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~ 7Se PAPERBACK l.J LIBRARY 54-758

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 Manh's band reached angrily for the whistle cord. Ear-
mcry penned the last recorded words of nny member o( tho splitting shrieks echoed from bluff to bluff ft:mldng the
ill-fated column: treacherous gorge, but they failed to disperse the two bun-
"'We leave the Rosebud tomorrow. By the time thil eked Sioux warriors tining the nearby shore.
reaches you \\'C will have met and fought the red devils. 1 go "Wasting good steam, Cap'n:• said Cnmpbell. "Crazy
with Custer and will be at the- death-" Horse's braves won'l scare at a whistle toot. Not after what
Terry aslcd Marsh Lo mnke the hnz.ardous 740 mile run thty did to Custer."
down the Big H om, lhe YellOYmone and the Missouri at ..Reokon you're right .••"
all possible speed so that the fifty-two wounded mc_11 Another fire.arrow landed aft. Campbell grabbed the
nboard might re<:cive medical treatment as soon as possi- SpringfieW in the pilothouse, aimed and fired. HJs bullet
blc. ff is final words were solemn and significant. It was the pierced the bead of a Sio ux on ~ cedar-tufted bluff.
first admission that the dashing Custer bad recklesslt led Bo's'n Jenks and olh.er members of the crew also opened
his column into a tragic trap. fire with carbines. The Far West churned ahead, running
.. You arc about to start on o trip with fifty-two woundoo the Sioux gaW\tlet of flaming arrows and bullelS.
aboard. This is a bad river to naviga1.e nnd accidents ~ I Marsh stuck bis head out of the pilolhQuse window
likely to happen. I wish to ask of you that you use all the again: "All the wounded sa(e below dee~ bo~S.'n?0
skill you possess., an the cautiQn you can oommm1d, to "Exceptin' Custe.r's horse."
make the journey safely. The claybank gelding. so1e survivor of the m3s.sacre and
"You have on board the most prcciouJ cargo a ves$Cl bearing seven bullet wounds, was still tethered in the stem.
ever carried Every soldier here who is sufferi.ng with "'Picket Comanche t.o port of the pilothouse and be quick
wounds is the victim o f a terrible blunder; a sad and teni- about it!''
bte blunder.'' The Far West wns now two hundred yards from the
On the afternoon of July 3. the For Wen began its epic bluff. Thirty seconds later bcr curving course narrowed the
run with Marsh at the wheel and CampbeU at lus side. She gap to a hundred and fifty yards. Then Marsh was able to
ran the Little Big Hom wide open at fifteen knots, some- ease her oft. A ,few minutes later she rounded the bend and
thing no river pilot had dared do before. was out of range.
Safely navigating past Ole concealed sand bnts and Twenty-one Sioux were tilled in the encounter. Aboard
abrupt t1.1rns. she reached th~ junction wilh the swiftl!r- the steamboat one deckhand, Sam Tyler, had been stain by
flowing Big Horn and started the thirty-three mile stretch a Sioux bullet and a wounded cavalryman, Corporal
through the gorges which would take bet to lhe Y cl- Wentul, bad succumbed. The corporal had been suffering
lowstonc. greatly from a festering gunshot wound in the belly. His
Marsh expertly avoided jutting, saw-toothed rock aod death was a merciful release.
dri.ft'mg trees carried dO\\•n from the high country be)'ond Now Tom-joe reappeared in the pilotho use. He was stfll
Fon Smith. He steered the Far West around bluffs loo.ming wearing only his towel breeoh-clout.
up on either shore w·bcre lhc river narrowed in swecpmg ..Running short of cordwood again, Cap'n. Didn•t take
curves. Then, less than four miles from the Yellowstone. at ,oo much of a load before we left."
the most dangerous cwve in the rivet, ita:rsh saw thut 11 1 "Well--"~ Marsh paused and re6ected.
large Sioux war party was wailing on the bluff ahend. Darkness was upon lbcm. Soon they would reach the
A fire-arrow flamed in an arc ond landed on deck. Mnrsh juncture of the Big Horn and the YtUowstooe. Once
thrust his stobbled dun out of the pilothouse window and lbcyood, they would be safe enough from lndian attack to
roared: ''\Vater buckets aftl" put into shore and cut more wood.
Boots pounded along the wooden deck followed by Marsh decided to wait, but when they approached the
sloshing sounds as deckhands extinguished the blnz.e, 97
96
 juncture of the two rivers, they saw the distant glow of fires
on the bank of the YcUowstooc.
••Another Saowc war party!" sa1d Campbell and swore.
AL this point Marsh thought it best to wail no longer to
repleni:.h the wood supply. Uthe Far West ran out o{ fuel
while i.n range of another war party the result might well be
disastrous. The helpless wounded placed in his cbarge by
Terry would be butchered.
In addhion Captain Marsh, an hooestt conscientious
man, felt a second responsibility. the $375,000. gold bar
shipment taken aboard at Williston. Come hell or high
water, he bad never lost any valunbfe cargo before. and he
bad no intention of d oing so now by reason of a Sioux a1-
tack.
He decided to cul and toad wood immedint.cly and. at
the same time, to bury the gold on s hore for temporary
safekeeping. On the next run of tho f 'ar We.st, when condi-
tions would be more peaceful, he wo1,1ld reload tbe gold
and carry it on to Bismarck.
The riverboat put in to shore less than half a mile before
the Yellowstone. Here the line of bluffs gave way to a series
of hills.
While l enks and members of the orew chopped wood
under the starry sky, Marsh, assisted by Campbell, made
se,-eral trips with the gold bars, carrying them approx-
imately five hundred yards ~ where they cached them
at the foot of the nearest hilt They dug the hole on the far
side, at Lhe base of the slope facing away from the river.
R esuming their journey, they enteRd the Yellowstone
and the ~low they had seen at a distance became a Jong line
of campfires strung out along the shore.
Marsh's anxiety somewhat diminished. The row of
campfires appeared much ·too orderly to have been made
by Sioux. He steered the Far West closer to share, and
Campbell stepped out of the pilothouse.
He returned u short while later and reported chat sol-
diers were camped on the rivcrt>ank.
''They're lignaling for us to put in. eap·n."
MMlb slowed the throbbing e.ngine8 and maneuvered
cautiously sborewo.rd. He found that several comp.mies of
Geno-ml John Gibbons' command, en route to join M.ajor
Ocncrnl Terry, had been stymied by the river.
98
Manb was osked to ferry them acl'OS$. A ware that Terey
might be in urgent need of. these reinforcements, Marsh did
10. losing two hours.
Resuming the journey under a full bead o f steam, the
Far Wt>sl rrnveled on throughout the night and the next
morning-the Fourth of July.
They came to the Missouri and at Fort Bufo rd, ~farsb
made n brief stop to put ashore a wounded Crow scout,
Little Elk, who bad a bullet through a lung and had begged
to die among his own people.
A few hours later T om•joc Hauser, even sweatier und
grimier than before, infom,ed Marsh that lhey were again
running out of fuel.
Marsh put in at the first stand of timber he saw on the
riverbank and led a tired chopping party nsbore. Alter that
they again trttveled through the night At Fo rt Stevenson
t,he Fur We.ft was halted long enough to obtain a roll of
black cloth. Marsh bnd it cut up to be buug from jockstaff
and derrick.
"We1U arrive in mourning," be told Jenks. ·~1c won't be
easy to give the sad news in words. There will bt widows
waiting at the dock.''
The Far w~st reached Bismarck at 11 P.M. on July 5.
Despite the slops, she had run an average of nearly 350
miles a day, much oC it through treacherous, uncharted
waters. Sbe established a record which still stnnds.
Marsh was right about '--widows waiting at lhc dock."
One ol them was E.llzabetb B . Custer, wife of the slain
general.
Among those sharing the vigil was Clement Lounsbury,
editor of the Birmarck Trib~ne, who was hoping to hear
SOJDC news about bis reponer, Mark KeUog.
Manb gave him the diary found on KcJJog's body and
also the grim detajls of Custer's l ast stand.
Horrified, Lounsbury bu.rrioo back to bis newspaper and
then to the telegraph office. On the following day the story
appeared in the Bismarck Trib,~n.e. and on JuJy 7, a lmost
twelve d:iys after the massacre, il was firs.t printed i.n the
East. in the New Y ork Herald.
Almost two months went by before M arsh took the Far
West back to the juncture of the Yellowstone nnd rhe Big
Hom. Early in September, following a series ol torrential
99
 rains. he tied up beside the riverbank. 1ne initial land-
mark-whc:re to tie up-was easy 10 locntc, for u-ee
slumps, marking the site of the trees thnt had been cot !or
cordwood. were plain to be seen.
But when rhcy came to the far ~ide of the hill. Marsh and 0-IAPTER 11
Campbell found the base of the slope n moras~ or mud and
stony scrag. The heavy mins had loosened tone; o( earth on
the slope and washed iL to the foot of_ the hill with almost The Cisco "Santa Cla11t' Cach~
landslide torce.
The two riverboat men d ug for several hours. They
found not a single bar of gofd. Whenever sto ries of che great peace officers or the
On the next trip Marsh stopped the Far West at Southwc.c;t are recount~d. names like Wynu Earp and Ca p-
Willis ton and enlisted the belp of some pro<pectors. H is tain Frnnk H amer of the Texas Rangers us urtlly come up.
second search, with reinforcements. proved equally unsuc- Rarely does one hear about Sheriff Si BradCord o(
cessful. EastJnnd, Texas. one of the greaLest of them all.
In Bismarck. Marsh was questioned about the missing Si was u smiling. even-tempered lawman who never
gold bars. The authorities also took testimony frorn fnnoed o sh~gun or quickly be-al an outlaw to the draw.
Campbell. Jenks. T om-joe, and various membe-n of the H e shot ic out two sho tgun shells at -a time. Out of hnbit be
CRW. Mr,jor General Terry sent an affidavit in which he wore n .44 Smith nnd Wesson in a worn holster. And be
prnised lvfarsh and decfa.red that without Marsh•s swift and carried a smaU gambler's derringer in his righc boot for the
careful trans.port of wounded to Bismarck. nrn.ny of them same reason. But his killing gun-the one that terminated
would have suocumbcd foe tack of surgery. ~ caree:rs of severaJ badmen-was bis do uble~ba rrcted
Marsh was absolved of any suspicion that he had se- .12 gauge shotgun.
creted the gold with intent to return lutcr and divert it to Si was really terribly angry only once. (WO days before
himself. Christmas, 1927. when the First National Bank of Cisco
"In a cime of tragic trial and tribulation, under great per- was robbed of S 12,000. This. together whh $26.000. in
sonal strain and threatened, 3S he believed himself, his gold and silver netted in previous holdups, comprised the
crew. and Lbe wounded to be, by a second auack of hostile loot cached by the BiJly Turgeo gang.
Sioux. he octt:d to the best interest of all con<X;med," wo~ WhiJe a S38t000. hoard may not be large compared to
the report .. His decisioo, unde.r the circu~t.ulcei, to bury other troves chronic.Jed in these chapters, this one is
the gold bars was not o nly justifiabJe but commendable." unique. h was the loot of the meanest outlaw who ever
Marsh made at least two more vain attempts 10 find the robbed a bank-he did it by masquernding Ob Santa Claus.
gold. Resident!) of Williston who tried to find it were also Si Bradford was aJone in his office in the Eastland
frustrutcrf courthou~ on the morning be received the aJann. The
Down through the years the rains of early fall ond the agitated voice on the telephone was a teller in the Cisco
frcshecs of water from ~pring thaws have washed additional bank.
tons of curth down the slope of the hill. The $375,000. "The First National Bank bas just been robbed by Santa
gold c-::iche remains bidden wher.e M11r$h buried it-neur Oaus. The shooting is still going on. Dead men are lying all
the junction of the Big Horn and tbc Yellowstone. over the street.,,
"Santa Oaus. eh?" At first the sbcritf thought be was
dealing with a drunk or a practical joker. Then be benrd
abots in the background.
100 101
 ..Did you notify the Rangers? Good. rm on my way."
