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75¢ PAPERBACK lljlllJ LIBRARY 54-758

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then resumed walking. H e hiked for several miles before
meeting anyone on the ro.1d. Finally be encountered four
men he knew· William \Vard. who was both superintcndenl
of lhe stage line and o deputy US. MnrshaJ, anti Boone
May, Jesse Brown and v.•miam Toytor. 1 hey had been al
the next depot. 11waiting the arrival ot tbt "Treasure Ex-
press.'' When it failed to appear, they had bade.tracked to
find out what had happened.
A_Pproximotely four hours elapsed between the time
Davis started from the relay station and the time when he
returned. accompanied by the four other~. There was no
sign or any of the Carey gang, eilher living or dend. They
had nol onJy taken with them the bodies o( McBride and
the unidentified bandit but also Miner and Barnett.
presum~bly as captive&.
Shotgun messenger Hill lay where he had falleo. The
bodies of Campbell and of Smith, who hnd succumbed 10
bis wound, had been tossed out of the stagecoach to
facilitate the removal of the .iJ'lgots,
Depl1ly U .S. Marshal Ward pointed to wagon tracks
n ear lhe stag_ccoacb.
" .-Peo.rs that Jim Carey used a spring wagon to haul o ft
lhe gold along with his two dead pals. He -sure didn't miss a
trick when he planned this robbery.''
Scott Davis nodded agreement. ..Either they beaded
north towards Rapid City or west through Wyoming. Carey
wouldn't have made for Deadwood, and iC he had trnvl!lcd
south towards Sidney you'd have wet up with him on the
road."
Ward was usually phlegmatic a nd slow to anger. Now he
wns in a cold rage at the clean getaway of the gang. R e felt
partly responsible because on lhis run the " T rensure Ex-
press" had not been manned by more guards. Now it was
hi-; duty, both as superintendent of the stn.G,O line und as a
federal officer, to make every e.ffort to rocovcr lhe gold und
to bring the gang to justice.
H e decided to send Davis. who needed medical aucn-
don, to Casper, Wyoming. accompanied by bis thrL-e men.
He pointed our that it might take week.ct. perhaps months,
to trnc'k down Carey, and they'd be needed bnck in town.
"What happens when you catch up with the gang?"
48
jlked Boone May. ~You'll be taking on four or five o(
-..~••··u manage.•· Ward shrugged bis shoulders. " I've got a
-10ti01i dust after making a huuJ like Lhis they'll soon
•~•c; The one I want is Jim Carey. He's gor a Jot of
llbcr thmgs to onswer [or throughout the territo ry besides
lae. ~i11iop and the robbery oC the su1ge...
So ll was tho.t Ward took up the pursujt alone. He fou nd
, ~ b near Buffalo Gap where Jim Carey hud bought a
pang wagon and a team of horses before: lhe robbery.
rbeo he tracked the wagon to the Pierre Trail, which heads
tatward towords the Badlands of South Dakota.
Beyond the Cheyenne River and the town of Red Shirt,
le came to a camp of bullwhackers who told him that
ilrlier in ~ day they had met a spring wagon beading cast
IIICCOmpamed by £our men on horseback.
"They were in an all-fired hurry," said one of the
.Uwbackers.
..Did you get a look at what was in the wagon? 0
"Nope. lt was covered by a tarpaulin.••
Wud did not make camp that night. Convinced that the
lraiJ was getting hot, he rode all night
On the following day, a,pproximately two miles wesl or
fable Mountain, whkh marks the extreme southwestern
oancr of what is now Badlands National Monumenl he
bmd the spring wagon-abandoned and empty. Nearby
two newly-dug graves heaped with sto11es.
He decided that the gang had buried the bodies of Mc.-
• and the unknown band.it and then gone their separate
ys instead of tnlting the wagon o~ through the Badlands.
tracks left by their horses indicated chis.
Studying the several scu or tracks, WaJ"d had a difficult
· to .make. Which set bad been made by the horse
by Jim Carey. the mM he wanted most?
After some deliberation Ward chose the tracks heading
through_ the Badlands. His reason, as he later~-
' was that Carey was wanted for holdups in areas to
wmt. north and soutl4 and that sheriffs' posses and
9amlY bunters, tempted by the rewards on bis bead, were
-.lldlw'12 for him in those places. There.fore it seemed
lhat Carey would make his getaway towards the
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 \Yard followed the tracks throueh the Badl:tnd~ to the
1ov.n nf Big Foot H ill o n wba t is -now U.S. 90. t lcrc he
L,e W;ill (1hc prcviou, ly unidcniified sun s linge r) it110 1hc
~;gon wi th the go lu uari. a nd headed lowun.ls the Badl ands
lea mcu lha t a stranger with tv.io unusually heavy sad- with Jim Carcv dnving.
dlebags had passed through. three days before! "We ftgurtti a posse wo uld soon be afler us so WC J.. cpl
Encouraged. Ward continued his pursuit. He followed bn pu!-hing along. In a few d_:iys lhc two corpses in the
the stranger for weeks with dogged determinution, riding !wng.<>n bc!_!an stinking bad. Jim tlidn't want to rnkc tin1c to
righ t on through Nebraska and into Io wa. bury them proper. nod he woutt..111·1 just dump them. He
1t wasn' t until he arrived in the town of A tJantic, some nid that if we <l id und a posse found 'cm, tlil'.y' d be
fifty-five miles east of Council Bluffs, that he finally admit- evidence we 'd he ld up the stage.''
ted dereaL and decided to abandon the c hase. ""Whal about M inc.r and Barnett?" Ward asked .
T hen an inc redible thing occurr~ one <'f those fan tastic "We let 'em go free on the other side o f the Chcyennc af-
co inciJcnces which a.re impla usible in fiction. but that ter taking their boots to slow up their w-aJking."
sometimes really happen. He was walking a long the m a in M iner and Barnett eventual ly did arrive io Red Shirt
s tree t of Atlamic when he chanced to look imo the sto re 11nharmcd exccp1 for badly cut and bruised feet.
window of lhe Goodale Bank . There, o n d isplny. were two A cco rding to Doug Goodale, the gold ingots. wilh 1hc
gold ingots. Pl3inly stamped on them were " Homestake ~ception of the two bars he had placed in his s:iddlcbn? -;,
Mining Company•· a nd the same code num ber as tha t of were buried whe re they abandoned the spring wagon, west
the !thipment stolen in the Canyon Sprin g.s ho ldup. Df T able Mou ntain. le hnd been Jim Carey's idea to hea p
WarJ went into the bank and questioned the president, stones on the rwo graves to ma rk the site.
Jo hn G0<1daJc. "Jim figured lhat anyone findin g the stone piles woulu
How d id he come into possession of the ingols? John think they had been put there just to lccep coyotes fro m dig-
Gooc.l::lle nnswcred freely. He bad nothing to hide. p_ng up the bodies," Goodale explained .
He lold Ward th.it his son, Doug.las. bad been wo rking Ward and his prisoner boarded a Union P acific tra in {or
fnr ,he Homestake Mining Com pany in Deadwood and haJ l journey to Cheyenne where the latte r was to stand Lrial •
d<?citled to come home. Before leaving be had put his sav- ;or participation in the holdup.
ing.-c; into the two gold b:lrs. Doug Goodale was not handc uffed. His apparent mee k-
" Doug figured thot way he wouldn't be tempted to gam- ~ fooled Ward. The deputy U.S. Marshal aJso undcr-
ble away part of his savings o n hi" way back h0 mc.," ~limated his own weariness after weeks in the ~adule.
Goodale exrlained... After be a rrived a couple of uays a go ~mewh~re west of what is now CentraJ C ity, Nebrask;1 , he
1 bough t the bars from him and put tbcm in lhc window on ~ozcd. Do ug Goodnfo jumped off the movii1g trnin and
uisplay . Attracting a lot of interest. M ost folks don't get to :scapcd.
sec Lhis much gold their ~ntire live,s." I When \Yard
awakened and discovered th;1t his prisoner
" I can ~ lieve it," \Va rd 11aid tersely. ns missing. he stopped the trnin and hnd it go back all the
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way to Central City, but Doug Goouale was nol found .
The strange r whom he hnd bee n following for hu ndreds
o f miles wasn' t Ji m Carey but Doug Goodale. l His disappearance was perm ane nt. And so was Jim
..arey's.
Accompanied by Sheriff T ydin g of All anlic, \Va rd a r-
rested Ooue Goodale who surreflde red without anv show Whal happened to the other two surviving members of
or re~dsta.nce. On the conrrary. They were surprised chat agang? Al Speer chanced to meet Scott D avis in front of
a Laram ie saloon. The encounter was br ief and deadl y.
member 0f the desperate C arey gan g would be ooth mild
and COc1pcr:uh·c. 'peer was swifl on lhc draw, but Davis' shotgun was e ven
He conk!".scd 1hat he hn<l taken part in the holdup: aster.
"Aller Lhnl we put the bodies o( Frank ~k l3 rulc and The last hold up man, known as Fly-Specked Billy, was
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c3ught by a ~ near Spear fish , South Dako ta. aft.er
sh... 111~ :i hor~~. Una,1.arc ot th\! ume thnt' the rusde r had
been u member or lhe Carey gang. t h e ~ l)nch cd him
on the ncar~c:t tree.
By d re proces~ of law the two !!Old ingots discov ered by APTE R 6
\Vard in thi: '"indt">\\- or lhe Good ale bank were rcSlor ed U>
lhe Homc$Ulke Mining Company in Dcad,,ooJ . Altho ugh
he sc-arch ed the area near Che two graves west of Table Emr~ rn, }.fazimilian•s Five
Mountnin, Wnrd failed to find the rest of the stolen loot. M ltlion Dolla r Fortune
A numb er of treasu re hunte rs who lcnrn1.-d or 1he ap-
proxi mate location also tried their luck- with equally fruit- ;some
where in the vicini ty of Castle G~p•. Texas , app_rox-
less result s. lmate
In July 1933, a n Imlay . South Dak ora, ranch er. Terry a buried
ly fifteen miles to the east of the windi ng P ~ Rn·er ,
trove of gold and silver plate, bags of coin and
O'Nei ll. was riding h is horse westw ard on Rout~ -10 look-
mg. for a sttaye d whitc f acc Meer. He decid e I lo camp for IDOre
acsu of precio us jewels , worth five millio n dollar s or
is waitim?.
the night nt the foo t of Sheep Moun tain, which ~ abou t a
mile nonh of Table Moun tain.
The perso nal fortun e of Ferdi nand Maximilian, _ill-
~cd Emperor of Mexico. who wns execu ted by a firmg
He was gathe ring wood fo~ a cook fire when h~ saw ~uad
at QucreUlrO. Mexic o, on June 19, 1867. has been
something gleam ing in the sclltn l? • ~ It was a gold ingot. •
intrig uing challe nge w treasu re hunte rs for a liule more
partly expos ed by min torre nts wh,ch bad ~ursc d down luan centu
O ry.
the moun tain slope for fifty-f ive years. Like the l ~
It was collec ted durin g the Civil War nt a time when our
Good ale burs, this one was sta mped .. Hom(..,lttke ~,nm g own
country was too imme rsed in strife to be _conce rned
Comp any" a nd bore the. code number of the ,hapmcnt - -•
Napo leon JJl of Franc e had placed a handp icked ruler
s1olcn nt Cany on Springs. ,
a pc>n
O'Ne,U got a pick and shove l from his ranch :md archd
the thron e of Mexico. Has sel~l ion was the Austrian
uke, Ma~im ilian, thirty-lWO-ycar-old broth er of Em-
rcwm cd to dig.. He pr~be d the b~ of the slope for ~cra l peror
Franz Joseph .
doys, but he did not find u:notb er mg_ot. . . f
.. Maximilian was a vain. hands ome memb er of the Euro-
Had Doug Good ale deliberately bed in his conf ~ion? pan arn~tocracy.
H od J im Carey buried the loot a\ the f~t of Sheep Moun • pmor Trained as a naval office r. he hod been
...gen eral o( the Lomb ardo- Venet ian kingd om. He
rain, not near the grave s b ul aboul a mile to the north o f ~
displayed such poor qualit ies as a ruler and such great
them? tstravai?ances thal be bad been removed-, "kick ed upsrn irs"
Or was it indeed cache d near the grave s? Then _the most Napoleon III.
logica l ex pla nation is tha t G~ ale- ,tartet~ off Wllh tl!ru,
In April , 1864, after renou ncing bis imperial rights to
not tM'O, inµots an<l. after riding a sho~ distAncc. llecidc:d
thron e of Austr ia. Maxim ilian accep ted his n~" ~p-
thol h is horse w3S carryi ng too much weigh t-, where upon be !..~~-''.!'".
