The Last Stage Robbery in America by Ken Weinman jd you know that the lst stage feoach robbery in the United States occurred at Jarbidge, Nevada, ‘on December 5, 1916? Yes, its a fact and is well documented. Newspapers all over America carried the story at thetime. Ithadaunique slant and was newsworthy. The old west era had come toan end around the turn of the cen- tury, and the frontier towns had long since boomed and died. ‘New inventions and modern tech- nologies were everywhere. The Zep- pelin had been invented and had made several sucoessfil trips across the English ‘Channel. German U-S3 submarines were attacking British ships in the Atlantic Ocean and the 1916 World | Series was being playedat Braves Field | inBostontoasell-out crowd of 42,000 spectators. The First World War had ‘commenced, and automobiles, trucks, Lae Eee TRE PAM NEE IRE CEand trains were rapidly replacing the horse as a means of transportation, ‘A stagecoach robbery was the last thing anyone would expect to read about that far into the 20th century. ‘Techmological advances were spread- ing rapidly, but were slow sometimes in reaching the rural, isolated commu- nities. Jarbidge was one of Nevada's ‘most isolated mining camps andin 1916 itwasstill using the stagecoach as the primary means of public transporta- tion. Jarbidge is located in the north- ‘easter part ofthe state and issituated just a few miles south of the Idaho border. It is a quiet little town today, ‘butduring the first week of December 1916, thecold-blooded, senseless mur- der of astagecoach driverset thescene for one of the best authenticated bur- {ed treasure stories in Nevada's long, ‘exciting history. Sometime during the afternoon of ‘December 5, 1916, a stagecoach was robbed just north of Jarbidge, and a lone bandit made offwith $4,000 in currency and gold coins. The money ‘was hastily cached ina canyon at the northemedgeof Jarbidge,andas faras ‘The Red Dog Saloon as it looks today in Jarbridge. it is known, it has never been recov- ‘ered. Gold was firstdiscovered in the areaasearlyas 1870bya few Mormons in search of farmland, but very few people lived there until 1909, when a Prospectornamed D.A. Bourneset off a gold rush with news of a gold mine. ‘They came from everywhere and ‘within a few months, Jarbidge was a camp of about 1,500 people. The win- {ets at Jarbidge were severe and they lasted about nine months. The early prospectors suffered severely during the winters of 1909 and 1910, and by May of 1910, the population had de- lined to only a few hundred. The miners hiad staked their claims on the snow- drifts covering the ground to adepth of as much as 18 feet, but when the snow melted in latespring, itexposed the exaggeration of the newspaper reports, and about 80 percent of the prospectors became disgusted and pulled up stakes and headed elsewhere, Jarbidge was totally isolated andits ‘onlycommunication with the outside ‘world was the mail stage which made regular trips from Rogerson, Idaho, about 65 miles to the north. Jarbidge had no banks in 1916, and the mine payrolls were brought by the Roger- son stage. Everyone knew that it was Jong and dangerous journey from Ro- gerson to Jarbidge, especially in the ‘winter time when the snow drifts were deep and dangerous, but no one wor- ried about it until the stage was several hours overdue on the after- noon of December 5, 1916. It was paydayand three to fourfeet ofsnow had already accumulated on Crippen grade that led down into Jarbidge ‘Canyon where the town lies snuggled along the bank of the Jarbidge River. Heavy snows were not unusual in thisnorthern isolated area, and some- times the town was cut off for many ‘weeks from the outside world by 20- 1030-foot snow drifts. Fred Searcy was thedriver of thestage that fateful day, and everyone naturally assumed he ‘would be late because of the heavy snow. A small group of men had gath- fered at the post office to await his arrival. ‘The treacherous mountain road that Searcy had to travel dropped 2,000 feet in iveand one half miles from Jarbidge TREASURE SEARCH/FOUND 19‘Summit to the bottom of the canyon. Several hours passed, and Postmaster Soott Flemingasked Frank Leonard to ride up to the top of the pass and look forthestagecoach. Leonard returned few hours later and reported that he had seen nothing of Fred Searcy or the stagecoach. The men were deeply concerned for the driver's safety be- ‘cause the stagecoach could have easily slid offthe canyon road and went down into the Jarbidge River. Fleming then telephoned awoman named Rose Dexter, who lived along the road about a half mile north of town, She told Fleming that the stage had passed her place a few hours ear- lier. She said that she had been out in theyard at he time gettingsome wood and that she waved to Scarcy ashe went bby. She said that he washuddled upon his seat with his coat collar