It•s ten miles d ue west on U .S. 80 from Easrhrnd t
i•1em as a shield. as he bnckcd toward! a cnr. Turgen and
c other two bandits staned toward o second car parked
Cisco. Si drove into the town le--1 than lCJl minutes late hinJ the first.
and !o~nd n s~ambles in the midst o[ I.he civic holiday Two policemen appcured with drawn guns, They wtre
decornuons. CLSCO was 8 town o'f panic and terror of orced to hold their tire le~t they hit n child. They didn't
shocked and wrathful citi,z.ens. • · 'c a chnnce- bolh of them were cul duwn by lhc ban-
As be drove towards Lhe First National Bank be sw~rvcd ·1.5• bullets.
around a car almost blocking the street. It was perforated One of lhe !?Mg jumped into the second car. but for
by bullets. So was Lhe bandit behind the wheel There wns a me reason Turgen. who wo.s carrying the money sack•
.45 automatic on the seat beside him. d the thtrd gunman cJ,angcd their minds. They headed
Several men had gathered in from of the bank. Two bod- ack town.rd lhe first car, the one containing the \WO chil-
ies of .Ci,co policemen were sprawled near the entrance. rcn.
O ne sull had a revolver gripped in his dead hand. fhc other At this point ir.itc citizens o pened fire al the bandit in the
was staring straight up into the sky with unseeu,g cy~ aco.,nd car. ~illing him. Turgcn and his p~ls relurncd 1hc
Blood was oozing trom a bole in lhe center of his forehead. fire, ~oundi.ng seven, Bill Gilmore among thcnl, before
Bill Oilmore, a rancher from Ranger, and a fnend or spce<lmg out of town.
Si'~ was :;iuiog on lhe bank Meps while his bt--,ody :irm w ti.i "If vou'rc going afmr 'em. T'm going with you, Sheriff."
being .attended to by a physician. Six othen. were wuiLing 10 sai~ lhe wrait,[uJ Gilmo re. By this time his left a rm wa~ in
have rheir wounds dressed. • shng but, as be pointed out, he eouJd !ilill use hi~ gun arm.
The} and G ilmore pieced tho story togeLber (or the They dtove westward on U.S. 80 LOword Putnam in
sheriff. Callahan County.
A cor wit h scvc.ral men in it had stopped near the bank. "We figured that by this time the Rangers hnd sel up n.
O ne of them. who wa~ later identified ns Billy T urgc:n, was r~dbloc:k o n lhe main h1e.hway/' Gilmo re soid later. ·•So
d ressed as S;mta Claus. He slcppcd o ut of the ~r und Si Brndford and l decided we'd best look at so me of the
pol't\ded ~round in front oi the bank lonf! cnou~h to aura.ct aide roads.
a small crnwd of children. When he went "'insi<le they "There nre severa! old catde_trails leading off U.S. 80 . In
CIOOf"--d tiftcr him thinking he was foing to give out pres- the pasl few years ml prospccung outfits had been sending
ents. ThTee mem~TS of the g:,1ng followed lhem. trucks over t~ese _trail~, which dwi_ndled off Into nothing

an automatk. and o ne of them stepped up ~klc T urgcn,

empty sack in hand. The teller obedient!) filled it wi lh
$12 000 · cash all b had . h
E
Sanrn Clau& approached the tcJlcr's cage nnd whipped bu! brnsada-hk! wilds ~r mogote lhtckets: scr~b oak, m~s-
h
oul two .45 Colt\. The other three bW1dits e.1ch pulled out quite and ~a.s.1?~nal pnckJ~ pear. was .l ine hideout ~ un-
for .~andus hke Turgcn , we. were afraid of what hc_d do
~ lads after they_w~re not useful n~y louger a., shields.
We were both thmktng the same thing \\- he" we turned
• · tn , e 10 L e ~gc. into the first likcl}1 side road-tearfully expecting that
. Some of the bank employees hod pistols or revolvers. So ~·d come upon the bodies of those two Jitile lrirls
did some of ~e customers-~nchcCi nnd oilmen. All of .. l sensed what else w:is going through Si's ';nind. He al-
them were bo~h~g mad lll the tnckcry, but none drew n gun 'Ways did have a cer1ain amount of res pect for the o!dtime
for CcaI ol hntmg one of l.he !'iCvcral youogslcrs milling .badmen with whom he'd shot it out. Even the first, n cattle
abou~ ~tier named Yancy who had shot Si in 1he arm, lhl.} ooly
This was cxacLly what Turgen ri nd his pal~ h:td counted bmc be ever had been wounded. Si had broug.hr him in to
~- As_they ouged toward the door. one o( lbem seized two aU with buckshot in Yancy;s leg$-3fler they bad potched
little girls. He pu:,bcd them out o( the entrance and used p each other's wounds.
102 103
 ''But this type of ouUaw with whom be wa~ familiar a~
peace o,.. \;u hJU vanisht:d then onJ thl.!rc as far as tho
s~.;nll "'~ 1.~.J11~cmcd . 1 he 1rcac h\!rous 1 urgi:n was a ne\f
k1:1d of cnnunal !o h!m- a breed that ~prayed lead around
wtth an auto mauc pistol a nd used u(h [or shid<l!'I. S1 aJ-
ways ha<l had contempt for automatics. Ano he loved kids·. 1
'·We came to the end or the trail, where the rnor ote
closed. in tightly. Nothing could have gone furthe r without
choppmg. We b,,cked out and tried anothi:r trail , and
another. We kept o n hunting and ii was gdti nl! i:oldcr.
There were the makings of a norther blowing a~ross the
Plinh anulc. anc.1 we were feeling it.
"Towards dark we were following a trail v. hen about
three miles from the highway we heard voices. \.\ e cut lhc ·
engine and listened, but the way the wind Wa!) wh istling
through the scrub we weren't su re.
"\Ve ,.._cnt on again a nd when we came to the end of the ,
trail. we fou nd the car we had been hunting. It was butted '
deep into the mesquite, a nd the little girls were in it. crying
and terrifit.-<l. T here was no sign of the th ree handits.
" We bundled the f rig.htcned youngsters into o ur ca.r and
headed bock to Cisco to deliver them to their frantic
parents:·
When the sheriff a nd Gilmore returned to Ci..-.c-0, they
found that the town was already tidying up. The three dead
men hud been taken to an undenaki ng establishment A
couple of Rangers had a rrived from Austin and fin{!cr-
printed the dead bandit in the hope of identifying him.
They never d id .
On the followi ng d:,y one or the greatest manhunts in the
annnls or the Southwest got under way. Cisco org,\nized a
large ix1::.-.c . So did othe r to~'TIS in the su rrounding a rea. No
one would rc,t easy until the three surviving outlaws I
- Turgc11, Clem Burns, and "Fut Face" Steele-were
caught or killed.
Si Bradford did not join a po~se. I le wns accustomed to
pl aying a lone hand . The hunt was something he regarded
us personal . The holdup bad occurred in Eustland County,
hi , county where he h~1d maintained luw and c,nkr fo r a
good lung time. Tbjs was an insuh and a direc t challcngo.
H e went back LO the place where the abumloncd car had
bet!n discovered and started his search from there..
104
Tracking through the brush and mesquite he found the
ashes of a campfire and nearby, earth from a hastily-dug
hole. Co nvinced that the bandits had buried lhc loot, he did
not take the time lo dig it up but continued pursuit.
He found that the trio had circled bac k lhroueh the
brush -and eme_rged oo U.S. 80 approximately eight miles
west of Cisco. There he lost LJ1c t_rail and temporarily had
to abandon the hunt.
R eturning lo town, he teamed that the b andits bad
Hagged down an unsuspecting motorise, an oil engineer
named Trowbridge. They had knocked him unconscious
with a pi~tol butt. heaved him out of his car and driven it
off w~twan.l.
Trowbridge said that the three outlaws had not been car-
rying n sack or anything else. Si Bradford took this as a
confirm a tion that they bad buried the loot al their
campsite.
That same evening the s heriff received a report that
Turgen, Bums and Steele had been seen outside of Breck-
enridgc , about thiny miles to the nonb . Then the re was a
second report, this one from a filling station near South
Bend , another thirty miles beyond Breckenridge.
South Bend was an o ld~ wo.rked-out oil town aod the re
were a number of abandoned oil rigs nnd shacks in the
vicinity whe re hunted outlaws could hide ouL
Si B radford started for South Bend al dawn. About an
hour and a half later on Route 67 he met a car loaded with
possemcn from Cisco. They were going back to town and
1 told him that lhey had patrolled throughout lhe night
1
without seei ng a ny sign of the bandits.
The sheriff went on, looking for a place in the narrow
road where he could tu_rn around a nd follow them . H~ was
still look ing a quarter of a mile further on when suddenly a
bullet drUled through his windshield, missing his bead by
scant inches.
A car plunged out or the mesqui te a t the side o f 1he road.
The ba.ndJlS were in it. T hey had been hiding in the bush,
wairing for the posse to drive o ut of sight Now. as they
raced along Route 67, the sheriff took up ho1 pursuit.
Bradford ciained steadily on the other car. About ten
m iles furlhe r on, reali2.ing they would be overtaken, they
ground lo a scorching Stop, jumped from the car and
105
 dashed townrdi; the mesquite. fanning out "hilc running. few hours before irate Cisco citizens caught up wilh him a
Stopping in the bush. they began shooting nt the sh.edtl kw miJes out of Lown.
as he ltd\ anccd on (OOL They decided that too mucb time had atrendy been
It seemed incredible that Bradford wasn't hit by one of wut\!d, and be was stnmg up on the nearest telephone
the bullets &.hat whlt;lled p-J.st his hca<l. His . 12 gauge poJe.
boomed like a cannon. and Steele ~ent J o,\ n "ith buck- ShonJy aCtcr Turgen was lynched, Si BradCord became
shot in his leg$. It boomed ng.alo and Cle-01 Bums, too, full marshal at Strawn. se\'eral miles east o[ Cisco. Allb-ough he
with bu.ck.shoe wounds in his legi. always intended to search for the loot that the bandits
The sheriff halted and coolly reloaded both shotgun bar- buried at the end of the old cattle trail. approximately eight
rels. This mruieu\·cr tboroughf)' unnetved Turgen. "ho miles west of Cisco and lhree miles south of U.S. 80,
turned and scurried into the mesquit.c. A load of buckshot somehow he was oJway~ too busy.
hit him in lhe arm before he disa ppeared from sighL Lllc.e many other outlaw troves throughout the Soulh-
The posscmen had heard shots and now were returning. wesr. the loor of the Tucge:n gang is still buried where the
\Vhilc the sheriff was han<Jcuffina Steele. Bums crawled in- world's meanest Santa Oaus cached iL
to the brush and vanished. TI1e pursuing posse were un3ble
to find itlther him or Turgen.
Not thnr they looked very bard~ Although in lhnt nrea
there are many arroyos in which a man may hide, S1 Brad-
ford and the posse figured Lhal with oo food and with
wounds needing aueotion. it was just a matter o f time
before Turgen ,md Burn& would eit~r die in lhc brus_b nnd
save the county on exptnse oC a trial or come out and give
themsclve~ up.
So ii proved. A few duys Ja.tcr they emergcJ on Lhe high-
way near Graham, a few miles nonb of South Bend., ,o sur-
render. Both of them were in bad shape.
--rve got something to tl5k.'' said Turgen to the
pnssemen. •·No matter what else you do, keep lhnt
blank.ety-blank. shotgun shfriff away from me. He ain't
human.··
Si Bradford was in hi, office in Eastfand when he learned
what Turgcn had said.
'"Tell Snma Claus l prorni.se to keep awn) from him."
He kept his word. \Vhile Turgen, Steele and Bum~ were
rn the Cisco jail awaitmg trial, the sheriff dJ.Jn'l go near
them.
Steele and Bums were pt:ic~u on trial fi.r.L Steele was
sentenced to I.he tlcctric chnir and later executed. Bums
was 'tCnl to the. penitentiary for life.
On the d3y that Saota Claus. ali.nJ Billy Tur1,-tn, was to
be? brought into coun tor sentencing. he u:ibbcd a guard's
gun, shot him ,food anJ escaped. He was at large for onl) a
106 107

CHAPTER 12
Jesse James' Two A-fiflion D ollar$
The name "Jesse Woodson James" has a solid. rcputoble
sound, one tha< might wcll be ~a.Led with ii reaceful,
church-going dtiz.cn and a credit to the commu111ty.
Lenvc out the middle name. ho,~ver. and "Je~'-C Jaml!S"
becomes a siru~r figure, th~ very synonym for audncwus.,
ruthless banditry. No outlaw ts reputed to have buried
more loot during the post-Civil "'ar era.