·e nt. He arrive d in Mexic o Ciry in J une with his w,rc.
buried the third ingot. . . . . ...........,,ttc. or Carlo tta as she is often know n, a ~orme r
The nn~we r is a tossup . b ut one tbtng ~ certain. W,th the ·80 prince ss, and n large Europ ean entou rage 10clud-
c~acp uon or three ingots, o.11 of the loot . o~ the Cmy oo
a numb er or aristocror.ic Austr ian milita ry aides. .
Sprinl?.S holdu p tS Still buTied som ewber~ Wlthm lhc nrcn o f
Muimili1,1n had inheri ted a siz.1ble fortun e from his
that m1l&- -appr oxima tcl y $240,(X)(). worth of pure gold.
r. Archd uke Franc is Charl es. Histo rians do not con-
u to the amou nt he took "ilh him to Mexic o, buL they
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 do agree that he sq uanJ ercd most of it :ind rccou ~d a ~forte, now El Pa-.o. J- rom Lhcre th~y \\e re lo travel
prcatcr fortune by plunJcring his adopted country . with the jOulh c J '> l\\.trJ to San Antonio an<l tldih:r tile 1,rc~1•>us
hdp of his 30.000 French troops. Ir-eight lO thl! mis1iion of San J o~ t.le A ;;ua,o where he hu.f
Jn D ccc..>mba. 1865. seven months after the end of the nged w1Lh other k,yal fricnd!i t~> h1Jc it, pen<ling hi~ fur-
Ci\ ii \\ a r. the United States e0, ernmcn t cJcmam.led tha t er orders.
Napokon withdraw his troops from Mexican soil. The "You will observe that the ba rrels are not filled to tile
F rench empaor acceded. an<l. shortly after the prnlnng.c<l p." be pointed out. "Before they are closcJ a11d na iled. a
c"acuation Cl)nlmcncc<l. the Mexican republ ican fo rces un- yer of !lour is to be added to each so they will r.ot appear
dcr Lhcir patriotk leader, Jaurez. stancd to reconquer thdr be of great value if openc<l during your jo urney •·
countrv. "This will not occu r, Sire," Colonel von Huber a!>surcd
In February. t 866. a full yea r before the last (lf the im. "\1/c will guard them with our lives by day anc.l by
French troops sailed from Veracruz, Ma:<imalian saw the ig)n."
wrilin l? o n the wall and decided that the time haJ come to The aides b11~il'd the mselves with final rrcparntions. Ma-
prcpa;e for his own 1.kpanure. He secretly s ummoned fo ur r Ste ig!irz and Captain Bosch purchased fifteen teams of
loyal Austrian officers o f his personal staff: Colonel O tto en and fifteen carrctas-rugged two-wheeled Mexican
von H uber. fom1cr comm:and a nt o( a cava lry squadron, lhal were most suitable for carrying heavy loads over
M ajc,r H uus Stieglitz. Major Markus M ueller, und Capwin iough terrain Ma1or Mue lk r hired fifteen pcnns to drive
Kurt Dosch . he ca rretas for what he told them woul.d be .. many mites
He con fided to them his apprehensio ns alxlut the futu re. and many days." He did not divulge the <kstination . He
\\'ithou t the restra ining prescnc£ of French troops it w0uld telected one Pedro Cardenas to be the head drive r nud lead
be only a matter o f 1imc lx forc: all Mex.ico would rise he caravan.
against him and join Jaur\!z. Co lonel von Hubc.r personally ch ose:: the horst:s. With a I
The four Austrians listened in grave silence. The n the ~avaJ ryman·s eye for fine mounts, he requisitioned lhem
scniPr 0fficcr. C"loncl v0a Huber. a stockv man of thirty- 10m Max imilian's own stables.
eight with a flourishing blond moustache,· spoke up: UWe They started out from Mexico City on the m(">min~ o[
are rc,1J y. as alwa)s. to s~rvc Ymir Majesty.'' :-cbruary 24 , 1866. There were nineteen men in aJI. The
~la xim ilhin led them to the Ju ng.coos beneath the p.illce bur mounted Austri an officers. led by the colonel. were
a nd alon~ a dimly lit corrido r 10 the extreme l'nd. Here the nll a rmed. E;:ic:h of Lhc carretas. besides carrying three
iron h:1rs o f a cell had been replaced hy a massi\'e oak ,arrels of treasure, 1:1lso was loaded wi th food and hivou:ic
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door. He u nlocked lhc hc:n,,y iron lock and oix·ncJ the ,upp lies. casks of water and forage. In accordance with the
door to a strong room. .~ ror's orders a layer o f no ur had been plocc<l in each I
Inside the room were fi ve rows of la rge barrels. nine rna · nsu re barrel. The ent ire conte nts of every carrcta were
row. AJI o f them were open. Each was appnlxim a tdy aled untler a canvas cover.
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lhrcc-qua rtc rs filled with casks o f jewels. gol d anJ s1lvcr l Colonel von H uber had instructed his fellow officers to

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

rdi~ious treasures.
nncy.
plate. sacks of gold pieces and silver a ,in. There were a lso ~k to one sLory if questioned abo ut the purpose of thei r
They were carrying forry -five barrels o! Holl r to
liver to "frien<ls across lhe border."
M aximilian gave instructions. His four rrustc<l :iides
were co trnnspnrt rhis great fonune more than twelve lrno-
drcd miles to th-: Unitt.·<l Stal~ ,•,here it " ould ~e. s::ifo. f T he .naivete of this story fo r a man of von H uber's sup-
d sophistication is almost incredible. Ea.ch barrel was
ch too heavy to contain flour. In a~dition the fou r
Thi:y woulJ crnss the buruer in,o Texas :1t Pn.:s1d10 del perbly mounted and well-dressed foreigners were ob-
54 55
 Von Huber nskcd if they had ttav~led by way of San An•
viously cah~lttro1, Car above the cul of Of'llinnry O.'<cn train tonio. Knight noddt.-d grimly.
bosses. ..Worse than back home in '.Missouri, sub. Bcrweeo here
lt is doubuul if Pedro Cardenas or even the most nnd San Antone you'll find rampagiu.' Comanches., Apa.ch-
ignorant driver swallowed lhe story--especiaUy ofter the es, Shawnees and olher hostiles, not to mention bands o[
first rugnt o~ when tltc cabt!IIPros. in p.-1irs, mountt4 rustlers and road agenu.,,
guard over the cacretas. Nevertheless Lhe peons we.re \\·ell This was disquieting news to the AustriartS, who had
paid and therefore not inquisitive. fancied that now the carnvan was mueb snfer thnn il bnd
They drove the ploddiQg ox 1eams oonbward day after been i111 McJtico. Knight sounded sincere.
day: pnsl San Luis Pol06~ Saltillo._ Torreon~ HildaJgo dd Von Huber was a man of qulclc a.nd sometimes
Parral. Chihuahua and over the lofty ,mountains, across the misguided decisions. H~ offered the six ex-Confcd.::rute sol•
c.1ctus--1ufted mc.su a nd through arid desert wa.stelanJs. diers a proposition. If they would escon the caravan sufoly
They averag.ed twenty miles dail}". and lhc four officet'$ to San Antonio be would pay them each one hundred
were constittly on the alert against attack by one of dollars in gold on their arrival.
Jaun...~'s ''rebel" bands. ..Thar's a heap of money, sub/~ said Knight. ·'What you
No attack or ambush developed. After a journey of totin,: in a.1J those carts'!"
sixrv-one days they crossed tbe Texas border a, Presidio ..Fiourt Von Huber a.nswert.d. '"II is important that it
del No~ lnte in April. Herc they halted, congratulated one be delivered as soon as poMible."
another on reaching the safety of the United St.ates wuh Knight stared skeptically at the c.anvas-covcrcd carrctas~
their emperor's treasure unmolested and mru:ie camp on the He shrewdly made no comment. He told tbe colo~cl they
bank of the Rio Grande. certainly co111d use the money and that for $600. m gold
''\Ve'II rest the !horses and oxen for a few days before they would de.lay their own journey, retrace their route as
going on to San Antonio," von Huber decided. far as San Antonio and make sure the caravan was not at-
For Lhree days they attracted no attention. On Ule founh tacked.
morning six di.sreputable-looling_ suaogcrs who hod ~-e.n Thnt nieht the ex-C.onfederate& camped by Lhemselves a
watC"ring their jaded horses. in the river rode uuo their little opart from the olhen. They wutched SLiegli12 and
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camp. .. Bosch mount guard over the carretas.
The Austrians were a.c breakfast.. Von Huber hospuably ..Sure os heJJ Lhey're toting something a lot more
invited the strangers to join them... . . valuable than flou_r in those cans," Knight commented and
.. Don't miud if we do;• 5.'.lid Lbe rangy:. lant.em•Jawcd Ur. his pals agreed. .
di, idual who appeared 10 be the Je.lder. Came a long way One of them., Henry Stewart, a burly character with
and have o long way ta go. We-all are po~erlul hungry, beetling eyebrow~ was- an for finding out that ve~ night
suh.n what wns in the carretas. Knight I.Old him to be panen.t.
They wolfed their (cxxL Von Huber asked lh7m where .. l..oL~ or distance between here and S.an Antone. We"'l1
they had come from and where they were gowg. Tom wait for the right time to have ourselves a look~see. And
Knight, the le.ad.er, appraised the colonel wh:h sharp blue maybe more. 0 •

eyes. Reinforced by the armed escort, the caravnn resumed u.s

"Mistuh. you musl be a stranger to these part.'· A 1!1an
could get himsclf into a heap of trouble os_long quesn~
like that. But we ain't the troublesome kiotL All we re
o.imin' to do is get shut •rid~ance _of t~e ~nyunke6
C3rpctbaggers th.at are flooking mlo MtSWUO. We re rocmu
Confederate so,ers lighlin' out for ~1ex,co.u
So
journey and for the nen few days everythlng w~nt
smoothly. Either Knight had been lying ~ut roving
hostiles and predau,ry rood agents, or lhe s1glu of Len
armed guards kept them at a distance.
One night when the caruvan was camped oa the bank of
57

Lhe Pecos River and von Hube r and M ueller were on seru.ry
duty, U1c; were approached by Knight ant! one o t his mco,
Will Hort.
"J-fo n here was huntin• for some jack. rabbilS for o ur
cookpot." said Knight. ' 'He Lhinks he spotted a band of
Apaches sho rt distance downslream . We'd like you to
come look, suh. Dest take the major along. An cxlfa pair of
eyes can help. An Apache can hid_c behind a blat.lc o (
grass."
The colo nel was in a quandary. He coukln't think of an
excuse fo r refusing. It would be hard to explain why he and
Mueller would insist on guarding barrels o( flour so
vigilantly when the lives of all of che m might be end:mgcred
by hm,tilcs.
The four men started walking along the bank of the river
and as soon as they were o ut of sifbt. anot her ex-
Conf ederatc. Paul Naughton, approached the nc:.m;sl cnr-
rcta, unsheath ing his bowie knife .
h cook but n few minutes for him to push back a com er
of the canvas cover and pry open one o f the barrel tops.
His exploring hnnd dug deep into the flo ur. 11 felt a b:ig of
coin. A nd ano ther. ll was a ll he needed to know. Q uickly
closing the barrel top, he replaced the canvas cover and
scurried tx1ck to his bivo uac.
Knjght returned with Hart a short while later. The rnse
bad been successful. The fore igners had not become
suspicious. . throats while they sJcpt.
Naughton re ported his discovery. " l tried to heft the
other two barrels and could scarce move 'cm." he added.
" Must be chockful of hard money too. Know what l'm
athinkin'T'
Knight chuckled evilly. "Same thing I've been th inkin'
s ince we met up with this outfit. Every one of them carts
yonder is Joadcu with barrels of hard mo ney!"' . while ::\tlempting to flee.
Fo r a moment there was silence. Grouped about theu
campfire Knight and the others contemplated the car rct.ls
drawn up in a circle a short distance away. Untold w~!th
was waiting for them um.lcr those canvas covers. C up1duy
sbonc from their eyes; greed crept across lhcir harJ fac-.:"S.
H ~DI)' Stewart. the impatient one, drew his ,:,ix.gun.
" Whal we awaitin' fo r? Let's pistol them right now!"