pulled over | his face to form some protection from the blinding snow. Fleming quickly organizedasearch party and they took off up the road ‘through the storm, Less than a quarter ofa mile from the town's main busi- nessdistrict they found thestagecoach, Ithad been pulled offthe roada short distance and was. partially concealed ina groupofwillow treesto which the shivering horses were tied. Fred Searcy ‘was slumped in his seat and almost ‘covered with snow. At first, the searchers thought that Searcy had frozen to death, but a loser look revealed that he had been shot in the head at sucha close range thet he had powder burns in his hair and on his scalp. Lying in the snow nearby they found the discarded first- class mail pouch, unopened. The regis- tered mail pouch containing the $4,000 {in cash was missing. ‘The heavy storm showed no signs ofbreaking up and further investiga- tion of the crime would have to wai until the weather cleared. The next ‘morning the storm settled down some and the searchers tried to reconstruct, the crime from available evidence found at the scene. Aftersome careful delib- eration, it was determined that the robber had jumped aboard the slow ‘moving stagea short distance past Rose Dexter’ place and shot Searcy. ‘The killer then took the reins and continued on down the steep grade, ‘eventually pulling the stage off the road intothe groveof willows. He took the registered mail pouch and propped Scarcy's body upon theseat ina sitting position. A carefulsearch of the area revealed the footprints ofa man and the pawprints of a dog in the snow. ‘They followed the tracks down to the arbidge River where a discarded blood- stained shirt was found. ‘The tracks then crossed a small bridge and disap- peared into the town. ‘All through the investigation, n0- body had paid any attention to the old town dog that had tagged along with the investigators. He was friendly with everyone and seemed to belong 10 nobody in particular. All ofasudden, the dog sniffed and scratched with his, paws at a mound of snow. A quick investigation revealed that it was the ‘missing registered mail pouch. It had been slit open and the $4,000 in cash had been removed. This strange act by the dog brought upa serious question. Could it be possible that this dog bad accompanied the robber during the commission of his crime? A quick Jarbridge, Nevada, sits in a canyon at the base of these hil 20. TREASURE SEARCH/FOUNDj THE GOLD COINS WORTH $4,000 AT THE TIME OF THE ROBBERY comparison of his paw prints to the tracks in the snow proved a perfect match. They now wondered whom would the dog follow in a severe snowstorm? A few of the searchers now remem- bered that the dog was particularly attached to a miner named Ben Kuhl, Kuhl was not liked too much by any of the townsfolk, and was free on a $400 bondat the time for claim jump- ing, It was circumstantial evidence, but did point a finger of suspicion at Kuhl. A warrant for his arrest was issued. Kuhl was taken into custody at his cabin and was charged with the murder of Fred Searcy and of robbing the U.S. Mail. Kuhl was brought to trial in the town of Eiko, the county seat. He had ‘entered a plea of not guilty,” and claimed that he had spent the night of the robbery ina Jarbidge saloon. A few of thetown's residents had remembered seeing him inthe saloon that evening, but upon crossexamination, they were notsureastothe exact time thathe was seen there, The robbery could have easily been committed within a few hours time. Kuhl came and went from thatsaloon several times a day, and no ‘one was sure of the exact time. After a short deliberation, thejury found Kuhl guilty of murder and the robbery of the U.S. Mail. He was sentenced to serve a life term at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. He entered the prison on October 17, 1917, as number 2018. It had been almost a year since the commission of his crime. ‘Throughout all the years that Kuhl had spent in jai, he claimed ‘that he was innocent. ‘On May 17, 1945, Kuhl was released (on parole from prison after serving over27 years, Prison authorities would not reveal his whereabouts. It is strongly believed that he has never returned to Jarbidge. During his im- prisonment, Kuhl was offered some time offhis sentence ifhewould tellthe WOULD NOW BE WORTH ABOUT $80,000 Journal, December 7.1916, carried the story about the stage- coach robbery inJarbr- ldge, Nevada, (Continued on page 65) Jarbridge is located just south of the Idaho[Nevada line. TREASURE SEARCHIFOUND 21THEN & NOW (Continued from page 21) authorities where the money was hid- den, Since he so consistently denied thecrime, he also denied having any nowledge of the whereabouts of the money. There is nothingon record in- 1-800-554-2642 @ In Mississippi Call (601) 922-8958 ATTENTION RETAIL BUYERS: ‘Send A SASE For Your ‘Nearest Dealer. 35