Some of Jesse'(; minor caches haYe been dug up from
time 10 time. One of them, $38,650. m g.ci1d win. was
found in 1938 near Chickasha, Oklahoma, by a pro[cs-
sional treasure hunli!r. Ford Terrill.
But this is hardly e,en pin money compared to Jcss«fs
bi"~t board, ~omc two million dollars m golJ bullion,
which still remains where it was buried on ~l arch 5. 1876.
in cbc vicinity of Cement., now o town of n thousand per-
sons. It is tocnted on U.S. 277. in 1:t0uth ccn1ral Ol.luhomn.
Jesse. was born 10 Oay County, Missouri. on S(ptembcr
5, J847. At the outbreak of tJ1e Civil War the hnme of b..is
p:irenlS, who were Southern sympathizers. \\"US pillaged by
Union troops. As a result or this experience. al the age o(
fifteen, Jesse. joine<f the guerrillas of Wi11inm C. QuanLreU,
whose merciless sacL.inS? of LJwrcnc~ and 01hcr towns is
one of the grimmest pag~s in KnnsJ.S--<>r even in all
American-history
Jesse particip.itc<l in a number of their ruids. He was a
crack shot and absoluccly fearless. He was nl!;o a cold-
blooded kilJer. despite 1he fact tha t he ha$ been gJamoriz.ed
ond romantidied by M)mc writers. H t fitted in very well
with QunncreU's murch:rous force o.od soon bccnmta. one o{
its leaders.
At cbc t:nd of the war Je55c surr1!.lldercd with most of
108
i Ouantrdl's men and for an aJJ-too--brief period he settled
~ down. Very soon something happened- be was shol and
1severely wounded. According to some accounrs it was in a
fight over a woman; acoording to others It was during n
card game when be caught a professional gambler cheat-
ing; still others have it Lb.at be was drilled by a bullet in a
aaloon brawl.
Whatever the reason. when he recovered, he turned bad-
man. He recruited a gang of outlaws which included his
elder brother, Fra~ and embarked on a notorious career
of daring bank robberies and ttain holdups. Governor Crit-
tenden of Missouri offered a reward of S I 0.000., for Jesse
James-dead or alive. By 1876 James and his gang had ac-
cumulated millions in loot.
The largest h.aul was made in late February, 1876. just
or
aoutb the border near El Paso. The participants. in uddi-
tion to Jesse and Frank, included Cole Younger, Frank
Miller. Rub Busse, Bud Dalton, George Payne, Roy Bruc-
ter, George Overton, Charley Jones and Mach Smith. all
veteran members of the James gang.
They ambushed a pac-k:train. of eighteen burros carrying
two million dollars in gold bullion, killed the Mexican
guards and drivers, then drove the loaded burros across the
border and headed northward in freezing weather.
They kept on goillg through Texas, beading into the
lawless Indian Territory that Jater became Oklahoma and,
on March 4, made camp on Cache Ctc,elc. Here they
debated what to do with the gold bullion plus an undeter-
mined amount they had been carrying since a previous
raid. AU this wealth was much too heavy to transport by
any means other than packti:ain. Not only did the eight"een
burros stow them down, but inevitably the branded animals
would arouse suspicion.
1ne outlaws decided to bury their pluruler, rum the bur-
ros loose and bum the pack saddles. Jesse and Frank
selected the site together. It was ''a two hours' burro walk
away from the creek. 0
On the (,;,llowing motnfng an objection was raised by
ICole Younger. He wanted what be called '"a testirnony0
before the loot was buried
"No telling when we'll be back to dig it up, nor how
many of us there'll be," he said. "Right now is a good time
109
for all or us to bc:u witnc-.s thru we're each entitled to a
share:~
Je~ agreed that this was a prudent suggestion. He
picked up an old br:o-s bucket and with his knife he
scratched on the outer surface the owne of every mnn
pr~ent
"Frank a nd l wHI bury this bucket:• he snid. ''h bears
witness to everyone entitled to a share. ~\n)one who tries
to ,ne:tk back later to dig up the cache without telling lhe
others will answer to Frank and me.t•
Th~ burro~ were dnvcn to I.he selected s.ite at the he.ad of
a sm:itl t1troy~, guarded by a Jingle cottonwood tree. Here
the lrcnsu.rc was placed in a lar~ hule which was then filled
"ith canh and topped by several rocLs.
Jes~ surveved the result and shook hi~ head.
'' Wc11 lipread &he rock around more." b1: '3id . " This
way jr looks like a monument or maybe a grave .:ind will ot-
trncl the att.cnuon of anyone ~ing by:·
Tht rocu covering tbe cache were moved around to pr~
S('Ol a more natUral u~arance. Jesse then hammered a
burro shoo int0 the base of the cottonwood for a marker.
At his order lhe orher members of the gang, w11h rhe ex-
cepcio n of his brvthe.r, led tbe burr~ seve-ral hundred yards
uway, removed the pack saddles a·o d drove the animals oil
to shift for them~elvc~.
While Lhe saddles were being burned he and Frank
buried the brass buc:ket an the vicinuy \){ lhc: couonwood,
m .t site! which lhe> did not disclose.
1n the coun-c of the rrc:-xc six y1:~1rs, the Jome~ p.!ng con-
tinued ill> lav,.le-.s aclivities far and wide. TI1e law, ac-
cidental deatJl, illness nnd 01 hcr causes a lt 1001,. a 1011. One
of the m~rn~rq who •cJisoppcared" was Cote Younger,
who was apprehended and sentenc.-:d to t~·cnt\ •fhe years in
pribon following a daring bank robbery in Northfield. ~Un-
nc.sota
Amun2 the newer members were two brothers. Robert
and Charles Ford. On Apnl 3, 1882, th.:y \'tc;iu:.d Jesse in
Lh1. James homl! at SL Joseph. Missouri. nnJ r.reacherous.ly
-.ho1 hiin to death in order to ch.1im lhe SI 0.000. reward
oifereu by Governor Criuenu~n. Tbe story, :1.mJ the song
at.kJUt " °J he dircy little CO\\n.rd;' which has become a folk-
110
ad, arc so weU known that it is needless to repeat them
Frank $UrRndercd shortly aft.er Lhe sudden demise of his
lher. He wus never brought to trial, nnd he ultimately
chased a t 60 acre farm, two miles north o( Fletcher,
ahorna, where he settled down with his wire, Ann, to
the declining years of his life. He died in 1915 at the
of 72.
Should you happen to be a dedicated bclievcr in the En-
lop~dia Rrilannica, you will find that the facts differ
10me:Whnt from its assertion that Frank James' last years
tawere spcnl quietly on a farm in Missouri."
Actually the farm be bought near Fletcber in 1907, as
may be seen on any map oC Oklnhoma. is situated on U.S.
277, only eleven .miles due south of Cement lt wns his
atrategic hendquarters for bis efforts to retrieve th.e two
million doUars in gold bullion.
There hud been vast ehw,ges in the terrain of OkJahorna
during his long absence. Land had bee n homesteaded by
lonccy and by uruns"-nices for a claim begun at a specific
time. The most famous o[ these runs was the one to lbe
Cherokee Outlet in 1893.
Frank found. that land be remembered as wild had been
ltttled; trues bnd been cut; ground had been plowed for
farms ~many familiar landmark& hnd disappeared.
In the course of his long hunt for the treasure, he wore
out at least hal! a doz.en horses. There is no question that
be was in lhe vicinity of the cache a number of limes and in
some instances rode right over itl Yet in all those years be
never discovered it.
One other rnembe_r of the James gang is known to hnve
searched for the cache. When Cole Younger was released
from the penitentiary, he, too,.. returned to Oklahoma und
n:mained for a long while in Lawton, twenty-five miles
from Ce.menL
Younger and Frank James may have combined their
effons., for al times they were observed by sellters as they
rode, apparently aimlessly. through the countryside around
Cement in a spring wagon equipped with a pick and shovel.
These journeys aroused more than casual interest among
dlRe men : a physician, Dr. Wilbur Knee, and lWO farmers,
111
 Addams Md ~iers.on. The three of tbl!m got together nnd
undertook their own trct1sure hunL
Some milc-s Crom Cement they found the skeleton of a
bu_rro which, they decided, bod boon one of the eighr.cen
driven off when the treasute was buried. Continuina to
search, they came to a small rocky arroyo. Al one ....end
stood !-13e dt!eaying stump of a cotton\\.'000~ near itS base
they d1SCOvered an intbeddcd burro shoe.
TI1ey dug in feverish excitement.. Addams' pick struck
something wooden. Tree roots. They dug deeper ond en-
countered only hardpan. They sel"'-ctcd anol.her likely..
tooling .spo~ Lhis o_ne sevcraJ feet from the stump. They
dug agrun. An d again, n<;>trung.
"!"hey returned to the site m:lny times to probe nr,d djg.
Ulnmntcty they nbaodoneJ lhe hunt in discouragement.
Am<?ng the many trl!asure hunters who have sought the
trove smce th.en. the. closest r,o finding it was Deputy Shedff
Joe Hunter of Rush Spnng.,.
In 193 1 he began to search for it in his free time. He
found tbe small arroyo and the imbeddcd burro shoe
without difficulty. By this time thejr location was fairly
common knowledge in the area.
Weeks Later he received h.1s tint encouragement when he
dug up an old, short-handled prospector's pick several hun-
dred yards from the arroyo. Nearby, 'he subsequently found
the. chorrcd frames of eighteen pack saddles. Some were
partly expo~d to view. Others were scant mches below
ground, buried by the force of strong, dust-c.irr}ing winds,
not by man.
After scvcnd more mon1hs of methodical searching~ be
dug up an iron ten ~eute fifty y:irds closer to LM cotton-
wood stump. Prying open the rusted Utl, with shaking
hands be poured out the contents: some $5,000. worth of
gold coins, two pearl brooche$, a g-0ld Jockct ~l with a
large ruby, a French five franc coin dated 1811 , one U.S.
penny dated 184 J • nnd an old silver-cased w,nch.
On the reverse side of the watch wn, the engraved name
of the owner. "Theodore Studtey" a.nd st:1mped bclow W3S
the name o( the manufacturer, "New Yock_ Watch Co.'7
Springfield, Mass."
From the variety of objects, both ma!<culine and
feminine, Hunter deduced lh.ll they were the spoils of one
112
of ,~•s lesser holdups-probobly taken from the
passengers of a stageco:1ch. He c-casoned tJ1at J essc had
been carrying them in his saddlebags as he was riding north
from Mexico ond that he had buried them close to but
npan f rnm the bullion.
Certain th.at he must be getting close to the trove,
Hunter contin-ued to scnrch. More lhan rwo years were to
pass ~fore he unearthet.J the most conclusive evidence or
the burial of the bullion-the brass bucket!
The .. ,estimony'' demnnded by Cole Yo unger fifty-seven
years _before was su11 discernible on the outer surface.
~r~acmg _the nnmes of the gang members who had pa.r-
uc,p~ted ~ the holdup of th~ burro train, the point o{
Jesse s knife hnd scratched the words: "On this, the 5 d3y
of Marci\ 1876, we whose names appear do bear witness
one to the other."
Beneath the names Jesse had al$0 scratched the outline
of a gt'n\'e., n cross. n pack burro and a buao's shoe with an
arrow poinLing away from the shoe. Stamped on che bot-
tom of the bucket was the maker's nnme, ..E. Miller nnd
Co.. Patented 16 December. 185 l .u
The drawing of the gra\e puzzled Hunter for there were
none in the vicinity. H e decided that it was~ pictograph for
0
the w~rd burial." The pack burro represented the
pacl,r:un or gold, the burro>s lboe was tl)e landmark ou
the cottonwood stump.
!'5 for the arrow-this was the enigma. Obviously it
pointed away from the stump towards the cache and it
poinled ro the right. But how far? Jesse had not indicated
the number of feet.
For several years thcr-cttfter Joe Hunter continued seek-
ing for the treasure. Confident lhal be was close 10 it he
was sdlJ searching for iLin 1948 when he was ilucrvie~ed
for a feature story.
·•rm going 10 .find that two million dollars before 1 die!"
be told the reporter who came from Tulsa to visit him.
But_ Joe Hw,!er never did. Re passed on quietly
some~ cinly m the l 950s without unearthing Jesse.
James biggest trove. Nor, to this dnyt bas anyone else.
113
 und cannonball whlsrltd through the nir, hannlcssJy
ropping into the cnlm water several yards from the old
stomhousc. where a crowd of paisano fishermen~
orckcepers nnd ranchers hod gathered.
