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• 75¢ PAPERBACK 9J LIBRARY 54-758
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L ... S
REAS RES •

ANDHOWTO .,,
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FIND THEM! ·
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II
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cues
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enc
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 box containing $92.000. in gold. .
By no means all of the follo\\ing_ chapters deal \\ith The list goes on and on. Nor are such troves discovered
enormou!l treasure caches. Some. detailing lesser hoards. only in remote or ~eluded areas. ln the heart of Brooklyn,
such as those o( Ptilty Cannon" of Snowllhoe Thompw~ New York. for el{ample, S525, 750. was discovered in the
Tom Sing. and lhe CL~o ~nnm Claus" nre included in. or- walls and basement floor where a recluse named Louise
der to show lhe wide ranbre of geography-and mouYa- Herle had Uved. Inasmuch as she wns known to have been
tioo-invoh·\!d in the burial of treasure. worth more than J .S million dollars and the balance never
This brings up the question of ~ hethcr troves ar~ c,·~r
turned up in banks or anywhere else, it ls reasonable to
found. The answer is yes. and more frequently than tS assume th.it it is still cached somewhere else.
gtnerally believed. Some of th\! finders shy rrway from In Chicago, Ulinois. bank representatives found
publicity in order to evade taxes. Some, mott tawfully. SI 00.000. in gold coins bearing dates of the J 930s. The
report their discoveries quietly to the J ntcmal Rc"cnuc gold was buried under two fruit trees on the estate of the
Servic~ nnd hope to escape the node:e of the sha.re-tl\c- late Stanley R. Pierce, wealthy investment broker.
we altb armv or schemers, blue-sky salesmen~ legitimnte but In the appencfut is a regional listing of r.reasure troves
overl)• aggressive salesmen anJ solid ton for dubious ch;:iri-
tbroughouL the country. Understandably,, there are thou-
tje:, and causes. Others mruntain silence in the hope lbatsands of others., fnr and near, owa1ting discovery.
further search at the SLte of their find will ~ull in Cunher The most intriguing possibility is, of course. tha~ if you
.finds. search for treasure, you may even turn up a cache m }'Out
Some encouraging-and roponcd--examples of tro,•e own backyard!
find~:
A couple seeking ''prttty stones'' near Julesburg.
Colorado, unearthed four rotting saddteb:J~ containing
$86.000. in gold pieces.
Approximately $ 120,000. in o)d gold and ~ih·er coins
budcd by a recluse was fourn;J on n farm in Oley Valley,
Pcan-;ylvania.
On Grassy Key, florida, a $25,000. c:iche of M~xican
ooins, d golden candlcsrick and a diamond ring w~rc nil
found tO!?(!thcr in n large iron pot . .
On Mntagvf'da ls.land, ocur Curpus Chnsu. Texas~ Ll1rce
treasure hunters dug up tw·o hc:wy chests or coins ~aring
eighwcnth century d..1tes and \\Orth more thnn S80.000.
A mounrnin lion hunter in northern Ariu>no d.bco~-:rcd
in o smnll cave a wuod~n chest contaimns ulmost
S 100.000. worth of silver ingots.
Two youngsters, di~ing °!1 n ":icksbtfrg. ~tissi~~i~pi.
cotton plantation, found family heirlooms buncd uurmg
the Ci\•il Wrtr. The valuables were Jppraiscd al SI 6S.000.
A vacatiooer nnd his tcon-ast son round o s.-ic1. t'>f coins
that hat.I been hidden nea r Coltbrook. New Hampshire. in
nbolll 1850 The money wns "orth S41,000.
Tw<l En~tcm college student~ hunung for ro~~iJs in the
vicinity of Leadville South Dakot.D.., dug up a stagecoocb 13
12
 CH A PTER 1

J. Murierta & Cn .• Specialists

in Rubbery and M urder

1 Of rhe numerous hjghwaymcn and stagecoach robbers who

operated throu ghout the West after J ames W . Mar$.h.i ll, a
New Jersey mL-eh~mic, discovered gold at Coloma o n the
south branch of the A merican R iver on J anu ary 24, 1848,
none was more ruLhJess nor more active than Joaquin
Mu ricuu, you thful leader of a band of m urderous outlaws.
During his brief ca.rcer, which ended violently when he
was twenty-four, he set a record for plundering that many
bandits wbo came after him, among th.em such colorful
characters as Tiburcio Vasquez, Tom BeU, Charles E.
Bolles alias Black Bart, a nd R attlesnake Dick. never ap-
proached . Murietta was both Lhe pro totype and the greatest
of them all.
\.\'ith tl1e influx of thousands o f ••Forty-niners. " by 185 1
the annual oulput of gold in Cali[omia had risen l o fifty-
five million dollars. Many miners had already struck it r ich
in the fool.h ills of the Sierras and were returnin2 to
Sacramento and San Francisco with gold dust in their
pokes and nuggets in Lheir flour sacks.
The !,lagecoach had made its appcamoce in 1849, the
p ioneer line e~1ablishcd by John Wrustman over a route of
some fifty miles between San Francisco and San Jose. By
1851 staeecoach ro utes had been extended Lo sever.ii of
the more popul.ir mining ce nters, and gold W.1 S being
transpo ned "out'' in the strongboxes of Concords, the
tou~. exc.cll~nlly-craJ1ed coaches made by the famous A b-
bott- Down ing Company o f Concord, New H am pshire.
I n 185 1 miners who had struck it rich and were return-
ing from their claims traveled afoot with packhorses or
muJes, or on horseback. Many of chem made lo ng jo...:meys
alone o r with only a few companions. Those who remained
15
 and shirred out their accumuln ted gold did so by stngc-
n 1achc::., whu:h were sull comparau..,cl) unprotected.
O nJ} some of tht: driver:, ca rried anns. for their ins1nic-
tic.,ns, hlllc.>" ing Lbe earliest o( the st~1gccoach rnbtx-nc:,.
" cri:: .. Run , don' t fight." 1 ht.! gunnls hired to r• ,.>tcct the
coJchcs by " riding shotgun," usu.lily on the !)t!Ql!- "uh 1ht:
c.lrhers, gradually appenrcd later.
Thus the scene was set. the opportunity waitmg ror Joa-
quin Murictta.
His real numc was Joaquin Carillo, aru.l he was born in
Sonora. Mexico, the SCln of a former.
In his teens he fdl in love with an attractive, <la.rk -h:11rcd
girl. Rosita Feliz, the only daughter of a prosf)l.'rous
neighboring rancher.
They wanted to marry. but Rosita's father rcf u-.ed to
give them pcm1ission . Although he had declared lo Joaqu in
that his scventcen-ycar-olu daughter was too young for
m:u-ringe, Rosita told Joaqu in that her pnrents " rre plJn-
ning to t:ikc her to Mexico City to make a much more ad-
vantageous match.
Joaquin and Rosita, very much in love. m3dc some
plans of their own. One night he stole two of his fath er's
horses, p:iid a clandestine call al the Feliz ranch and clc.)pc!J
with Rosita. They fled northward . She donned nu."n's
clothes, he changed his name to Murictta, and they trn, clcd
to the Santa O~lra VaJley, where he took a job ~ a lliggcr
in the booming CaJavcras gold fields. ~ ~1uricun swore he would avenge his brother's death.
They built a smalJ cabin and were h:tppy for otx1u1 :1
month until a miners' commiltc.-e paid them a ybit. The alone on his claim. He cu t the miner's
miners ordered them to pull up stakes and leave ~cau,c
they didn 't want any "thieving Mexicans hanging ·wunc.1
the seulcmcnl ." To cm phasiz~ U1cir point. Munc11:1 ,us
flogged. and Rosita was raped by several of the miners.
Murictta and his sweethear t headed for Maf)'!,\il lc. but
when they came to lhc small mining sculemcnt of \l ur-
phis Diggings, they found a fertile piece o( I.ind sui tublc cave. He stubbornly
for homesteading an<l built another cabin.
Some weeks later they were joined by Murictt J's
brother, Lu is, who came up from Mexico At Jo.iquin·s
suggestion he homestead ed some adjoining land. t,uilt him-
sd( a c..ibin and prepared to plant bis fi rsr crop of com .u,u
whcaL
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Jonqum might have ltvcd nnd <11cd an obscure, pcacetul
fnnncr but for an incident destined shortly to change his
entire lire.
It bcc..i.n v. hen 3 shndv chnractcr named Hansen stoic a
pnck m~1lc from a miner, Lu!.. c Reilly. He sold the ~mim:.1 1
to Luis "'ho in tended 10 Ul>C it for plowing.
One c.ta~ J uaquin borrov. ed Lhc mule Crom Luis. He was
plowing his own field when Reilly appeared with a nJf1':,
' followed lby seve rn_l angry miners. There were six tee n in the
lynching party. incluc.lmg the senlcment physician. Or.
Charles Gates.
Joaquin did not deny that the mule might have origin:illy
belonged to Reilly. He cxplaine-d that his elde r brother had
bout!hl i1 in good faith from H ansen.
T-hc rtl l) b -mo ... cd on to Luis' cabin ::rnd seized him .
Without gi, ing him a chance to say a word in his nwn
defense. 1hcy tied a flour sack over his bead and a noose
around hLli nei:k. They Lhrcw the rope over a tree branch
and haukd him up to dani!lc .rnd strangle to death . Ah-:r
that they strippc<l lhe clothes from Joaquin's booy and beat
him with :ixe handles arid clubs.
During the night. Joaquin and Rosita cut down Luis'
corpse ,rnd burned it. They burned his cabin and their own
to the ground so thnt no one could occupy eithl'r. \\ 1th a
few bcl011gings they walked several miJcs before daylight.
when lh-:y took refuge in a small cave. h was there th:u
Two Jays Jatcr he stalked Luke Reilly and caught him
throat from cnr to
ear anJ slashcJ his fa_cc into unrccoIDl.izablc ribbons of
Oesh. -
On the following day he ambushed Dr. Gates, killed him
with a buJlct through the heart and mutilated his face also.
Now Ros.ita became alarmed and pleaded with Muricu a
to move on before aroused miners tracked them to the
refused.
" My b rat.her cries from his grave for vengeance." he said
grimly. ·· He had sixteen murderers. I have fourteen ldt 10
truce to account."
He kept his vow . Dming the next three weeks he killed
the other fou rteen who had wen in the lynching mob hy
bullets Crom ambush, by crc~ping up and plw,ging his knHc
17
 into their unguarded backs, by garroting them when they
were askt: p u, their tents.
Within o month he had made uJoaquio Murielta" the
most ten ifymg nrunc in California nonh or S:lcrnincn to.
After avenging h~ brother's murder. be stoic two horses
and beaded towa rds Oroville with Ro:.ita. One evening
• ..T ake the l ey from the drh~r ·s pocket and unlock the
"hen they had made camp, several Mexican horse rustlers
descended upon them, led by Manuel Garcin, nlins "'fhrce-
Fingcred Jack." Others in the band were Oaudio Cabron,
Luis Vulvia. Pc<lro Gonzales and. by an incn:dible coin-
c1dcncc, Rosita•s younger brother, Re)C'.> Feliz, v.bo had
fled from Sonora nfter f aLllUy shooting the ,on of another
rancher in a quarrel over a girl.
Three-Fin gered Jock had intended to steal lhc two
horses. When be learned Murictta's id4;ntiry however, he
not only changed his mind but invited lhc now-notor ious
killer to join bis band. As for R osJta, she and her brother
were both overjoyed at thcit reunion, and ,he cxpre!>sed a
\\-i!.h to remain with the ban~ ma~quera ding as B man. And
so, both of them joined it.
Murieua was willing, at first, to serve o.s Hcuten~nt ~
Three-Fin gered J ack. The band did consaderable rustlmg an
,he Marysvtlle -Oroville- Parad1se areas. roundin~ up as
many a.s two or three hundred head, which they drove into
Mcx..ico nnd sold.
~urictto soon demonstra ted his leodel'!alup. H e point-
ed out to Tbrce-Fmgcred Jack that while rustling on a
large scale was admittedl y profit.uble. it not only was
time-<:onsuming but also iru.ignifico.nt compurcd to the
numerous opportunities to rob miners a.nd hold up
staeecoach cs.
By way of illustrotio n Muricua. with Thrc~-Finge~c~
Jn.ck acting more as interebtcd -.pec.u1to r than acu..-c p:rrl!c•-
pant. held up a San F;ancisco-bou~d Concord a few miles
south of Parachse on the Fe.ither River.
As the driver. George Crort. slowed his horses 10 a_wnlk
for a steep hill-, Murietta emerged from behind .i prle of
towering rocks. He halted the driver with two reyolvcrs and
a command :
..Throw down the strongbox!,..
Croft obeyed. When lhe heavy, ironbound box h it the
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ground, Murictta cold-bloo dedly shot him bttw~ n the
cye5, and he toppled from his seal.
Murictta o rdered the passengers o ut of the coach. T here
were lhrec of them, all returning mmers.
He ~sturcd to ooe of them wnh o revolver.
box."
The b urly, bearded miner shook h is head .
"He nin't got ic. A ccording to comp'oy rules he don't
carry a key.••
"Quel dolorl -it is sad, 0 Murieu a munnured nnd shot
the mine r dead.
The second one turned and ran. He took perhaps a
dozen steps before a bullet blew tbe bad oC bis head to
pieces. . . .
'The third fell d own on his knees and pleaded for h as hfe.
Murietta coolly put the muzzle o f n revoh·er to his ear and
pilled the trigger.
TilC c:i.sunlness of these ro ur murders mode a profound
lmpreuion o n Three-Fmgered J ack. He himself had a
reputatio n as a sadistic killer. H e was kno"11 to ambush
lone prospecto rs, to cut the throats of Chinese laborers
and to shoot horse wranglers out of the snddle before mak-
ing off with the animals they guarded. In M urie u a,
however. he recognized a m3Sler and it wasn' t long af-
terwarcl tha t they switched roles. Murietta becoming the
leader. .
The Feather River M assacre no t only marked the tum-
tng point in Murietta·s career but set the pattern of his
future activities. When he shot the lock off the strongbox
•ts
and opened it. he saw some :!50 pounds of gold nug-
approxima tely $140.000 . wonb at today's value ..
This, they agreed, w as much too heavy to. c:.if'!Y. Wllh
them on lhc long ride back to camp. Tb~y buneJ It in the
1trongbox on the riverbank and too_k with them only the
pokes in which the passenger s earned gold d ust. Th rec-
Fmgercd Jack also remo ved a massi~e gold wacch nnd
chain from the body of the bearded mmer.
In the numerous stagecoac h robberies perpetrate d by
Murietta and his band thereafter , they cached gold plunder
near the scenes of the crimes, principally in Calaver ns and
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 .:,rt.i•sta t. oun lles . It is esti mat ed that
they bur ied betw een
t\\n and tv. o-an d-a- ha lf na il11o n doll toov n in the fcx"lthiJls of the Con--ta l R a
ars wo rth wf gol<l nce Hi" l1'>a-;t th.it
And Jtl o f thes e tro1wcs v. c re larg e ~ Lhcy he cou lJ r.1i-1c his own "am w.. of at lc:i,
hea vy ar d hulk y to curr y con ven ient ly a,1.J wer e JU'>l too a mo nth ,f he so ""ish ed w ~ basc<l o n fact
t ~~.00 0 me n with in
y in s,,J J lcba ~. .
l he loot of the carl td>l hold ups was Mu rn.·11,1 diJ no t pers ona lly part icip ate in
buri ed in the thi'.'
stro n _boAcs, but then Mu ricl la had to
1..ha n \!c his trll..lhods of inll h iJua l rubb crie s and !>COf\~s tif stag ecoa hun dred s
tO rr;c t the cha nge s the s tage coa ch ronb cr,~4>
ch opc rato ~ n::~nrtc<l to in attr ibut ed to him . lt wou ld hav e bee n im
thei r effo rts to thw..irt him . possible for hnn to
hav e bcl!n in so man y plac es at one time
One o f thct r inno vati ons was to bolt the . M any or th1:1;e
stro n2bo'< to the rob~rtr.:'- wer e the wor k o( se)tmc nts
of his ban d kJ by
floo r or Lhc coa ch. To ,;olv e that pro blem , Ouu d io Ca~ ron or Lui s Vul via: PcdJ'o
M unc tta carried Gon za les o r Re~cs
flou r sack s in hi e; !>adulcbags. Gol d was rcm Feliz..
o,c d from the
bolle d -d o wn stro ngb oxe s, tran sfer red Mu nc tta's spies in man y min ing c~m ps
to the !lou r ~acks and se ttlem ents
am.l buric<l in them . B y now the~ sac kep t him info m1cd o f la r ge gold ship men
ks hav e rott ed to ts and he held up
p11.:,ccs. the s lagc cnac hcs tha t he kne w would be
transpo rtin g thr m.
1 hei r o ther atte mpt to fru stra te him was On thes e fo rays he usua lly was acco mpa
tn hav e Lhe nied by 1 hrce -
repr e!-e ntat ive of the stag eco ach com
pan y wei gh the gold Fingercd Jac k and four or five of h,s men .
.m and1vid ua l min e r inte nded ship ping and then Am o ng the ma ny stag eco ach robbc~ri
cs he perp etra ted
h~u..: rece ipt, . All of the gold was thon mch lO ha, e him ancl gold plu mkr he buried. princ ipally in
185 1- I 851 . the
c J tu~c ther, follo wi n!! a rc the best a u then tica ted . As
usu;1lly in the form of a ball . "hi ch far as can be asc..:r-
sometimes '-' t:ihh ed as
muc h a~ six or seve n hun d n.:d pou nds tain ccl, nl~nc of the cach es has e, e r hecn
. B et,, ~1en Sus anville and Free don ye r P ass.
dug up:
I n theo ry 1hii, was muc h loo heavy for nea r the pre ~
mtn to stea l from a stag.cco ach , but Mu ru.Mu ric.: ua and ~is ent Ro ute 36: :ibo u t $20 0.00 0.
· ua \H\S a r call!)t, Bctw~cn B urne y and H a tche t Mo uatJ
not a theo rist. By 1he autu rP n of 185 in Pass , not far
1 bo th he ,1rd 11'r..:c-
J- ml!c rcd Jack c arri ed axes on lhci r hold up from the pre-~cnt U.S. 299 : abo ut S 175 .000
trip~. If \he &old .
v..a<;.~ bcin e tran '-po rtcd in a sing le b~lll Bet' -' Cl.!O Oro ville and Chico. ad1
, 1h1.y v.1..rc ..i.blc to acen t to the pres ent
bre ak it ~,to 1.argc, por tabl e chunks. U.S .9llE $85 .000., $12 5.00 0 .. $80 .000 .. $175.00 0.
In the 1900 s bl leas t fo ur or thes e man Bct\ \ ccn C hico and Pa radi se o n the
-m ade "nugizclS " bun ks of the Big
wer e d ug up in va riou s areas of C.il, But te Rhc r. S35 .000 ., $90 ,00U ., S~.50,00 J
1vc ras ~<.I Shasla 0.
Cou ntie s. The la rg.cs t, fo u nd nea r Haz The Dow nicv ille area nea r the pres
D a n Lam ar. a ranc h han d "ho was digg
el Cre ek m 191 9 by
$1 25.LlO . S75.00 0.
ent R o ute 4-9 : l
ing pll\l hole!) fo r
fenc ing. wei ghe d app rox ima tely !.I IXty
pou nds .
ln ad<.1111 0 0 it is esti mat ed that he buri
$50 0.00 0. a nd o ne million doll ars in a num ed betw een
I
By late IR5 I M u ricu a's ban d num ~rc
d mo~ e than ber of cach es ~
seve nty men . ~ any of them wer e Mex in Sa n O ,eco Cou nty in ord er to h.ive a
ican hanc.Jits and fo rtun e clos er LO the
M c~ic an bon lcr, if he h ad to leav e Cal
rust lers who had e1th cr bee n lone bad
d ri fted no rt hwa rd deli bera tel y to join him
the m wer e na livc Am ericans, both
men h.:f orr.: or h~tl
. Somt:. Jn\u ng
o utla ws anJ f t'lnn cr
no t auth t: ntic aced. from tin1e to time in
bun te, ha!> Jug up a hoa rd.
ifornia. ~ 'bile lhlS IS