58
"No!" Knight sna pped. "There are nineteen of lhcm and
we not to do lhis right so not one Mex escapes Lo tell about
it lo~u~r. We'll mnke us a plan."
l Plan Lhey did and on .the following night. a l the sug~es-
tio n of Knight, von Huth:r o ruered a hall at Costlc G a p,
fifteen miles cast of the Horsehead Crossing of the P ecos
River. Here the road to San Ant0nio bottomed between the
rocky canvon walls of the CastJc Mountains anJ was
dominared · by two looming sentinels: 3. 154 foot ~ustlc
Mo uJllain to the north and 3,100 foot Kmg Mountam to
the south.
The carretas were arranged in a circle as usual. the camp
of the fifteen Mexican drivers in the center. T o the eas¼
outside the circle, was the bivouac o( the four Austrians.
The two officers on watch. patrolled in opposite d irections,
periodically passing each other as w~U as the two sleeping
in the bivo uac. Thus, tor part o{ the time, Lbe o nly two men
on guard and awake were alone.
L:Hc that night ,·on Huber and MueUer were o n watch.
and they were the first to die. Naughton was lurking under
one of the carretas with his bowie knife. When lhe colonel
passed. Naughton jumped him from behind, grab?Cd him
by the hair. snapped his bead back. and defLly cut his lhroat
from car to car.
Hart was lying in wait for Mueller on the o pposite side
of the circle. He dispatched the major by the same ~ava~
' tactic. Knight crept up on Stieglitz and Bosch and slit their
The four Austrians bnd been murdered so quickly and
1
quietly that no ne of the drivers were awakened . The other
former soldiers. Robert Lee Philips, Wallace Jool::S, and
Stewart. $hot eleven of the Mexicans rhro ug.h the head as
they lay on the ground. The remaining four Mexicans, one
of them Cardenas, the bead driver, were gunned down
Now the killers descended upon the carrctas in a frenzy
of excited anticipation. They tore open the barrels and
scooped out the flour with their bare ha nds. Whoops,
shouts, rebel yells echoed between lhe canyon walls when
they bcg:in tossing out the lreasure and discovered that Lhc
sacks of coins were but a small pan of tbe great hoard.
59
 Here were riches far beyond anything they had lmnginc:d. "Suppo~an· you're acomin' through the gap and you sec
Philips found SC'-'ctDI bonlcs of cognac in I.he Aus&rians' those n ae~ cans nil nc.itlik'1 in n circh:. Yuu \\Ondi:r whill
stores. He waved one abovl! his bead. &lk:y're doing thi.s sade of the border and where's the folks
' 'Freoehy drinkin' litker! The &luff tha1'1 st.ron.ger'n boss that were in 'cm? Yc,u mosey around loolin' und then you
liniment!'· start dig,µm•. No suht \\'c'vc gor to make this look 11ke a
The.y drnnk in celebration. The drinking continued until Dl:iss:tct~ by ht,s1iles ·•
they ull pa.ss\:d out in n drunken stupor. The} pllllcJ lht' carre-t:is twc.r th.c ftlled•in hole.. threw the
Kni£ht awakened late Lbe nen morning with a large ()x yoke~ und gear on top. pileJ brush nround und made a
headache. By the time lbc olbcrs were astir his brain bad hut?C fin~. The o~en \\ere dri,·e.o a short distunce down the
cleared ~un1cicntJy for him to do some h-c.avy thinking. trail and turned loo:e. They were reJuctant to drive off th~
He reasoned that lhe Austrians were flecing from Mex- horse~ of the slain officers but .Knight pointed out that these
ico with the treasure~ He did not know bow they had nc- m agnificent nnimals might cause questions lo be asked in
quircd the hoard, but il appeared obvious to him that they San Antonio.
must have been pursued by someone. Therefore it would With saddlebags loaded wilh gold, the six ex-Con-
not be advisable for him and his pals to truce all this v.calt.h frdcrat~ rode se\lentcen miles southeast 10 Ranlesnake
back across tile border. Nor, for the present, could they Bune and rnndc cnmp for the night. Will H are did not c3t.
carry all of it anywhere else. Six men could not drh-e fifteen HI! rolled up in his blanket and explained thnt he had the
ox teams. He explained this to the othen after they sobered "ou~ries "ith Jilely a touch of fever."
up. On the following day Han swayed in his saddle and
0
We've got to get us some help. Four more drivers Jagged bcbind wb1Jc they were riding on townrds Bie Lake.
bes-idc ourse.Jves. I figu re we can make do with ten good He suggested that the others go on. he'J rest up n day or so
four-wheeled wagons :md hoss teams instead of these small in the bush beside tbr trail and then cntch up with them at
Mex carts and ocX spa,.ns. We can buy what we need in Sun San Angelo.
Antone." They left Hart behind earlv in the nftemoon . Stewart
"You mean wo•u have to leave some of thi1 behind while was suspicious. He though1 that Hart was feigning illness
we go on to San Antone? .. Stewart demanded. and said so.
"Most of il, '' Kru,ght nodded. uwe~u fill our saddlebags '' He aims to double back to the Gap and dig up more
with gold coin. As much o{ it as we can tote. Then. bcfore ,okl."
we light ou.t we've got us some diggin~ burying and burn- "Why should he do that?'· Knight as,ked. ''He's to tin' all
ing LO do... bis boss can carry now."
They dug a great bole in the ground. After filling Lheir '"Suppo-se he aims to round up those fur:rin horses ond
saddlebng& with goJ4, they closed the forty-five barrels use 'em to paclc gotd? We've seen the last of Will Han
again, rolled them to the bole and dropped them t.o lhe bot- unless-"
tom. ..Unless what'?" Knight CUL it.
Thoy covered the barrels with a thick layer of dirt. which "Unless one of us p back: right now and puts n sJug in-
~ me the bottom of a mas& grave. They dragged the to him for trying t,o double-cross ~s. •·
corpses of the nineteen men to the hole and dumped them Knight debated briefly. Hart was tough and wiry. None
in. then shoveled in more earlh until lhe bole was filled to of them h3d ever known him Lo be sick before. Besides.
the level of tilt: surrounding groundA with Han di:nd there would be. one less to share in the
The job was tinlshed on the following day, but the wily 'treasure.
Knight wus not yet satisfied. He pointed to Lbe 61'rceo Han was marked for llquidation and Stewart chosen ex-
looted c.i.rrl!l~, still drown up in a circle. 61
60

ecution er. Uc rode back to where they had left the sick
man.
Hart had rolled himself up in his blanket after leLhcring
his ho~ lie rais.ed himself on hi. elbow. hearing Stewart ·s
approac h. I tis face w .1.5 bathed in sweat. Fever :.hone m his
eyes.
"Hov.· yo.1 feeling, H art?"
..Bad. I'm bumin' up."
..Well now. I've ...omethi ng that'll stop the bumin' ."
Dr~ int? his lonr-barrclcd revolve r, Stcwvt slammed a
bullet inro. the body of the skk man. H an foll back on the
ground . Stcwnrt mounte d his hone and without 3
bnckward Jook at his V1ctim be galJoped along lhc u ail to a
&tand ot cottonw oods where the others had bolted in the
.., shade to wait for him. Kni&ht raised an inquirin g eyebrow .
"'De·td, ' Stcwa_rt grunted and they resumed thtlf journey
'toward S=tn Anp_elo.
But \'- ill Hart was not dead. The bullet aimed at his
heart had dritlcd through bis shouJde r blade, emergin g
from hi~ hack. He wa.s unconsc ious for a long time. how
Jong he d ·d not knov.•. H e dimly rememb ered d"rkncss and
dayligh t and beinr too weak to reach for h1& canlctn .
After awhile lhe blood dotted in his wound and the
fcvt.r subs1dl!d. It was probably three or four day~
later- he wH, 001 sure of the passing or the day1.- when he
decided to try co ride to the nearest town.
H ,s horse. still s.1ddJed . bad brol-cn the tether rope ~od
sLrUyed off in search of grass and water. Harl fow\d him
gra,,ing ~ sic.ft a shallow stream close by.
Hnrt mnnJgcd to climb into the saddle and ride ,Jowly
cnstwnrd tow.,rd~ San Angelo, hoping to catch up with ~c
other.... ll ispix,r~nlly did not occur to him thcjt all five of his
pals h:id voted for his execution. He probably though t that
S1ewart had decided to double-ero5.4' the others und wns on
his way b=ick to Castle Oap when he came upon Han nnd
shot him 1 , c-.cal his lips.
Hart rl!uch1.-d the srnnll settlement of Best. on whnt t.S
now \JS. 6 7, a.nd roJe o n to Big Lake. H is wound was not
healina, and it pained him incessantly. . horse traders or cowboy s wilh remounts.
About five days afte,r stoning bi11 ride, and.a doze~ mdcs
beyond Big Lnkc, he came to the last campsH~ of his pals.
Buzzards were gorging on the mutilated bodies, :&nd they
62
took fti~t with r~rufu l slowness when he approac hed..
The five had been killed and scalped by ab.ind uf rovmg
Comanches who bad made off with lbeiT horses, firearms
and the content s of thdr saddlebag.,. The ba~ had been
ri~d apart nnd scattere d abou~ the camp. The buv,nrds
had taken O\ cr where the hostiles Left off. None of the
scalped , Cncelcss 3.JlcJ partly e:ium bodies \\etc rccog-
nizabJe .
The stink of dcarh wns in Han's nostrils when he turned
from the grisJy scene. H is one though t was to get away
from there. Mo unting with difficulty, be headed towa~ds
San Angelo again telli ng himself he hnd even more to live
for than before. All of the great treasur e buried in Castle
Gap wns now h.is. He was the only man alive who knew
about ii.
Latrr that day he obse-rved a band of hostiles at a
distance. Again luck was with him. lie had spotted them
first, and be rode into the coo_cealmeot of an arroyo.
\\'bet.her they were the Coman ches who had killed his pals
or a band Crom another tribe, perhaps Apaches or
Tonkaw as lhere was no telling. but be was sure o ( one
thing. He ~as in country infested wilh numero us bands of
hostilts. and be bad to be very careful if be hoped to keep
bis scalp. . . .
From then on he traveled only by darlcness, hiding tn
bnish and arroyos during dayUgbt. His wound was more
painful than ever; the throbbi ng bad increas ed. Never-
theless be was determ ined to continu e riding to So.n Anto-
11io. almost two hundre d miles beyond Son Angelo. There,
l,e was confident, be would run into other ex-Con federate
ioldien, hopefully fellow-M..tssourian$, whose help be
:ou.ld enlist in recovering the treasure.
One evening, not far from the settlement of Tankersly,
Mlcal miles west of Sao Angelo . be sighted a campfi re on
:be mesa, decided it was the camp of white men, probably
bowboys, and approa ched it cautiously.
. From a biding pince in the mesqui te be observe d se, en
inen eating around the fire. Beyond, a nuJDber of horses
tethered , and be now conclud ed th31 the men were
prudent ly buried his saddleb ag, still filled with gold
[ in lhc mesquite before ~fin& into camp. lfe suddenly
found himscl! conrronted by drawn guns and dhcovered the ho me o f Dr. Bl ack who put him to bed in a room used
that he n_aJ \\ nnderecJ into a ban<l of horse thiev..:.s. as an infirmary. For lhe next twu days Hare foughl a losint
Their leader, J irn Gunnison. was sympathetic. Hart bnttle to survive. Then he sent for O'Connor and confiJcu
resembled a living skeleton with a scra.ggy bl~ck beard his cn ti:re story to both the lawyer nnJ the physician . When
be low eyes sunken in Lheir sockets. H is blood~tained shirt he hud finiihed Dr. Bind asked : " Why are yau telling us
was little mo re Lhan a rag from which strips had been tom this?''
lo band:igc his shoulder . ..1·.m dying. and I haven't nny kinfolk. Y o u two hnvc
The ouuaws fed him and examined the wo und. Gun- bee n kind to me. l'd like to kave it a ll to you, share and
nison shook his head a nd whistled softly. sha re alike...
