THE BAND REORGANIZED--ANOTHER RAID ON THE UNION PACIFIC AT ROCK CREEK
BY A GANG OF SEVEN--THEIR PLANS SPOILED BY A TRAITOR--A SHERIFF
NEGLECTS TO DO HIS DUTY, AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DETECTIVE ASSOCIATION
IS CALLED UPON--ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT BOSWELL TAKES THE MATTER IN
HAND AND BEARDS THE LION IN HIS DEN--THE ROBBERS CAPTURED IN THEIR
HIDING PLACE BEFORE DAYLIGHT--DETECTIVE WORK WITH THE MERCURY THIRTY
DEGREES BELOW ZERO--A CONFESSION OF A CHUM LEADS TO DUTCH CHARLEY'S
DEATH AT THE HANDS OF JUDGE LYNCH--FATE OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE
GANG--STORY OF THE CAREER OF "THE KID"--SOME OF HIS EXTRAORDINARY
EXPLOITS ON THE DEADWOOD LINE.
Early in December, 1878, a portion of this band, consisting of Erwin,
Manuse, Dutch Charley, Frank Ruby, A. C. Douglas, Hank Harrington, Frank
Howard and Charles Condon (alias "The Kid") decided upon another raid upon
the railroad, and this time selected as the point of their attack the
bridge across Rock creek, fifty-six miles west of Laramie City. Their
programme included the robbery of the train, and also of the hotel kept at
the point by ex-Gov. Thayer, of Wyoming.
The plot was quite as devilish as that which had been frustrated at
Medicine Bow, but it never came so near bearing fruit as the former one
did. It was frustrated through the efforts principally of two men, named
Frank Howard, one of the party, and Detective Boswell, who succeeded in
taking in the entire band by a very bold and shrewdly arranged move upon
them.
Frank Howard was a member of the party as it started from the north for
the purpose of committing the robberies planned as above stated. The party
came south to within a few miles of their destination and, camping in a
spot where they supposed themselves safe, decided to send a member of
their organization to the station to look over the land and make report
upon the prospects there. The performance of this duty fell to Howard,
whose conscience appears to have been considerably wrought upon, and whose
heart failed him in the work in which he was about to engage. As a
consequence of this state of his mind he decided to frustrate the plans of
his associates, prevent the raid and assist in securing the capture of the
band. He laid the entire story before Gov. Thayer, who was not slow in
communicating it to the authorities of Albany county.
Mr. Boswell was not then acting sheriff of the county, although he had but
recently been elected to that position. The sheriff was notified, but did
not act. Gov. Thayer then informed the officials of the Union Pacific
railroad of the intentions of the cut-throats, some of them being at
Ogden, Utah. They took the matter in hand and began to communicate by
telegraph with the sheriff of Albany county. But he did not heed their
dispatches or take any steps to grant their request that the contemplated
train wrecking be prevented and an effort made to overtake the criminals
while there was a chance of finding them.
Two days were spent in this way, and at last the Union Pacific people
telegraphed Mr. Boswell, as a member of the Rocky Mountain Detective
Association, and requested him to see if something could not be done,
offering a reward of $250 each for the capture of the gang. Mr. Boswell
went to see the sheriff, who, upon being approached, declared that he had
been unable to get men to go along with him to make the effort to arrest
the "agents." Mr. Boswell thereupon undertook the case. In a very few
minutes he had found ten determined men who were willing to go with him,
and he announced his readiness to proceed with the undertaking. A special
train was provided and the men were soon on their way, starting after
nightfall of Saturday, December 24.
The hour of midnight had already passed when Rock Creek station was
reached, but Boswell decided that if anything was to be done it must be
promptly done, and, gathering up horses for his men, they started out at 3
o'clock on Christmas morning in search of their game. It was dark; the
ground was covered with snow; there was a stiff wind blowing, and the
mercury touched at 30° below zero.
Howard had been faithful to his trust, and was willing to give all the
information which he possessed as to the whereabouts of his gang. But they
were discovered to have moved since his most recent visit to them, and
their exact whereabouts were unknown to him. The officers chanced to learn
that an old ranchman in the neighborhood had supplied the robbers with
food after their change of base. His house was found, and he was dragged
out of bed and, by means of threats and tender of reward, he was prevailed
upon to accompany the officers to the hiding place.
The locality pointed out was a deep ravine which had been cut into a
hillside. Indeed, there was a network of gulches and ravines, and the
robber gang had chosen a place near the center, where, under ordinary
circumstances, they would never have been discovered, and where their
hiding place would have proved an excellent fortress for them if their
cunning had not been met by equal shrewdness on the part of their
pursuers. They were hidden away under a protruding cliff and a little
niche in the ravine formed by a tributary stream, now dry.
Daylight was just beginning to dawn when the old farmer pointed out this
place, received his reward and took his departure. A moment later a blue
streak of smoke shot up through the cold air, and the officers were no
longer in doubt that they had treed their game. They were also convinced
that, if they would secure the robbers without a fight, they must act with
dispatch.