Edw :irJ Aro now , a vac atio ning El Pas o

that ar~ a trea sure I
min e rs who had dec ided that taki ng go college student,
ld fr~m oihe rs was foun d $53 .000. in gold nug gets m the Car
ea., 1e r than tryi ng to find it in ~he gro und rizo Hilb ~rea c1f
~ r m <,trL-',"1~· . San Dicg'-' Cou nty in the sum mer of
All of them we re ruth less kille rs. han dp,c l
ta ror rcd Jessncss, loy alty anc.J exp enncss
kc<l by .1un et- wcre in three cach es grou ped close toge946 . The nug get"
ther . Appa r~nd y
'-' Ith f!Un nnu they had bee n bur i~d in sacks whi ch had
k1t1fe . lie lurn cd aw:iy hun Jrc.ds who. mad e rott ed com pk tcly
cab in l,e ha<l buil t for Ros ita an<l ham!
thei r\\ ,I)' to 1he in the cro um.1 .
>CI[ an Arroyo Can - l t is -bdicvc J that man y sim ilar Mur .
20 ieLU1 hoa rds rcm :un
21
 Sha5ta Counties. It is estimated that they buried between
' '"o and 1wo-.rnJ -a-hulf million dolla rs wo rth of gold .
An<l ull of these troves were large; they '-' ere juM too
heavy ard bulty to c~ rry c~mvc11icntly awuy m s;-,Jdlcbags.
1 he loot of the carhcl>l holdups was huricd m the
stron ,boJtes. but then Mu ric tta had to chan t?e his methods
to rrcct lhc changes the slngecoach opcr alvrs resorted to io
their efforts 10 thwart him.
One o f the ir innovations was to bolt the strongbvx to the
floor of the coach. To solve thn t problem, Murictta carried
ffour sucks in his sad<llebal.!s. Gold was rcmo..,cd from the
bolted -down stron1Zboxcs, -,ransforrcd to the nour sacks
and buried in them. By now these sacks ha\. C ro tted lO
p1c.ccs.
Thei r o ther atternpc to fru strate him \I. as to have the
representative o f the stagecoach com pany weigh the: g~ld
;,n individual mine r intended shipping and then m have h im
i~ue rccc,prs. A ll of the gold was then melted together,
usm1lly in the form of 3 ball, which sometimes wci_f.hed as
much a~ six or seven hum.I red pounds.
ln theory this was much too he.1vy for Murictta and his
ml"n 10 steal frt'lm a sta l?~coach, but Murlettn was a rea list,
not a lhcorist. By the :,~ 1u:1,n of 1851 bolh he aml 1 hr.!e-
Fingcrcd Jack ca rried ;ues on th~ir holdup trips. H the gold
was being tran,;ported in a sin g.le ball. they \\ere ubl~ to
break it into large, portable chunks.
I n the J9()(k ~tl least four of these man-made "nuggeis''
were dug up in vario us areas o{ Calj vc ras ~nJ 5haMa
Counties. The largest, fuund near Hazel Cr\!~k m 1919 by
Dan Lamar. a ra;ch hand ~ho was digging ~ L hole~ for
ft.ncing, weighed approx imaccly six ty pounds.
By late 185 1 Muricua 's band numbered more than
seventy men. Many of them were Mexican bandits nn<l
ni ,;tlcrs w hn had eithe r been lo ne badmen bdorc or had
drifted northw~•r<l delibe rately to join him. Sumc ami..mg
1hcm we re na1jvc Amcnca.ns, both o utlaw~ a11J former
miners who had c.kdde<l that ta~ing gold from o thers wus
easier than trying to fi nd h in the ground ~r in l)trt:am'i..
All of them were ruthless killers. h andpicked by l\.1unct-
ta fo r rcd.Je!>snc-;s, lo)alry and ex pertness wich gun and
knife. lie turned oway hun<lre<ls who made their \ \ ,l) h> the
Cilbin he had buUt fo r Rosita and him~el{ in Arro) o Can-
20
toova in the footh ills or the C oasta l Range. H is bon-;1 tha t
he coulJ r,1bc his O\\.l l " army" c)f at k ~•~t 2,000 ml!n with in
a month if he so \\ ished was b::iscu o n fact.
Mu nctta did 0 0 1 perso nally par1 ic1patc in the hundrcJs
of indi\'idual rob~ries anti scort:s of srngccnach r,'lhlx n~s
attri buteJ LC1 him. 1t would have been im i:x)ssible for him co
hnve bcl!n in so many pl:1ccs at one time. Ma.ny o f the~
robbcric~ \.\ Crc the wo rk of segments of his band lcJ by
O aULfoJ C.1bron or Luis Vulvia., Pl!<lro Gonzales o r Reyes
Feliz.
M unctt a's s pies in many mining cnmps and settlements
kept him informed of large gold shi pments and he held up
the s tagecoach\.'S tha t be kn ew wo uld be transpo rting them.
On lhese forays he usuaUy was accompanied by Thrce-
Fin.a ercd Jack and four o r five of his meo.
Am()ng lhc many stagecoach robbe ries he perpetrated
and gold plum.lcr he buried , principally in I 85 1-1852. the
following nre the best authenticated . As far as ca n be ascer-
tained , ,;oneof the caches has eve r been dug up:
Betv..·een Susanville and Freedonyer Pass, near the pres-
ent Route 36: about $200.000.
Betwern Burney and Hatc het Mountain Pass, no t fa r
from lhe present U.S. 299: about $ 17 5,000.
Bcrwc~n Oroville and Chico. adjacent to the present
U.S.99E: $85 ,000 .. $ 125 .000 .. $80.000., SJ 75.000.
Between C hico and Paradise on the banks of tbe .Big
Bunc River: $35,000., $90 ,000.. $250,000.
The Downieville area near the present R oute 49:
$1 25.00 . 575.000.
fn aduition it is estimated that he buried betwl!cn
$500.000. and one million dollars in a number of caches
in San Diego County in orde r co have a fortune closer 10 the
Mexican border. if he had 10 leave C alifo rnia . While this is
not authenucatcd, fro m time to time in that area a treasure
hunter has dug up a board.
E<lward A ronow, a vacatio ning El P aso college student,
found $53,000. in gold nuggets in the Carrizo Hills ,irea of
San Diego County in the summer of 1946. T he nuggets
were in three caches gro uped close toge the r. Appa rently
they had been buried in sacks whkh had ro tted comple tely
in the ground.
f t is bd icvcd th at many similar Murietta hoards remain
21
 to be fo und in the _Carrizo H iJls and in the vicinity of Lhe
~an Luis Rey M1~s1on, a favnnlc s,lc Cor trcallurc hunters.
La,~men, s hcrlffs posses .ind vigilante cornrnilll!CS were
gunning for Murieua in incrcasin 2 numhc r,. follo\\ ing
seven brutal murders he committed in l~s than two wc..-eks
in :-~o ... t:mbcr, 1851, the price on his hea<l-<leatl or
al ive-was r ai!,~d 10 $5,000.
Several tried to win it in shoot-outs when they chanced
to encounter the bandit leader. On one occasion five
, igilantcs headed by a miner caught up wiLh Murictta o n
the road near Oownievillc. The mine r, BoLhwell, fired first
with a !.hotgun and m issed. Then M uriena's ITTJns began
bla1ing, and he killed c1II five. - dcs1ina11on in the SaHnas Vallcv.
On another OC4:asion, followi ng a st.ageco:1ch holdup
nea r Ha ngto'-'rn , he sho t it o ut with three pos..c;cmcn and
gunned down all of them.
Shor tJy after that he o ut-gunned a deputy sheriff, Be n
WilSfln, repu ted Lo be fast on the draw.
Murictta and his band were proving to be too formidable
for eithe r a pos.se or a vigilante commince. Major Gener:il
Joshua H. Bcun, command ine the mil itia of Califumia
which had lx."'C n admitted to ;ta tchood two years before
W-JS assigned the task of raising a spcdal compJny to track
down and exterminate them.
Beaa ra ised his company and hunted for r..turictta. He
did no t fi nd him . W hen M urie tta learned that Bean was t.n-
campcd with some o f his sold iers not far from the San
Gabriel Mission, he waited for his opportunity.
fl came two evenings later. The general was ri1 ling alone
near camp. Mu rictta jumped up on the horse from the rear,
stabbed Bean in the back, dragged him from the ~ddlc and
cul the dying man's throat.
A lthough several members of his band were caught or
killed in the months thereafter, among them Roi.ita's
brother Reyes, who was captured and spccJ1ly ha nged,
Murietta contin ued h is mvn murderous caree r unc.h~d .cd.
In May, J853, foced wilh the State Militia's lo ng-
demonstrated inabHity lo cope with him. Governo r John
BigJer tried something else. TbL-i time he appoin te<l as :1
captain a lean. gun-slinging e"X-cowpuncher , Hurry l ove.
And he gnvc Love lhc authority to recruit twenty mo re lile
himself to form into a ranger com pany.
22
With in a month Captain Lo,rc o rgnnizcd his rangCTs. He
d iscoH·red th ..it Mur iem.1 and his entire band were at the
Arroyo Can toova hideout. T hey had gathe red more lhnn
1300 :\Colen horses which Cnbron. Vulvia and Gonzales
were to take to M-.:xico with a score of the men us herders.
Captain Love was a co urngi:ous mun but ool a foolish
one. l ns iead or trying to slug it o ut with Lhe entire oond. he
decided co wait until some of them depuned on the horse
drive.
On J uly 17, 1853. no t one but two Jarge parties of the
bancJi1s left Arroyo Can toova .. One headed towa rds Mexko
with 1he stole n horses; the o ther made for an unknown
Captain Love made a cautious reconnaissance an<l
found th.it only M urieu a. Thre~-Fingcred Jack and six
others remained in cam p.
The rangers at1.n.cked sho rt ly after the next dawn. Four
o f the band were astir and were promptly gunned down.
The two ()!her henchme n were shot to death before they
wu"· wc.:11 awake.
Sudc.lenlv Murictta and Three-Fin1rered Jack dashed out
of the cabin. Neither was armed. They jumped on unsad-
dled ho rses. taking off a t a gallop in opposite directions.
bullets whistling around them.
It looked as if lhey would both escape. Then Captain
Love, who "as leading lhe chase af Lcr Muriena. brought
down Muriecta·s ho rse with a bullet in the leg. The band it
c hief leape<l from the back of h is horse as it fell . He began
to run, but he was hit by a hail of bullets that toppled him
OVt!r. Hi: Jicd minutes later.
T he three rangers chasing Three-Fi ngered J ack caught
up with him. He pJunged from his horse, his body rid dled
wilh slugs.
C'aprn in Love grimly surveyed the corps<,-s.
"Damned i( we'U carry them all the way to Sacramen-
to ."
He cut off M urieua·s head nnd tlle hand of Three-
Fingered Jack-the one which hnll two digits missing :ind
was responsible for his alias.
He dropped the m rn
a sack which be tied to his saddle.
In Sacrame nto he showed the grisly relics to Governltr
Bigler and the State Legisln1urc as proo( thaL the b~mdit
13
 reader and his chief lieutenant were actually deod.
Caplain Love received a S2 . 000. bon~ for his scnicc in
ridding the state of California of Joaquin Muriella, mosL
terrifying of all western bandetti.
How it came about remains a mystery, but both ilic he.id
of the band.it chief and the hand or Thrce-Fingc.rcd Jack
later fell into the posscs51on ol a traveling showman, an
crslwhilc saloonkc.teper named King. He was followed by
other individuals who t.."<hibited the relics for yea~ therem-
ter, before these items 6.na.lly disappeared.
As for Murieua's hoards of gol~ most of them are still
undoubtedly rntnct where he buried them dunng h.is ram-
page of murder and robbery.
He was inclined to be botb hurried and careless nbout
where be secreted his l(i)()t In fact, some veteran Lreasure
h\Jntcrs say that if you close your eyes and sud. a pin al-
most anywhere in a map o[ C ~lavcras or Shasta County. il
couJd be a lucky place to start bunting.
24
APTER 2
Pall)' CannCJJ1's Murd~r Tavu"
was a curious liule real estate article indeed that ap-
'· in the September 17, 1967, issue of The New Yurk
~s under a Reliance, Maryland. dateline:
"The two-~tory house built here about 1890 on a site
where Patty Cannon, n woman tavernkceper. is said to
have kidnapped and murdered slaves in the early nine,.
tcenlh century wus sold at auction loday for $6,000.
..Legends of the notorious tavcrnkccpcr arc still
whispered under the silver swamp maples of small
Eastern Shore communities. and the two-acre site on the
main road between Federalsburg, Md., and Seaford,
Del., has been a tourist attraction for generations . . :•
On a June evening in 1819 a prospcroU!; Rappahannoc}4
uginia, pJ:inter. Edwin Ravena!, arrived nt Cannon's
em~ a cwo-story inn beside the crossroads near the
tkoke River. In his saddlebags was a sack o( coins,
SI 0.000. worth or eagles,. shining ten-dallac gold
Ravena] had hc:ird thac the owner of the inn. a buxomi
le-eyed gypsy who had come from C3Jlada ro settle on
Eastern Shore, dealt in slaves at bargain prices as well
purvcyil'g food. liquor and loosing. He was in the
ket for a number of sturdy NegJ'C>Cs to work on his ex-
ing plantatio11.
RavenaJ'S- horse was stab~ by PMty Cannon's husband~
~..,·1.o a morose, lantern-jawed individual, who did tbe
res.
The b artender. Joe Johnson, was Patty's son-in-law, and
mUICUlar, scheming young thug.
25
 with his pen.onal possessions and his horse."
Both were completely domin:tted by Potty. who not onl It wns the first of numerous similar reports I.luring lhe
was attro~thc in face and figure but. :ic:cordmg to old fog:-a~t decade. for Patty Cannon, her husband Jesse and her
records unearthed by Lhe Times correspon<.knt in Dor- -in-law. functioned as an efficient murder team.
chester and S ~ Counties. was also a female or enor- Slave dealers. planters llnd other prospectjvc buyers of
mous strength and murderous disposition \\ho "could hfl lier human merchandise who visited the mol.Hed tavern
300.pound sacks or grain with ease." were all killed in the same way. and in the couNC of lhe
..Negroes escaping from the South often came lhro ug ,l,llowing ten years more than Lhiny-five bodies were round
Dorchester County, nnd it wns said thot Pany Cannon cup- on the Delaware side of the state line.
tured them by lhrO\ving them to the ground. She- Lied them Patty Connon buried the loot, most of it in gold coin,
with ropes sh~ kept hidden under her voluminous skirts which she took front the bodies of the victims and frorn
and 1ben shnckJed her victim~ m the attic keep. their saddlebags. Jes-se sold their horses, ui,uaUy wailing
" ... There -were five firepl aces in the t-nvcm into whicb 1lllti1 be coUected a small string. Then he would trovel
the woman. according to legend, used lO throw Negro cbil- th co Richmond or Petenburg,. where he wns known as
drcn \\ ho annoyed her wirb their crymg:· itinerant horse dealer!
To Joe Jo hnson Rn"enal stared the purpose o f his vi~it. The operation had been progressing smoothly (or a num-
H e wns told that only Johnson's mother-m- taw set n price of yean nnd, according to various esumates, Patty
upon the ~laves, and that she had gone to town for the day non had buried between $75,000. and $ I 00,000. in
but was e~pccted buck sJ1ortly. In th-c meanwhile, Jo hn,on rat caches on the grounds. when someU1ing totally
suggested. perhaps the visitor would like Lo rry some ex- peered happened. Sbe fell in Jove at first sight with a
ccllent Wesl [ndieS rum recently arriv¢d in Norfolk. pective victim.
The traveler made himsdf comfortable nt n 1..,btc and His name was Hanis; be was a strapping black-haired
bnd n tot o f rum. Later. Johnson brough t him n second ve dealer from somewhere down tho Nanticoke; and be
drink. and later still another. many years her junior.
Al this point Johnson mtn lioned that he had an errnnd TilC usual preparations bad been made for a quick
to do outside which would take but u few minute'-. Lem mg · • and Jesse had bitched the horse lo I.he death cart.
the unsuspecting Ravcnal alone in the tavern, JohnSt,n en Joe Johnson joined her in the darkness outSidt: of the
went out to meet Patty Cannon who was lurl.:ing m the cm, however, she suddenly decided not to give him the
d ar1'ncss with a musket. In 1he ne:trby stoblt her husband mkcL
was hnmes!ilng a horse to o can. ..No, she said. "He has come to buy slaves, and slaves I
0

Patty hn1,dcd the musket to Johnson . He crept silently 10 • sell lo hir:n.''

