A GOLDEN HARVEST REAPED BY OUTLAWS.
"Wide is our home, boys,
Freely we roam, boys,
Merrily, merrily, o'er the brown lea;
Brief though our life, boys,
With peril rife, boys,
Oh! it has wildness, and rapture, and glee."
In the mellow days of September, 1877, a party of seven men came to
the neighborhood of Ogallala, Nebraska, and went into camp there.
They were "stockmen," they said, and only wished to rest awhile
before entering upon the long, wearisome march across the plains
to Texas, which lay before them. They had brought droves of cattle
from the pasture-prairies of the "Lone Star" state to supply the
markets of Chicago and other cities to the east, and it was their
intention, according to their statements, to return to Texas to
be in readiness for "the spring drive." There was in this party
Jim Berry, of Portland, Callaway county, Missouri, an old-time
Guerrilla in the days of Anderson; Jack Davis, formerly of the
vicinity of Fort Smith, Arkansas, a man of sinister reputation;
Billy Heffridge, a Pennsylvanian of no good repute; Jim Collins, a
brother of Brad, the well-known Texan desperado, who was killed
in an encounter with a sheriff who attempted his arrest, and Sam
Bass, the somewhat distinguished outlaw, whose name figures so
prominently in the criminal annals of the period between 1865 and
1878. There were two others, the identity of one of whom has never
been discovered. Of these, Berry, Collins, Davis, and one other,
had sometimes ridden with Frank and Jesse James, and exchanged the
civilities of the craft with them. Who the seventh man of the party
of "campers at Ogallala" was, the detectives have never been able
to discover.
The "stockmen," as they styled themselves, remained in camp near
Ogallala for a number of days, and were frequent visitors to the
village. Jim Berry had been in business at Plattsmouth, Nebraska,
and had made some acquaintances along the road. Among the business
men residing at Ogallala, which is the county seat of Keith
county, and a station of some importance on the line of the Union
Pacific railway, was Mr. M. F. Leach, a gentleman of great mental
acuteness, and an excellent judge of men.
One day some of the "cattlemen" came to Leach's store in Ogallala,
among them Jim Berry, and purchased a number of red bandana
handkerchiefs. Of course nothing was thought of the circumstance
at the time, but subsequently the red bandanas afforded "a clue"
to the identity of the robbers of a train on the Union Pacific
railroad.
Big Springs is a station on the railroad, about twenty-three miles
west of Ogallala, nearly on the line between Keith and Cheyenne
counties, Nebraska. At this place there is an excellent supply of
water, which constitutes its greatest claim to importance, for
on other accounts Big Springs possesses little to interest the
traveller. One evening--it was the 17th of September--the people of
Brule and Ogallala were thrown into a great ferment of excitement
on the arrival of the train from the West, bringing, as the
conductor and passengers did, a full account of the great robbery
of the express car, and all the passengers, at Big Springs station,
which event had occurred just after nightfall that same evening.
It was a great sensation at the time, and interest in it has not
yet ceased to operate on the public mind. A brief account of the
robbery, and pursuit and death of several of the robbers, will not
be regarded out of place in this volume, inasmuch as some of the
robbers had an acquaintance with the principal characters who are
the subjects of this work.
The train from the Pacific slope arrived at Big Springs on the
evening of September 17th, 1877, a little after nightfall. No
sooner had the locomotive come to a standstill at the little
station, than a band of seven men, all of whom wore red bandana
handkerchiefs on their heads, which fell over and concealed their
faces, sprang upon the train with drawn revolvers. Four of the men
guarded the engineer, and entered the express car. Wells, Fargo &
Co.'s safe contained $62,000 in gold. This was opened, and the
contents taken out and deposited in a sack which one of the robbers
carried. Another one kept guard over the train's crew, and two
men, well armed with heavy revolvers, went through the train to
take the purses, watches and jewelry of the passengers. One of the
fellows carried a sack, and whenever the other handed him a watch,
a pocketbook or some jewelry, he thrust it into the receptacle
which he carried along. There were many passengers, and they were
on a long journey. Many fine watches, much valuable jewelry,
and innumerable pocketbooks were collected in the sack, in a
miscellaneous heap. When the golden treasures of the express safe,
and the valuables of the passengers were all secured, the brigands
released the train and rode away over the plains. The train then
proceeded eastward, by Brule and to Ogallala. The particulars of
the robbery were detailed, and the inhabitants of those places were
aroused by the intelligence. It was late and nothing could be done
that night.
The next morning the "stockmen" were in camp as usual, and Mr.
Leach and some others of the inhabitants of Ogallala were preparing
to hunt the robbers.