" It's not mendi ng., pardner. Festering bad inside. Come Before Ha rt died that night be d rew a crude map of Cas~
daylight best thing you c an do is ride to Dento n and see the tle Gap with all the landmnl'.ks J,e could remember. The
doctor." most prominent was a huge ••windowed rock" on a line
This frightened Hart. It coofirmed his o wn belief that the 1
with 3. 154 foot Castle M o unta in.
wound was getting worse. When he bedded down tt hurt so ' ..U you stand on the small hill with yoUT back to the
greatly that he couldn't fall asleep for a long w hile. mountain," be said in a weak voice, uyou can sight down
He was a wakened before dawn by the sound of loud through the "window" t·o the spot where we buried the bar-
voices. He opened his eyes to find himself looking into the rels. Yo u 'U bave to dig deep-several feet below the grave
muzzle of a shotgun. The man behind it had a deputy , where we hid the bodies.0
sheriff•s badge pinned to his shirt. Shortly after H art succumbed , Dr. Black learned that
0
0n your feet!., the bodies of the five ex-Confederate soldiers massacred by
H art obeyed . A sheriffs posse of about fifteen men were a band of Comancbes bad be.en found in a badly decom-
he rding the ho rse thieves together. posed state. This much of Hart's story was true. The rest
0
Get over there with the othc~!" The deputy em- might well be.
phasized lhe o rder by prodding him with the shotgun. Black and O'Connor decided to go to Castle Gap and
"Look here," Hart protested. .. I'm not with these fellers. bunt for the treaswe. They made preparation s and were
I came here last night and rm headin• for San Angelo ." about to leave from Dento n two weeks later, when they
Gunnjson tried lo help Hart. He told the sheriff. Jo hn learned that a band of Kiowas bad ambushed the
Lamar of Denton, that Hart was a stranger. The sheriff did stagecoach near M cCamey, close by the Castle Gap chang-
not bcJieve him. ing station. The driver and the ~ngers had be~n massa-
H art was jailed in Denton with the horse thieves. On the cred. Editorialized the San Ange lo newspaper. "This is the
following morning he was too weak to ,s tand on his feet, ' latest of many 'terrible outrages carried out by bands o f
and the sheriff sent for the local physician, Dr. William Comanches, Kickapoos, Creeks and Kiowas who infest the
Black, and a lawyer, J o hn O'Connor. region. ln truth, the U.S. Anny offers the traveler scant. iC
Dr. Bl:1ck examined Hart and told the sheriff: " He'll be any. protectio n against savage hostiles, outl aws and
dead before the day is over if we do n' t ge t him out o( this nnegndes between here and Fon Stockton."
cell and give him medical attention. E ven then he can' t live O'Co nnor and Black were prudent men. They reasoned
more than two-three days.,. that if the treasure was as well buried as Ha rt told tl1em il
O'Conno r , the lawyer, after questionin g Gunnison and ~ there was litlle likelihood that it would be discovered
the other horse thievest became convinced that Ha rt was by accident. Ir would still be there for them to dig up when
no t a member of the gang. He volunteered to <.J cfond him in traveling conditions were safer.
court- if he survivec.J. Hart's treasure map was put away in O'Connor's safe
Hart was re leased in the lawyer 's custody and taken to where it remained for seven years. lo the meanwhile Max-
64 65
imllian 'a friends in San Antonio had been walling for the in the canyon by servants of the Emperor Maximilian.
carreta train commanded by Colonel von Huber. When it Today treasure seekers still come here 10 dig. principally
[ailed to arrive ot the m~ion of San Jose de Aguayo, they in the ,·icinity of the ruined rock. building that wos the
undoubtedly sent a coune_r to infonn the em~ror. stag-= station."
M ~ however, was in,.-oJved in a matter of
deeper concern-his life. There is no disputing Lh~ f:lt'l that the huge personal ror-
He had transferred his headquarters to Quedtaro and tune of Emperor MaximHinn is sLUI there--five million
taken personal command of his troops. The.re, aftec a siege, doUur.s worth beneath the nineteen sL.eletons of the
he was captured by Jaurez's foices and shoL The Empress Au~tri:m officers and Mex.iC3.n drivers treacherously b.11:ua
Charlotte had gone to Europe and in her unsuccessful " ·hde transponing it to San Anconio.
efforts to persuade Napoleon to save her husband's lhro11~ And some day someone is going to find it! ·
had lost her mind. She never fully tt.c0vercd, and she died
at the Cbatcau de Bouchout, near Brussels., Belgium_ in
January, 1927.
By 1873 law and order had hem established in southern
Texas. In May of 1hal year O'Connor and Black journeyed
to Castle Gap. Equipped with Will Han~s map they set out
to search for Maximilian's treasure.
They found the tall, wind~ rock lhat he bad
described, sighte.d down through it with their baeks to the
mountain,. and selected an axe-a between the confines of lbo
canyon walls.
Despite the &a.ndstorms common to the region they
dlsoovered some deep rots which had been made by big
cnrreta wheeJs. They also found wagon irons that had been
scorched by fire. After that they d ug several exploratory
bo les but tailed to locate the treasure.
Since LMD there have been many. and thus far f ruitl~
searches made by both prof~onal and amateur treasure
hunters.
The. intriguing as well as frustrating thing aboot this
cache is that its general locati00y between the t.\1tO East-
West Highways, U.S~ 80 and U.S. 67, is weU-autbcnticatcd.
The Texas guide book comp iled by tho Writers Program ot
the U.S. Work Pcojecl.S At!rnimstralion describes it I.bus:
" ... Tho towering walls echoed to the rumble of But-
terlield stagecoaches pulling in to the Gastle Gttp smdon.
Pack- lraans clauercd thcough behind lheir patient bell
ma.res, and freighters• wagon trajos wore deep ruts itl the
canyon floor. visible to chis day. Stories tell of buried
ouLlaw gold, and of a treasure in gold and jewels hidden
66 67
 rum<., r thnt with the Mexican authorirh~s devoting m<1rc a t-
tentio n to the policing of no rthern Sonora, Carlos Robles
intended to s<:nd bis considerable fortune across the horJcr
for safcl-.t:cping.
CHAPTER 7 On his return to Galcyvillc, Curly Bill confided 1his news
to J un Hughes. a quasi-mrmbt.•r of his tinn g who ucc:.1-

The Thre~ /l.1illinn Dollar

Secret of Skel.elon Canyon
siona.lly panitipated in urivi11g rusllcd calLlc to Agua
Prieta, \.\ here they Wl">ulJ be sold.
" No one lool-.s more Mex Lbaa you do or spcnks the
lnngu:1gc bcuer." said Curly Bill. •-rJ like you to hang
I
a ro unJ A tma Priet.a for awhile and find out what vou can
0
I1's aU still there in Skeleton Canyon whe re Billy Grounds about Robles' plans. From what r understand he;s made
and I hid i1 from the 01hcrs. Hughie. him5'.'lf quiti: a pile. H he intends bringing it across the line
" Best ride in from the east across San Simon Valley to we should be so mewhere around ready to grab it."
the foot of Davis Moun1a1n. Here you'll find a good sueam J,m I tuirhi:s al?fee<l. He sad<lkd his horse, rouc south in-
wilh a ten-foot waterfall . Next you'll come to a spring , to So no ra ~an<l r;m:-iineJ there for a lone time. Bv tkvio us
-Silver Spring we used lo call it A mile further there's me;ms he lcJrncd that R obles was pl:inning. tO trn;11:,port h1s
another, Gum Spring. loot :icross the border during the first week in August ant.l
•·Between the two. but a HttJe clOSC"r to the first spring, th.it he wouJd head northward thro'UC!h the Pdoncillos,
yo u look for a flat. squa re stone with two crosses scratched , then west to Tucson.
t
in ii.. o ne above the olher. When you find the stone yuu dig R-cturnin~ to Galcyvi.lle, H ughes found that Curly Bill
straight on down • . . " was not ia town. Either he had pl:lceu little credcm;c in
Lying on his deathbed old Zwing Hunt, conniving mu1e what he had heard about Robles' intentions or he h:.11.J tired
skinner, murderer and Arizona outJaw, d isclosed to his of waiting for Hughes to ctmfirm the report. In nny evcnl
nephew, Huch Hunt, the she of three million dollars in he had taken himself off 10 parts unknown.
treasure hijac ked from a Me,dcan mule train in the des- As July neared an end with no news of Curly Bill's
olate Peloncillo mountains on August, 1882. whcre,tbouts, Huf!hes became more :md more restless. Ro-
The story of this hoard, originally the accumulated plun- bles' forwne-carryiog mule train was a once-in-a-ii fctime
der of a Mexican bandit, Carlos Robles.. who pillaged opportunity, he realized, one which was far too great lo
Sonora wilh his gang, begins v.ith a doubJe--crosililg out.law pass up.
named Jim Hughes. H ughes sought out one of his paJs. Zwing Hunt~ and told
H al( Mexican, half American and a discredit to both him the story. The mule skinner emphatically agreed that
countries, Hughes lived in tl1e small cow town of. they sho uld car ry out the hijack themselves. Hughes.
Galeyville, Arizona, in the Chirica hua valley east of however. was worried abou t Curley Bilf s reaction if he
Tombstone and about twenty m.iJes from the Mexican bor- retumc<l to Galeyville an<l founu out that he had been
der. double-cros!\cd.
Among Hughes' tough and lawless fellow citi1cns were " He ain't around now," Zwing pointed out. wfhc ti me to
Zwing Hunt and an aspiring caalc rusucr, Curly Bill Bro- fret'll Ix if he docs show up after we've dry-gulchcd 1he
cius, leader of a small band of outlaws. Mex train. Right now we nl-ecl us n few good men to help
Late in the spring of I 882, Curly Bill made one of h.is out"
periodic drinking and wenching visits to Agua Pricta in They recruited six other to ugh citizens of GaleyvHle to
Sonor~ a few miles from lhe border. Here he heard a joia tbcm in the holdup: Billy Grounds, a nineteen-year-
68 69
old stahleman who was ambitio us to become a gun-slick; kicking mules. Some had ripped open, strewing tht> con-
Lhrec cowhands, Da n Winger, Joey Pclcrs and Jack Young; ren ts o n the cround.
and tv. o pr~ pecto rs , Greg Mo rgan and C ha rley Snider. It took q;rlc uwhih~ for Zwing and his pals 10 gather
On Lbe first day of August they slipped quie tly out o[ the lon t in to one pile and wh::11 they cJid collec1 was by no
Galtyville at va rio us times, rode across San Simon Volley I means all , At kasl tbrcc ll1:ided mu les \':scaped the nllack,
a nd me t at Antelope Pass near Animas. They then entered bolti11g wes1w;1rd toward the open mesas ~ yond Skeleton
Skeleton Canyon together. Canyon . T h~ cadaver of one was found m a dry wash
Zwing Hunt wus the self-appointed leader. For the am- Iseveral uavs Inter. The c.:owhiLlc sacks and pack sat.Idle were
bush be selected a strategic spot betwl!Cn the high canyon missing. \1/hat happenc<l to the 01h~r twu was neve r J e1cr-
wal ls. Dan Win ge r was sent ahead to Silver Spnngs with mined. The best guess is 1ha1 cowhands or prospcctor5
the ho rs.es, which he was to graze and picket. di:-ctwcrcd them wandering aimlessly across a mesa nnd
Zwi ng then di vided Lhe others into two gro ups. Three ac- qu ic tJy loo k them and their cargo in tow ro be dLo;posed o f a
com panied him up one side o f the canyon. J im H ughes and considernble distance away.
Lhc two- prospecto rs climbed up Lhc far side. Both groups As for 1he hijacked 1001• that Zwi ng and his pnls diJ col-
made camps among the rock s, well hidden from the am- lcc1 in the C:JJ1yon. Jim Hughes. who kept 1a1Jy. wrote Ibis
b ush site below.
They maintained a w~ltch for almost two days before the I
list:
mule train ca.me into view. The Mexican b,tntlit ch ief, 2 big Mex rcl igus statoos made of solid gold.
Carlos Robles. led lhc way. Behind him were twenty-six J bQx tilled with tliamonds.
mules ca rrying bis loot and fourteen members of his gang, 3Y ba rs or gold bullio n.
mounted on ho rs.es. 72 bars o f sil ver ingots.
T hese were a lot more Mex icans than Zwing had an- 95.000 in MCJt gold d o lars.
ticipated, but he had the advantage of surpri<,t: - The men 7 sacks (small) U.S. gold eegles.
oclow sceme-d to be totaJJy unaware '-.,f the pos~ibiJi ty or a 6 sacks (sma ll) U.S. gold hnlf eegles.
holdup. T hey rode slowly and free of care, talking, 11 sacl..s (small) mixed U.S. and Mex coins.
1..i ughing. singing.