the open \\ indow, rested the muule on the ledge und ux1k Joe stared nt bu in 11urprise...Sell? We will trade his
careful aim at his victam'i back The musket roared, and B for a bulJet, as we always do.''
heavy slug rore n good~slzcd hole lhrough Ravenal's body. Without another word Pa.tty Cannon walked into the
killing. him almost uutumly. . She could be hospitable and charming when it s uited
Patty Cannon and her son-in-law went inside lht cavern purpose, and it was evident that Harris suited her pur-
a.nd carried out the corpse. which they dumped into the
waiting con. Hi:r husband then drove the cnrt acros!t the They made a deal. She agreed to sell him eight strong
Delaware line and push~d the body out into the road1-Wc vcs for a total price of $7,600. He paid S3,800. fot four
scrub. where it was fo und late the next day. ky Negroes be seJected there and then. and be left,
According to the officio.1 report or the ~lnwnre oull1~1ri- ina with them to the Nanticoke where be bad moored
ti~ "the deceased Edwin Ra"cnaJ or Rappahannock. ..akiff.
Virginia, wn-. [ouJJy murdered by b.igbwaym~o who ru3dc 27
26

f·our were as many as he coulJ ha nd le whe n tra\'cling
thr", u~h lhc J,trl.. ness. He p lanned to c hain them in the
c:?l,i n or his sJ..1rf a.n<l return the ncxl cv\:n ing for Lh\! re-
m ainin~ four.
T hat nil!IH J esse was absent from the tavern . nor was he
around on· th~ following day. This ca usc <l Pally Cannon 0 1..1
concern. for she paid little alh!ntion to the comings ;rnd
goings pf he r husband. Bc!->idc. she had someo ne else on her
m inJ - 1 tarris She ,vas k)\).,. inl! fof\\ a rd to his arrival that
e,•l!ning and pro b :1hly had Stlme in teresting ideas abuut
how to entertain him.
Harris fo iled to show up. L ate that night a ride r d is-
mountcd at the stable.
Patty C'annon sent J oe J (>hnson o ut to fin<l out ,, ho it
was. nnd he returned wilh d isq ui"Cting news.
~- 1(s Jesse. He h:1d a pistol in his irnddk, and 1 saw him
hide a 11,,kl sud in the manccr. 'Pears to me he folh.) wc:d af-
ter Harris la:.t night a nd <lune him in befo re he reac hed the
N antkuk c. ·•
Pa ttv c~nmm a nl!rilv confronted her husband . H e ad-
mittct.t' ~ illin!! H,irris. ~ind he surn:ndcrcd the sack.. ~ hicb
comain~d S5.)00. in gold .
On the next mo rn ing Pouy Cannon a ppeared to be in a
forgh ing m<.xl\l. She cooked he r husb.md a tu:arty b rcaJ.:•
f~l.
"Tis dnnc ," she said. "After all. we have his money,
anJ the re is nu cause for us to qu.trrc L"
Jc~sc sat dllwn and bel!an to c:it his t-irc;1kfas t. 1le was in
Che m idst of it when he - sudJc:nly stopped anJ fell to the
ll0<.1r. H«: thr~shl!ll aoout in vio lem convulsio ns a nd dkJ
soon afterwa rd .
" You poisone<l him!' ' he r sh.ock~d son-in-la w exc la imed.
" Make ccrwin tha t your to ngue docs not wag k-sl the
same thing happl'n to you, " Patty Cunnon wa m ccJ him .
But she anJ Joe J ohnson hud o verlooked someLhing w.ry
important- thc four slaves. Her late husband had ~en so
intent o n killing and ro bbing H.1rri.s tha t he had carck~ly
pcrmittcJ th~m to escape.
Ddawurc officers found them wandering on 1hc
Fcdcralshur.g-Sc~ford road. shad.led together in pai r> Ar-
lc r some questioning the lawmen kamcd th:ll thcs~· k,ur
28
d bee n among a number kept c ha ined in the au ic of the
al'oon wvcm They to ld him aho Lha l they had been
ueht bv a sL.1\e dealer who had been o\'erlaken o n th e
igh-way and shot to d eath by a man named J e~se who fed
cm dailv in the a tUc.
I Pall\ C.mnon and her son-in-law were gett ing ready to
J es<:c. 's body o ut to Lhc death earl when the officers
rrivcd :i t ll1e tavern.
I According co Pa tty Cnnno n's glib to ngue, he r h usoand
had acc1de1, Lally eate n some rat poisoning with lamentable
bits. \Vith the hi!lp of he r son-in-law s he was preparing
:to give poor J eSse .. a proper Christian burial." She den ied
a t H arris hau visited tlic tavern, denied ha, ing ever mUI-
red any p,11ron . denied tha t the re we re any s laves
ha ined in the a ttic.
The~ didn't believe he r and pre pared to search the au ic.
At this fl\)int J oe J ohnson broke down. H e tu rned on h is
other-in-law and accused her both o f numerous slave kid-
ppings und of m urde r after murder, ending with the
isonmg of her own husband
Whe n the o fficers opened the trapdoor leading to the at-
. ·c they found seven Negroes: five men and two wome n~
nfi ned by leg iro ns, wrist cuffs and cbai m. under the low,
o ping roof. All of them were terrified, a nd it was some
e before they could be persuaded to te ll the ir stories all
f which were sim ilar.
They, as well as others who preceded them. had escaped
om plantauons in the Caro linas a nd we re fleeing north-
•ard when seized and imprisoned by the "powerfully
onf' Pally C annon a nd Joe Johnson. O f the two
orten, one had been captured with her young child; the
ther httd had 1wo of her children with her .
The th ree youngsters had been taken away fro m the m .
ter, sifting through the piles of ashes re maining in the
vern·s five huge fire places, the officers fo und Lhc
ckened skulls and c harred bones o( se veral small cbil-
n.
Patty Cannon and her son-in-law were taken to Geor ge-
, Del awar e. jailed a nd c ha rged with lidnapping a nd
urder. Shi! eviden tly had hidde n on he r person the snme
· o f lethal pol.ion s he bad adminhtered to J esse, for in
29
 I

