THE CORYDON RAID.
Thus far no arrests had been made of the plunderers of the banks at
Russellville, Kentucky; Gallatin, Missouri, and Columbia, Kentucky.
Boldly the brigands had ridden, and skillfully they had executed
their purpose, and, we may almost say, peacefully they rode away
when their deeds were done. At first, people knew not what to think
of these daring daylight raids. The best detective skill was placed
at fault in ferreting out the haunts of the robbers. Russellville
and Gallatin are separated by many hundreds of miles. Could the
robbers of the former possibly be the raiders into the last-named
place? And Gallatin is far removed from Columbia; was it possible
that the murderers and robbers at the first-named place were the
same persons who astonished the people, murdered the cashier and
plundered the bank at Columbia? People asked these questions, and
no one was found able to answer them. Scarcely had the people
ceased to talk, and the excitement incident to the bold raid on
Columbia, with its concomitant horror, died away, ere the country
was shaken by the recurrence of a similar daring outrage in another
state.
It was the old story repeated. This time a flourishing town in
Iowa was selected for the scene of exciting events. In Corydon
there was, and there still is, a bank. In that town a considerable
amount of business is transacted, and it was a season of the
year--June 28th, 1873--when much of the capital usually employed in
mercantile transactions--it was reasonable to infer--was held in
reserve by the bank, and the raiders calculated on a large prize
to compensate for the risk taken. Certainly the men who went to
Corydon were trained in the same school in which the Russellville,
Gallatin, Columbia and Northfield robbers were at one time pupils.
Riding into town in daylight, when the inhabitants were out and
abroad pursuing their usual avocations, the thoroughly armed and
well-mounted desperadoes proceeded to the bank. Three of them
dismounted, drew their pistols, and entered the office. Taken
entirely by surprise, the cashier and two other gentlemen who
were present, could offer no resistance. In fact, the memory of
Gallatin, and the fate of poor Captain Sheets, came back to them
with painful distinctness. They were paralyzed before the dark
chambers of the huge dragoon pistols, and could not even so much as
protest against the proceedings. They yielded to the inevitable.
The horsemen who remained in the street ordered all citizens to
retire to their houses, and, with fearful imprecations, threatened
to blow the heads off those who manifested the slightest hesitation
in obeying their commands. Meanwhile, the bandits on the inside
were exercising their pleasure with the assets of the bank. The
safe was opened and its contents raked into a sack which the
robbers carried along. During the progress of their labors in
"taking in" the valuables of the institution, one of them, who
seemed to have been deputied to stand guard over the persons found
in the place, amused himself by jesting at their distress, and
cheerfully asserting his ability to pick the buttons off their
coats with pistol bullets. The robbers remained but a few minutes.
The citizens were becoming aware of what was transpiring in their
midst, and were recovering from their surprise, and rallying to
contest with the robbers. With great oaths they bade the people in
the bank to remain perfectly quiet until they were gone, forced
them to the door while they retired, regained and mounted their
horses, and, shouting loudly, they rode rapidly away, and were out
of town many minutes before any one was ready to go in pursuit.
They were pursued afterward, but none were captured.