Zwing steadied his rifle on a rock , took cardul aim a l 11 was later ascertained that Robles had sto len the two
Roble.!.' back and lriggerctl. The bandit leader ro pple-<.I fro m pricclcs~ figures of Jesus and I.he Virgin from tbe niches o f
the ~ddJe with a bullet Lhrough the heart, and all ::.even re- chun.:he.,; in Hcnnosillo. The diamonds, worth mo re than a
pealing rines cut loose w ith murderous fire. m illion doll ars. were looted fro m the vault of a Monterrey
Eight o f the Mex icans and several mule~ w<:re killed in b:rnk. and l11e gold bars. valued al $625.000 .. from one in
the fiN.t fu sillade and chaos swiftl y followed. The ~ul\ hors G uaymas.
v.erc too terrified to make a defcn£ivc stand . ·1 heir one The men were for dividing the spoils tJ1en and there.
t hought was lo escape rrom the death trap in which they Zwing objected, and Jim Hughes agreed with him .
had been caught Men, mules and horses bc.\llcd in both "This stuff is much too heavy fo r us to carry hack on o ur
direction!> between the narrow canyon walls. The relentless horses:· Zwing argued . "If we could to te even part of it
gunfire comi nue<l fro m above, killing more victim::. as they fo)Jc-s would ask questions.'' He paused and his h~md made
tlcd. a sweeping motion towards the grim carnage.
When Zwing and his men finally climbed down to the " Then. after awhile someone secs all Lhis and Lhey figure
noor of the can yon they found it littered not c:,nly with it's our doing.·•
human and animal cor pses but ~ith plunder. Some of Lh.c They mad~ no a1tempt to bury the dead Mex icans and
cowhide s~1cks had bro ken loose (rom th1: backs vf rea ring, their animals. This would be a tedio us, Lime-consuming
70 71
chore and as Tun .HugJ:ies pointed out. the 4SOOoer they ouldn'f do for him to talk about seeing us so near to the
11
returned to Galeyvillc, smg.ly nnd in p:tirsi the beuer their yon. 0
chance to avoid suspicion. ..Okay. I'll shoot him.
They buried the loot tempornrjJy near a live oak caS"r of '+Not now. We can U!lie him and his wagon.''
STiver Spri.ng and agreed thnt when chC)' met in tO\\--n they At gunpoint they fo rced the old mon to dump bis
would decide how and whe~ to remove il so that each man gctables ut the i,i<le o.f the rond and drive his wagon
could claim his $ha.Te. ad or them into Skelelon Canyon until they cainc to the
About a week went by before they all returned. Jim of the buried hoard. Here they o rdered him to dlg up
Hughes was relieved co learn that no word had been heard loot and load it on his wagon.
from Curly BIU Brodus whom he bad double-cro!SCd and Then they went on. westward through the- canyon, sto1>-
lhis eocouragcd him to attemJ)f another double-~. He ping approlimately a half-mile beyond Silver Spring Again
had a secret mt.-cting with Zwing and young Billy Grounds ~cmandez was ordered to stop the wagon. T11ey made him
and suggesi.cd thut lht lhrce of them dig up the loot and dig a big hole. carry the loot 10 Lhe- hole and bury it.
cache it elsewhere. When be had finished lhe job and tamped down the
"No need shariog it with the others" be said. "\\'e1l loose earth Billy Grounds put the munle of hh revolver lo
bide it 1.n a safe place and Lell 'cm so'mcone must have Jfemandcz·s head and killed him. Then they tOssed the old
found it and made off with iL'' JDan's body into his empty wagon anJ whipped the horses
Zwing .md Billy Grounds acclaimed this as a fine idea. Into a gallop.
Young Billy said it would be much more profitable Lo mare ~ marking the cache with a ftat stone on which
the loot among tile three of them instead of au eight. Zwing iwang scratched two crosses, they rode westword to
cxpr~d more ca ution. fombstone. Some days later. u, ing assumed names, they
''h's okay for Billy to go back to Skeleton Cmyon." he . aincd jobs us cow bands on the Chandler runch, a few
said. Bur not bo!h ~·ou and me. The) 'd spc.."CUlace what we les out ot town:
0
, ..
were up to and tt11I nghl after us. Best you stay rigbl here in Back in GaJeyviUe Jun Hughes was waiting for them to
Lown so thC)' don't get suspicious.tt um from Skeleton Canyon. When the passing days
l_im Hugh~ conceded, albeit reluctantly, that what gthcned into -:veeks ~d Jloalliy a mo_nth w~nt by without
Zwmg had s;.ud made sense. and he remained behind. word _fiom Zwmg or Billy Grounds h,s suspicions became
Zwing and Billy Grounds started off for the canyan CCJtamty. They had no intention of ever coming back.
together. On the way Zwing di~osed what he had in mind. Jbey had gone off somewhere wilh the IOOL •
They'd pull another double cross and cu.tout Jim Hu.3bes. Jim Hughes found himself bedeviled by trouble. The five
"We'll d ig up rhe stuff and cache it somewh.... re else just ~ he- had double-crossed were hounding him. They
like "--C told J im," be exp1aiti(;d shrewdly. "Only \\e v.on't lemanded to know what had become or Zwing and Billy
go back Lo Oaleyville. wc•u lay low fo r awhile nnd nf- ~unds. Had he murdered them, intending to keep all cbe
1 rwa:ds we 'l1 Uvc tike caule barons for the rest of our for himself? Or was be planning to meet them
7
laves. ewbere and share it with them.?
Billy Grounds grinned in bappy anticipation. ·•ru buy Then, too, Curly Bill Broclus returned to GaleyvllJe and
me a big spread The biggest da.mned spread in Arizona." learned bow he1d been double-crossed.
Approaclung A~lmas they met llfl old M~x_icnn farmer At first, in bis fury, he was inclined to shoot Jim Hughes
on a road, one Luis l~emandcz, who was dnvmg a wagon in bis tracks. Cooling off somewhat, he realized this
or produce ro ~.iteyville. not the most satisfacton1 answer.
0
Cao'l let him go on to town," whispered Zwing. .73
72
 . .,:hoot-o ut at the Chandle
.. Yo u' re going to lead me to the Robles cache o r cll,c, leadin g fo r T o mbsto ne. r ranc h, and he bad lost oo time in
he thn.:aten cJ. . When he called upon Zwing in the hospital his wrath and
Jim Hug hes protested th at he du.I no r kno w whc.rc the ndignatinn subsided , soothed by
Zwing's persuasi ve a rgu-
loor was h1tlJ c n. that it had been du¥, up a nd reburied b) ncnL
z,, ,n g and Bill y Grounds . C urly 81IJ rcCu~ed to bel ieve "Billy Gro unds is dead, and rm the only o ne left who
him . mows where the cache is," Zwing
.. We're riding out to mo rro w and you'd damned wdl ll\!l• "Yo u' n me will share it toge the r said .
after you get me o ut of
ter find it.'' . icre. We'll head across the border and stay in Mexico for a
Th at night Jim Hug hes decided he'd had eno ugh . Hc,pctl- un til rhings cool down. Then
we' ll come b ack
sli pp.!d quiet ly o ut of tnwn and ,;tnrtc~ o n a lo ne ~ear~h k u .ogethcr and visit Skeleto n Canyon
."
Z win~ nnd Billy Grou111J, \Vha t he mte ndetl do,n~ if ·• ~C On the follo wing night J im Hughes hro ught two ho rses
when he found the m would depend upon the c ir•10 the back door of the hospita1.
A posscman named
cumsta nccs. Culldns who was suppose d to be guarding Zwing was
At this point ~no thc r charact~r enters th~ story , 10f und asleep in a chair. Hug.hes c~s
10 hcd his skull with a
Hc::i lcv, the h:nac1o us dcpUl) she riff 0 f T om~t0n e. powe rful gun hull blo w. H e and Zwmg mounted the horses
Healey hod learned of the murder of o l~ ~u1s H c m am.lciU\d headed for the border, some
twenty-s ix mi les away.
and a lso received a r\!port that two suspicio us c h:uacrc rs.Thc escape was no t discover ed until
the followin g morning .
an okkr ma n a nd i'I young o ne. had been observed c mcrg- Jim Hughes was never seen alive
again. no r was his body
ing from the western end of Skckt_o n Canyon. Cluscl) : nd between T o mbsto ne and
00 the bo rde r. The best guess
follmvi n~ this. the gh:1sll y killings m the cnnyon were~ that Z wing treac herously guoned
him do wn in the pic-
disclwercd .. . ture-squc wilds of northern Sonora.
It w::is d11licult fo r Hcak y tn believe that only two mer What is certain is that Zwing . . .
Hunt re mamed m Menco
h.iu been responsi ble for these murde rs hut the iwcbeyon d the reach of Ame rica n lawmen
for ma ny years. It
stranger s wae aJI he h.l_J to go o n . and he hcgan Ewas no t until t 903, some twe nty-one
years laler, lhal he
sy<.tcrmn ic searc h. This ult1m atcly led him . 10 the C_ha ndlel appenred in San Antonio, an aged and fa ilin
g m an.
ranc h :tccompa nied by rwo pos..--eme n, Will Munnmg :rnc When the law finnUy caught up
with him he was too sic.k
Paiil Evere tt. Lo stand trial for the murder of Robles and nine of his Mex-
They found Zwing and Billy Grounds in fr~ t of th<ican follower s. for the slaying of Luis
Hernand ez :ind tbe
hunk house . \\' he n the c.lcputy sought to questio n them killing o f the two posseme n o n the Chandle
r ranch.
Bill y ,vent fo r his gun . . While he was in the prison ward o f the hospital he was
The !-ho<'l-out which follo w\.-<! was swift a nd s pcc ~:.ic 11 l., r visited by his o nly known relative,
his nephew, Hugh Hunt.,
A few momcn1s la 1c r. ho th posscmc n were dcaJ . 81II> w:l! who had read abo ut him in the newspap
ers.
fatall y wountlcd , Zwing had a bulkt wo und in the sh(1uld~1I Before he died , Zwing g_ave
. bis nephew the t~m,
and Healey was blccc.lrn!.! from a hullc1 gr::iz\! across Im mudged scra p of pa per on which
JLm Hughes h ad penciled
neck . ~ lis t of the treasures they had gathe red in the ~yon _that
Z win g ond Bill y were taken ro the hospita l in T o mbs tcmt ong ago day of the ambus h. Zwing
also gave him dircc-
whcrc tl~c young wo uld-be gun-slid. died the next morning ·ons foe fine.Jing the cache.
" .
The wounded Zwtnl!. ho weve r. soon began to rce<we1 The first clue w as to start at
the foot o f Davis M oun-
anll some uays later he.. rccc1vcJ · · · r-
an un..::xpcc tcd v1~1to · •• bu t wI1e n Hugh Hunt went to Skeleto n Canyon
jn
. H ,., .
J 1111 U~1CS. ho rtly after Zwing's death, he could no t find any D avis
•
Hu!!,hcs wt1s in Bishcc when he read an account of th\ ounlam.
74 75
 The can yon region extends fo r many miles through th,
Pc lo ncillo$. both in New Mexico and Ari.wnn non h a
San Simon Pass wh~rc 1hc 1hrl!c million do llar Lrovc wai::.1{APTER
ca~heJ . - 8
E ither Zwing was mistaken nbout the name or el'-c. or
hi s ucathhcd he decidctl tm n final do uble-cross. th is tirn<
on his n(phcw uncJ on the m any treasure hunLers who hJVc
The Great Trcun Robbery
been searching for his trove ever since. Cache

~ong the passengers boarding an eastbound Ohio and

Mississ ippi Railroad train at Seymour, Indiana, on the
wening o f October 6, 1866, were three men destined to
n ake railroad h.istory as tbe first bandits to carry out a
JOldup on rails.
Two of them were brothers, John and Simeon Reno,
eaders of an Indiana gang of outlaws wbose crim~
hroughout the stale ranged from safecracking and
)urglariziog banks to the robbery and murder of travelers
>n the highway. The third, Franklin Sparks, was a gang
n embcr the Renos selected to help them.
They seated themselves in the forward part o f the first
:wo coaches, Lit up cheroots and settled down as though
preparing for a long journey.
Soon afterward, when the open farmland gave way to
~oods on both sides of the right of way, Jobn Reno saun-
!ered forward to the open platform between the passenger
::oach and the Adams Express car.
Here be was joined by Simeon and Sparks. They drew
the .revolvers they had concealed under their coats. forced
their way into the express car and with a revolver butt,
m ocked the Adams Express messenger unconscious before
tie could give Lhe alarm.
John seized a leather pouch containing $10,000. in cur-
rency and tried to open a locked iron safe which held bank
~eposits- amounting to more than $125,000. Only the
n essenger knew the combination. Knocking him o ut in-
1tead of forcing him to disclose it had been a mistake.
~•we'll have to ro ll the safe out of the car and work on it
later," said John. "Sto p the train. 0
Simeon pulled the signal cord; the train ground to a stop.