April. t 829, shonl)' before she wns to be brought to trial,

s he committed s uicide by poisoning. As for Joe John.~~
h e was hanl!\!d .
For many years thereafter the ''murder inn" was nvoided
by the more timo rous residents of the surroundlna area. CHAPTER 3
There were ghostly legends nbout lhc ..bo.untS" of Patty
Ca nno n. Jesse und Joe Jo hnson retumin g nightly to lho
scene of their many homicidc:s. of the spcctml scrcn.ms at St~inht!'imer's "Brass Spikev
Negro child ren lllld the crcnking wheels o f the dcnth cart. M,1/imu
The inn was to m down WJd replaced by another structure
in 1890.
Years late r. a each~ of $3.200. in go ld eagles, minted ill What is the va.lue of ten mule-loads of pure gold ingots
1804 . was unearthed in the area by a fnrmer named IOday?
Driscoll. A second cache of $4.45 5. was dug up by a N:m• _Whoever fi n.d) the old live oak tree marked by a brass
ticokc fisherman. Ned WintcT. In addition to gold eae.les of sptke n few miles south of the town or Temple in central
Lhe snmc d n~c, it included several 1808 quarter eagles. Texas prob:i?l¥ will be able to give the answer and will
As o ften tS the case. the numismatic value o f th~ old become a milbonaire as well.
coins has increased 10 far n1or-c thnn their o riginal worth. The treasure has remained undisturbed since 1842,
Today. for cxam('>ICy an 1804 gold eagle is. quoted nt $27 5. when an ndventurous German, KarJ Steinheimer, buried it
by coin dealers and the rarer 1808 quartca: e.t!!lC al S t .050. ~ the base of a live. oak where the I.ton nnd Lampasas
Storekeeper Smith owned the b uilding and cbc s urround- nvcn merge to become the Little River, nea.r what is now
ing two-acre site until bis death in May. 1967. His U.S. 81..
d aughter-in-faw, Mrs. Harold Smith. of Aberdeen, Mary- Born m Speyer, Gennanyt in 1793, Sreinheimer was a
land. purchased ll)e property for $6,000. :11 an auction held ltUrdy, intelligent Joungster whh tiltle liking either (or
the follo wing September. achoo! or for his father's prosperous farm. About the only
H o w many caches did the. murderous Pauy Cannon b ury thing he did care aboul in Speyer was a blue-eyed blonde
in the ground within tho two-acre site and in the nrctJ just schoolmate, Irma Schmidt, who lived with her parents on a
beyond the boundaries of the pro perty? It is impossible to DCarby farm .
say, of course. A nd , ahhough the total face value or her At the age of eleven, Steinheimer decided to nm away
hoards has been estimated as high as SI 00.000. (onJy from home and ~me a cabin boy. Before he .went to sea,
$ 71655. of which bas been thus far unenrthed), the actual be cxacae.d a promLSe from lnna to marry him when be
numismatic wonb of the mrc gold coins if and when they FW up and made his fortune.
a.re found, wiU be far far more. 1n the course of the next several years he voyaged to
Afric4, the U ni~ d States, Mexico and many other ~ un-
triea around the globe. He became a sea captain. He
learned to speak ten languages fluently. Bot he did not
make a fonune.
From t,ime to time between V0}'1'ges Steinheimer would
ntum to Speyer and see Jnna.
"One of these times when I come back rn be wonh a lot
of money." he kept promising. •·Then we shall be married!'
On ooe of his voyages across the Atlantic he visited
.30 31
G3lves1on_. Te.~. _where he bec:imc intere~cd in raising
catUe. Thu, he decided, was a much quicker way to make a
fortune lh1ln remaining a sea captain, and he bought a
small ninch.
He was meeting with mode.rate succ.css when be crumced
to e_ncount.er an old acquainta nce of his seafaring da\S
Lows Aury----.slave runner, privateer, suspected smuggi~
and, before Jean Lafitte, the ruler of Gah·eston lslnnd.
Aury offered Steinheim er a proposition. The stave trade
Y.ra~ boomin g. and enormous profits were to be made.
·t 11 bnng lhe blacks l O Galvez-town Islnnd " he ~-
r lnined. You're a busines.smn_n and can get higiicr prices
0
for them than I can. You take care of the selling."
Steinbe,mer agreed. Although Aury was ho t-tempered
and quarrelsom e, they worked as partners for ntmost 6ve
years,. and both of them made fonunes.
One day. the inuvit.able happened. There was O lnocl-
d?'~-o-drng out fight nbout something or olhl.--r, and so they
d1V1dcd thc1r profits and went t heir separate wa} s.
As a youth in Speyer, Stcinhclmer bad oftcu heard th~t
the _mounlains of Mexico were full of gold :utd had read
,tonts abou, the quests of Spanish explorers. In 1817 he
heard reports of fabulously rich strikes in the Sierra Ma-
drcs. He decided to seek gold the.re instead of reruming to
ranching.
Asromshing)y. he found that the reports were true. He
discovered a rich lode, then .a second and a third!
H ~ emr,lo~ed Mexican peons and Ynqui Indians to dig
for rum. and U1 the course of the next ten }Cars Steinheim cr
acquired a greater fonune than be bad ever dreamed of. He
built himself a magnifice.nt hacienda high in the mountains
and ruled hlS hundreds of employees nnd their families as
though he were their Kmg.
There were tjmcs wh~n he thought about his childhood
swcethea n. Jrmn Schmidt. limes when he hnd the urce to
rc-:visil SpcyeT ancJ marry her. But his many activities re-
qum.-d mc,re nnd more of bis nttc.mtioo, nnd he kept pulling
off a journey to his homeland.
1n 1827 be heard thul a Texon named Hayden Edw,1rds,
v.ith a smnJI force. had rc,ol1ed ngninst Mexico and
cstnbliilicd :i new nnd sbiky linle nation, lhe "Republic of
Frcdorua.••
32
~ wu ~ y in need of money, arms and am-
•~~ anc.! •~monal lroops. This inspired Steinheim cr
With an 1magmat1ve and romantic idea. He would offer Ed-
wards a deal. In return for his financial backing and several
•unctred "soldiers" recruited from his own employees, EcJ-
~ would make him king o( Fredonia and Irma would
be has queen. He would place a diamond crown upon her
t;loodc head as a magnificent wedding gifL
Steinhcimer started off to make this dream a reality.
When be reached Monterrey , be learned that the Mexican
Oovemmc nt had crushed the revolt :ind lhnt there no
longer was a •'Republic of Fredonia.t•
Disappoin ted, he returned to his hacienda in the Sierra
Madres. For another decade be continued to work his
mines and to accumulat e more gold.
Sometime in 1837 he finally WTotc to Irma Schmidt and
lllkcd her to come to Mexico. He would meet her in Mon-
terrey and they would be married. It did not occur to
lbe confident Steinbeim er that even though she had not
teen or heard from him in a quarter of a c:entury sbc might
llaYe become tired of waiting aod married someone else.
~ l three months went by, and then Stcinbeim er
ncaved a letter from one of Irma's cousins in Speyer. It in-
bmed him that although lrma was still single. she bad
emigrated to St Louis, Missouri. three years before, where
lbe had purchased a boarding house.
Steinhcimcr was elated and made new pJans. H e had
IIIOre than enough gold to live the rest or bis Jife in ease and
luury. He would journey to St. Louis with his fortune,
ml1')' his childhood sweethear t and settle down in
Miuouri.
He prepared for the trip with lwo trusted aides he had
llalPIC1Yed for a number of years, Roberto Gavin and
1
~IWllrdo Rodriguez. Both were without family ties and
to throw in their lot with him in the United States.
Tbe trio set out for the Rio Grande with a train of fifteen
·•~---- .mules. Ten o{ the animals were heavily loaded with
lftFU. The other five carried supplies. And in addi-
to their own horses, each of the three men had n re-
•Mlllil.
bad traveled as far u Matamoro s where
met a Mexican army officer, Captain Manuel
33
F lores. a sort o f prototype of the modem secret agent.
Flo res had been assigned with eighr men to slip into Texas
and. by bnberv and any o the r means. to u,stigatc lndaan
c hiefta ins to rise- ae.ainst the !.!Overnmeot
Flores ogrecd lo- let Ste"inheimer and bis two =tides join
his own party for protection against hostile Apaches und
ComanchC"s in the hazardous Indian couotrv south o f San
Anwnio. Flo res was evidently an honorable officer who
was dcilicared to his mission. for neither he nor his men .it-
remptcd to steal the treasure. However. whether o r not
Steinheimer told him of the millions in gold be was
tn111sporting nn the ten pack mules is not known.
The trip \\'U!I uneventful as far as the Colorado Kiver. At
Marble Falls. several miles west and a little to the north of
A ustin . they encountered a gang o{ belligerent Texa ns and
a gun fight resulted.
While Captain Aorcs and his men fought with the Tex-
ans. Stcinhcimer. Gavin and Rodriguez prudently "iLh-
<lrew with their packtrain and headed northeastward
through the mesquite.
Fifty miles farther on. they ~ightcd a band of me n in the
distance. Taking no chances, Stcinheimer and Rodriguez
drove the packtrain imo concealment in lhe brush.
Gav(n went ahead to scout, and lhcre was a grim look
on his face when be returned.
'•Comanches_, patron,'' he said. " I counted more than
thirty of them. This is not good.''
''We'll hide rig.ht here until darkness." Steinheimcr
0
decided . Thcn we'll go on until WI! find a spot to hide thl'
ingots. We'll travel Hght anc.J return later with more me n to
pwtccl us fro m hostiles."
At n1g_btfal1 they continued their journey. Bdnre
dayhreak they came to :1 place which Stt"'in hcimcr was
satisficJ would be recognizable when he returned. I k l,11a
described it as a site.: ••where two streams (the Leon a mt the
L amp.tsas) combine into one (the Little River)."
H~re the gnld ingots were buried near the base o f a 1:ill
live o ak . T o identify Lhc tree. Stcinhdmcr hammered into
the trunk , five foct abo,·e the ground. a large br:1ss spike
•·or the type used in the bu1.lding of boalS." How he hJ p-
pened to have a spike or this kind mb~ ~upplics is a minor
34
ys tery. but it rem ains an important clue in pinpointing his
chc.
Shortl y a(LCr sunrise they abandoned the ten pack mules
resumed their journey. now traveling muc h faster th!lJl
fore. As SLeinheimer himself related it:
"\\'c rode. l should jud ge, becween twelve and fourteen
iles further. We came to a number or knobs on a prairie.
m e of them were m3ny feel i.n height. Dismounling and
imblng to lhe top of one I could sec a val.Icy skirted with.
sen:ral miles to the west.' '
They r\!Sumed their journey, and less than a mile furthe r
ey rode into an ambush of Comanches.
G avin and Rodriquez, who were riding in front, were
uickJy slain, literally pincusbioned with arrows. Stcin-
imer's horse was killed beneath him. H e jumped clear
hen the animal went down. and he was struck by an arrow
b ich pcnclfated deeply into bis right shoulder.
''I Lhen picked up m y gun a nd, despite my painful
ound~ rc trcutcd rapidly on foot." he later said. "For some
eason the hostiles did not follow . They scalped my two
panions and emptied the contents of our saddlebags.
"1 made my way back \O the knobs , climbed to the top of
he central one and prepared lo defend mysel f if I were
·n attad,cd. When I observed the hostiles ridin g off in a
uthem direct.ion I came down from U1e knob and walked
rthwa rct:·
Steinheimcr walked all night. He made severa l agoniz.ing
d unsuccessful attempts to remove the a rrow Crom his
ouJder. But the triangular tip had emerged from his back,
d whe n he tried to puU the shaft forward he onJy in-
ased the: tonure.
The next day he kept on walk ing. H e ran out of w:i.te1".
at night he '\lept in the mesquile, the arrowhead still pro-
ing from his back.
On the afternoon of the second day he was found by a
emple rancher , Ben Scoy, who was searching for strays.
Scoy brought him to his r anch a.nd summoned a physi-
a Dr. Drake, who c ut off the a rrowhead and r emoved
shaft. B v this time the wound was feste ring. Dr. Drake
k bis he.td.
cannot sa1,1e him,·• he told Scoy. '' G angrene has set
35
 Steinheimcr djd not o verhear him but s u.spccted the I ll!11a sh owed the m a p t~ Fre und , explained_ha;w she had