CHAPTER 13 "H ey, M:irshn1tn s01neone- culled out dclightedly.
hcy're saluung us!"
Deputy U.S. Marshal Harlan Wenzel wos a cautious,
Tom Sing's $780,000. War Against w-speaking six-footer. He eyed the v,klening ripples in
1'Jut UniJed StaJts c waler where the C-MUlonbnlJ had landed.
"I'm not so sure," he deliberated. ''Seems to me they
whangcd at us."
On a beautiful October morrei.ng in J875, residents or Mon- "'h was a firecrnckc-r, Marshal,'' laughed Jim Loughran,
te rey. California, wit.ncssr...d a sight whose li~e had never owner of Lhe feed store. "Like they shoot off in 'Frisco on
the Chinese New Year. They're celebrating their safe nr-
.
before been observed in American waters, nor has it been
rivaL"
S\l\C.C.
Seven stately Chinese war junks, each ~ghty feet in Wenz.el scratched his graying head dubiously. He was o
length, were framed betwe.en the wide headlands of the \'Cternn o( the Civil War and he recognized a cannon shot
bay, advancing in a line. when he heard nnd saw one,
~arve~ in their high bows were fierce wooden cyci.. Only one man in Monterey knew whnt it was alJ about. a
Pamted an reds and yellows to frighten off the demons o[ small Chinese who was watching silently among Lhe spec-
unknow1~ seas, tbe cyc_s glared b alefully at Monterey. tators. Tom Sing was a stoopshouldered1 forty-fo ur-ycar-
The sixty-five-foot mast of each junk w as set with three olJ cook working in Ole l-ilchen of Sam Tomasino's Eating
batwing sail!> o[ shiny yellow mats, decorated with gilded House. H e bnd bceo suffering great loss of face since
good luck charms and topped with th!!- Hying buttle flags of 1780.000. in got~ his own earnings as well as those of
lhe Imperial Chinese Nnvy. many of his fellows, hnd been stolen Crom him.
O n the deck of the Courageous Eagle, flagship of the Sing had originally come to tbc Unit.eel Stales with hun-
fleet, s tood Admiral Tau Yet Sung. War Lord of the Sc&~ ircds of other Chinese contract-laborers to work on the
He had sail~ his junks across the Pacific al rhe order of Union Pacific Railrond. He had been a cook for railroad
the Dowag_cr Empress Tzu Hsi of China. Her stem and :onstrucrioo gangs Crom \Vest Las Animas to Pueblo on the
implacable orders were: :olorado and New Mexico Railroad and on the Los
uyou wiU invade the United States and capture the city '°geles-Salt Lake Line of the Union Pacific.
of Mo nterey. You will seek: out our subject, Toin Sing, and All the time Sing and his fellow countrymen carefully
assist him in t11c recovery of all gold stolen from him and ,ept their pigtails because without them they would not be
bis fellow subjects of China. U this {ails, you will then ex- lllowed to re-enter China. They boarded just as carefully
act compensation Crom the United Sta~ govemmeoL" .heir wages, wbicb they ho ped to take back to their
Now, many months after sailing from Tien1sin with two JOmdand with them.
hundred and sbtty-five men,, fifty shiny brass camion and a They insisted upon being p:iid in new gold coins. Whc!11
large assortment of btoadswords and trade cul l ~ Ad- hey received their wag_~. the coins wcte placed in a small
miml Tau had invaded Es lero Bay. At a range or one-third ,ag and patiently shaken for hours at 11 time. This tedious
of a mile he i ave the order to fire at the city of Monterey. ,perntioo ultimately produced a small amount of gold dus t
A lighted pine torch was applied to Lh.c fuse in the breech n the bottom of the bag. The goJd dust paid for their frugal
of the ten-pounder in the bow u( lhe Coruageous Eagle. A ICCCsaities. Each Chinese then hid bis coins in the gro und
114 115

against the day wbeo he eithe r wo uld be mo ved elc;cv. here
v.-1 th h,~ g,tng. o r bis contract wo uld c'<ptrc un<l he would
return to Cl11nJ.
There ~ as a ser ious flaw in this syste m . lt v.a.•m't vt;ry
long before v.h1te railroad laborers und ouwidc rs-mule
stinn•~rs, trappers, cowhand s and soldie rs who happene d to
be slat1oneJ in the area-be gan to c:nga!!e in hunt:> for
"Chink gold." Hundreds of the small c aches were located
and dug up, a nd many a Chinese laborer had his entire sav-
ingc; i;tolc~. . i'3urnnt in o rder to case the layout.
T o m Sing was one. After his cache was _robbed. _he
decided sadly that there would be n~ purpose m ret~rning
to China. I le wo uJd have to i.tart saving all over agam and
it would be sc, cral years before he would have enough to
take wiLh him to his _homelan d.
I nstead he made his way to the \Vest Coast. ln Monte rey
he became a cook in a pairano r~stauran t in _the soul~ end
o f tow n. The owner, ~ru:" T o masmo,_ was a ~1a mond m the
rough who tO?k a Mang to the h~tle _Chinese. Bci,ides
wages, Tom Sing was allowed to live m a small shack
behind the restaura nt . door where stro ng pl anl,.,s had been set in place against the
T om Sing had resolved that he never ~gain w~uld b ury
money in the ground. Nor did he put his trust m ha~ks.
With his very first wages he bought un old but durable iron
safe which he installed in his !.hack. It was a much bigcer
safe than he could fill in a lifetime of cooking but it wa~ the
only o ne he could buy for fi fteen d ullars. . .
T hen he had an idea. Ther~ was plenty o f r~~ '" h~s
safe for the money o f o ther Chinese. Instead o f hu..lmg rhcir
wages in the gro und the railroad laborers. fo r a small kc.
co uJd de posit them in his safe and be freed from worry
abo ut being robbed. . .
He went to the Joeill office o r the Cuhfom 1~ Stage Co m-
pany which c arried gold shipmen ts to the r :ulroa<l_c_a mps.
Tbe rc he w us informed that the company was willing to
car ry the wages o f work.me n ba~k to Montere y on return
tri ps. . The operation was progress ing smoothly and they were
The plan proved successfu l fro m the start. T o m Sing had
a rc put:.ll inn for scrupulo us ho nesty. The _w_o rd soon
spread not only to railroad camps but to nuning towns
whe re Chinese labore rs were employe d Mo re an<l more o (
them ..cnl thc.ir wages to him fo r safekee ping. Allhoug b he
116
nlinued cooking for Sam Tomasin o, be was also in the
an~ing business, in 3 way . He received 3 small fee for
ch deposit and paid his deposito rs no interc!:lt. I~ t~e
urse of five years $780,000. in gold accumuf atcd in bis
ig sa fe. .
.
It was at I.his Lime that three no to rio us San Fra nc isco
ank robbcrs. -Pa ul Downs Luke Sherida n, a nd R amo
u~uto--l carncd about T o m' Sing's un ique ''bank ."
I Downs. the leader, came down to Montere y from San
'F rnncisco nnd ate lunch and supper at Tomasin o's res-
.
"Easy as sucking eg_l:!S," he reported to his confeder ates.
~Just o ne llltle hcalhcn Chincc cook alone in the sh:tck
ith all tha t mo ney.·•
The robbery proved as easy as P a ul Downs had said . On
'the mo rning of February 5, 1874. at appro:<lm atcly. 2
A.M .. Downs and Lusu10 ente red the cook's shad.
d rawn guns while Sheridan waited o utside in an open
'"th
¥w agon hitched to a tea m o f horses.
Tom Sing was sound asleep. He was awakcn~ d and
gagged and bound . The heavy sa fe was rolled o uLS1de the
wagon's tailgatl! . The safe was hoisted u p o n the w:1gon
with pulleys and covered with a tarpaulin .
The lrio drove a few miles southwa rd towards C a rme~
then headed cast in the direc tio n o f the Silina.s River
following a n old eau le trail.
ll was almost daylight when they reached the river at a
point about midway between C hualar and Gonzale s, two
small to wns six miles apart. (The towns are now connecte d
b y the superhighway. U .S. 10 l.)
They halted the wagon in a stand of pines a few hundred
yards fro m the ba nk of the river, rolled ou t the sJ.fe a~d
made prepara tio ns to bl:ist it o pen. In addi tion to dynam_ue
they had brought with them jute bags into which they Ul-
tended to transfer the loot, and digging tools to bury the
filled bags.
preparin g to set off the d ) nnmite whe n they heard the
bellow o f cattle seve ral hundred yards upstream . A rancher
and his cowhand s were wa tering the stock .
.
The cattleme n were in no hurry to leave. The bamhlS
117
hod lO wrut quietly among the trees for n long time before:' At seven o'clock Sam Tomasino went intu 1he shack to
lhc herd mo,ed off. llll out why. He discovered Tum Sing., rcmovcll thl! gag.
Al!J.in tl!t trio got read~ to. dyn~mitc the safe and aga.iw Ut UlC ropes from b,s wrisfS and ankles. The LWO o( lhl.!m
they were toterruptecl This wnc al was four Mexicans en n sought out Dcruty U.S. MarshaJ \Vcnzel ta whom
rovte to a fiesui m SaJinas, who paused to water their om Sing 101J his story.
ho~. . • . \\'enzel listened sympathetically and then he usked qucs-
No telling who U be along next," said Downs. •~Anyone JOns. Had the cook ever seen the robbers be(ore'l Only one
who do~ b sure lO bear the blast and start looking around f them. Tom Sing answered. A few duys before the rob-
[or the reason." ry n stranger hnd hod lunch and supper in the restaurant.
He decided to change their plans. Lusuto was to drive i.4: was one of the pnir who lnter entered the shack. 1icd up
the empty wagon on to Chualar, aba.,don it and purchase T om Sing and made off with the safe.
three sadc.lle horses, 1n the meantime Downs and Sheridan Wt:nzel was a conscientious lawman. He traced the trio
would dig a hole in the ground amid the trees and bury the of robbers lo the bani of the Salinas River nnd in lhe near-
safe with its contents intact. Tbe gold -would be retrievtd at by woo<ls he came upon an nhnndoaed pick and shovel. In
some future Lime. Chualar be found the tenm and wagon ditched by Lusuto
When Lusuto returned later that evening, riding a fine and lcam ed about the lynchine of the horse thieves. The
horse and le~ding two othersl Downs and Sheridan were descriptions of two of them, Downs and LusuLo. tallied
waiting for him. with those given to hi m by Tom Sing.
~•oamne-0 gl")()d stock:• Downs approved. "How much Other than the pick and shovel. howe,•er, Wenzel did not
did you hc1ve to pay for >em'f" ftnd n clue lo the safe and its cooleots..
''Nothing." A grin o.ppeared on Lusu,o's face. 1 ·\Vhole He questioned lhe knder of the lynching party, n cattle
bunch of hor.-es were in the corral bcbmd the livery st:1blc. dealer named Gene Lodge. Had a-ny of them anything to
I picked three of ·1he best." say before being swung'/
"You .stole em?'~ Downs was appall<!d by this monumen--: ..What could they say besitle o quick prayer?" Lodge-
tat pk-cc of stupidity. "Lusuto. you're n goddamned (ooll" 1hrusg-cd his shoulders. "We caught 'em witb the rustled
0
IL wt1s too tote to do anythmg else but flee. The irate horses
citiz.en1 or C'hoalar had already fot'med n pos~ and were ··Ma)·be being so Cast to hang •em will cost a lot of
preparing lo g,_o after them. AU tney could do was to run. Chinese t1bou1 lhrec-quan crs of a million dollars," \Vem_el
They galloped southward and dashed thtough Gonzalea comment~J. more in sorrow rban in anger.
without drawing rein. They spurred their tiring horses o.n~ . He rode back to Mon~!ey and broke lhe news to Tom
heading acros\ unfamiliar terrain. The.y headed for the Sing. He suggested orgam1.1_ng a ~ rch party lo hunt for the
wilds of the Cull Mountains and blundered into a blind aafe on the bank of the Sahnas River. .•
cnnyon. Tom Sing said he would look for the safe alone and
It was there that the Chuniar posse. augmented by sun,. pleaded with Wenzel to keep news of the robbery quiet. He
dry cifrieus from Gonzales, cuug.ht up with them on the would suffer great loss of £-ace if his countrymen learned
follO\\-iog day. 1 here was a brier gun battle before Downs, about it.