/u the engineer and fireman hurried backward to ascertain
77
76
 the reason for the e me rgency sto p. they were sta r tled to sce.i holdup was the work of two shiftless Seymour res ide nts,
the sa fe rolled to the side J oor of the express car a nc.1 se nt Walker Hammond and Michael Collins.
crashing to the gwund. F.rank and Bill formed a "posse'' with other members of
At gun point they we re fo rced 10 climb bock into the their gang. They hunted down Hammond and Collins be-
engine cab and start Lhc trn in on iLS interrupted j uurncy. fore they could spend the SS,000. After a ppro pria ting the
Standing. beside the tracks. 1hc three o utJnws went to loot the Renos vinuously delivered the two culprits to
work on the safe. They had bro ught a hamme r and a jim my I the sheriff of Jac kson County, John Scott, who put them in
with the m for a possi ble eme rgency. but 1h"· fo ur-hundred- the Brownstown jail to await trial for train robbery.
pound safo frusLra tc<l the m . 11 could not be cracked open. At this point J ohn Reno turned over the leade rship of
and iL was muc h to hea vy to carry off. They fin ally a ba n• the gang to Frank. He was retired, involuntarily, by the law
doned the a ttempt a nd took off with the $ I0.000. after be took a trip to Gallatin, Missouri, where he stole
The train puffed into the sm all town of North Vernon $22,000. Cro m the Daviess County treasury. When be was
where news of the robbery was telegraphed bac k to caught soon afterwards, he was sentenced to twenty-five
Seymo ur. A posse was soon gathered. The quic kest means years at hard labor in the Missouri State Penite ntiary at
of transporta tion to lhc scene o f the holdup was in Jefferson City.
handcars and the outlaws had fl ed long N!forc tho John was somewhat of a philosopher. Many years later
possemt n pumped their way to the spot, wh.:rc they ;be noted in his memoirs: ..When we arrived at the prison
retrie ved the safe. gates I looked up and read in large letters ove r the e n-
Both the Rc nos and Sparks hld been recognized by 1he trance: 'The way of the transgressor is hard. Admission
engi neer. the brakeman a nd some of the passengers. 'I lley twenty-five cenLS.' But I was on the deadhead List and went
went into hiding in the western part of the sta te and were in free."
indit:ted in a bse ntia. llie indictment.. the first for tht.' ho l<l- Under the leadership of Frank, the train ho ldup tech-
up o f a 1rnin. is still on file in J nckso n County, India na. It oique of lhe Reno Gang improved considerably. It was
charges 1h:ll John nnd Simeon Re no a nd franklin Sparks he who planned lhe May 22, 1868, stickup of the Marsh-
tonk from the Adams Express car: ..One safe. the vnlul! of field Express of the Jefferson, Missouri and Indianapolis
$30.(JO: rhree canvas bttgs in one leather pQuc h valued at R ailroad.
$ 1.00. nnd $ 10,000. in gold coin , toget he r with S33.00 io It was destined to become "The Great Train Robbery0
bank notes. commonly calkd Na1ionaJ Currency.'' which startled and intrigued the entire country. It became a
A few mo nths later the same Adams Express car w :1$ classic enacted in many a melodrama and many aa early
hclu up at the same woo<led spot cnsl o f Seymour by 1wo movie. It aJs o served as a working blueprint for the Jen-
yo ung men. who escaped with $8.000. n.ings Gang. the Oaltons, the James-Younger Gang, the Bill
When John and Simeon heard about the robbery they Cook Gang and other train robbers who followed.
we re highly indignant. Who we re these in1crlopcrs'? Who On that eventful night the MarsbfieJd Express departed
d urcd lO invade their te rrito ry and im i1 a1c them in per- from Jefferso nville, lodiana, Just across the border from
pctrating the kind of crime they had origina ted? This, the)' Louisville, Kentucky, at 9:30 P.M. lt sped northward
fell. was adding insult to injury. Fo r more tha n two years towards Indianapolis, where it was due to arrive at 2 :40
th~ Rcnos had regarded all lnd ianu ns a guluminer might A.M.
regard a well-pnying ct~,i m he is worldng. There was enJy one guard in the Adams Express car,
J ohn se nt word to two of his other brothers. Frnnk und Thomas Harkins. ln his custody was $96,000. in gold
Bill. bo th members o f the Re no Gang. The fifth hroth\:r, coins1 $24,000. in government bonds and a miscellaneous
Clint, known as " the honest Re no:• did not be long. ?mount of paper currency and silver coins valued at about
It wasn't long before Frank and Bill learned l11c S 1,500.
78 79
 Fr;1nk was occo mp:\nioo by twelve members of the gan~
inclull tng br olhcrs Sim\!On unJ \Vi llium.
A fow of the others are wonhy o f bncf co mm\!n L:
Franklin Sparls. who had panici~ted in lhc fi rst tram rub-
bery, was designated as the '' horse holdc r'' -thc prot0type
o f the mockm driver o f the getaway car. Val Elliott had
tx-en a r.iilroru.l brakeman. Clu1rlie Anderson was a former
lf'~o motivc engineer who became a talented safccruckcr. I
Chnrlie Roseberry had been a captaio in the Union Am1y.
As for Henry JerreU , he was later described as "a formerly
virtuous painter of Seymour who was perfid iously led
astray by the Renos.••
Frank and his gang rode to Marshfield , a watcr-and-
wood sh.' P fourteen miles south of Seymour. H ere Sparks
tool charge of the horses, and the outlaws were divided in-
to three groups.
The first group, headed by Fril Oifton, climbed polc.s
along the right o f way and did a thoro ugh job of culling 1
down the telegraph wires.
The express stopped beside the M::irshficlJ wntcr tank at l
l 1 P.M . \ Vhilc lhe fir~men engaged in the usual chore of ,
taking on water, Oa\·id Hutchinson, one of the rwo !
engineers, began to oil the driving rods.
George Fletcher, the other engineer. remained in the
cab. He did not hear an outlaw creep up behind Hutch- J
inson nnd knock him our with his gun.
Having finish. cd the watering job the two firemen headed !
towards the cab. saw the prone body of Hutchinson and
ran towards him. They were quidJy surrounJcd and
beaten into unconscio usness.
Engineer Fletcher wns nex.t !O ~ attacked . Char.lie I
Roseberry climbed into tbc cab. hll b1m over the head wub
a poker and threw him out on the right of way.
Va! Elliott, the former brnkeman and OtarHe Andcrso~ I
the ex-locomotive engineer, uncoupled the engine nnu ex-
press cnr from the co::ichcs. Frank Reno and the others
swarmed aboard the tender. \Vith And~rson at the throttle
they staned forward.
Emerging from a coach , Conductor Ameri~us Wb -.:d~r
saw them setting off down the track and lcavmg the tram
behind.
80
"Hey!" he shouted and began running between the rails.
crWhaf s going on?''
When he cu ught sight of th~ outlaws on to p of the ex-
press c:ir, he drew J1is revo lver a nd fired. Ans wering bullets
whistled tow ards him. He fcl'I , crilically wo undcu. The
soun<l of th" shots frightened the passcn£ers, who began to
jump from the coaches. They all had the same idea-get-
ting away from there-and they headed for the nearest
trees.
Anderson drove on at a speed of twenty m ph towards
the spot about four mil~ ahead where Sparks was sta-
1
tioned with the horses. And Fra nk R eno led the way along
the roof of the express C!lr and dro pped to the placform
behind.
T he door was locked and bolted from the inside, but
they made shorr wo rk of forcing it o pen. H arkins, the
Adams Express messenger, was waiting, pistol in hand. A
courageous man, be was determined to protect the valuable
, contents of the car to Lhe last.
He did manage to get off a couple of wild shot~ before
they nashed him. Hark ins was slugged with gun butts,
pokers and a crowbar. More de(ld than alive. he was thro wn
from the moving train into a swamp where he was found
the nex t d ay. lt took him a long time to recover fro m the
terrible beating.
The oull nws stopped the train at the point where Sparks
was wai ting for them with the horses and unloaded the
$96,000. in gold. This time, instead of being stored in o ne
large safe. the coins were contained in three smaller iron
\ boxes, each four feet lo ng and iwo feet high. They were
loaded on the backs of three of the extra horses which
foresightedly had been brought along to carry the loot.
It wns now long after midnight, and Frank Reno
designated John Moore to guide them lbrough the
darkness, across the swampy terrain.
Moore was thoroughly familiar with the surrounding
area. As a yollog man he had bunted and trapped o ver
every foot of iL Fo r almost three miles he led the way
wit11out the least hesitancy. Then Frank: o rdered a halt.
" Look here. Moore, we're heading towards Seymour,
ain't we?"
81
 N ews that the three Reno brothers had been jailed could
no t remain secret for long. Ano ther party of vigilantes, the
"Southern Indiana Vigilante Committe e," soon organized
right in New A lba ny. They marched on the jail a nd shot
Sheriff F uJlentove when be refused to surrender the keys to
the cells.
Once they had relieved him of the keys, they stormed in-
to the jail . William Reno was the first to be strung up to the
beam in the corridor: C harlie Anderson and Frank Reno
soon followed.
All three djed quickly, but the job on brother Simeon
was badly botched. His neck was not broken . Instead, be
slowly strangled to death. His body twitc hed and bis legs
Ucked feebly fo r half an bour before life left him.
Now J o hn was the only survivor among the fou r outlaw
Rcnos. Serving his sente nce in the Missouri State Peniten-
tia ry, be truthfully declared that be did no t know where the
S96.000. loot of the Marshfield Express had been cached.
His brothe rs had had no opportuni ty to communic ate this
informatio n to him before their violent demise.
ln Seymour, however, a splritualis t. one Richard Lean-
de r, declared be knew where the $96,000. in gold coin had
been buried. On the night following the lynching the ghost
of F rank Reno had materializ ed and had told him where
the three iro n bo xes were hidden.
Leander offered to pass this informatio n on to the
Adams Express Company for the paltry sum of S300.
The express compan y executives put him _in touch with the
Pinkerton Agency whom they had put tn cha rge of the
case.
The spiritualis t was brought .to New York Ci~ for a
seance with Geo rge Bangs. supcnntcn dcnt of the Pinkerton
Agency and Vice-Pres ident Gait.her of Adams Express.
The ghost of F rank Reno did not materializ e buL. back in
Seymour, o ther spiritualis ts clid. . clean-shav en and slim, weighing 110 mo re tha n 110 pounds.
The town was invaded by an army of mediums. They
came fro m everywher e and fo r a time they did a land o ~ce
business selling " revelation s of the Reno gold" to gullible
treasure hunte rs. T o this day, however, the .. ghost" of
Frank Reno has revealed the exact location or the cache
neither to a ~piritualis t nor to anyone who bas searched fo r
it.
84
CHAPTE R 9
M oshy's Virgi nia Heirloom H uard
In the most comfortab le bedchamb er f1f the G unnell man-
sion, which he had :ippro prbtl'll fo r his F ai rf:Lx Cou rt
House hcaJquarters. Bri g:idia G e neral Edw m H . Stough-
ton i-nnrcd 11..mdly a nd contented ly. .
For several days the Unio n forces under lu s com-
mand- the First Vcm1ont . Eighteenth Pcnnsyh a nia. First
Virginia and a brigad~ of the Fifth New York- h ad h-!en
pillaf!ing the homes of Confedera te families in the sur-
rounding area of Vinriniu.
Day by day Lhe gol d plate. gem-studd ed jew~lry. sit v.er
tablewa re. o rnate candlesticks and other precious he ir-
looms hnd been accumul a ting in the burlap sac k which he
k.ept in a corner of his room . Now. on this rainy night of
Marc h 9. 1863, the sack was almost filled. Stoughto n. who
prided himself on being a connoisse ur. estim ated the
"collection •· to be worth $350.000.
He was s leeping soundly. when , sometime afte r mi~-
rught. the re was a most undignified intrusion uPon . his
privac~ . H is hcd quilt was yank d downwa rd .. H is mgh ~
shirt was pulled upward. He received 7 a resounding wh:ick
across his broad backside.
Siuing up indi!,.rnantly he was conf rontcd by a stn,nger
m.rveying him with humo rous blue eyes. The intruder was
His blac k r aincoat was unbutto ned. displaying the butts of
two big Colt revolvers in brass-stud ded holsters. The h.a t,
which he carried in his left hand. was of gray felt. in-
congruous ly adorned with a n ostrich plume.
"Ever hear of Mosby, G ener al?
"That damned horse-thie ving guerrill a rebel?" Stough-
ton spluuered a ngrily. "By God, man! You·vc come here in
85
lhe middle of the night to tell me you know where he 1.sr•
•·You' re 1a!Ki1tt to him, General. You're h~ prisDoer."