wor)'!l. b tained it and offe red hun a hal f punncrsh1r 1f h.:: were
.. Do I have a gamhlcr's c hance?'' he :iskeJ wcn ~ly. acccsstul in d iscovering the cache. 1t was out o f the ques-
1 he plty~1cmn ·s re ply \\ ,IS blunt: ·· Hardly. You 're-; pby- pn ro r a wo mnn to accompany a man o n such n rigo ro us
i11g ;t ~,1inc;1 a sl:ided <leek.·· haza rdous quest.
··nut l"m sLill in the gamt! ..." F rcunu " as a melhodical man, no t one to plunge ahead
Steinhdmer asked Scoy for ,,·riting materia l. He drew a what migh t be a wild goose cha.1e.
map ~ho ~ ing the junction of the 1hrc:e rivers '-""he re he had H e did some inquiring and succeeded in tracing
huric·d his trc.,surc. He inll icatcd that the live o.ilo.. with th~ e inheimcr·s activities as a prosperous slave trader in Tc.x-
brns,; ~pil-.c in it was the l~ne which was approximHtel y .. for- and as a much wealthier gold mine operator in Me:dco.
ty p~1ccs fro m t-he bunk of a sm~ilh.!r stream" whic h might Co nvinced that the map was genuine and that it might be
m~~tn either the L amp.is.is t1r the" Leon . k.ey that would unlock a vast fortune, Fre und set o uc
It is also pe rtinent to mentio n tha t it is n N lo..nown Temple, T exas, with three men .he bad hired . One was a
whether or n(1t the ri,·e rs we re in noc •J at the time he burkd .rme r wa2on train boss' Andrew Tussick. The names of
~
the gold-which might make a iliffc rcnce in the ••forty ot her l \\O are no t known.
paces fro m the bank." In Temple they purchased supplies, including picks and
Then Srcinhcimer wro te a leuer to lrma in St. Louis de- vets. 1 hey then proceeded southward, found the
tailing ,..,hat hud happcnc:<l . He told her that he had been on cture of the three rivers without difficulty, set up a camp
his way to marry her when he was wounded. l-le also to ld by and started to dig.
her to keep his letter secret fo r th.rec months afta she I t wasn' t long be fore ranchers and fanners in the area
rcce1vcJ it. Oy 1ha1 lime, if he were lucky cno u~h to ,e curious. So d id the residents of Temple.
rcco1,cr, he wouJd be wilh her in St. Louis and they would F reund, a t first, tried to conceaJ his objeccjve, but after
be happily marril:d. If no t. he wo uld be dead a nJ buried, veniJ days of digging exploratory holes at the base of a
a nd the entire hoard nf gold would be hers. bcr of live oaks in the vicinity of the three rivers, it
Stcinhcin\cr co nclud(•c..l by writing that ncitbe r Sooy no r came obvious; the secret was out.
1he physid..in 1-.ncw 0f 1hc contents o f the kuer. He had Although equipped with Steinhcimer's own map, Freund
Lo h.I them that Irma Schmid t was the name uf his married_ d not find his treasure; for he could not discover the most
sh,tcr . porlant clue- the brass spike hammered deep into the
He enclosed the map in the letter and asked Scuy to mti il of tl1e old live oak at the approximate heighl of five
it. The ra ncher c.iid . withou t suspecting the contc:-nts. t.
Steinheirner haJ a great c.h:.11 h' live fnr ant.I hc fought No r ha ve more than a century of treasure hunters who
dogged ly . But Dr. Drake bad wa r.n\!c.l him. the ol.iilii wac Ye been searching for the brass spilre ever since.
heavily stacked again st him, a n<l he succumbed to his This doesn't mean, though, chat it isn't still in the tree
Qan r1r c nOli!; wound !.0011 ahc!r-.-. arJs. where Karl Steinbeimer embedded it. By now nature
... The thrl'C mo nths wi:nt by, and Stcinhcimer fo iled to undoubtedly hidden tlle be ad of Lbe spike under the
meet Irma Schmidt in St. Lo uis. V.' hc thcr <-'r no t she wing bark.
rno urncc.1 is an un11nswerablc question. Having no t see n Somewhere near the b ase of thi,; elusive live oak. lie Karl
him in a qunrtcr o( a century. her feelings, more lik.ely , inhcimc r's gold ingots. Ten mule-loads of them .
were no more than nosta lgic.
lrm:i was still a n :lltractivc woma n wilh severa l aging
nd mircrs. On\! of 1hcm w:.is Gustave FrcunJ, a brc\\ nw~r~r
in his mill-fifties.
36 37
 long it would take for the letter to arrive there.
"'With luck shc'U get it in about three months," Brad-
told him. "It depends how it is carried from San Fran-
CHAPTE R 4 • whether all around the Horn or across the Isthmus of
oma."
Thompso n gazed towards the snowy Sierras. "Why c:in't
"Snowshoe'' Tlwmpso, .'r $200,000. send your letter over the mountains to Carson City?
Lt-gacy s onJy about ninety miles or so. nod from there the stage
C.bt."
"No one could get over those mountains in winter.••
YcUowing. in the 'file~ of the U.S. Post Office Departme nt is "I could," said Thomp$0n . "rm going to muke a pair
of
on old petition signed ~Y offio-als o( the sune or Nevodaik k and try t♦
recommcn din!, payment of $6.000. to the incredible Bradwick didn't think he really meant it. but about
a
''Snowshoe" Thompson . who carried the mail over 1t,o#eek later Thompso n had made a pair of skis from tough
Sierras b(!twecn Placerville, California_ and Corson Ciry,* boards and bad carved himself a couple of strong
Ne, ada, for more than twentv vears. poles.
On n homemad e pair of skis: Thompso n made his owa "rm going to take your letter to Carson City," be an-
.
tra:L performing !eats o f superhum an strentnh and courngolDUnccd, as Bradwick eyed the homemad e .skis skeptically
in blizzard, cold and snowdrift. Traveling ninety-one miles KQn those funny-look ing snowshoe s?"
each wny. he packed a hundred pounds o f mnil o n his back '""They're not snowsboe s," said Thompson . "They're skis
in wc:othcr tbaL stopped cverv other bvini thine. b I used back home in Norway/'
His lcpcy, 420 pounds ot gold nug~b. \Hlrth more -:SOOWshocs_!,. Bradwiclc insist.eel. Like most folks in that
than $200.000 . today, remains. where be basttly buried 1t m.-on, he had never seen skis before.
to
the vicinity of Stateline o n the Califomi1 1-~vad.a border. But when he found that Tbomp.oo was determine d
lt \\ 1S in 1837 that ) OUne Thompso n S:tilcd nround theilllke the journey, be gave him an overcoat and a blanket.
R om Crom Tclemark cn. Norway. lO try his hmd :u fanni~l' lle news got around Placerville, and other miners decided
in Illinois. He remained there for eleven }cars. Then b y'd take a chance on sending letters east with the ..crazy
hea rd ubout the d iscovery or gold in California . and .• Sno_ wsboe Thompso n. 0 One paid him with a Jmap-
deoded to sell bis fann and join the rush "\!Stward. m which to carry lb.c mail; another gave him a re-
He traveled to Pl=icerv1llc to rrospcct. Many other ~•di~; the rest g:ive him flour and cured deer meat.
sc-ekers 1trud. it rich, bur luck aJways eluded him. Al-:! Thompson started out at dawn on a freezing day late in
though he wall industrious, brawny and persisLeni... ne didn't . A small group of prospecto rs was on hand to bid
find enough gold to pay for his food and so. when his sov- good-bye, and lhe gamblers among them offered to bet
mgs were gone, he turned to doing oJd jobs in the minio he'd never make it to Carson Oty on his outlandish
camps a.round Suiter Creek. -...,.rs114~~." There were no takers.
Thompc.on was workini in Ploccrville for a successfu But he did make it, and only five days late r he was back
prospecto r named Bill Br:tdwick. when the second wioter Placerville, having gone the last twenty miles of the
set in. dropping nn impassible \\all o( snow bccwcen th..,.... trip in _a heavy SDOW5tonn.
regio n of California and the roads eastward. He bad delivered the mail to Carson City. There it would
One January doy he founJ Brodwick wriring ::1 letter co' put aboard the stage to Sl Louis, then forwarded on.
bis wife b-Jck in Philadelph ia. Thompso n asked his boss • II would arrive several weeks earlier than if sent
38 lbip from San Francisco .
39
 Lucus .~ eald~ the locnl mail contractor, made lbomp!,Ull '"You can't walk on those frozen leg,,;" Thompson
a propo!»auon. He would furnish Tbomp$00 w1tb food and p,inted out, •·and those mules of youn woo'r carry an ex-
other supplies and.. be promlSOd, the government would tra load."
pay him $25.00 moothJy for bi, services, 1( Thompson ..ru ride," said Sisson. "Those nuggets packed on their
\% ould carry the mail regularly between Placerville and backs a.in't going to do me any good if L'm not alhc to
Carson Ci lY. •Jlffld 'em. There's a pic'k and shovel in lhe p:icks. Bury the
'!'ho m~n accepted. He packed a hundred pounds or ~ sacks rig.ht here and we'll ride the cciLters .in Lo Qu-soo
mail on hJS sturdy back and started out for Car~n City City."
again. This time. b.?cnuse of the h~V} lontl of mrul, he ldt ,:tx>mpson was willing to oblige. But when be tried to
the rc"olver, blanket and ov-ercoa, behind, ta.king onlv a dig anto the frozen ground under two Cect of snow, he found
bunting knife and a minimum o( food. • ic aln!ost us bard as stone. He speol houn digging n shallow
He slept on bals::un boughs which he cut with the knife, bole Just large eoougb to coota in the sacks. At Sisson's in-
He warmed rumself a t night by a small fire. He seemed to sistence he covered them with ooJy a few inches of earth,
be impervious ro cold and fatigue, and he .a rrived in Carson jult about enough to hide lbem from sigh,.
Cicy on th~ third d ay. At daybreak he lifted Sisson to the bade of one .o f the
.All through that winter. and through the next nineteen mules and mounted I.he other with bis mail and his skis.
he carried mail back and fonh between Plooerville and Car~ Thus they traveled to Canon City and the house of Dr.
son City, maintaining bis rugged, sell-imposed scbc<lule. Deytoo, who shook: bis be&d fo,r;ebodingly when he had ex-
He lediousl~ climbed the trail be ~self had made lhrough amined Sisson.
U,e mountams and be schus~ sw1flly down the further ..Gangrene in both legs. I'll hove to amputate 'em." The
slopes. He wore o ut several paia of the oaken 211kis, which physician's face clouded. ''Trouble i~ 1 can' t go ahe3d. He
he always made himself. won't suryive without chloroform. And I.here's none to be
During this twenty years of service be saved the live.s of bad in Carson City. Or in Reno e.ithec...
a number of prospectors wbo had go~ tbem..Ciclves. lost in ..Where can I get some. Doc?'' Thompson asked.
1he Sierras, because they had decided that i( Thompson "Sacramenro should bave a 1upp1y. Bur that's over 140
made regular Lrips on bis ..5DOWShoes.'' they could follow miles from here.''
his trail either afoot o r on horseback. .. I'll get it," said Thompson. "Just keep Sisson going till
One or rhese wa.q Jim Sis.w.m~ a fifty-eight-year-old mjner I get back. I'm going ro pie~ up I.he mail, drop it off a t
who had made a strike and was ready to return E.bL. He Ptacerville and (heo go on to Sacramento to get you the
staned from Placerville one February day in 1859, \\ilh chloroform.·•
two pack mules loaded with 420 pounds of. gold nuggets Dr. Ocyton stared at him. "You•re c_razy. No ooc can do
some food and his camp supplies. ' it-especially iD the dead of wmcer."
Somewbc(e in the Hlgb Sierrns. approaching Emcrntd Thompson had already covered ninety-one miles. Now
Bay at the lower end of Lake Tahoe, SitiOO lost the trail. he was planning JO ski another 280 miles-to Sa<:ramentO
During the night both his. legs froze. and back-without resL
He waa in pretty bad shape when Thompeon found him He set out for PlaccrvilJe with his return load of mai~
lhrec days ta1er. Thompson built a rpine branch lean-to for teached tllere two days later, turned the mail sack over to
him and covered h•m \\-;lh blankets.. lAICal Heald and prepared t0 continue his journey.
••You need a doctor pteuy quick~" he told him. ''I'll .. Wbcro are you going?" Heald asked.
rush on to Carson City and get Doc Deyron. we~u corno "Sacramento!"
bock for you with a sled t0morrow:• --You can't dolt. You ~ sleep!"
" Doa't leave me here n.lone-." Sisson pleudcd. Thompson was so determined that Heald had to sum-
40 41