L~1J.lo n_nd Sheridan ~urrcndered. They were lynched on Wenzel pointed out that he had to make an official
the :,pot as horse thicv~◄ Not- one of them sujd o word repo~ but he agreed that as f~ l\S the town '-vas concerned
about the Monterey robbery. he would maintnin secrecy. The only olher resident of
As for the victim, Tom Sing, a.c 6:30 A.M. on the day he Montt rey who knew about the big robbery was Sam
wa.... robl')\!d he did 1tot ap~ar in the kitchen ru. usual to Tomasino and he, too. pledged his silence.
stoke up the wood stove for his daily cooking. Tom Sing journeyed alone Lo the Snlin.'\S. He dug in
11 8 119
 likdy spots for several days without finding the safe.
He returned to Monterey, having dcc;ded to teU oth
Chinese nbout the robbery despite the resultant lo-.$
face. Some of lhem certainly would nid him in a second.
more methodicnJ hunt.
He sent word to feUow countrymen who hod lost their
savings in the robbc:ry, and ,a number o( them did pat•
tkipate wilh bun in a search. However. it wns delayed tor
more than a month beea~ of abnonnully heavy rains and
the flooding of the Salinas River.
The river overflowed its banks in a wide area. When 1hc
water receded il deposited a layer of silt wherever it had
reached, obliterating Jandm-arks.
This. w& lhc ultimaLe blow to Tom Sing. He pedged to
his felJow countrymen that he would never le-ave the
region. If be could not find the safe he would ref)'jy their
losses from his own wages. Jn proof of hls sincerity he
solemnly cut off his qucue--whicb meant he nL\er again
would be permitted to enter China.
His intentions were of the be~l but when he did M>me
simple figuring on his abacus ho ,e{lltzed it would 1ake him
a long time to repay $780,000. from his ten dollars a
monlh wages-about 6,500 years!
He brooded overr this. hoping to find a bt.-tter solution,
and one day it came to him The United States government
wns rl;S~ible for his great sorrow and lo'li!> of foce be-
cause il permitted robbers 10 plunder mnoccm, llardwork-
ing Cbinc~e. Therefore the government shouJ(J be forc\!d to
make restitution.
There was only on~ way in which this rnjght be done. He
wouJd appeal to the aU-powerful Dowager Empl\:'-q Tzu
Hsi of China to help him and bis fellow countrymen.
It wus weeks before Tom Smg could summ0t, up the
temerit) to write to the Empress but when he tHd he sug-
gested lhat inasmuch as the robbery had occurred in Mon-
terey. perhaps Monterey should be captured and held by
the Chinese tlt:et or army until lhe U .S. government repaid
the money.
"Divine Oowa,cr Empress T-'u Hsi, Regent of All
China, Protcctress o f all Lo)al Subjects in the L:mds
Beyond lhc Seas... he wrote with l'.l brush in carcful
ideographs.
120
"J. Tom Sing. the bones or whose honorable ancestors
lie in ptace in the Valley of the 1 hird Hill of Camon• .,up-
plicate you for assistance and beseech you to send a gre-at
fket of invincible war junks to the Americn.n Province o(
Montcre}' to right the wrongs of many of your toyal sub-
jects."
Tom Sin!l's leuer arrived at the Imperial Palace in Pek-
ing sometime late in 1874. By stow and ceremonious stages
it passed from one official to another until tfoolly. io the
spring of 1875, i,t was broughc lo the tlltenlion of the fiery
old Empress Tzu Hsi.
She mad it indign1llltly. ll rekindled nn old anger within
her.
For scvernl years following the Catifornja gold Tush of
1849 nnd the westward expansion of the railroads tbe
Chinese ''conlract laborers" who came to the United States
had been badly treated. The Empress bad finally sum-
moned U.S. Minister Anson Burlingame to the palace and
insisted thut our government sign a treaty guaranteeing fair
treatment lo Chinese in the United States.
The trcaly had gone into effect in 1867-1868, but com-
plaints had continued. Tom Sing's lett-cr was che 'final
straw. The Empress ordered a war fleet to sail for Mon-
terey • ...
As the crowd of spectaton at the old customhouse grew,
Ben Mossmon, lhe town barber. received the news and hur-
ried from his shop to his home Lo don bis Sunday clothes.
Besides being bnrber and undertaker, Mossman was the
town orator. Ir was he who made the official speech at a
funeral, wedding, Founh ot July celebration and lynching.
Suit.ably au.ired. he hurried to the watcrfronl and sought
out U.S. Depury Marshal Wenzel.
"Monterey ls greatly honored by th.is visit from the
Chinese Nnvy," he said. "It is a historic tribute: to our
growing metropolis. They'll an rum green with envy in
Redwood and Frisco when they hear about h. What we
lhould do right quick is form a reception comnuttee,
organiu a parade. arrange for an ox-roast."
"AU right_.1 t Wenzcl agreed1 relieved to have Lhis un-
precedented imemational problem taken off his hands.
-You're elected."
On board tho Courageous Eagle, AdmiraJ Tau was com-
121
pletely mystified. There h:td been no rcpt) to hi~ challe.ng-
mg. c.1_11nuu hr,e and lro,n \\lial h\! i\~ .iou: to ws..:r,e. lhc
AmencJI\$ on ~horc \,ere neuhcr muling. preparations for
bJltle nor getltng rct1dy to l\ee. He tinalh c.Jc"iucd that the
sight of his invincible bauJc fleer strud. s~ch tenor to thl.!ir
hearts lhat thi:y _wanted to surrl!nder \\ilhout a fig.ht.
He ordered his barg~ lowcri!d over the stern Surrounded
by a guard or twenty-fo11r sailors disptavin1t b.irc cutlasses
he was r(lwed to the custom house. • ~ ,
\Vhen l'H? set foot on shore the blonde daul?.htcr or Sieve
Knowlton, proprietor of the Miuwuy Saloon. presenh:d him
W~th n bunch of roses. The admiral accepted th!! bouquet
\\ tth a cun nod. thin ling to hims\llf that this wa._ a curious
manner of surrendering.
Then Ben Mcxsman'b voice boomed in o flood of oratory
nnd the ndmir11l turned to his interpreter with n frown.
''\Vhat is their spokesman saying? ls he supplicaling. me
to spare his city?"
The interpreter's translation was sketchy. He hnd only n
vngue kh:a of what Mossm~o was taJ.kin!? about.
''He s:a}s. August War Lord of lhe Seas, that the city of
MonLcr~y is yours \\ it.hout fun her ~bting. Tomghl vour
victory is to be commemorated by a great parnde and fensl.
in accordance with their custom.11
The admiral held up his hand. Tl1is homage to the con-
queror could wait. FtrSt he would carry out the orders of
Lhe cmpres!..
•·summon the one who is nameJ Tom Sing! ..
\\ entcl spotted the cook in the cro\\d. Tom Sing :tp-
proachcd tht 3dmirnl hcsnantly.
.. Point out tJ1t robbers who have stolen the gold from
}OU and all the oth~rs!" tlte admiral ordered ~tcrnly.
T om Sing explained that Lhe robbers had been c,;ecutcd
for other grievous sins but thot the golcJ they hnd stolc.n had
not been found.
''Then; · declared the admiral... r sh:ilt hold the city of
Moncucy un1U the go,cmmcnt of 1he United Su,tcs mak:es
full rcstilution! ..
There never wns a more peaceful occupa.tion of n city
nor 3 more curioucc. international misunderstanding.
That night there was a torchlight p:m1dc m ~ hich the.
sailors of the ln1pe1 ial Chinese Acct and the cith.ens of
122
Montttey participated. Admiral Tau rode ln the lead car-
riage accompanied by U.S. Deputy Marshal Wen2,ct Ben
Mossman. 1om Sing and, at his request,. his friend and
benefactor, Sam Tomasino.
This was followed by an ox-roast At the conclusion Ad-
mir.d Tau mude 11 ceremonious speech. He complimented
the citizens or Monterey for having capitulated so
peaccfuJly, in:'°rmcd them that he would dispatch a letter
to the American government on the following day and
assured them th3t the city would be returned to them as
soon as the $780,000. in gold arrived from the U.S.
~reascry in \Va!Jlington, D.C.
Admital Tuu sent bis courier, a Captain Mai, and hi.s in•
t.erprcter. to \Vnshington. D.C. On the following day Lhey
boarded lhe stagecoach for San Fmncisco-whue they dc-
ddcd 10 desert They Dc\'er returned 10 ~fonterey.
The seven war junks remained anchored io Estero Bay,
and the admiral waited. His knowledge of the geogritphy of
the United Stales wo.s vague nnd he thought that his courier
woukl be buck within a few day1,,. He relieved the
monotony of waiting b}' oocnsionally going_ ashore where
he was invariably oourt.cously trea~.
With the p~sing of lhe days Admiral T au grndually
kamed the true situation. At first he was morbid and de-
pressed. The irascible dowager empress invariably ordered
the beheading of her war lords if they failed to carry out
inatruclions to the letter.
Then Admir:ll Tau began to feel better and made some
plans of his own. One day, after colleoting aU Lhc ~old
coins and transport.able valuables of his bat.Uc fleet in two
bags. he had hirnse.if rowed ashore. He, too, boarded a
stage for San Francisco. It w;is lhe last that was ever heard
of him.
Follov. ing nis dcpanure, the sailors began to venture
ashore. With the admiral gone there seemed Less and less
lilcelihood of the fleet sailing back lo China, and most of
them seemed relieved. The voyage to Mo-nterey had taken
months, during which they had endured hunger and thirst,
llormy sea~ and diseases which had caused seventy-one
deaths. They had been dreading the return voyage.
Some of them obtained jobs as fishermen nnd sailor,
aboard the many craft in the harbor, and their descendants
)23
may be found in Monterey ro chis day. Other.1. more ven-
turesome, found 1he1r wa~ to S.\11 Francisco, n.nd to jobs in
the mining and rnllroad cam~.
Tum Sing remuincd in Monterey. He continued to work
for the understanding Sana Tom ttSino and he occasionally
rooli: time olT to search the bonl of \he Salina'> Rivl.!r for bis
burieJ safe containing $780.000. He never founu it.
The ~even :ibantlooed war junks swung at anchor in lhe
bay for a long time. Uhimately they either !:ank or were
driven ashore by storms and br<>ken up for firewood by the
ciuuns of Mo nterey. They were Lhe las:t tangible reminder
to Tom Stnl!. or the fortune in c.old that was stolen from him
and his fellow co untrymen and Lhal is still ~iog.
124
CHAPTER 14
Shipwrecked Treasure of ti~ Dunes
!Staring oft to port through the darkness of a stormy
November night. Captain Edmund Scoville, skipper of lhe
British freig,hter Florenc-e, observed a reassuring l\ghl bol>-
bing slowly soutJ1wa.rd.
..Probably a Yankee coasler or fishing craft." he said to
helmsman Matt Olmstead and heaved a sigh of relict
..Hold 1ttcady 10 your course...
"Aye. aye, steady as she goes," Olmstead responded.
Capuun Scoville bad been worrying for the past hour.
The Florence, bound for Liverpool, had sailed fro m Vera
Cruz several days before with a mixed cargo in her hold
and $300.000. in gold bars, consigned to the Bank of
England, stowed in the captain,s cabin.
Afte r taking on an additional shipment of turpentine at
Charleston, S.C., she was plowing through stormy waters
off Cape Haneras and beating her way up chc treacherous
coast towards her deparrure poinl for crossing the Atlantic.
The skipper hod been summoned to the bridge when
L-.~.sman Olmstead and First M ate Andrew Conyers
failed to raise Diamond Shoals Light. Now, after anxious
fttching. Captain Scoville had sighted the bobbing light
concluded that it was a vessel under way between bis
own ship and the Outer Banks, a long, narrow strip of
aody land stretching along che North Carolina shore.
Convinced that the Fll)ren~ was further out at sea~ and
a grente1 margin of safety than he had first believed,
skipper recumcd LO his cabin and his interrupted ,leep.
Approximately an hour later the Florence ran aground
the boiling shoals a few miles south of Nag's Head.
rs and crew took to the lifeboats, which were either
125
swnmped or overturned by huge waves. All thirty-one of
them were drownl!<l~
Boa~ mw~d by sturdy Bu~kers put out for the partly
submerged '.>hip on 1_bc following day, when the raging sea
hnd somewhat subsided. She was boarded, and that pan of
the cargo not under wmer was brought to shore nnd divided
among the Ba nkers.