Incredulity apr,eo.red on Stoug.htoo·s face. Th.en he ot,..
se.rv~ that tl1e intruder was wea.ring n Conrcdcrn.tc
uniform beneath his rllincoaL It was then lhat be nol.Cd the
osuich plumed hat.
He had heard that Caplain John Singleton Mosby.
l~der of a srna1J band of fast~riding.. bard-hitting Con-
federntes, wore a plume in bis hat. h was a curious sort of
cavalry guidon to ~how his irregulars where lO r:illy
around him during a band-to-band foray .
... lf you·re Mosby." Stoughton tie,manded, still un-
convinced. ··how in blazes did you gd past my outposts
and pickets?''
"You left an e-q,osed outp<>sl vulnerable. Oeneialt
Mosby said, and added with a grin: "Jusl ns you d id in
bed."
'-'Bu1 what happened to my sentries-to my guards?"
•·we''lle captured all of •em. If you'll dre.s, I'll e~rt
you downstairs where you will join them.'~
&rUcr that evening Mosb-y, a former Bristol. Virgtnia,
lnwycr, a~ for a short lilne General J .E.B. Stuart'i adju-
tant in the First Virginia Cavalry. had led his band of twen-
ty men lhrough lhe piney woods from Cub Run. south of
Little Run Turnpike, an area patrolled by hundreds or
Union soldiers.
His men we.re armed with revolvers and knive~. They all
"1ore black raincoats or slickers. They rode £ilently in the
rain-chiUed darkness.
It was an ideal night for the raid. They captured thirty-
four or the enemy without firing a shot As a preliminary lO
their descent upon Stou!hloo's headquarters they bad
made a stop at th.e Union arms depot a.nd r~ount oomt in
Fairfax Coun House, where they had surprised the guards
and seized ~ixty-two saddle horses tog.elber with a number
of newly-issued Spencer repeating rifles.
On reaching the Gunnell mansion lhey herded the cap-
ti'les together on the main Boor. Leaving Sergeant ''Big
Yank" James F. Amt$----SO nicknamed became be bad
deserted from the fi!Lh New York ca.vatry-in command
of the guard, Mosby went to Lhe upper ftoor alone nnd cap-
tured the sleeping brigadier gener3.l.
86
Fully d ~ Stoughton came down the staironse. pro-
testing at cn:_ry ~tep. Uc"'tl'
followed by Mosby, who car..
ricd the heavy sack of recovered Confedcrate treasure on
bis shoulder.
The rmsoocrs were march~d outside and commanded to
mount tl,e extrn horses. Mosby tied the sack over the sad-
dle of one_ of lhe horses o.od they started back towards their
own Jin~. Their objective was GeneraJ Stuart's hcadquar~
ten in Culpepper, forty-si.\ miles south, where Mosby in-
tcndcJ to deliver the prisoners, horses and the Confederate
heirlooms which he hoped might some day be claimed by
their riebtful owners..
Two- experienced Confodc.rate scouts. Corporal Well
Hatcher and Priva1e George Whitescarver rode in advance
of the au1,rmented column. IA~pite the proximity of enemy
ltl10ps they guided the irre1:,'Ulars through the first Union
lines without detection.
A few hours later. however. Hatcher reported back to
Mosby that there was a stron~ force of Union troops ahead
where their road joined anoLhcr in the vicinity of
Hn•.-markct.
•=\\1e'll swing around their left fl unk," said Mosby.
.icircle enstward towards Manas.1ras. ,.
H alchtr bhook his head. He explained that he h nd
alread, 1hou2ht of this and h~d ~1:nt Whitesc:lrver eastward
to reconnoirer. The scout had soon returned with the
discouraging information thal a ~~cond fo rce of Union
troops was spread out to the east.
0
Thcn we'll circle westward," Mosby d~cidcd.
H .nchc~r lc.d the way, swinging lO the west of H avmnrket.
They then beaded southwest toward Culpepper through the
piney woods on n roufe wbich parullels the present su-
pcrhigh\V:l)'. U.-S. 21 l.
After riding a few miles beyond H aymar.k et, Mooby
summoned ••Big Yank.. Ames to his side.
0
Wc don't k'now what may be waiting ahead," Ile said.
••u we enc<>uoter enemy soldiers ~nd they rec--3pture lhe
prisoners, the horses and the rifles. that's all part of war.
But all those heirlooms in the sack aren't p;in of war.
They're ou~right robbery. Stough1on ·s men stole them from
bclpleu .:1vilians. You and 1 are guing. LO bury thnt sacl co
87
mole certain that its contents don't frill intO enemy bands
again.••
After ordering his men to continue the march M~by
rode lO lhe rear of the column. Ames procured a spade
somehow and joined him.
They halted lhcir hor&es approximately midway between
Hnymarkc, and New BaJtirnore, a dislanoe of (our miles.
Herc they buried ~ sack between two pme trees.
Mos.by marked the tn.Jnks of both trees with his L-nife so
that be could find the spot ag,nin. He expected to return
wilhin dnys, or weeks at most, with a small party of ir-
regulars~ When not burdened by a number of prisoners and
extra horsei. they could recover the sack wilhoul detection
ond carry it on sttfc ly to General Stuart~s headquanen.
As it so happened thls extra precaution tumed out to be
needless. The irregulars cncowttered no Union force on
their march to Culpepper. lt is a mat~r of historical record
that Mosby formally delivered to General Stuart In good
condition the follow ing: o ne mortified Yankee brigadier
ger.eral. two ot1ptai~ partly clad; thirty-one pickctS and
sentries, a quantity of Spen~r repeating ri0es and sixty-
two remounts.
It was one of lhc most daring cx-ploiis of the war, carried
out lc5S lhao fifteen miles from Washington, D .C. lt gave
the South a good laugh and grcnUy embarrassed the Union
command.
"l hope, sir," Mosby said to General Stuart~ «that
beyond lhe Potomac our Rangers will now be regarded u
soldier!.. not guerrillas...
The Nonh did not -c:hange Hs opinion about MCKby a-nd
his men but General _Robert E. Lee did-and very
promptly. The commanding general of the Confederate Ar-
my had ,ricwcd Mosby's Rangers as a n insignificant guer-
rilla bnnd. The capture of Brigadier General Stoughton
pointed out the Range~• possibilities to Lee. Two days
later be sent Mosby his Special Order 82 which read:
His Erc:ellenry, the Preside,111, hm bt~n pleased to
sltoiv l1h ,rpprrciution Qf the l((Xld services and many
daring exp/oils of J .S. Mosby by promot ing him too cap-
talttc-> tn iht ProvmciaJ Army of tM C-onfederacy.
TIU! gtnua/ commanding i.$ confident that tlaiJ man,.
88
if~ ta1ion of the a pprobation of his su peril,r.t will but
~ rvt to in.cite Captam Mosby to st,/1 grt•ater eOorts
ID udvam:e 1/r~ 1,t(J(Jd of the cm,se in which we are
enJragttd. Hr will a, once prcx:te<J 10 organize his com-
mand, as indicated in leuu of instruction.,; this day /or-
wurdtd IO him from these l,eadquoru.rs.
For the next lwo week$ Mosby was much too busy to
rctrie, c: the sackful or heirlooms. Then, with his Rnngec
force increased ro sixty-one men. he headed nonhward
ag~in Hi" obie,-t ive. a~ he briefed Sergeant Ames, was to
venture beyond New Baltimore, dig up the. sack. and skirm-
ish with any small force of Union troops lb.at they might
chance to encounkr on the way.
Al about 10 lbal snme night Mosby learned that a large
enemy wagon train was encamped ahead on Little River
T urnpike.
Mo:,by launched an attack. leading his Rangers ou.t of
tht woodi and firing at a gallop◄ H.e caught the wagon train
guard, numbering two hundred Yunkee cuvalrymen, by
surprise. They fired their carbines wildlyt and three o[
M~by's men dropped from their saddles.
Bat the revolvers of the Rangers proved much more
deadly. The Union force lost thirty-nine men and lhe rest
retreated northward in great disorder, abandoning the
wagon train.
MOsby decided that the sackful of heirlooms could wait
until a later date~ lt would remain safely under the earth
where he and Ames had buried iL Escorting the captured
wagon train Ytith its cargo of Yankee military supplies back
to Cul~pper had a priority.
In the course of the next few days be led bis Rangers
against a force of Union troops at ehnntilly and another
a1 Miske! Farm. Both were successfu.J and he took eighty-
two prisoners.
Sbonly thereafter he n:ccivcd another communication
from General Lee who wrote: •·1 have the pleasure of for-
warding your oommiSsion as Major or Partisan Rangers."
From then on there were no more opportunjties to dig
up the treasure board o( heirlooms.
His Rangers became a Confederate force which con-
stantly goaded and badgered the Union Anny in Virginia.
89
The} disn1p1ed its commuruc:itions. cutting telegraph lines
f as!er than they could be repaired. Thcy capturcJ wngon
trams; they 1nt.:r~ptc!d supplies for Yanktc regimcnl.5 in
the fit:-ld by day. and at ni£hL they struck .it outpost~ and
p1d.c1 lines. taking many prisoners.
Mosby acquired a twelve-pound mountain howitzer dar•
ing one 0 1 hts raids. AllhOu!,!h he hud tum~ O\.Cr to
Gcnt!ral l..tt's unlts all the artillery pieces he had cnptur~
up unu1 now, the mobilily of the little cunoon intrigued him
and be kept iL
He founJ n competent gunner in bc:irdcd Sam Chapman.
Ch:ip1ran dcm(lnstratct..l his proficiency near Man:'lssas
Junction: ,,i1h one sru.,t he blew up the: locomou"c of a
train c:in,ing reinforc..:mcots nml sul'>plies to ~ncrnl
Hookers am1y. Then Lhc rangers v.iultcJ into their saddles
:md charged behind Mosby. The Y~nk solJien in the
stnllcd tr~in fl~d carbine~. then n~d. Tbc Rangers coptureJ
cwemv-nmc pnsoner~ and alJ or the supplies.
When word of this latest ol•trnue reuchcJ \\'ashineton
D.C. the federal go\ie mmcnl put a- price on ~fosby's henc.l~
dead or Jlh e.
M oliby harassed other railroads after that ; lhc Oranec
and Akxandria ; the A ll}Xandna. LouJoun and Hampshire.
the B3ltirnorc and Ohfo.
lo Some of thc~e daring forav-. he ~ ,i7Cd eold ;,nd curren, ~
cy. His bugest haul was made on the 8 and O trnck where
he stoprcd a train and n:n,oved R $ 100,000 Union Army
payrolJ from an Adams Express Companv car.
. As far ns can be determined ncHher Mosby nor .Ul) of paet1y what he bad cxpecw.1 Sheridan would say.
his mc:.n eve.r kci,t (or tiuried) a part of this tQ(')t. He was
Undetected. he made his way lO the crude gallows where
~ men's bodic$ \\ere stiJI hanging. A placard had been
penned to Ames' chest: THIS WILL BE TI-IE FATE OF
MOSBY AND ALL ms MEN!
Mosby's eyes flnshed in an~r and his reUlliation was
swift. His Rnngcrs had captured more than ~van hundred
cne.m}" soJdjers. Some of them has been seat to Richmond
but several score still remained in the srockude at Rector~
town.
He _rer-umcd to Rcetonown at a gallop and ordered rbnt
the pnsoners who had been au.ached lo Custer's command
be separated from the others. There were twemy-cight of
them.
••your general ,wung seven of my Raneers and so seven
lot you wiU hang," Mosby informed thc:m grimly. " Draw
lots!"
_That night the Rnngen hung the seven condemned
iJN"lSOncrs on the Winchester Turnpike near General
Custer's beodquarters.
Mosby was not yet finished. Under a flag of truce be sent
e of his Rangen. young John Russcll, to General
~ erldnn's heu.dqu:nrters.
R~scll'r. message remind«;d the general that Mosby was
!holding seven hundred lJruon prisoners and .111nounced
l he would continu.e to execute one for each of bis own
llnCn hanged.
. "This is impudence!" Sheridan stormed. " f1J show
~oshy I'm ~t to be threatened. f m going to hang you!"
I Russell did not show alarm. He nodded as if th.is were

~
.. I've got a fl'!CSsage for you that wasn't put into writing,
scrupulous!~ honest n.nd insisted that .ill of 1t be turned neral,'' he saJd. "l was to inform you. that if a hair of my
over In Confo:ch:rate Army h c.tdquarters. ad was touched under a flag of truce, one hundred of
With the pasS:t!?C of time he bcc:imc conl!cmcd over his ur m,en who :ire our pri-t.oncn will be cxccut~d.0
failure to recover the !Q.ad.ful of vutuabtc heirlooms, nruJ Sheridan turned beet-red. Ru~II rode back to Rector-
on~ d·1y h,· t.nt Sergc,mt Amc1- "ith o demi! of ~ix men to ~wn unharmed.
dig it up. They were caught by soldier,; from onL of Genc,ul L _The Rangers continued to harass the Union forces.