Mr. M. F. Leach had performed some amateur detective work, and
had exhibited so much acuteness that he was regarded as one of
the ablest catchers of lawbreakers in the West. He was at once
secured to work up the great train robbery. To him is due the
larger share of the credit for tracking down the Big Springs
bandits. And the men Leach had to deal with were keen, adroit, and
endowed with extraordinary effrontery. We cannot enter into detail
concerning his remarkable pursuit of Sam Bass and his companions,
from Ogallala. A full narrative would fill a volume. To show the
character of the men with whom he had to deal, we will relate an
anecdote of a meeting he had with Jim Berry, one of the gang, the
morning after the robbery. As before stated, the "stockmen," who
were no other than the brigands, had returned to their camp at
Ogallala, and were there as if nothing had happened, the morning
after the robbery. Leach was preparing to go after the robbers. He
encountered Jim Berry, who addressed him in a familiar manner:
"Well, are you going out after those fellows?"
"Yes," said Leach, "that's what I am going to do."
"I wonder what they would give me to go along? I might be of
service to them."
"Well, I can say," said Leach, "that you would certainly receive a
liberal compensation for any service you may be able to render."
The two men talked together some time, but Berry did not go on the
hunt for the train robbers. Mr. Leach proceeded out the road to
Sidney, in Cheyenne county, not forgetting on his way to stop off
at Big Springs to find, if possible, some clue to the robbers'
course after leaving that place. He found part of a red bandana
handkerchief, which he secured, and went on to Sidney in a special
train which had been provided for his use. A careful examination of
the situation in that place was barren of results, and Mr. Leach
returned to Ogallala. The "stockmen" had remained in camp two days
after the robbery, and then they had marched away--whither--no one
knew. Leach had brought with him the piece of red bandana from
Big Springs. He was sure the goods had come from his store in
Ogallala. While looking about the deserted camp of the "stockmen,"
Leach discovered the other piece of the bandana which he had
brought from Big Springs. The ragged edges of the two pieces fitted
exactly. The inevitable inference was that the "stockmen" were the
robbers. The direction taken by them was not known, but Leach soon
discovered their trail. Then commenced one of the most remarkable
pursuits ever known. Leach ascertained that the robbers would
probably cross the Kansas Pacific railroad at Buffalo Station, Gove
county, Kansas. He was ever on their track, and on many occasions
he escaped with his life in a marvelous manner. Once he saw them
count the spoils of the robbery, and divide the money, watches and
jewelry among themselves. Then he sent a rancheman a long distance,
a hundred miles or more, with a dispatch to the commandant at Fort
Hayes to have a guard of soldiers at Buffalo. The bandits divided
into couples, and pursued their course. At Buffalo, some of the
robbers and the soldiers had a conflict, and Billy Heffridge and
Jim Collins were killed. Sam Bass, Jack Davis and two others
escaped. Jim Berry made toward Missouri. It was ascertained that he
would probably return to Callaway county, and detectives were at
once hurried into that county and quietly waited around Fulton and
Portland for the appearance of "the game."
One day Jim Berry made his appearance at Mexico, in Audrain
county, Missouri. It was known that he had been in the Black
Hills, and when he went to the bank in Mexico with a large amount
of gold coin, principally twenty dollar pieces, to exchange it
for currency, the circumstance seems to have aroused no suspicion
at the time. Berry then "went on a big bender." While in Mexico
he had ordered a suit of clothes from a tailor there. In a few
days, information was received by Sheriff Glascock that Jim
Berry was known to have been engaged in the Big Springs robbery.
Concerning this nothing was said at the time, but the sheriff
made all necessary preparations, and patiently abided his time
to make an attempt to capture Jim Berry. One day, an old comrade
of Berry made his appearance in Mexico, bearing an order on the
tailor to "deliver to the bearer" the new suit of clothes which
had been ordered by Berry. This fact was at once communicated to
Sheriff Glascock by the tailor. The friend of Berry was seized, and
persuaded in a manner frequently employed by officers of the law,
to reveal the whereabouts of his friend.
The friend of Berry was a man named Bose Kazy. Sheriff Glascock and
John Carter were in company when Kazy was seized. The sheriff then
called to his aid John Coons, Robert Steele, and a young man named
Moore. They then set out, compelling Kazy to act as a guide. It was
on Saturday night, October 14, 1877, when the party rode quietly
away from Mexico, on their way to Callaway county, to find the
lurking-place of Jim Berry, "the best man in Callaway." It was a
long ride. Daylight had not dawned on the landscape Sunday morning
when the officers arrived within a half-mile of Kazy's house.
They did not go to the house to alarm those slumbering there. The
officers took Kazy into the woods and bound him to a tree, leaving
Robert Steele to guard him. They then secreted themselves in
thickets to await results. As the men in the posse were assigned to
their respective stations, the sheriff gave the following command:
"Boys, if you see him, halt him; if he shows fight, shoot him; if
he runs, shoot him in the legs. Catch him, at all hazards."