mo n some pmspectors to help him hold the hrawny m~1il-
man forciblv. Alier this lhcv re:.ichu..l a ct.~111p runw,c. I lc.ild
would send o mounted n1ef.sc n •er to Sacramento while
Thompson caught up on h is sleep. When the messenger
re turned . T hompson could ca rry the anesthetic o n to Car-
son City.
Two d ays late r the c hlo roform arrived in Pl acerviJlc.
Thom pson carried it to D r. D eyton. who amputated bmh
o{ hh patient's gangre ned leg.s.
It was a long ti.me be fore Sisson recovered , and when he
did. he st.:nt fo r Tho mpson .
" I owe my life to you; • he said , •'and 1 want to show my
gratitude to yo u. I've a rranged to sell n,y mules. \Vith the
mo ney and the gold dust in my poke, rve got enough to
pay Doc 0 cyton and the stage fore back home to C.hicago,
where I've ~Ol folks to rake care or me. I want to give you
the nugge ts~ you buried back there on the mount:iin where
you found me . I can't go back there to gel them without !"v
two legs, and the go ld wo uldn"t be much use to me e ven if I
did.''
Thompson protested that he did not deserve a reward.
He said tha t Sisson was not the fir~t m a n he hud hrc,ug.ht
doY. n from the mountains nor, probably. the last. He fcll it
w:.is just part of his job.
Sisson insisted. He did not put his bequest down on
pa per. poin ting out there was no need, for T h omp1'>0n wa~
the only man beside himsel f who knew where the 420
pounds 'or gold were buried.
"One th ing more you can do for me ," he said. "You
make those long snows hoes of yours and you bave a knack
fo r carving.. Maybe you can make me a co uple of peg legs
so I can travel E ast."
Tho mpson made Sisson oak legs nnd crutches. Not Ion~
afterwards the crippled prospector boarded an castbo~nd
11 c and Thom~n never saw or heard from him aguin.
stae, , ·~ -
Thom pson ne ve r to uched his gold legacy. As he on~e
confit.11..-<l to Dr. D eyton, it was us s:,fe up o n the mounta in
as it was in the h a nk. Besides he d id n' t need it. Befo re long
he would receive a lot of money fro m lhc government.
which owed him all his back wngcs.
" Y ou mcM in uU these years you've never bee n paid for
42
carrying the mail'/'' I.he physician asked in surprise nnd
Thoni pson shook h.is head.
··L uke Heald kee ps me in food, and r ve got a shock to
sleep in lll both ends of my run. Some day the govern men t
wiU s~nd me aU my w~lges a t once." .. .
··J ust the same I'd usk lh~ mail contrado r about u l ,r
were you."
T hompso n took Dr. Deyron·s advice. He asked H ea ld
abo ut his back wages.
" I'll write a lencr to Wnshiru!to n and find oul \\ hnt"s
been holding 'em up, " Heald offered .
The letter was written in March of Thompso n·s twcn-
ricrh yea r of service. h w~ls put into the sac k whe n he
started orr on bis regular ru,n to Carson City. The sun was
shining brillia ntly on lhe snowclad Sierras. Thompson
became snowblind and fell over a precipi.ce about rwcniy-
nine mlJes s hort of his, destination. With a broken arm he
groped his way back to the familiar trail and made his way
forwa rd lo Carson City.
Fo ur monlhs went by. When there was no answer to his
Jeuer Heald wrote another, thjs time to Nevada officials,
asking that the y do something about Thompson's claim.
!They rcsponJcd with a ~ titian to Postmaster G e ne ral
.John A.J . Creswell. They pointed out Thompson's unflag-
ging loyalty and dedica tion to his job. and they urge<l tha t
he be paid the $6 ,000. which the Federal G overnment
owed him.
More time went by. Then Thompson received a glowing
letter of commenda tion signed by Postmaste r Geoe raJ
Creswell. No mention was made o( any forlhcoming pay-
ment.
Thompson's gratitude for the letter of praise was almost
pathetic. He proudly showed it to Heald who became
greally anl!ercd.
"You ci n' t cash that letter at the bank," he said . ..The
government owes yo u a lo t of money , nncl it looks like
I.here's only one way you·u be a ble to collect it. Yo u'll have
to go to Washington and see the P~st~aster ~ eneral: ''.
Heald spoke to some of Pl.1ccrviJk s pro nuncm ci tacns.
Tbe,f decided to raise a fund to pay for bis transportation
to the E n.st and back home a~ain .
43
 When he found out :ibout it, Thompson stopped them.
H ~ wn_s ready to go to Washington., he said, b ut only if he
J>31d his own way. H e had some money put aside.
, lt ~ then lhat be decided to dig up lhe legacy left by
Jim Srsson-at least enough to pay for bi~ trip EasL
Early o n a September morning be started out on foot
towards Carson City over lbe trnU be had blazed and
traveled hundreds of times. & intended to dig up bis
cache.. retrieve several nuggets, I.hen go on to Carson Cily
and take the sutge.
H e hiked along lhe familiar trail and began the climb
~owards 7.382 fool high Echo Summit. He appeare!d to be
m tbc besl of health as be headed down the far side. ac-
cording lo a resident of Stateline, Ed Bergner, who met him
and exchanged a few words on the way.
He mu.c;t have been very near his cache when he sud-
denly was seized by a heart attack and died on the trail.
What brought it on will never be known. Perhaps his heart
was weakened by a score of years of 1.1emcndou~ physical
exertion. the like of which has been cx~rieneed by few
human beings. Perhaps it was excitement, the anticipation
of digging up some nuggets and tra-veling to Washington to
see the Postmaster General.
Bergner found Tho mpson's body later in the day, as be
was returning home to Stateline .
•·snowshoe" Thompson was buried in nearby Genoa on
the Nevada side of the border. The local citizenry e~led
in his memory a beadstoDe adorned with a pair of ski~
carved out of stone.
He left no map pinpointing his golden lcp.acy. lts general
locotion was. su~uentty disclosed by Dr. OeylOn, anc.1 to
thifi day it has t't.Qt been found by the- tteasuri,;. huntern who
have been inspiced to seek for it by this ~tory of th\! incredi-
ble postman.
44
CHAPTER 5
L<x;,t u/ the " Treasure Express"
1be most tcmpdng cho.llcnge to holdup men openiting in
the thickly timbered co.nyons and abrupt pn,sses of South
Dakota's Black Hills in the gun-slinging days of the 1870s
was the \\'«dis. Fargo "Treasure Express" which pcri-
odicnlly conveyed gold shipments of the Homestake
Mining Company from Deadwood City, South Dako ta, to
Sidney, Nebraska.
For several years the ..TrcMu:re Express." also called
..Old IronsiJes0 because of its bulletproof sheet metal rein.-
forcements, defied every attempt to plWlder it by such
notorious road agents as Sam Bass, Joe "Kid" Webster,
Lame Bradley and Big Nose Joe George.
The driver of this fo rtress on wheels was Big Gene
Barnett. the best stagecoach driver in tbe Dakotas. His
lhotgun messenger was a conr:agcous Wells-, Fargo guard,
Scott Davis, who bad earned a formidable reputation
through the years by thwarting several too-ambitious bun-
cli1$ with loads of buckshot. While trying co hold up the
..,.rcasure E~press' ' nt least eight. of tbe$e gentry had been
fatally ~rforated by his scatter gull.
The stage customarily carried al leas t five guards in ad-
dition to Scott Davis. T\\ O rode on the roof behind him.
The others were inside with. the stacked gold ingotst each o f
which was slnmped with the name of R omestake and the
code number of the &bipmc.nt.
No passengers were permitted on the "Treasure Ex-
presa." For reasons never made clear a rancher named
Hugh Campbell was allowed to pay his (are and go along
'With the gold on September 28. 1878.
As it h.,1ppcned, on this particular morning the stage car-
ried the biggesl single shipment evu dispatched from the
Homestake mine--S260.000. worth of shining gold ingots.
And it further happened, on this particular morning only
45
I thrt..'C b'Uard~ "ere a board. One \\ as a young \ ti-.-.ou n an.
Ga il H ill. ,, ho ~at on the box bi:~1J c. d rhcr 8 ,1rnctt. f hc
o thi.r (\\ O we re Scott D a vi.!., \\ho r01.k in'il le the 1.01ch with
a new !,!uard, Bill Smith. Thi.: third occupan t v. as Lh~
r-.mcher-pa•,l>cngcr, H ugh C ampbell .
It was .. o qu11k of fate," cd1toriali1cJ the D co<lwood
C-i1y Pio neer, th.it on this partic ular run the stage was so
hgh Lly ~uardcd . ll was the run o n which Jim Carev made
the only s uccessful holdu p of the "Treasu re E xpress."
Jim Carey was a fast man with a !>ix-gun, and the k .a<ler
of a cang of h anditti which incl ut.lcd such gun-shck 1' 1llc rs
as Al Speer. Doug Goodal e-the black shee p ~ of J ohn
I Good.1lc , presiden t of the Atl antic, l 0wa, bank- anc.l
Frnnk McBride.
He was also a cut above the u..•,;ual Black H uls road
agent: Be was shrewd and he was a planner.
"We're not ri<ling out to tackle "Oki l ronside!t." he ex•
plair.ed to his boys. " Big Gene Barnell b gomg lo drhe her
righl smack into our hands."
So il was that on that Septemb er day the Carey gnng
rode towards the Canyon S prmg.s relay ~tat1o n. where the
ho rses which had hecn pulli ng the "Trcusu rc l::.xprc:.s"
throu2h the Black Hills wo uld be exchang ed fo r rre~h o nes.
The ;ullaws halted in a stand of timber. Jim C arey rod!! o n
alone to the !.talion -a corral. a shack and a stable in the
charge ( ) r the Wells. F argo tender, John Miner.
The stal!c was due any moment now. Miner was working
on some harne5s gear for the ho rse-exch ange. He wasn't nt
all sui,picio us wh; n Carey ro<lc up to him and ru.ked fo r a
drink of water.
''Help yoursclL Bucket's rig.ht over there." .
Carcv di!-moun ted. His six-gun clime out l>W1ftly. Miner
looked ·up and fou nd himself loo king into I.he barrel.
" Head buck there to the sta ble. Fast!"
The tender obeyed. Carey fi red once into the nir to signal
his men to co me o n. They pid.eted the hurscs behind lhe
stable and went inside with Miner.
The stage puUed up at the relay stauon less than n quar-
ter o f un hour later.
"Unhitc h the horses!"
Barnett t>oomcd his usual greeting from the oo:-.. He saw
no sign o f Miner.
46
.. Must be sleepin~ " he
box. followed by Gail Hill.
srud and c.-ime down from Lhe
As they were a ppro3ch lng the shock. there w.a s a spnucr
or gunfire from the d ircc1ion o f lhe _stabl~ H ill wheeled .
brineing up his shotgun. A bullet drilled 1nm between Lhe
eyet~ and blew out Lhe back o( his head.
Barnett tumed and ran for the oearest co ,·cr-lhe w.ller
trough by the corral.
Soon Davis opened the stageooa cb door and fired
toward the stnble. There was a quick reply. A fus illade of
buJJcts whined at him. One hit him in the left arm. ~vcral
went in through the open dooT. The passenge r, Hu~
Campbell, died where he was sit!ing. a bullet_ Lhrou~1 his
hear t. Smith. the o ther guard, blmded by flying splinters ,
wns fatally wounded.
Ignoring his wo und. Davis sent bucksho t blasts toward
the stable and shouted to Barnell: "Get back Lh~re on the
box. Drive the stage the bell out of h~l" . . .
Barnell diJ no t lack courage. He hesitated , we1ghmg his
chances --the slim protection affo rded by the corral post
against wbat seemed certain death 1f he attempte d to Jnsb
back to the stage.
One of the gunmen, Frank McBride , emerged Crom ~e
stable, firing at Barnett. With his sho_tgun empty, Oa\'l.S
swiftly drew his pistol. McBride dJed w1tb a bullet thro ugh
bis head. .
Another man-un idenliJi ed--cam e o ut of the stable, his
gun bbi.ing. Davis dropped him in his tracks \\ it.h a bul-
l1c1 through the stomach. Then he started to reload his
shotgun.
He was still at it when J im Carey suddenly appeared and
. d ,owards the corral He m:inaged to get behind
Bnmetl, put his gun to t.he back of Barnett"s ,hea~ and
1houtcd to Davis: "Drop your scatter gun o r l 11 kill the
·verr ·
Davis dropped his sho tgun to the ground.
uokay. Now tum around and start walk'i.ngl"
Da vis obeyed. There was nothing else he contd do. At
ach step he expected to feel the searing impact of a bullet
in his back but for c.ome reason Carey spared his life.
Now he ' saw his wounded arm was bleeding pro fusely.
e halted, bound it with a strip be to re from his shirt anJ
47
 »keel Boone May. ..You'll be taking on four or five of