Custer's unJt, ,.md brought l\.l fi ronl Royal. Mosby was promoted to the rank of colonel in recognition
. Custer wa!)ll!d no time. He declared th.it they \\~re gucr.- Df bis outstanding service tO the Confederacy.
riltu, and onl~rcd tbi=rn lo~ h,,ngcd ,, 1thoul a trinl. L~~h Ames dead, the only man who knew Lhe exact c;pot
On the morning followmg the c.\ccuu,m Mosby rode in- ~ the Confederate heirJoom treasure wns buried was
to Fronl Royal nlone, and at lhc risl-. o[ bt:, li{c.
90 91
 H e co ntinued to intend to recover it but somehow cir-
cum!ltanti:~r fotl!-alwa ys prevented ltim fro m d o ing
so.
On April 21 . 1865 . twelve d11r s afte r Lee's surrender. he
disbam.kd his Ranutr force. He re-turned to Bristo l. where CH APTER 10
he became busily ~ngaged in bis leg.al practice which h n<l
been disrupted by the ~ftr .
In 1878 he went to Ho ne K ong as the U .S. co nsul :ind
re mninc<l there fo r seve n years. Then hi! returned 10 his law
practice. L.lle r , he oocrune an assistant auomcy in tbc LI .S.
Dcp~nmcn1 of Justice.
Sho rtl y hcforc his death in 19 16 nt the i.tge of ejght y-
three. he 1n:d some of his close friends: ''I' ve ~Ll ways meant
to look fo r that sack we buried after capturing Sto ughtr,n.
Some of the most precio us heirlooms of old Virginia
famil ic"' ,u·rt in that sack. I ~ucss !hut o ne o f these da~s
someone c.l s~· wiU find it. ..
T o Lb.is day no one has.
92
The $]75 ,000 Cus ter Massacre
Cache
1
A rtho uf'b the story of the Battle of the Little Big Ho m and
General Gearge A. Custer's last stand bas been written
time and time again, little has ever been chronicled of oo.e
d.ramoLic aftermath involving Captain Grant Mars h, bis
river steamboat, and its cargo of $375,000. in gold bars.
From time to rime discoveries of gold had been repon-
ed in a number of areas of eastern Montana as well as in
the Black Hills o f the Dakotas. And so .it happened chat in
1874 when Custer started for Paba-Sapa io the Sio ux coun-
try on wbat was suppose.d to be a mission of friendship, his
Seventh Cavalry w as accompanied by five civiliao.s. Two
were naturaJJsts; one was a geologist. The other two,
William T . McKay aod Horatio N. Ross, were experienced
gotdminers who had previously prospected around Sac-
ramento.
Late that July McKay and Ross discovered gold in Sioux
territory. Cus ter co nfirmed this o ffici ally in a reJ)Ort to
Washington, D.C .. and somehow a reporter on the Chicago
Inter Ocean got a scoop on the news.
On August 27, 1874, the Inter Ocean triumphantly
headlined the story and thus precipitated a gold rush;
GOLD!!!
THE LAND OF PROMlSE!
Stirring News from the Black Hills
TH E GLilTERNG TREASURE
Found At Last-A Belt of G old Terri-
to ry 30 Miles Wide
The Precious Dust
Found Under the Horses' Feet
EXCITEMENT AMONG CUSTER'S TROOPS
93
 V.'ithin two yeari, mo re than 15.000 gold seekers C:lptain Marsh immediately made preparations to re-
~, a m1c:J into the te rntory n.nd settlements lncl prosp.:c- ceive th~ wou nded. Some o f the cr ew we re put to work
tors· C3mps m us hroomed along lhc Y ellowstone :ind its culling the long prairie grass and laying ll out below deck
t.ributnry. lhe Big Hom. with ca nvtis o ver it for mattresses. The scant su pply of
The Far West. ~kippered b} the veteran riverboat man, med icines and bandages was bro~en out or lock.en-. The
Capl ~un Grant M anh, was one of lhc few .;tcan~bon,s th at boiler crew headed by e ngineer Tom-joc H auser fired up a
pokc.:d a square bow between Bismarck and poinLS on tho head o f steam so that oo time would be lost.
Yell0w,wni:. carrying gold shipments as well as pas- All Lhro ugh the night Marsh and Campbell scooo watch,
sengc.rs, ma1t, and miscellaneous freight. She was the cnly awaiting the arrival o f Lieutenant James Bradley and the
steamboat th a t d areJ to make r~gula r runs be)ond wounded. On the deck , below their pilo thouse lookou t,
\Villi!.,lon to remote poi.nts in the r1..,iling. n.1 d.- trnrr..:<l Jenks and a half-dozen men armed with carbines were on
gorges of Lhc Big Horn and the even more bazan..lou5 fo rk the al~rt to repel hostile Siowc.
of the Little Big Hom: . . Nothing happened. ll wasn' t until the afie~ oon o f l t;tne
The Far West was tied up on the bank of the Lm.le Big 29 that a squad from Bradley's company amved, carrying
Horn. her crew cutting and taking on a load of firewood o n three wounded caval rymen in litters made from saplings
J une 27. 1876. when Captain Marsh heard about the and the hides of slain horses.
Cu.seer massacre from a passing Crow deer hunter. Another night of waiting passed. On the morning of
He was apprehensive as well as shocked for he had put June 30. scveraJ more wounded were brought aboard . And
in at WUJisto n on the western part of his run lO tak~ Jtx, .1~d h, t.he nex t three days there were more wounded. carried in
a shipment of $375,000. in gold bars for delivery u1 litte rs by Bradley's dog-Lired soldiers.
Bismarck on the return voy<41e. . Tom-joe Hauser h ad been keeping up a head of steam
Captain Marsh summoned Dave Campbell, his pilot- since the first news arrived. Early on Lhc morning o f J uly 3,
mate, and Ned Jenks. his bo's"n. He told t~em the news. .. jhe invaded the pilothouse. Grimy, wearing nothing but a
"Gel the cordwood stacked aboard quick as you can, !towel breech-clout, he was sweating from every pore.
he ordered. ··1 want to cast off before some of lhose ur ve been ke.epin' fired •up and aroastin' all this time. If
Oga.laJa Sioux take it into mind to auack us." we nave to wail much longer there won't be wood left for
Prodded by CampbeU D.nd Je nks. the c rew c hopped and us to run on."
loaded faster rban chey had ever dooe before. They were Mar~h nodded sympathetically. The weather had been
still a t it when a couple o f Seventh Cavalry scouts ap- bol In lhe engine room it was sheer bell He sent Je nks
peared. One was R unning Wolf, a full-blooded Crow, the ashore with another cho pping party and T om-joc below tO
at.her a half-breed nam ed Osgood. They confinned the continue bis boiler watch .
massacre of Custer and his entire colu_mn and :il-.o Later tha t morning General Custer's wo unded horse,
delivered an urgent message from MaJOr General Alfred H. Comanche, was brough t to the boat, hoisted aboard and
Tcrrv. tethered in the stem. Tom-joe spat in disgust and his spittle
" Yellow Hair and m~n are aJJ dead ," said Osguod. sizzled into angry steam against the boiler.
"Lieutenan t Bradley is bringing the wounded from ~ cn\",'S " Is I.his what we've been keepio' the fire goin' for ? A
and &ntccn's colwnn here to your boat General r~rry c:Jaybank cayuse!"
asks you to take them aboard and carry them back to Fllrt Soon afterward the last of the wounded arrived and with
Lincoln." the m Major General Terry. In addition to giving Marsh last
Fo rt Abraham Linco ln was near Bismarck, a distance of minuce orders. Terry handed him a diary found on the
approxim.:itdy 740 miles Crom where lbe Far Ji est was body of Mark Kellog, the adventurous Bismarck Tribune
then ticJ up. reporter wbo bad ridden with Custer's column. The final
94 95
 Marsh's band reached angrily for
entry penned the last recorded words of any member of thi splitting shrieks echoed from bluffthe whistle cord. Ear-
to bluff Hon1' mg the
ill-fated column: treacher ous gorge. but they foiled to disperse the two hun-
44\\'e lca"e the Rosebud tomorrow . By the time this drcd Sioux warriors lining the nearby shore.
reaches you we will h:ive met and fought the red dc\-ils. 1 ~ "Wastin g good steam, Cap'n," said C."llTlpbell. "Crazy
with Custer and will be at the death- -" H~•s braves won't scare at a whistle tool. Not ofter what
Terry asked ?.la.rsb to mtlkc the hazardou s 740 mile nm &hey did to Custer."
down the Big Hom, the YclJowstooc Md the Missour i at '"Reckon you're right .•."
all ~iblc speed so that the fifty-two wounded men Another fire-arro w landed aft. Campbe ll grabbed the
abonrJ might receive medical treatmen t as soon as possi- Springfk ld in l.bc pilothou se. aimed
and fired. His bullet
ble His final words were solemn and sjgnilica nt. It was the pierced the bead of a Siou~ on lhe
cedar-tu fted bluff.
first admissfon that the dashing Custer had recklessl y led Bo's'o Jenks and other member s oC the crew also opened
bis column into a trngic trap. fire with carbines . The Far West churned ahead, running
..You arc about to start on n trir wilh fifty-two wounded the Sioux gauntlet of O:iming arrows
and buUc1s.
abo:ird. Thi! is a bad river Lo navigate nnJ accident s 11te Marsh sluck his bead out of the pilothouse window
likely to happen. I wish to ask of you thar you use all the again: '"AJJ the wounded safe below deck, bo's'n?,.
skill you possess, all the caution you can command, to '·Exccpt in' Custer's horse.''
make the journey safe ly. The clayb::tnk gelding, sole survivor of the massacre and
..You have on bonrd the most precious cargo a vessel bearing seven buJJct wounds, was still
tethered in the stem.
ever cnrricd. Every soldier here who is suffering. with "'Picket Comanc he to port of the pilothou se and be qul~k
wounds is the victlm of a terrible blunder; a sad and terri• about it!"
blc blunder. " The Far W~s, was now two hundred yards from the
Oo the afternoo n of July 3, the For We.rt began its epic: bluff. Thirty seconds later her curving
course narrowe d the
run Vtilb Marsh n1 the wheel and Campbe ll at his side. She pp to a hundred and fifty yards.
Then Marsh wns able to
ran the Little Big H om wide open at fi!teeo knots. some- ease her off. A few minutes later she
rounded the bend and
thing no river pilot had dared do before. was out o( range.
Safely n~vignting past the conceale d sand ban and Twenty-one Sioux were killed in the enco unter. Aboard
abrupt turns, she reached the junction with the swifler- the steambo at one deckhand.. Sam
Tyler, had been slain by
flowing Big Horn and started the thirty-th ree mile stretch a Sioux bullet and B wounded
cavalrym an, Corpora l
through the gorges which would tru.c her to the Yet- Wentzd, had succumbed. The corporal
had beeo suffering
lowstone. greatly from a fostering gunshot wound in the beUy. His
Mar~b e~perUy avoided juttin~, saw-toot hed rock and death was a merciful release.
drifting rrees carried down from the high counll) beyond Now Tom-joe re~ppcar ed in the pilothouse. He was still
Fort Smith. He steered tl1e Far West around blufis looming wearing ooJy his towel breecb-c loul
up on ellher s.bore where the river narrowe d in sweepin g ..Running short of cordwoo d again, Cap'n. Didn't take
C\JJ'\cs. Tb~ Jess than four miles from the Ytllowst ooe, at on much of a load before we left."
the most dnogerous. curve in the river, Manih !law that a 1 "Well- " Marsh paused and reftected
.
large Siou~ war party was waiting on the blutl ahe:id. Darl'DeSS was UJ;K>D them. Soon tbi:y would reach the
A firc--a.rrow flamed i:n an arc Bnd landed on deck.. Marsh juncture of the Big Horn and the
Ycllo~to ne. Once
thrust his ~Lubbled chin out of the pilot.house window nnd beyond, they would be safe enough
from lndtnn attack. to
roared: uw ntcr buckets oftl" 1put into shore nod cut more wood.
Boots pounded nJong tllc " ooden deck followed by Manh decided to wait, but when they approa c~ the
slosl1ing sounds as declbtul ds extingui shed the blu.ze. 97
96