page_title: Bill Downing
section_title: The Southern-Pacific Cochise Depot robbery
hierarchical_section_title: Bill Downing / The Southern-Pacific Cochise Depot robbery
caption_attribution_description: English: The original Cochise Southern Pacific Railroad Train Depot moved to a different location as it looked in 2019 in Cochise, Az
context_page_description: Bill Downing a.k.a. William F. Downing was a notorious outlaw during the Wild West era in Arizona. Downing had fled from the Texas Rangers posse that was after him when he came to Arizona. In Arizona, he was involved in the killing of William S. “Slim” Traynor and in various train robberies including the robbery of the Train Depot in the town of Cochise. Downing was so unpopular that even members of his gang couldn't stand him.
context_section_description: Constable Burt Alvord was hired by the town of Willcox to police the boisterous cowboys in the area because of his reputation of being a bad man in Tombstone. Alvord hired Bill Downing and Billy Stiles as deputies. Together with their new found legality they would be able to pursue their criminal careers without arousing the suspicion of the town folks. Among the members of the newly founded Alvord-Stiles Gang were local cowboys, such as Matt Burts, the Owen brothers and Jack Dunlap.
  They conspired to hold up the Southern Pacific's westbound No. 10 train that stopped at Cochise Station at Cochise Junction. In order to carry out their mission Downing burglarized the Soto Brothers Mercantile store in Willcox where they pilfered dynamite. Then, Downing and the gang burglarized a mining camp in Dos Cabezas, where they stole additional dynamite, plus explosive caps and fuse.
  The date set for the robbery was September 9, 1899. It was Downing's responsibility to tend to the horses. Stiles and Burts were to stop the train at Cochise Station and proceed with the robbery. They  held at gun point the engineer, the fireman, the mail clerk and a Wells Fargo man. The safe inside the express car was blown up. Their first heist was successful and they seized between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash and jewelry.
  Constable Alvord organized a posse when news of the robbery reached Willcox. He sent the posses in all directions except the right one. Downing, Burts and Stiles stashed everything in Burt Alvord's chicken house in Willcox and then they "joined the posse." As expected the posse did not find anything. The stolen goods were removed from the chicken house and stashed in Bill Downing's ranch near Pearce. The only member of the gang that took his share was Matt Burts who headed to the state of Oregon.
caption: The Cochise Southern Pacific Railroad Train Depot in 2019
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