The gold bars were removed from the skipper·s cnbin.
nc:iUy \a,·rappcd and tied in o ld saildoth and buried in a_
rwenty-foot-higb sand dune near Kitty Hawk.
\Vith the passing of Lime the PlorenC(' wa5 pounded to
pieces by the fury o f Atlantic storms. What was left of her
san_k to the bottom of the shoals, to jo in many olher ~hips
which h.id strayed, o r been lur~ oil their course to the
..graveyard of the Atlantic.·•
No ooe today knows for sure how many unsu§pecting
sea cuptnins ran their ve~ls a.shore or aground o n the
quicksand-bottomed shoals, decoyed by lho trld.. which
gave Nag's Head its nrune.
The lrick wns sitnp1c. iogi!'nious and effective. On dark
rughts Banlers fastened a Ut!hted lantern to a horse's n\?-Ck
and Jed the animal along the~horc . Like C.ipt.im Scoville. -•11.wJip
m ~ny a hdmsman. :ind officer on watch cm passing ships
m,srook the bobbing of lb\! lanrem for the molioo of
another vessel oIT-!>bore.
. Luring ships aground, "s:.tlvagjng" their cargoes J nJ hid-
u1g wbaLever trea~ure was found ttbo-ard was an old und
pious practice o{ lhc clannish mhabitams of lhe Outl!r
Bnnls.
No r is the word "pious" used io sorcalitll. £o r the idea
was onginated by members of the conirc!?auon of Starr
M1:lhodist Church in thl! , ilfag~ of Straits, in Cancret
Coumy--,accoruing to local let;ends.
The winter or 181 3 was one of the most severe io the
hbtory or the Outer Bnnks. There had b~n a crop-killing
drou~t the previous sun1mer. and when the winter set in,
rhe waters of AJbemurh: nm.I Pnmlk<1 Sounds froze: so
solidly tbcit Bunl..ers were unable to fish. runhcrmore a
British blockade made il impos.-.ible {or lhtm to sail their
boats OUl into lhe AU.intic.
Confronted by the specter of starvation the Bank"1"S
gathl!I'ctl in church and Parson Starr prayed: .. If it bt: pre-
126
lell:tncd that there be a shipwreck on the Atlantic coast,
Dlease let it be Thy Will that jt happen hcret••
So it did, a few days later. The British schooner
avelock ran aground. Not only did she bo.vc 11 cargo of
ur that averted starvation, but in lhe captain's cabin
er w1is an nnny payroll of $16,500 .• more lh:tn enough
the Bankers to buy seeds rOl' the spring plantlng.
Providence had been kind to lbc despairing Bankers.
Some of them resolved that in the future they would give
Providenu n helping hand.
In subsequent years. chere was a perceptible increase in
number of ships run.rung onto the shoals. Not all of
m sank out of sight Some grounded in shnllow water.
1iA1mong these were the USS Ht"on., wrecked in November,
1877, with a lo~ of a hundred and eight lives. and the
"tish tramp, Ariosto, wrecked in December, 1899.
Some, like the G~orge W. Wells_, first six-masred
ICbooner ever bunt, were driven a.shore. She mel her fate in
gale in 1913.
One of the most curious wrecks, and certail1Jy one which
Bankers did not decoy, was an ancient Eli.7..abethan
an
known u a •'crumpster," which is believed to have
esoort ship during the settlement of Sir Walter
eigh's R oanoke Island colony in 1587. After being iro-
ned on the shoal bottom for centuries, she was
ased by lbe powerful, undennining tide during the Sep-
bcr. 1944, hurricane .and the wind then drove her up on
beach.
The Bankers cache<I ••salvaged•• treasure in the dunes
many years. It bas been estimated that they secreted
· ion$ or dollars worth of gold and sil'vcr coins, gold bars.
tc, jewelry and other valuables during the nineteenth
tury. Among the repositories were Kill Devil, The
._,,'"' Sisters,. Jockey's lUdge and Engagement Ridge.
The Banker$ were secretive as well as clannish. When,
occasionally happened, a visitor chanced to find a gold
while wandering among the dunes, he got nowhere by
· g questions. 1f be persisted, he was informed that the
.,,__,._ Banks were considerably north of pirate country and
lllrlhennore the date on the coin was conchllive proof that
was not from a pirate board.
Th\1$, for a long, Jong time, few if any visitors from the
127
 ·•mnintnnd·• thought of scnrching for buried treasure on the uncovCRd another lhiID' object nearby-the USS Huron's
Oulu B:mk:s. silver sugur bowl.
ln 1929 a retired army engineer, William H. Kin• Now old stories and rumors about treasure buried in the
den atcr, arrived at Nng's Head on a mission. A massive dunes we.re revived, and there was an influx or visitors to
gr.mite pytoo was ro be erected :.u nenrb) Kiuy Ho" k to the OutcT Bank,. They roamed the dunes wilh spades and
commemorate Lhe historic first night of the Wright one of them. Lawrence Prescott of Richmond, Virginia,
brothers. dug up two gold bars and a piece of tattered sailclolh near
As a preliminary it was decided to survey dune fonna- the base of a dune in the vicinity of Kitty Hawk.
tion and lO determine if erosion couJd be prevented. Con- le was believed that this was a small pan of the
stant winds picked up sand panicles and blew them $300,000. hsaJvoged" frorn the Florence. The .fact that
Wl!Stwnrd, causing. the dunes to "travel." Prescott's find was not made in the dune but in the sand
Several experts took part in this investigation. One o[ near i, again emphasized the ''truveling" of the dunes. Al-
lhem was Dr. P:\ul Merc,djtb who h:td made :i ~mcwluu though some of them originally bad been each.cs, the
bimilar investigation in Denmark where he hud ascertained treasure they had hidden now was covered only by a com-
that Lhe dunes "traveled'' between fifte~n and l\\-Cnty-Coor paratively shallow layer of sand.
feet nnnually. 1n June. 1948. Norman and Jill Cowan. a young couple
When Meredith took measurements at Kill Devil he was from Newark, N.J .• were honeymooning at Nags He:.d
aswunded to find 1hat in a span of twenty-six years.. begin- when they added another time dimension to I.be treasure
ning at the time of the first flight of the Wright brothers rn potenti:iJitics of the Outer Banks.
1903, the dune had •·moved" more than a quarter of n mile The Cowans were strolling on the beach near Oregon
westward towards Albemarle Souod. Inlet when lhcy found severm silver dollars c-.ist up by the
Nor was this all be discovered. Approximately seventy• tide. Most o! them bad been minted in the early 1940s.
five yards from the base of the Atlnntic, or windw:1rd, side One, bearing the date of J852. was subsequently sold to a
of the dune bis foot sculled a shiny object in U1c ~and. coin dealer for $965.
\Vhen he dug j1 up it proved to be the large, handsomely About a month later more silver cow minted in the late
engraved silver punch bQwJ presented to the officers• 1930s and early 1940s were found on the beach to-get.her
wardroom of the USS Huron a.t the time of her launching. wilh a cignreue lighter that bad been manufactured in
Meredith pointed out to Kindervater that the , ... arshlp 1939.
had been wrecked in November, 1877, in l,he worst disaster The coins and lighter obviously had been washed ashore
in U.S. Navy history up to that time-. from u ship wrecked after 1939-bul what ship?
uu we can assume that dle punch bowl was hidden in the AJdlough Outer Bankers bad long since abandoned the
dune soon aftc:rwards this rneans tbat in tbl! ensuing fifty- quaint custom or decoying vessels iow the im prisor,i:ng
two yenrs the dune bas retre.ited a considerable- distance sbonls, the fury of Hatteras storms has not abated. Besides
from I.be &He where the punch bowl was burioo." be natural hwards, a number of strips were sunlc in lhis area
d~lared. by German U-boats and Boating mines during Wodd Wax
This interested Kindcrvater and Mcredilh mostly from a D.
scientific sumdPQinL, but when news of the discovery During four appalling months from January through:
reached llte ma.inland it created excitement of a di!fcrcnt April. 1942, there were forty-one !>uch sinkings officially
sort. listed. Among them were tankers-for example, the Ario,
The excitement was heightened\ soon afterward when a TfflfU and D,xie Allow-freighters and cargo vessels
retired sea c:ipto1n, Jefferson Haymnn of Roa.no~ Jstnnd. iDc:ludmg the Libera1or, Brazos aod Car,bsea.
128 129
 Occanogtaphcrs e-xplain thnt the relentless action <>f
tide. wind. wave and occasional pie or hurricune. will. in
time. [o rcc many of lhcse submerged vessels to disgo rec
some of their contents and valuahles--if. ind~¢d. the entire
urreck is not driven ashore as occurred with the sj,ttcenlh
century crumps1cr. CHAPTER 15
Thus. besides the eartier and intcntiomil cache.-. that nrc
still pro vocatively abundant and undlScovercd on rhe Outer
Banks. many resulting from the forces of nature ma) be Tht Million Dollar Murde Trial of John Dillinger
cast there thro ugho ut the yenrs. perhaps the ec;murics, to
come.
In Ma-y, 1933. a tall, th.in twenly--nine-year-old convict
with brownish-red hair and tig:b~ thin lips, w as paroled
m Indiana State Prison after serving eight-nnd-a-hatf
years of two concurrent s.enteo_ces for assalllt and battery
and conspiracy to commit a felony.
In the course of the following fifteen months, Jolin Her-
bert Dillinger and his kill-crazy pals mutdered ten men,
wounded a number of others, staged three jail bre~
-raided three police arsenals. Tohbed several midwcs tem
banks. They squirreled away fl)ore than a mlllion dollars in
cash. of which only $25,000. has ever been reco~red.
Dillinger's first bank job, the State Banlc in the heart of
•-i.u·~wpolis, did not pny off despite meticulous planning.
Jn fact 1t threatened t.o cod his spectacular career before it
had fairly begun.
He planned the robbery with another ex,-co~ a twenty-
lix-year--olJ pal named Homer Van Merer,. who was a bit
r five feet tall, always wore a cherubic expression on his
und face and appeared as guileless as n well-brought-up
school sLUdent.
After casing the bank Dillinger and Van Meter decided
they would need help, and their tboug,hts turcwd to
other prison pals: Russell Clark, John "Three-Finger
act" Hamilton, Harry Pierpont and Ha-uy Makley-the
two were bolh armed robbery specialists.
The fact that this quartet was still in lndiann State
· did not faze Dillinger. He knew that they were
..._..,ing in the prison shirt Cactory. And having himself
llbon:d there for five years, Ile was familiar with both the
mM-tioos nnd the suppliers. He had a plan.
131

Jn the coul'$e of the nexr few \\'Cek.ci he obt.nined u job as
loader in Lbe Indianapolis thread factory v. hich supl,.i'--d
lhc prison He hid four .45 caliber automatics 1Jl n crnte of
thread which was to be shipped to the prison and spauercJ
som.: hlJck paint on the side o( tfoH particular crate. ,\nd
he then contrived to hove 11 note sniuggll!d to Pierpont in
which hi: !/-ave mstn,ctions to puss I.he word on to th.? other
three cons for au four ro b.a on Lhe alen for the arrival of a
crnte so bespanered.
The r~sulling jail break went off smoothly. The quartet
took Lwo !!Uards and a sheriff as hostages, stole a cnr and
drove lo Indianapolis whcri! lhey entered a gosrcl m1ssioo
oear Founll,lin Square. Here, al gun poinL they ordered
four dtm:licts to strip as they s.huck.ed their own prison
garb. After doMing the clothes oC the derelicts they disop-
pcared.
The robbery of rhe State Bru1k came off n1 Dillinger h:td
plunned. He made his getaway with a c:-onsiderablc amount
of cash and drove to a prepared hideout in the apatunent
of Oar~ 's sister in Dayton, Ohio.
He failed to take into accounl. however, the mnn-
hunling ability of Captain ~{att Leach, acting head of the
Indiana SUtte Police.
Leach identified Dillinger and Homer Vnn M eter by the
description or Lhe bank tcllc". H e learned through an in-
fonnant thot Dillinger was hiding out in Dayton A few
days later the Dayton cops broke into the apartment and
cnpturt:d the thoroughly surprlwd bank robber before be
could reach for his gun.
Towards evening. sixteen days later. a car stopped in
• front of the Lima jail where Dillinger was bdng held. Four
bard-faced characters in new suit!. wnlked into the office of
Sheriff Jesse Barber. What littli: talking they did came trorn
Harry Pierpont.
