The Valentine Mob

The Valentine Mob was a late 19th and early 20th century gang formed in the small town of Valentine, Nebraska in 1895. The gang consisted of 9 members, with their elected leader being Victor Krochovsky. They were infamous for stagecoach and bank robberies, and their subsequent daring shootouts against responding police forces made tales about their viciousness a common household subject. The gang was also known for working alongside other criminal organizations in times of need such as the Lindhurst Gang and the Louisiana Raiders.

The following are people who served amongst the ranks of The Valentine Mob from its creation until its dissolution in the 1901 Saint-Denis Massacre
 Stanley Shelton | Second-In-Command
 Don Julio | Enforcer, Gunman
 Igor Krochovsky
 Juaquin Juarrez | Gunman
 Louisa Beaudine | Cook, Gunwoman
 Klaus Gardner | Physician, Gunman
 Marcus Grand
 Walter Kowal | Demolitions Expert

## First Crimes

The exact beginnings of the mob are unknown, but some say that it was formed in Blackwater sometime in March of 1896, as that is when the gang began most of its large-scale heists. The first time they are mentioned by name, however, was in the July 7th 1895 Valentine Weekly Newspaper where they were named for having robbed a local banks stagecoach a few days prior. At this time the gang was only composed of Julio, Stan, Victor, and Gardner. Due to their lack of pre-existing criminal records they were given a light penalty of a 20$ bounty on each of them, with 30$ being placed on their leader, Victor Krochovsky. This resulted in overreactive flight from South Dakota after the belief that bounty hunters were after them. The gang moved all the way to Kansas City before realizing that no one had come to collect their bounty. It is believed this is where the gang met Dr. Klaus Gardner, a doctor with a forged degree based out of Blackwater, Texas, who had a local reputation for helping criminals. It was at Klaus' suggestion that the gang moved with him back to Texas.

## Cattle Rustling

A base of operations was set up in Klaus' home, as the gang did not have money to procure a safehouse of any kind. While in Blackwater, the gang met a local thief named Cornelius Adams. Adams was a former friend of Dr. Gardner and rancher in the area that was interested in helping the gang steal cattle and horses from his rivals. Through the use of forgery and already existing resources, the gang was able to stay active for half a year stealing cattle and claiming they belonged to Cornelius before his "rivals" became aware of the plan and shot him in the summer of 1896. As soon as this happened lawmen began looking into the gang members activities and learned of their crimes in Nebraska. This time their bounties were quadrupled, with many in the community calling for members to be lynched. This resulted in a mass flight from Texas towards Louisiana, resulting in a relocation to the Shady Belle Plantation which was owned by Stanley's family.

## Louisiana

As soon as the group arrived in Louisiana Victor suggested they split up yet again, this time in an effort to bolster their numbers. Stanley, Victor, and Gardner travelled north back to Valentine where they attempted to recruit Victor's brother Igor to the group. While they were away Don Julio made connections to a local blasting company and had made acquaintances with a man named Marcus Grand, an explosives expert that Julio intended to use to help the group break into vaults easier. He, over the course of a few months, stole dozens of crates of TNT and moved them to Shady Belle, creating a miniature arsenal for the gang. In August of 1898, the group initiated its first large-scale heist, the Rhodes Bank Robbery, where the gang made off with 5000$ and the robbery of a police rail car that netted them a further 1000$ within the span of a single week. The group would continue robberies on a smaller scale until late 1899. According to Stanley's journal around this time, he attempted to reunite with his family after learning about the death of his older brother in a local newspaper. Its unknown how successful this attempt was, but its known he attended the public funeral in march of 1900.

## The Last Stand At Shady Belle

Early 1901 was a silent year for the gang, there were no major heists and the locals suspected they had moved on or gone into hiding, but police knew this was not the case. In September the gang decided to make its final and largest heist yet in an attempt to get enough money to change their identities and leave for Canada like they had originally planned. They attempted a robbery of the New Orleans National Bank with inside knowledge telling them there would only be two guards on the day they had chosen. This knowledge was incorrect, however, and there was in fact 8 standing and waiting for the gang to show up. An arrest was attempted, but it resulted in a shoot-out and the killing of the officers, with Igor being shot in the cross-fire. Marcus was killed a short time after that, with the rest of the group attempting a retreat with what little loot they could carry. Stanley was almost immediately wounded and was carried out of the bank by Don Julio in an attempt to carry him to safety. When they left the building however, he was shot again and killed. Julio abandoned the body an retreated alongside the remaining survivors, who split into two groups. One group would distract the police and sacrifice themselves for the others while the second group went back to Shady Belle to collect their belongings and retreat North with what little they had left. The first group was led by Julio with Dr. Gardner and Walter Kowal in tow. Juaquin and Louisa retreated with Victor, who had been wounded during the shooting and would attempt to treat his wounds at the hideout. The plan failed and the police instead closed in on the manor, with Louisa taking her shotgun and planting herself at the front door, killing two marshals who attempted to arrest her before being shot herself by a marksman who was hiding in the nearby hills. This same marksman shot Juaquin twice, who attempted to defend Victor, who was hiding in an upstairs bedroom. Juaquin, refusing death, would be shot 4 more times by officers before finally sitting down on the staircase of the house and lighting a cigarette and allowing himself to be overtaken. As officers rushed into the house Victor lit what remained of the gang's dynamite and brought what remained of the building down, killing himself and 8 others. Gardner, Kowal, and Julio would be the only survivors of this event.

## Public Popularity

While they maintained a reputation of violent criminals among most of the Southern population, their story of their travels and exploits across America proved to be wildly popular with the average reader. Theodore Levin capitalized on this interest by writing The Life of Don Julio and The Devil of New Orleans a short novel that chronicled the gang's rise to power and subsequent crimes. The first book was finished in early 1901 and was gifted to Stanley Shelton, but the book was quickly revised following the gang's destruction in September of that year.