-·"
then resumed walking. He hiked for severnl miles before
meeting Myone oo the road. Fmally he encountered £our
men he knew; William Ward. who was both superintendent ~I'll manage.;•· Ward
sh.rugged his shoulders. ••rve got a
of the stage line and a deputy U.S. Marshal. and Boone that after making a haul like this thcy11 soon
(IObOD
May, Jcs:sc Brown and William Taylot. ·1hey bad been at tparalC: The one I want is Jim Carey. He's got a lot of
the next depot~ awaiting the arrival of lbc ..Treasure Ex- jlbcr thmgs to answer for throughout the territory bcsKles
press." When it failed to appear, lhey had backtracked to bele ~ilJings and the robbery of the stage.''
find out what hnd happened. So ll was that Ward took up the pursuit aJone. He found
Approx,mata:ly four hours elapsed between the time 1 ~ near Buffalo Oap whete Jim Carey bad bought a
Davis started from the re.lay station and the time when he pnng wagon and a team of horses before the robbery.
returned. accompanied by the four others. Tbe-r-c was no fbea he tracked. the wagon to the Piem: Trail. which heads
sign of any of the Carey gan~ either living or <fend. They iastward towards the Badlands of South Dakota.
bad not only taken with them the bodies of McBride and Beyond the Cheyenne Ri~er and the town o( Red Shirt,
II came to a camp of b ullwllackcrs who told him that
t.hc unidentified band.it but also Mirier and Barnett,
presumably as captives. ,artier in t!-e- day they had met a spring wagon beading east
IICCX>mpamed by four men on horseback.
Shotgun messenger Hill lay where he h ad fallen. The
bodies of Campbell and of Smith, who had succumbed to WXbcy were in an all-fired hurry/' said one of the
bis wound, had been tossed out of the stage.coach to
,ullwhackers.
facilitate the removal of tb,e ingots.
"Did you get a look at what was in the wagon?"
"Nope_ It was covered by a tarpaulin.·•
Deputy U.S. Marshal Ward pointed, to wagon cracks
Ward did not make camp that night. Convinced that the
near the stagecoach.
.. 'Pears Lhat Jim Carey used .a spring wagon to haul off
lrail was getting hot, he rode aJJ _night•
On the following day, $pproximau:1y two miles west of
the gold along with his two de-ad _pals. He sure didn't miss a
trick when be planned this robbery .., rable Mountain, whjcb marks the extreme southwestern
Scott Da.vis nodded agreement. ''Either they headed comer of what is now Badlands National Monument he
bmd the spring wogon-abandoned and tmpty. Nearby
north towards R apid City or west through Wyoming. Carey
~e two ~ly-dug graves heaped ~lth srones.
wouldn't have made [or Deadwoodf and if he had 1.ravcled He decided that the gang had buried the bodies of Mc-
south towards Sidney you'd have met up with him on the and the unlrnown bandit and then gone their separate
road." instead <;>f taking the wagon on through the Badlands.
Word was usually phlegmalic and slow to anger. Now he tracks left by their hoTSC$ indicated this.
wns in a cold ra.ge at the clean getaway of the gang. H e felt Studying the several sets of ttacks, Ward had a clifficult
parlly responsible because on this run the "Treasure: Ex- • to make. Wbicb set had been made by the horse
press!> had not been manned by more guards. Now it wos lldden by Jim Carey, the man he wanted most?
bis duty, both as s-uperintendent of the st.age line and as a After some deliberation Ward chose the traoks beading
federal offi«r, Lo make every e!fon to recover the gold and IIIIIWard through the Badlands. His r e ~ as he later e:x-
to bring the gang to justice. pa1m1ed, was that Carey was wanted for holdups in areas to
He decided to send Davis. who needed medicnl au.e.n-
tion, to Casper, Wyoming, accompanied. by h.is three men. _.mty
west. oortb and south. and that sheriffs' posses and
bunters, tempted by the rewards on bis .bead, were
' 1.2 for him in th.ose places. Therefore it seemed
...miill
H e pointed ouc that il might take week..4i, perhaps months,,
to track down Carey, ond thetd be needed back in town. lhat Carey would make his getaway towards the
"What happens wben you catch up with the pog?t'
48 49
 \Yard followed the tracks throueh the Badl:tnd~ to the
1ov.n nf Big Foot H ill o n wba t is -now U.S. 90. t lcrc he
L,e W;ill (1hc prcviou, ly unidcniified sun s linge r) it110 1hc
~;gon wi th the go lu uari. a nd headed lowun.ls the Badl ands
lea mcu lha t a stranger with tv.io unusually heavy sad- with Jim Carcv dnving.
dlebags had passed through. three days before! "We ftgurtti a posse wo uld soon be afler us so WC J.. cpl
Encouraged. Ward continued his pursuit. He followed bn pu!-hing along. In a few d_:iys lhc two corpses in the
the stranger for weeks with dogged determinution, riding !wng.<>n bc!_!an stinking bad. Jim tlidn't want to rnkc tin1c to
righ t on through Nebraska and into Io wa. bury them proper. nod he woutt..111·1 just dump them. He
1t wasn' t until he arrived in the town of A tJantic, some nid that if we <l id und a posse found 'cm, tlil'.y' d be
fifty-five miles east of Council Bluffs, that he finally admit- evidence we 'd he ld up the stage.''
ted dereaL and decided to abandon the c hase. ""Whal about M inc.r and Barnett?" Ward asked .
T hen an inc redible thing occurr~ one <'f those fan tastic "We let 'em go free on the other side o f the Chcyennc af-
co inciJcnces which a.re impla usible in fiction. but that ter taking their boots to slow up their w-aJking."
sometimes really happen. He was walking a long the m a in M iner and Barnett eventual ly did arrive io Red Shirt
s tree t of Atlamic when he chanced to look imo the sto re 11nharmcd exccp1 for badly cut and bruised feet.
window of lhe Goodale Bank . There, o n d isplny. were two A cco rding to Doug Goodale, the gold ingots. wilh 1hc
gold ingots. Pl3inly stamped on them were " Homestake ~ception of the two bars he had placed in his s:iddlcbn? -;,
Mining Company•· a nd the same code num ber as tha t of were buried whe re they abandoned the spring wagon, west
the !thipment stolen in the Canyon Sprin g.s ho ldup. Df T able Mou ntain. le hnd been Jim Carey's idea to hea p
WarJ went into the bank and questioned the president, stones on the rwo graves to ma rk the site.
Jo hn G0<1daJc. "Jim figured lhat anyone findin g the stone piles woulu
How d id he come into possession of the ingols? John think they had been put there just to lccep coyotes fro m dig-
Gooc.l::lle nnswcred freely. He bad nothing to hide. p_ng up the bodies," Goodale explained .
He lold Ward th.it his son, Doug.las. bad been wo rking Ward and his prisoner boarded a Union P acific tra in {or
fnr ,he Homestake Mining Com pany in Deadwood and haJ l journey to Cheyenne where the latte r was to stand Lrial •
d<?citled to come home. Before leaving be had put his sav- ;or participation in the holdup.
ing.-c; into the two gold b:lrs. Doug Goodale was not handc uffed. His apparent mee k-
" Doug figured thot way he wouldn't be tempted to gam- ~ fooled Ward. The deputy U.S. Marshal aJso undcr-
ble away part of his savings o n hi" way back h0 mc.," ~limated his own weariness after weeks in the ~adule.
Goodale exrlained... After be a rrived a couple of uays a go ~mewh~re west of what is now CentraJ C ity, Nebrask;1 , he
1 bough t the bars from him and put tbcm in lhc window on ~ozcd. Do ug Goodnfo jumped off the movii1g trnin and
uisplay . Attracting a lot of interest. M ost folks don't get to :scapcd.
sec Lhis much gold their ~ntire live,s." I When \Yard
awakened and discovered th;1t his prisoner
" I can ~ lieve it," \Va rd 11aid tersely. ns missing. he stopped the trnin and hnd it go back all the
1
way to Central City, but Doug Goouale was nol found .
The strange r whom he hnd bee n following for hu ndreds
o f miles wasn' t Ji m Carey but Doug Goodale. l His disappearance was perm ane nt. And so was Jim
..arey's.
Accompanied by Sheriff T ydin g of All anlic, \Va rd a r-
rested Ooue Goodale who surreflde red without anv show Whal happened to the other two surviving members of
or re~dsta.nce. On the conrrary. They were surprised chat agang? Al Speer chanced to meet Scott D avis in front of
a Laram ie saloon. The encounter was br ief and deadl y.
member 0f the desperate C arey gan g would be ooth mild
and COc1pcr:uh·c. 'peer was swifl on lhc draw, but Davis' shotgun was e ven
He conk!".scd 1hat he hn<l taken part in the holdup: aster.
"Aller Lhnl we put the bodies o( Frank ~k l3 rulc and The last hold up man, known as Fly-Specked Billy, was
50 5l
cnul?h L by a p0$SC nenr Speru ibh, South Dako ta, afle1'
~ll.J- n • a hu~c . Unuw ar~ at the time
that the ruslle r bad
been a memb er of the Carey gang. the ~ J~nch eu him
on the nearc :rt tree.
By d 1~ pl"C'Cess of law lhe two gold ingots disco\:en:d by APTE R 6
\ Van.I m the w indow or the Good ale bank \\ Cl e resto red to
the Home ~ta~e M ining Comp any an Dead ,,ood . ,-\ It.houg h
ht searched the area near the two graves west of T able Emp~ror A1aximilion's Five
Moun1ain, \ Vnrd failed LO find the rest o f the stolen loot. M ilJlon Dollar Fortrme
A numb er of treasu re hunters who learned of the np-
pro:<imatc locatio n also tried their luc.k- wilh cquall)' fruit- ~ev-
here in the vicini ty of Castle G ap. T exas, appro x-
less results. ~_ately fifteen miles to the easl o( lhe windi ng Pecos Rh·er ,
ln J uly 1933 , an lmlay. South D akota , rnnch cr. Terry a buried
trove of gold and silver p1a1e, bags of coin and
O'N.!1 11. was riding h_i.s ho rse westw ard o~ Ro ure 40 tool.:- tllests
o f precious j.::wcls, wo rth five millio n dollar s or
mg for a straye d whitef ace steer. H e ~cc1deJ to. cnmp for ~re.
Is wnitin g.
the mght nl the foot of Sh eep Mountain. whtch. t~ about a l The
per~ nal fortun e of Fe rdinan d Maxim ilian, _ m-
mile north of Table Mo untain . -.rre d Empe ror of Mexic o, who was execu ted by a fi ring
He was gathe ring wood fo! a cook fi re when h~ snw ,c1uad
somet hing gleam ing in the scttmg sun. l t was a ioltl ingot.
partly c~pos ed by rain torren ts which bad cours ed down llan
'° at Oucrctaro. Mexic o. on June 19, 1867, ha\ been
intrigu ing chall
centu ry
. enae to treasure hunte rs fo r a little more
-
the moun tam slope for fihy-five years. Like the rwo It 8
was collec ted during the C ivil W ar at a time when our
Good ale burs. lhis one was stamp ed ••Hon, cstnke Minin g own
councry was to0 imme rsed in s crife to be conce rned
Comp any" and bore the code numb er of the shipment ---•
Napoleon IO of Franc e had placed a handp icked ruler
stolen ot Canyo n Spring.,. ~ the thro ne of Mexic o. H is select ion was the Austrian
O'Neill got a pick and shovd from his rnnch nnd archduke.
M aximilian, thirty -two-y ear-old b rother o f Em-
return ed to d ig. He probe d the base of the slope for scvern l Deror
Franz Joseph.
dnys, but he did not find anoth er in~ . . . . r Maximilian was a vain , handso me memb er o f the Euro-
H ad Doug Good ale delibe rately bed m his confession? pean aristo
cra.cy. Trained as a naval o fficer. be bad been
H ad J im Carey buried the loot at the f~t o f Sheep Moon - ~
or-general o( the Lomb ardo-V enetia n kingd om. He
tuin, no t near the grave s but obout a mile to the north of pad.
displa yed such poor quaHtles ns a ruler and such greal
ihern'J ~ vaga nces that he b ad been removed. •'kicke d UJ)'->lairsn
Or wa., it indee d cache d near the grave s? Then _the most Napoleon
logical ex planatio n is that Good ale starte d l1fl wllh ''!rile, Jn April, lll.
1864, after renou ncing bis imperial rights to
no t two, in~ol! and , after riding a short distance. decid ed
throne of Austr ia, M aximi lian accel>'cd h is nev. ~p-
thnl hts ho rse was carryin g too much weight.. where upon he IIDiinbncnt.
He arrive d in Mexic o C iry in J une with his wife,
burie J the third ineot.
rlottc or Carlo tta as she is o ften known . a forme r
The answe r is a t~sup. but one thing is certai n~ With the • n princess. and a large Europ ean entou r:1gc incl ud-
tl(cep tion of three- ingotS. rul of the loot . 0 ~ lhc Can)·on a numb er o f aristo cratic A ustria n milita ry aides.
Sprintt1 holdup is snll buried somew here wnh m the a rea o f Maxim .
ilian hnd inheri ted a s izable fonun e from his
thal mll&- -approxima tely $240, 000. wo rth of pure gold. r, Archd uke Francis Charles. Histor ians do not con-
u to the amou nt be tool with him to Mexico, but they
53
52
 do agree that he sq uanJ ercd most of it :ind rccou ~d a ~forte, now El Pa-.o. J- rom Lhcre th~y \\e re lo travel
prcatcr fortune by plunJcring his adopted country . with the jOulh c J '> l\\.trJ to San Antonio an<l tldih:r tile 1,rc~1•>us
hdp of his 30.000 French troops. Ir-eight lO thl! mis1iion of San J o~ t.le A ;;ua,o where he hu.f
Jn D ccc..>mba. 1865. seven months after the end of the nged w1Lh other k,yal fricnd!i t~> h1Jc it, pen<ling hi~ fur-
Ci\ ii \\ a r. the United States e0, ernmcn t cJcmam.led tha t er orders.
Napokon withdraw his troops from Mexican soil. The "You will observe that the ba rrels are not filled to tile
F rench empaor acceded. an<l. shortly after the prnlnng.c<l p." be pointed out. "Before they are closcJ a11d na iled. a
c"acuation Cl)nlmcncc<l. the Mexican republ ican fo rces un- yer of !lour is to be added to each so they will r.ot appear
dcr Lhcir patriotk leader, Jaurez. stancd to reconquer thdr be of great value if openc<l during your jo urney •·
countrv. "This will not occu r, Sire," Colonel von Huber a!>surcd
In February. t 866. a full yea r before the last (lf the im. "\1/c will guard them with our lives by day anc.l by
French troops sailed from Veracruz, Ma:<imalian saw the ig)n."
wrilin l? o n the wall and decided that the time haJ come to The aides b11~il'd the mselves with final rrcparntions. Ma-
prcpa;e for his own 1.kpanure. He secretly s ummoned fo ur r Ste ig!irz and Captain Bosch purchased fifteen teams of
loyal Austrian officers o f his personal staff: Colonel O tto en and fifteen carrctas-rugged two-wheeled Mexican
von H uber. fom1cr comm:and a nt o( a cava lry squadron, lhal were most suitable for carrying heavy loads over
M ajc,r H uus Stieglitz. Major Markus M ueller, und Capwin iough terrain Ma1or Mue lk r hired fifteen pcnns to drive
Kurt Dosch . he ca rretas for what he told them woul.d be .. many mites
He con fided to them his apprehensio ns alxlut the futu re. and many days." He did not divulge the <kstination . He
\\'ithou t the restra ining prescnc£ of French troops it w0uld telected one Pedro Cardenas to be the head drive r nud lead
be only a matter o f 1imc lx forc: all Mex.ico would rise he caravan.
against him and join Jaur\!z. Co lonel von Hubc.r personally ch ose:: the horst:s. With a I
The four Austrians listened in grave silence. The n the ~avaJ ryman·s eye for fine mounts, he requisitioned lhem
scniPr 0fficcr. C"loncl v0a Huber. a stockv man of thirty- 10m Max imilian's own stables.
eight with a flourishing blond moustache,· spoke up: UWe They started out from Mexico City on the m(">min~ o[
are rc,1J y. as alwa)s. to s~rvc Ymir Majesty.'' :-cbruary 24 , 1866. There were nineteen men in aJI. The
~la xim ilhin led them to the Ju ng.coos beneath the p.illce bur mounted Austri an officers. led by the colonel. were
a nd alon~ a dimly lit corrido r 10 the extreme l'nd. Here the nll a rmed. E;:ic:h of Lhc carretas. besides carrying three
iron h:1rs o f a cell had been replaced hy a massi\'e oak ,arrels of treasure, 1:1lso was loaded wi th food and hivou:ic
'
door. He u nlocked lhc hc:n,,y iron lock and oix·ncJ the ,upp lies. casks of water and forage. In accordance with the
door to a strong room. .~ ror's orders a layer o f no ur had been plocc<l in each I
Inside the room were fi ve rows of la rge barrels. nine rna · nsu re barrel. The ent ire conte nts of every carrcta were
row. AJI o f them were open. Each was appnlxim a tdy aled untler a canvas cover.
I
lhrcc-qua rtc rs filled with casks o f jewels. gol d anJ s1lvcr l Colonel von H uber had instructed his fellow officers to