"\Ve're depulies from Michigan City;~ he announced
tersely. " We're here to take DiUinger bock lo pnson for
violation of parole."
..AU right," the sheriff nodded. "But first I'd Like to see
your crl!dentiats." . . . . •
·•sure lhin11." P1crpont's b:md went mto his s uit Jacket~
0
How ohout these?"
132
His .45 came quickly out of the shoulder holster. Barber
died with a &lug between the eyes and two more Lhtough the
heart.
Pierpont took the cell keys from the sheriff's pocket and
~ Dillinger while the others herded the deputy into an
empty cell and stood guard.
Now firmly launched on their murderous careef'S:. they
sped north to the rundown fann of Pierpont's mother on
the o,m,kirt-i of Leipsic. Long familinr wil.h her son's
criminaJ activities, she was not greatly surprised to see
them. but objected on practical grounds to their use of her
house lor u nideout.
..They'll come here hunting for you, rhatJs for certain,"
ahe said.
Dillinger aclcnow1edged tbat she was probably right.
"Tell you what we'll do. We'U bole up in your barn.
We'll dig a place under it where we can hi.de if lhe cops
show up."
They dug 3.11 night and made a fa.ir-si.ud sub-cellar be-
neath the floor of the barn, and they craftily camouflaged it
with hay.
On the following day the cops, including Mart Leach,
did show up. They sea:rc:bed the bout;¢ and I.he barn. They
did not find lhe out.Laws lhen. nor on a subsequent surprise
visit.
Ma Pforpont furnished the gang with a battery radio and
kept them supplied with food and newspapers. Through
bu Dillinger sent word to Homer Van Meter, whom he
knew was hiding out in a Cbl(:a.go flophouse, to join them
. II the farm.
A few days after Homer's arrival Dillinger wo.s read ing
111 account of the murder o( Sheriff Barber in a Peru 1 ln-
diana. nc...,sr,apcr. He chuckled grimly.
••Hey. get this! The J>oru cops have received a brand-new
pply of Tommy guns in case we should try to pull a bank
isl in their burg. You know, those guns could come in
dy."
On the following evening he drove to Peru with Homer
Pierpont. They parked near the police s;,uion and
er w~t inside. He found only one cop on duty. told
he WllS a tourist and asked directions to Indianapolis.
133
 00 _,,ral o( bla "doposlti" ill a oow paslu~ on Ma Pierpont••
• A «1up! he informed Dilling«, "Only one cop And I
saw the Tommy s,uni. Nice and new hk.c the neMpaper farm """' Lcipdc.
Amon1 his scruational and profi!Able bank hei•lll, two
s.;1id. ,.
lhoukl be s.inglcd out for special mention. In January,
Hr,mcr re-cnter'e"d tht' ~lnlion hou-.c. followed by the 1934. be became int.,..,od in the protcctive pot<n1ial of a
other fWo. Thc:y held up the surprt(l"J c,r,p, lockc:d him in a bulle1prool ves1. He bought one and wore It for the ftr,t
~dl ,mJ m;uk 1;1ff wuh ,~ ell.Ure <tock or To1UJ11)' guns JJ\U lill1e when he and hl• gang held up the first Nutit11lal Bank
ammunilifln. mad Trwl Contpru1y in ~ t Chicago. .
Nut long ufttrwarc:k, on Oct\lbcr 23, 1933, Dillin~r and Dill.lnge.r Wll5 scooping &Ulckl of cummcy into a 51litCasc
h~ paJs cnlcl'ed the N:ltkfflul S:winllfi and Tru.,r Compa- when the cop on t.bc beat. a courageous officer named
ny in Gretnea~t.lC'. Indiana. with their brand .. new Tommy O"MalJey, b;u:.I • hunch that aomcth.ittg wroog was going on
gun> They walked out will, $74,31!2. within the bank and entered to im'csaigutc.
\\'ithln a,wthcr month thl.--y pyrdffitded tht~ to mo~ lh,m Homer, who was unarmed, spotted the cop 6.nt and
a qunncr of a mil1ion dollaN, robbmg ba.nl.s in lo- lbouted a warninl!. Hamilton had lined a doun oustomers
dl.:'lnal)\)11:$, Daleville 11nd Rod:villc. Al this f'l'()int.. siri.1.;C and lcllc:rs against the wall and was keeping bis eyes on
Dillinger had heisted banks whu!h were national 111!;ti1u- lbam. '"Three.-flnger'' Jack was standing· behind Dillinge.r,
tioo., ,md tran:sported Lhe stolen money acrm., iuatc lines.. · positioned !hut he wu unable to use his Tommy gun.
the G-mcn e-ntered the piclUte. Dillin!l<r grasped the aituation fast, pointed his Tommy
There is n popular swry to the effect lh:u Oilhngcr pa at O'Malley and lriggcn:d. Notblng happened. The gun
rented at least a dozen mailboxe1 10 po6t offic:e1 1n the laadjammod.
vkmii\-' of C1,icago. all under ddfercm numc,;. and lha, he O'Malley coolly aimed a1 Dilling,,r's heart and fired his
<lcpoti-lcd o.U t,u, one of the keys in one t,f the bl1:..es, let:p- NtVicc revolver. Agam and agam and again. E,ery bullet
ing only the key to 1hat part1<ulor bo•. H<> th<n •upp.,t1Cdly ,....!rated llu: padding of Dillinger, , ..1-and wns
mailed h.is loot to the Vanous bo1ca. IIOpped by the st<cl plating beneath.
The fo1l:.u::ies can be pointed out. Dillinger Ukl not trus, Dillillger f=d the jam in bis Tommy gun. He stitched
the '.'-.a[Ct} or post-office boxes any more thtUl ho did thRt or O'Malley with a long bum from hip to hip. The bullets all
bnnks. A ct'nSidcrable pan o( b1S loot. currency Ul fi.,,c 10 but tc\<Cred lhe oop 1 body. DiUinger and his gang then Ocd
0

one hundred--Oollar dcnonunataons and negouabfo ooupc,11 with the loo~ driving 10 one of their hideouts. Lillie Bobc-
bood•. was biUlcy. If it failed lo arowc the initial <USpisi.>n
of th\'. ~1111 clerk$ distributing it lnlO the boxct.. it ...,oo1d
im:vilably h,tvi! atuac:ted their nattce tu, more and more
··shipmcnu·· llccu.mulated-DdJlngcr was l\\r.ay r.rom
Chicago for lung periodt at a stretch -and would have. bc.:.n
unable to make ccgulAr a,llectioru.
furt~nnprc:, huiued as he was by the FBl, and with his
""wanle:d'" photograph on the wall ,')f every J'Ol'J 01T1ce, he
Wih bv oo mean, inclined &o ta:kc u.nneCC$13ry cbant:CS. of
being.· rccognl1ed.
ll•e truth is thot he made a m1mber of cacher... Fmm
ti.me hl time he returned to the poorly mninuiin~J lc:n-n~
produ~e f.am1 p( his aging ra1hcr, John Dillinger. ~r .. out•
iidc or M1,:10rc~v11!c, lndi:inn, wh.:rc he buncJ 1.·om1Jcrablc
plunder tn a com Jicld and in a p.11.ttu field. He al;u.} nu1dc
IJ4
Lodgc. a 11U111mer resort about fihy miles north of
lthlael•oder. Wiscoosin. Here they cached $25,000. of
· loot in the ground. the only Dillinger hoard that was
found.
The other noteworthy heist wag carried oul llnder unique
. C$ in the vaults -of the Unity T r:ust. and Savings
on Wost North A..,..,ue, Otlcago.
The banking pan of this institution DO longe, was
. ing. Althougl> u hod reoently gone OUI of business,
sign In the front window explained that 1he building was
open for lhe convenience. of th«.e customers who had
· . . - aalc-dcpOslt boxes.
11 ao happened tha1 during the first week in December
and Hany Mllkley passed by the bank :uul read
13S

the sign. They both reacted immedi:ucly.
..A cream pufI!" Makley grinned.
··\Ve'rc going to need a lorcll," said the proctlca.l
Dillinger.
A d:iy or two later ·Makley went into the building nrn1
cased the bafe-deposit JCCtion. Posing n5 the salesman for n
manufacturer of electrical alarms. be wns pleased to lenm
Crom the single guard on du1y thal there Wll$ neither on
electrical alarm system in the vault noc was lhc company
dJ.sposcd to buy one inasmuch as this part of the bank wn.s
also going out of business.
Early on the afternoon of December 13, Dillinger en-
tered the bank alooe with his Tommy gun. He found the
single guard on duty and bad him s tand against the wall.
Homer entered. tied up the gu.urd and went outside ag3in to
tell "Three-Finger" Jack. Makley ancJ Pierpont. who were
walling in a car, that tbe coast was clenr. . bunts of their Tommy guns at the ocean al midnight. A
Each carried a suitcase into the bank. They brought with
them on acetylene totc}i. pry bars, a portable radio tuned
to the police band so that they coolJ intercept any
alarm- and their lunches.
Dillinger bad questioned the tied-up guard and found
out rhat be was to punch a bme clock at 3 P.M. lf he tatlcd
Lo do so un n.lurm would go off.
0
w e•11 work until 2:45 nod allow ourselves fifteen
minutes for a gcwway," be told his pals..
They opened safe-deposit boxes systematically, row af-
ter row. OHiinger sorted out the conumts aod pucked wbnl
they would take with them into the suiicases; 576.000 in
cash. $175,000. in ncgotinble bonds, $300,000. wonh of
miscellaneous jewelry including duunond rings, eamn~,
brncclcts and ncck.luces.
At 2 45 P.M. they stopped wor~ coolly wa.11,.cd out of
the bank and put the loaded suitcases UllO lh~ car. M Q!.l ◊f
thili 100,. wnh the except.ion or a,umestimated to be about
$ 15,000. or $10,000., was butic.J irt a field on the
Moorcs,·ille farm. The casb tbnt wns held out they dcculcd
to spend on n Florida. winter vacation. . . • blc US(ll'tment of machine guns, &botguns and other
Instead of purchasing brand-new Cadillacs, wb,cb haJ
been Picrponl's suggestim\ Dillinger insitted upon two
secondhand Ford sednns-th ey would be much less coo-
sricuous. They would also travel by dayt not night, be
136
added. and act like ordinary tourists. Clark. Makley nnd
Pierpont each tool a girl along. 11,eir names are unimp(.">r-
tant. The gangsters dropped them soon after the vacation•
Dillin~r. however, had acquired an auructive, sexy•
looking girl friend. Evelyn Frccbctte, who \\<as his COO•
ttant companion for a time.
The eight of them drove to Florida with n considerable
amount of luggage including four Tommy guns QJ\d several
hundred rou.nds of ammuniti on-just in case. Tbe guns
1":re used only once. and harmlessly.
They rented n huge house fronting the ocean at Daytona
Beach.
While G-mcn and law officers. including the determined
Captain Matt Leach, were bunting for them. they relax_ed,
awnm nnd enjoyed the Florida sunshine.
On New Year's Eve Pierpont and Makley got drunk.
They decided lo celebrale the holiday by firing several
neighbor complained to the police about the "expl~ions·•
he beard on the porch and a patrol cu soon Bf>peBted.
The two cops in it had oo idea that the tall, apologetic
winter visitor who calked to them was the notorious John
Dillinger. They accepted bis explaoasioo that he and his
friends bad brought several strings oi firecrackers with
them to see the New Year of 1934 in properly.
Soon aftcrward Dillinger became restless. He decided to
take a trip with Evelyn F rechette. They drove ool to the
nridwcst with no particular objecthre in mind, toured
through Nebraska and ultimately went to Tucson. Arizona.
because Evelyn had beard it was ''a nice place."
They registered at the Congress Hotel and were joined
by Onrk. Makley, Pierpont and their girl friends.
In Tucson o'Yer-confi.dence made them less cautious; and
rtbey were recognized. Dillinger's three pals were captured
without a figbL But at that moment Dillinger happened to
off on one of bis rides with Evelyn. They learned of the
arrests from their car radio. At once the beaded for
Qicago, only to nm into a police roadblock. With a for-
lltll~ms leveled al them, Dillinger sune:odered to I.he cops.
Oie of them was Captain Man Lea.ch.
