BILL WHITE, A CANADA CROOK, AND "HANDSOME" LARNIGAN ARRIVE IN
DENVER--A HEAVY ROBBERY AT THE BROADWELL HOUSE TRACED TO THEIR DOORS
BY GEN. COOK--THEY ESCAPE JAIL AND WHITE LEAVES FOR PUEBLO, WHERE HE
ENGAGES IN WHOLESALE THIEVING.
Bill White's career in Colorado was brief. It was cut short by an accident
which he could not control. Bill made his advent in Denver in the spring
of 1872, and he might have been here yet if he had behaved himself
properly, and to the fact that he did not deport himself well is the
origin of the pictures herewith presented due, and if used as a pair of
chromos might be called, and not inaptly, "Before and After Taking." He
came from Chicago to Denver, but was originally from Montreal and was a
well known Canada crook.
A great many of the Denver people were away from home when White made his
advent into our society. They were attending a jollification at Pueblo
which followed the completion of the Denver and Rio Grande road to that
point. Many of the officers were absent, and White conceived it an
excellent opportunity to get in his work. He had come to Denver from
Canada, and was accompanied by a Kansas City man named Larnigan, who was
known throughout the Missouri valley as "Handsome" Larnigan. They put up
at the Broadwell house, a hotel kept in what is now known simply as the
Broadwell block, on Larimer street, back of the Tabor block, and there
began to ply their game. White's role was that, of the invalid. He put
plasters and liver pads all over him, and affected the Camille cough. He
was a man of good appearance, and never had the least difficulty in
winning the good will of people with whom he came in contact. Hence it was
that when it came to be known that, on the night when so many were absent
at Pueblo on pleasure, a boarder at the hotel had been robbed of a very
fine watch valued at $700 and $300 in currency, no one suspected White,
until Gen. D. J. Cook, of the Rocky Mountain Detective Agency, was
consulted, and had spotted him and Larnigan as the thieves.
When the case was put in Cook's hands he went to work without a clue, but
in less than a day had satisfied himself that the guilt lay with these
men. He accordingly proceeded to arrest the pair and to lock them up. But
they had observed the attention that the detective was paying to their
movements, and had "unloaded" when they were taken. The crime could not be
proved against them, although Gen. Cook was satisfied of their guilt, and
he was compelled to let them go. He, however, warned them that they must
get out of town. "I know you are crooks," he said to them, "and although I
have failed now, it is only a matter of time when I shall get you if you
stay here. So you had better skip." They were liberated after this
warning. White concluded to take Gen. Cook's advice and to leave town, but
Larnigan remained behind.
White went from Denver to Pueblo, and was not long in justifying Gen.
Cook's prophesy that he would get into trouble. Arriving in Pueblo, White
took rooms at the National, the best hotel of the place, and was soon as
familiar with the people there as he had been with those in Denver. He was
a man of slight stature, and he played the invalid dodge there just as he
had done in Denver. He put himself on good terms with the ladies, many of
whom about the hotel had been anxious to do whatever they could do for
"the poor fellow." He was invited to the rooms of individuals in the
hotel, and in fact was the pet of the house. Mr. White was thought to be
anything else besides a thief. He had told the good people that his father
had been a minister of the gospel in Canada, and he carried a gilt-edged
Bible, the parting gift of his dear mother, he said.
When out with the boys, however, White was a very different sort of
fellow. He was one of them. He appeared to be of a very affectionate and
confiding disposition, but the most striking peculiarity about the young
man was that he always appeared to be thoroughly and completely drunk. We
say appeared to be, for with all our inquiries, we have yet to find the
first one who actually saw him take a drink. Be this as it may, to the
outsider the young man went to bed drunk at night, and got up drunk in the
morning. He staggered at 9 o'clock. He clung to the telegraph pole at 10
o'clock. He rolled in the gutter at 12, and would be carted off to his
room, blubbering meanwhile to those who towed along his worthless carcass,
and telling how much he loved them. After the Pueblo robbery it was
suspected that the young man had been "playing it on the boys." It was
then believed that he was not as drunk as he had pretended to be.
One morning it was discovered that during the previous night several rooms
in the hotel had been entered and robbed of sums of money ranging all the
way from five cents to $300, and of numerous watches and other valuable
articles. It was ascertained that at about 2 o'clock the night previous
some audacious thief had entered a bedroom containing two beds, in which
reposed Gen. R. M. Stevenson, B. C. Leonard, one of the proprietors of the
hotel, George Schick, and another man sleeping with Stevenson, whose name
is unknown. In accordance with the usual custom, the door of the room had
been left unlocked, and the burglar had an easy job, going through the
sleepers in detail. Schick upon retiring had placed his clothes under the
pillow. In his pocket ticked a gold repeater of exquisite workmanship,
worth, with the chain, at least $300, while in the fob pocket of his
pantaloons were two $100 bills. When he awoke in the morning he found his
clothes precisely as he had placed them, not disturbed in the least, but
his watch and money were gone. His exclamation of surprise awoke the
others, and they commenced searching with varying results. Leonard found
himself out a five-cent nickel and a few pool checks. Gen. Stevenson
missed between four and five dollars in currency, while his room mate
bewailed the loss of $15. Messrs. John and Cal. Peabody, who occupied a
room over Jordan's store, in the Conley block, were the next victims. The
door of their room was locked, with the key inside, but the cracksmen
turned this by means of nippers and walked in. Cal's pocketbook,
containing $142 in cash, was soon rifled, and a watch and chain, belonging
to John Peabody, of no great value, taken. The pocketbook was found on
the street corner in the morning, with nothing inside but a few papers.
The room adjoining Mr. Peabody's was occupied by Mrs. Snyder, a milliner,
and the thief was ungallant enough to enter this and rob the slumbering
lady of her gold watch and chain, valued at $125. Mr. George Perkins, a
furniture dealer, was also visited and robbed of a watch and $300 in
money.
Of course, the town was in an uproar, for Pueblo was not then so
pretentious a place as it now is, and it did not take so long for news to
travel all over the city. Officers were put to work. In a few hours the
fact was developed that White, the popular invalid, was nowhere to be
found. Zach Allen--who has since been killed, poor fellow!--was then
sheriff of Pueblo county, and he became convinced that White had been
guilty of the robbery. When he let a few words drop to that effect the
announcement was met with loud protestations on the part of the ladies.
They pooh-poohed the idea. Yet evidence accumulated to fasten the guilt
upon White, and Allen determined to arrest him. But where to find him?
That was the important question. He was not in Pueblo; that was certain.
Mr. Allen decided to send the following telegram:
To D. J. Cook, Superintendent Rocky Mountain Detective Association,
Denver:
Be on lookout for man named White, who has stolen watches and other
valuables. Has a friend in Denver named Larnigan.
(Signed) ALLEN, Sheriff.