a number o f jeweled crucifi){CS. go ld chalices anJ other

rdi~ious treasures.
nncy.
plate. sacks of gold pieces and silver a ,in. There were a lso ~k to one sLory if questioned abo ut the purpose of thei r
They were carrying forry -five barrels o! Holl r to
liver to "frien<ls across lhe border."
M aximilian gave instructions. His four rrustc<l :iides
were co trnnspnrt rhis great fonune more than twelve lrno-
drcd miles to th-: Unitt.·<l Stal~ ,•,here it " ould ~e. s::ifo. f T he .naivete of this story fo r a man of von H uber's sup-
d sophistication is almost incredible. Ea.ch barrel was
ch too heavy to contain flour. In a~dition the fou r
Thi:y woulJ crnss the buruer in,o Texas :1t Pn.:s1d10 del perbly mounted and well-dressed foreigners were ob-
54 55
 Von Huber asked if they had traveled by way of Sun An-
vio usly cabellc:ros, far above the cur of ordinary oxen train tonio . Knight nodded grimly.
~s. " Wo rse than back hl,mc in Missouri. suh . fk1wccn here
Jt is doubuul if Pedro Cardenas o-r even lhe most and San Antone you'll fin<l ran1pagin' Co mnnches, A pach-
ii!llo r:m t driver swallowed the story--cspecially after 1he c!S. Sh::iwnces and o the r hostiles, not Lo mention bunus of
ftrst night our. when the cabellen>s, in pair.:. mounte<J rustlers and road ngents."
c:uard over Lhe carretas. Nevenheless the peons were well This was disq uieting news to the Austrians, who hnd
pa.id and therefore no t inquisitive. fancied lhnt no w the caravan was much safer th an it bud
They drove tbe plodding ox teams northward day after been in Mexico. Kni~ht sounded sincere.
day; past San Luis Po tosi, Saltillo. Torreon,_ Hiltlalgo dd Vo n Huber was- a man o f quick and sometimes
Parral. Chihuahua and over the lofty mounla.lns. across the misgu ided decisions. He otTered. lhe siJt ex~Co nfc<lcrnte sol-
c-actus-tufted mesas and lhroui!h arid desert wastelands. diers a proposition. If I.hey wouJd escort the caravan safely
They averaged twenty miles daily. :ind the four o fficers to San Antonio he would pay them ea.ch o ne hu ndred
v.cre oonstdlltly on the alen against attack by one of dollars in gold on their arrivaJ .
Jaurez's " rebel" bands. '-That's a heap of mo ney, sub.," said Knight. " What you
No attack or ambush developed. After a journey of toting in aJl those carts?"
si;{ty-{1ne days they crossed the Texas border at P r~1dio " Flour." Von Huber answered. " It is important that it
dcl None late in April . Here they baited. congratulated one ~ delivered as ,:;oon as possible."
another on reaching the safety of the Uni1ed St.ates "'itb Knight st.ared skeptically at the canv as-covered carrctas.
their emperor's treasure unmoksted and made camp c,, n ,he He s hrewdly made no comment. He to ld the colonel they
bank of the Rio Grande. certainly could use the mon ey and that for $600. in gold
" \\'<!"II rest the horses am.I oxen for a few Jays before they wo uld delay their own jourooy, retrace their ro ute as
~oin e on to San Antonio... von Huber decided. far as San Antonio and make sure the carav:ln was no t at-
- For Lhrc~ days they attracled no atteolion. On lhe (ounh tacked .
mo rning six disreputable-looking. strangers who had tx-e_n That ni g.ht the ex-Confederates camped by lhernselvcs a
wa tcrine Lhcir jaded horses in the river ro<le into lbetr 1 little apa rt from the others. 1l1ey watched SliegJitz and
cam p. . Bosch mo unt 1?.uard over the carretas.
The Austrians were a t breakfast. Von Huber hospttubly "Sure as hell they're to ting something a lot mo re
invited the strangers to join them. . . Yaluable than flo ur in those carts," Knight commented and
"Don't mind rf we do." said the rangy, Jantem-Jawed Lrt- his pals ngreed. .
dividual who a ppeared 10 be the leader. ··c ame a long way One of 1hcm, Henry Stewart, a burly character wllh
and have a long way Lo go. Wc-alJ are powerful hungry, beetling eyebro ws. was nJl for finding out that ve~y a igbt
sub." what was in the ca.rretas. Knight told him Lo be pauent.
Thev wolfed their food . Von Huber askeJ them where "Lots of d istance between here -a nd San Antone. \Ve'll
they h·ad come from and where they w ere going_ Tom wait for the right time to have o urselves a look~see. A nd
Knight, the leader, appraised the colonel wath s.harp blue maybe more."
eyes. Reinforced by the armed escor~ the caravan resumed its
••Mistuh. ynu must be a stranger to these -parts. A i:n-an journey and for the next few days everythin g w~nt
could get himself into a hea p o f trouble as_~ing qucsu~ smoothly. E ither Knight had been lying about ro vmg
like that. But we ain't the tro ublesome kan.d. All we re hostiles and pceda1ory road agents, o r the sight o f ten
nimin' to J o is get shut riddance of the damnyanl.ee armed guards kept them at a dist.ance.
carpc1bag,ge-r$ that are !locking into Misso'\lri. \\'e·rc [om1ec O ne njghL when lhc caravan was camped on the bn.nk o f
Co nfcda:H~ sojers ligh1in' out for Mexico." 57
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