It was decided to take Oark, Malley and Pierpont back
137
 to Ohio to stand Lriul for their vnrious bank robberies and of Evelyn Frccbene, be picked up n girl named Pauline
murder:.,. Hamilton. a waitress in a South Sith~ IWlch wagon. PoUy, as
Capwin Leu.ch was to take DiJJingcr back to lndion;i to she was called, took him to a ftat a few block$ from ber job
face juMice for che ruthJess murder of Officer O'Mallc} in and introduced him to her CricnJ, Ann Sage, a rnlher
the East C hicago bank holdup. As for bis con1paruon. stouti.1h middle-aged woman wilh bleached bair.
Evelyn Frtch,.th:. she wa~ Juter comi1 1c tcd of ha.rboring Ann Sage's real name was Ana Cumpanas. She was an
Dillinger as a fugitive from the la.w. The sentence: a fine alien, born in Tiolisoara~ Rumania. Uou1 recently she had
and two years in jail. been operating n brothel in East Chicago. Her house had
Coptaio. Leach put DiUfoger in lhe s~tlcd escapeproof bc:cu closed up three times, nota bly through the zeal oC a
Co,mry Jrul at C rown Point, Indiana, to nwait his trial fot detective named Marlin Zarl ovitch. Polly Hnmilloo bad
murder. been one! of her girls.
On March 3, 1934, Dilii_nger escaped. and the news elec- "Jack and I are going lO use the bedroom for awhile,"
tri fied the cotmtry. There are several versions of h1s daring l8id PoUy.
jailbreak. Most of them declare ~at a .45 autom atic wns '•Help yourself, 0 invited Ann Sage. ''What did you say
smuggled inro his cell your lut name was, Jack? 0

OUJfoger's own version later came to light in a letter he "I didn't say. but il's Lawrence."
wrote to his sister following his esc-npc: Dillinger was wbolly unaware that despite his disguise
"Don't you go on worrying about me. That won't help, 1be bad recogruz.ed him. Otherwise, be most certainly
ond besides~ I'm having a lot of fun. They say l had a real would nol have retum'td co visit Polly on the following
forty-five. That's just a lot of hooey to cover up becnuse evening.
they don'l like to admit thac J Jock«t eight Ocpuue::s ~nd a But in the meantime Ano Sag0 bad looked up Detective
do1en trusties up with .my wooden gun before I got my Martin Z:irkovitch.
har,ds on two machine g u-ns.. ..rm going to do you. a favor." she , aid. u1n return l
•·r ~hawed everyone the wooden gun after l sot nhold of want you to do one for me. I got two closin~ pinned on me
the machine guns and you should have seen their faces. Hal and three strikes means out for an alien. I w-mt you to go
Hal Hal PuJling that off was worlb ten years of my life. Hat easy on the IMt ooe so I won' t be deported back to Ruma-
Hn!'1 Dia."
Dillinger l:l.y low for a while. Theo be went to a private "K\!ep talking. Wby shoul(J 1 do you a favor?"
h~piUit where a somewhat s hady plastic surgeon pcr- ..Because I'm going to tell you rve found John Dillinger.
forr ,cd a face-lifting operation. After that he dyed his hair He's got a thing going with on.c of my ei-girist PoUy, nnd
black, grew a bushy moustache. do_nneu silver rimmed they're Uiing my flat"
cycgl~s and culled himself "lack Lnwrencc." Zarkovitch notified Capuiin Matt Leach. They botb lost
Vt hen br: decided to look up Homer and "1 hrce-Fingcr no time in ta.kmg Ann Sage to see Special Agent Melvin
Jud :'" in their Chicago O.ophouse hnngou" neither recog- Purvis who was in charge of the Chicago office of the FBl.
nbed him at fir:.t. Purvi$ was all for staking out the flat but Ann Sage
•·How about some action, pat.s·r he asked. "You gu)1 wanted no part of it. She pointed out that if her name were
interested?" in any way linked with that of the notorious Dillinger it
They were. f o r eight headlined days they made a diz- would further jeopardize her chances of remaining in the
zying trip through Ohio and fnd1ana and robbed six banks. United States. For the same reason she objected to a
DiJlingcr cached has share, SJ 06.000. in cash1 on I.he stakeout in the street. or even in ber neighborhood.
Mooresville farm late in June, J934. She made a suggestion of her own. She was almost cer-
Returning to Chicago, and missing the companionship tain that she and Polly could get Dillinger to take them to
138 139
lhe early •how nt 1hc nearby Bi~gruph lnea1re where Oa
(ial>ic Wll5 b<:1t1g fc,11un:d ,n a l!•n&'ler pictur"-, Manhallati
Mc.J,,drama.
" ~The ibow brcuks nboul nine o'clock," ahc c,pl~111ed.
Oillwgcr wtll figure 11'• early cnoug.h tO go back 10 !he nat
for a scs,lon wi1h Polly."
Al 7 P.M. on the cvenin~ of July 22, 19}~. Dillinger
went 11110 1he Biograph Theatre wnh Ann Si!g<; and Polly,
He ~-tt b4.lcwcen them in the ti£ttl.:ntb row nnd he thor-
ou~hly enjoyed the pic,urc. •
Outside the lhea1re Speci~l Agents Purvis, Cowley and
twenty-one other 0-mcn and cops had taken up 1h<ir posi•
uons, Ann S11ge was wearing a bright oranEc drcs-; ,o me
could be ,.,.,ly ,po11ed by Purvis, who WO$ <llll\Jini near
the uckcl booth w11h an uulirhltd cigar in h,s mou1h. He
w:ir, to give a '\ignoJ to close in by lighliog tht cig:ir,
01Uinfer1 Ann Sage and Polly e.mc:rged from the: theutre
• few m~1u1CS alter 9 P.M. He Wll! walking between th•m.
~{me they reached tbe ttrcet both womtn mo\led uway
from him, and imtincti\'ely Dillinfcr rc11lized 1.hot he hnd
been bcttayod. He began tO run and hcadod for the side
alll!y of the th~alrc.
1110 ~•• ol Cowley and Purvis flamed into action.
Five slug$ were. :o;wiftly hammered into Dtlllngcr"1 body and
be was de:id, · Treasury Department ngcnlJ are not trea!-ure hunters,
_In firt~cn month~ he blat.ed a. trail ~f murder throuph the
~hdwt:.t. Uc g.athcrtd n;orc 1han :1 m1lli<"Hl J•·1Uars in scnsa-
1i1><,al b\lnk robbcnt>. And m0$t ol lt i, sull buried.
140
ER 16
E:~(ema "' th, Tw,nty Millian Do/Jar
"Guld Act" CacM
. .
'rbere b one and only one point 1n our counll')I •·here four
ptar.es
meet. 1 he oor:ttiwesrc::m tip of Ntw M~xir..-o has 3
~ o n boundury with lhc corners ol Colurado, l/10h und
:Anwna_.
II In lhts area west_ of
the Ute Mountain Indian RC$Cl"Va-
I~~ twi:nty million doUars in gold ingots. were cached
the mid-1930s.
1 There
11 im•l any doubt that this great trove. about seven-
~ lonl of gold. wu--a.nd il--buricd there. There arc
,e.ten,I grond iUI)' records to prove it Fur1hermo.-.,
Treasury officials have ~ well-aware of the hoard since
)9S2, ~ from time 10 lime they have initialed ell'orts 10
ldllcovcr It.
vcr. As m:i~~ now s:tand, U.S. guvef!1ment uflicials
ar_ to be wau.mg for &0meonc else to find the cache.
. if 1be finder proves !hat be is innoccnt of huardm£ or
out a pun of the cache, be wtdoubtedly wiU recci\o'e
adcquatE reward,
The amount, aca>rding ro a deputy ln"fcmaJ Rcvi:-1h1e
· official. probably wilJ Ix ... . the res-klual v:tlu~ in
lendtn" nfter Mint expenses and income tuxes arc
ltd.''
How and why ii the gold thct<? Tbio ill the curioos
OD a apring morning in 1933. l.e6n Trabuco. a shrewd
wealthy gold mine opcrau,r from Chihuahua, chcckod
a hotel in Cucmavaca, a JbQn cii,iaoc,: Iron, Me•ioo
was followed, early in tho alu:rnooa, by Rafael Bor-
Me<lc:o Ci,y linan<ler. Later arrjvalJ included Don
141
Carlos Scpulvedo and Rk-ardo Arteaga, millionaire cattle A~ originator of the project and leader o f the ~yn dicate,
rnnchcrs from T orreon, and Professor Guz.man Hila rio y Le6n T rabuco was commissioned to go to the Untied
Mo rada, emine nt Mexican economis t. States to find a suitable hiding place for the hoard . which
That evening they gathered in the suite of Trab uco who weiehc<..I bc1wccn seventeen and eil!hteen tons.
had summoned them to the meeting. The economist did Upon his return he summoned the other members of the
most of the talking. 5yndicate 10 ano ther m eeting in the Cucm avaca hotel.
" The value of gold today is no lo nger realistic in Lerma H e had been in a number of cities, he reported. amo ng
of America n dollars," he explained to them. "The current them Snn Antonio. Tucson. Phoenix. Albuquerque and
official price for one ounce 0£ fine gold in the United States Los Angeles. He had inspected the vauh facilities of banks.
is 520.66, as you all well know. Some of them were adequate but, as he explained. it was
''The stoc k market crash, the Depression aml a numbet not possible to carry approximatdy seventeen tons 0f gl,l<l
of other factors have made the devaluation of the dollar ingots into a bank. no malter how they we re packaged,
inevitable . When this happens officially, as it surely will, it without arousing curiosity.
will present a tre mendous opportunity to those possessing Furniture warehous~-s. stor age buildings and other struc-
any quantity of gold." tures he inspected either were not burglarpn.)()f or had
"We welcome your advice," said Trabuco. ..That is why other scriOl!S disadvantages.
we are hl!re." "Therefo re." said Aneaga, "the best plan is to h ave the
" IL is this. Accumulate gold. As much o f it as you can. ingots remain where they a re until it is time to seU them ."
Put it in a l)ecure place. Await the right time to sell it." ''No. senores," Trabuco shook his head ...We will bury
Borrega, the financier, was a cautious man. Whal if lhc them s::ifely in the groun d-as was done in the o ld dJys."
M exican governme nt got wind of this hoarding, he asked. He added 1hat after several days of searching he had
Might Lhis not kaJ lo com plicatio ns if not outright co o- found an ideal location in the remo te northweste rn corner
lhcation? of New Mex ico. There were no tOWTIS within several miles.
" l cannot vouch for the actions of our O\\'tl govern- Funhermore in his quest he had engaged the services of a
ment," a nswe red the economisL •·inasmuch as the United pilot. one who made charter fligh ts in his own plane. T here
Stales undo ubtedly will continue to pay the hight!Sl price, was a llnt mesa within a few miks of the biding place where
however, my advice is to transpon your ~upply of gold the plane, 11 Cessna., could land. Nor wo uJd a competent
across the borJcr as soun ::is you have it colkctci.1. then St..-... pilot have any difficulty in landing an aircruh o f this size
cret it somewhere in the United States unlll an oppo nuoc near the old hacienda to pick up a cargo of ingo ts. Of
time to dispose of it." course it wo uld be necessary to make several nights.
This, I.hen, was how it began. "lt will also be necessary to lake the pilot into our con-
Trabuco, Borrega , ScpulveJo a nd Arteaga fonncd a syn- fidcnce," Arteaga pointed out. " How do we know he is to
dicate. They purchased the gold mined by T rubuco and be trusLCd?"
other oper.1tors in tbc Sierra Madre. Trus ted agc11ts, sworn ' Trabuco shrugged his shoulders and acknowledged that
to s.:crecy, bought aJditional gold for them fro m b:inks and there could be no guarantee. He had done some checking
evcrywh~re else it Y.as ohtainablc. Even fam ily heirlooms into the pilot's background . His name was William E llio tt ;
were melted into ingQts. The pnce paid \an cd ~ lwcc n e wus a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. H e had been
$20 .00 and ~25 .00 per ounce. ious1y a stunt flyer for movie studios in Hollywood . a
The syndic:lle acquired a temporary sto re house, an old, tc0--ov.mer of a flying circus that went broke, a crop duster.
rundown hacienda vn the outskirts of Puebla, a number of ow he was engaged in charter flights and was ambitious
mih.:s cast of Mexico City. He rc, for i-cvcral wccl-_s, it was expand his one plane into a fleet of airliners.
guar<li!d day and night by armed watchmen. "The re a.re two ways to insure a man's silence," Trabuco
142 143