Sierra County CA Archives History - Books .....Express Robberies 1882
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Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

EXPRESS ROBBERIES.

   The wild mountain trails that traverse the county in every direction,
connecting camps with each other and with the outside, were for many years
tempting and lucrative fields for the bold highwayman to exercise his peculiar
talents in. As prior to 1859 every article of merchandise, all the mail and
express matter, and everything else of value had to be packed in or out on the
backs of mules or horses, the business of highway robbery was comparatively
easy, paying large dividends for the dangers incurred. All the expressmen going
out of the county carried more or less gold-dust with them, and as they
generally rode alone, it put the enterprising road-agent to but little trouble
to gain a livelihood. The building of substantial highways through the "wild
canons and over the ridges, and the running of great, lumbering stages that
carry a car-load of freight, express, and passengers, has rendered the calling
in these days exceedingly difficult and dangerous, such as only the most
interpid care to follow.

   S. W. Langton started his express from Marysville to Downieville in 1850,
spreading out and taking in the other camps as his business increased, until he
had almost a monopoly in this line. He had the names of thousands of miners,
together with their location, and delivered letters to them at the rate of a
dollar apiece. At first there was but little to be apprehended from the
road-agents, but they soon made themselves felt, and it began to require the
exercise of a keen judgment to select men of bravery and determination who could
get treasure from point to point in safety, despite the obstacles and dangers
that threatened them at every step. Some of the stories told by these men, of
their escapes and failures, are exceedingly sensational, the more so because of
their evident truth. Among the first on the route from Marysville to Downieville
was George Great-house. In 1853 Mr. J. N. McMillan was on the route from
Minnesota to Nevada City, which was considered a very dangerous one, as four men
had been killed on the ridge, whose bodies were found mangled and stiff by the
side of the trail. One day, in the summer of 1854, he had about two hundred
ounces of gold-dust in the express bags, and after leaving Chip's flat, going
down to Kanaka creek, the bags slipped off. He did not miss them for some time;
but when he perceived the loss, he retraced his steps up the hill, searching for
the treasure. He soon saw a man in the act of taking the bags from the ground,
who explained as he rode up that he had found them, and was going to return them
to Chip's flat. McMillan dismounted, saying he would take charge of them, but
found that the straps of one side were unbuckled, and the contents gone. He told
the man that one purse was missing; but the latter claimed to know nothing about
it, as he had just come up and had taken nothing. Being sure that the man had
the gold, McMillan proposed that they should go to Chip's together, and let the
agents know what had happened. The stranger, who carried a pig in a sack, agreed
to this, and they went back. S. B. Davidson and Mr. Riley, the agents there at
the time, had shipped the missing purse. Before reaching the office the man
deposited his pig in a vacant cabin, when they went on and told their stories.
McMillan was put-under arrest by the justice, while McGury, the pig man, was
allowed to go. A subsequent search of the cabin revealed the purse hidden in the
straw, which led to the arrest of McGury, who was examined and bound over for
trial at a higher court. At the time, however, he failed to turn up, and his
bail bond had also been stolen from the clerk's office, so that the proceedings
of the court met with a decided check. To avoid robbers, Mr. McMillan was
frequently obliged, when carrying large sums, to take devious and unfrequented
ways towards his destination. He says that he ha left Downieville, gone direct
to Camptonville, thence to Pike City, Plum valley, and Scott's flat, to reach
Minnesota; and sometimes went up the South Fork, Jim Crow canon, and Wolf creek,
to arrive at the same place.

   July 30, 1854, a genuine robbery was committed, which we leave him to tell in
his own words "I left Forest City for Downieville about 5 P. M., and took the
trail up the North Fork that intersects the Henness Pass road. When near that
point I heard a shot fired. I rode on to where the sound came from, and could
see no one. I was somewhat alarmed, pulled out my pistol and examined it, and
just as I returned it to the holster, two men jumped out from the side of the
road, with shot-guns, and demanded my money. I shouted as loud as I could to
alarm a teamster that was in sight, but could not make him hear. I went for my
revolver, but they shouted 'Don't you draw that; if you do, you are a dead man!'
I got it as quick as I could, and was about to shoot, when a third robber from
behind grabbed my arm; then they ordered me to dismount, and I was forced to do
so, for they had wrenched the pistol from my hand. One robber led the mule back
on the road, and the other two ordered me to follow the mule; when I did not go
fast enough they punched me in the back with the muzzle of their guns. We
followed the old trail down to near the north fork of Kanaka creek, where there
was a small grove of trees. Here they tied the mule, and tied me, too, to a
tree. They were about to blindfold me and use a gag, but when I saw the gag I
protested, and they let that go. While they were in the act of securing me, I
expected to be killed, for I saw one of them was a Spaniard, and he had a knife
at least a foot long, which he flourished around my body, and as it glistened in
the sun I thought my last hour had come, for I expected he was the one to finish
the job. The leader of the gang said he ought to kill me, for he said I was
eyeing him until I would know him if I saw him in hell. They took what gold-dust
I had, amounting to nearly $5,000, and left the express letters scattered over
the ground. When I was satisfied they were gone, I turned my head round towards
the tree, and rubbed my face up and down against a limb of the tree until I
worked the blindfold down to my neck; then I could see again. I had been riding
with my vest unbuttoned, and in my vest pocket I had a small knife. I gathered
in my vest at the back, until I got the pocket behind me, and succeeded in
getting the knife; with great difficulty, however, as my hands were very numb. I
worked with great care, for fear I might drop the knife. After getting it open I
commenced to cut the rope that bound my wrists; I could just change hands with
the knife, and cut away at one wrist, then the other, until at last the rope was
cut; in doing so both my wrists were cut till the blood flowed freely. After the
rope was once cut I had no difficulty in getting away, and reached the wagon
road just as a teamster was passing along."

   Two of these robbers were afterwards arrested. The Spaniard was caught in San
Francisco, and being tried, received a sentence of five years in the
penitentiary, two of which he served out. George Walker, the captain of the
gang, was captured at Sacramento and brought to Downieville. He obtained his
freedom by inducing the jailor, Bob Drake, to open his cell door, whence slid
out and locked the obliging officer inside. He was afterwards killed near
Stockton.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sierra/history/1882/illustra/expressr311ms.txt

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