in a grand eloquent manner,
and apparently tried to put on a
special show whenever he was COM
mitting his crimes.
Near Marquette, Mich, a short
time after his activities had forced
him to flee beyond the state line
of Wisconsin. Holzse stopped a stage
coach, carrying mail and filled with
passengers.
He warned all aboard the stage
against shooting, but one passenger
did not heed the warning, and fired
a shot at the bandit.
Holzsc opened fire on the coach,
then, firing bullet after bullet
through the windows and walls of
the vehicle. One passenger was
killed and another seriously wound
ed. Two bullets pierced the hat
of the driver.
Holzse was captured by posses
who were quickly put upon his trail,
and later was sentenced to the Mich
igan state penitentiary for life. He
was released in a few years, how
ever.
(N 1e2I Western Newspaner JJnionN