It required but a few moments for Mr. Boswell to dispose of his men, who
were stationed with guns cocked at the best places surrounding the hiding
place. Having left his assistants with their guns in their hands and ready
to fire at a moment's notice, he crawled up behind a large rock standing
in front of the robbers' den and looking down upon their sleeping place.
Creeping along with extreme caution he reached the edge of the rock and
cautiously looked over. There were six of the scoundrels in camp, namely,
Erwin, Ruby, Condon, Harrington, Douglas and Dutch Charley. He saw at a
glance that only one of them had arisen from his bed. He had made the fire
and was standing in front of it unarmed, while the others still lay
wrapped closely in their blanket beds and apparently enjoying their
morning naps. Getting his guns ready he shouted to them, clear as a clap
of thunder:
"Hold up your hands!"
All was virtually over.
The men awoke with a start, and almost in an instant five pairs of hands
shot into the air. There was but one exception in obeying the command, and
that exception was noticed in the one from whom it would have naturally
been least expected, "the Kid" being the only one to fail. Instead of
throwing up his hands, he began to draw his pistol.
"Put that gun down, boy," said one of the older members. "He will kill you
in an instant. Don't you see he's got the drop on us? It's Boswell, you
d----d fool. You can't get away with old Boswell."
The boy dropped the gun. Mr. Boswell's men came up, and the capture of all
was effected, with the exception of Manuse, who had gone out to hunt the
horses. He was found and taken without any difficulty, and the entire
party marched into the station and afterwards taken to Laramie City, where
they were safely lodged in jail and afterwards disposed of.
It was believed that several of the captives had participated in the
Medicine Bow affair, and that some of them were partially responsible for
the murder of Widowfield and Vincent. Such proved to be the case. Mr.
Boswell, as a detective, advised a measure which he thought would assist
in the discovery of the truth in the matter. Manuse was believed to have
been one of the members of the gang, and the railroad employés were given
an opportunity to remain alone with him long enough to find out. Refusing
to reveal anything, he was stretched up with an ugly rope around his neck,
and held in a choking position until he was almost dead. Being let down,
he again declined to talk. He was strung up again, and this time,
beginning to fear that his own life would be taken then and there,
volunteered to make a confession. From this it appeared that he had
started out with the gang to go to Medicine Bow, and was separated from
the party and failed to reach the railroad with them. Dutch Charley, one
of the captives, was, however, with the gang, and proved to have been
the very man who had first fired upon the deputies. As he had told the
story to Manuse, these two men had gotten upon the trail of the would-be
wreckers and were pushing them hard. They had followed them into a cañon
in the Elk mountains and came near going upon the scoundrels just as they
were leaving camp after remaining all night. The robbers left hurridly,
tossing the burning chunks from their fire into a stream of water near the
camping place and taking to their horses. Being well mounted, the robbers
stopped a few rods away and concluded to watch the movements of the
officers, being concealed themselves. The officers coming up to the fire,
one of them dismounted and stuck his hand into the ashes, exclaiming to
his comrade:
"We are close upon their heels. It's hot as hell."
"Yes, you son of a bitch, it's pretty damned hot, and we'll just give you
a chance to find out how hot hell is."
[Illustration: Surprise of Road Agents and Train Wreckers at Rock Creek,
Wyoming, by Detective Boswell.]
Thus responded Dutch Charley for his gang, at the same time drawing a bead
on the dismounted officer and notifying him to prepare to die. He
attempted to mount, but was shot down by Charley as he got up. The other
officer attempted to escape by flight, but a dozen bullets were sent
flying after him as his horse ran at full speed down the cañon, and he
fell dead with three holes through his body, the gang then disbanding and
making their escape.
This story of Manuse's was sufficient to seal the fate of Dutch Charley.
It was decided that as the killing of the deputies had taken place in
Carbon county and not in Albany, he should be tried there, and he was put
on the train and started for Rawlins for trial. He never reached his
destination. He was taken off of the train when near the place, by a party
of armed and masked vigilantes, and swung up to a telegraph pole to
expiate this terrible crime, and his body left hanging for several days as
meat for the buzzards.
The other members of the Rock Creek gang were tried. Harrington turned
state's evidence, but being sent to Fort McKinney to identify supposed
stage robbers, was shot by a man named Smith, who claimed that Harrington
had killed his brother. Very little could be proved against Douglas,
except as to his evil intentions. He had been superintendent of the Rock
Creek stage line, and used his knowledge obtained through his position to
aid the stage robbers in their work, notifying them by letter or
telegraph, signed "Henry Ward Beecher," when there was treasure or "good
plucking" on the coaches. He had never been in a robbery, so far as could
be proven, and was given only one year in the penitentiary. Manuse and
Ruby were sentenced to four years each, and Erwin, the captain, and
Condon, "The Kid," were sentenced for life. As for Howard, he was made a
detective on the railroad, and rendered the company valuable service. The
robbers have sworn to have vengeance upon him for betraying them and being
the primary cause of their getting into the hands of the officers instead
of procuring big booty and retiring to the safe recesses of the great
Northwest.
IN THE EXPRESS BUSINESS.