Half an hour after giving this order, Sheriff Glascock heard the
neigh of a horse about half a mile away, as he judged. The sheriff
and Moore then crept cautiously about three hundred yards down the
course of a branch. They came to a fence, and crossed over it. They
discovered the tracks of a horse, freshly made. They were in a
thicket at this time, and listening intently. In a few moments they
heard the snort of a horse, apparently not more than fifty yards
away. The sheriff then crawled through the thicket about twenty
yards toward the spot from whence the sound had proceeded. He was
on his knees, and, cautiously peering through the autumn-tinted
leaves of the tangled thicket, he saw the back of a horse, about
forty yards away. Laying aside his hat, Sheriff Glascock crept
twenty yards nearer. He then rose to his feet and saw Jim Berry
unhitching the horse, which had been tied to a tree. Berry started
to lead the horse in a direction nearly toward Glascock. The
sheriff cocked both barrels of the breech-loading gun which he
carried, ran about twenty yards and within twenty feet of Berry,
and commanded him to halt. Berry, taken by surprise, started on a
run. The sheriff then fired. The charge of buckshot passed over the
head of the train robber, but in an instant he fired again, and
this time seven buckshot took effect in Berry's left leg, below the
knee, and he fell to the ground. Glascock sprang forward. Berry was
endeavoring to draw a pistol, as he lay writhing on the ground. It
was too late; the sheriff was upon him, and, seizing the pistol, he
wrested it from the grasp of Berry. Finding himself overpowered,
the wounded man, in his helplessness, besought the sheriff to shoot
him, as he did not want to live any longer. The officer told him
that he did not want to kill him, but that he wanted him to have
justice. By this time Moore arrived on the scene. Berry was wounded
and defenseless in the hands of the officers of the law.
Sheriff Glascock then summoned the other members of the posse
to the scene of the conflict. When they had arrived, Berry was
searched. In a belt worn on his person they found five $500
packages of money, and in his pocketbook was found $304; in all,
$2,804 were secured. Berry also had a gold watch and chain, a
dress-coat, three overcoats and a comforter. He had slept there
in the thicket the night before. Afterward, Berry was removed
to Kazy's house, and a messenger was sent to Williamsburg for a
surgeon.
After taking breakfast at Kazy's, Sheriff Glascock and John Carter
proceeded to Berry's house to search for the balance of the money.
Arriving there, they asked Mrs. Berry concerning the whereabouts
of her husband. She did not know; had not seen him for several
days, and she thought he had left the country. The sheriff then
showed her Berry's watch and chain. On seeing it, one of the little
children exclaimed:
"Oh! I thought that was papa's!"
Poor child! Perhaps it was too young to fully comprehend the tragic
meaning of those tokens.
To Mrs. Berry the whole story of the tragedy in the thicket that
Sunday morning was repeated. In response, she said,
"I never thought he would be taken alive. He has said a great many
times that he would never be taken alive."
Then ensued a scene deeply affecting. The robber had those at
home who loved him. The wife and mother began to weep bitterly,
and the wailings of her little boy and five little girls, made a
scene calculated to touch the deep chords of emotion in the breasts
of the stern men, who in the performance of lawful duty had been
compelled to inflict all this misery on the family of the robber.
They searched the house, but they found no hoards of money. Then
Glascock and Carter returned to Kazy's, a conveyance was procured,
and the officer and his posse with their wounded prisoner set out
for Mexico, where they arrived late in the evening. Berry was
placed in a room in the Ringo House, and received the attention of
Dr. Russell, of Mexico. Berry's wounds were painful, and he did
not rally from their effects. On Monday, gangrene supervened, and
a little before 1 o'clock Tuesday, October 16th, 1877, Jim Berry,
one of the robbers of the train at Big Springs, quietly passed over
the dark river, and the records of his stormy career were closed
forever.
Sam Bass escaped from Buffalo station, and finally, after many
thrilling adventures, reached his haunts in Texas. A little more
than one year afterward he met his fate in a manner equally as
tragic as the event which closed the career of Jim Berry.
Of the seven men who plundered the train and its passengers at Big
Springs, Billy Heffridge, Jim Collins, Jim Berry, Sam Bass, and one
other, have met violent deaths. The robber who went by the name of
Jack Davis has disappeared. The seventh man--the only one whose
name was never ascertained by the detectives--succeeded in getting
away. Who he was, from whence he came, and whither he went, are,
until this day, unanswered questions.
Much speculation in regard to the identity of the seventh man,
whom we shall call the Unknown, has been indulged in, and the
question has been asked, Was it Jesse James? or was it Jack Bishop,
Dave Pool, John Jarrette or Jim Cummings? We have no means of
answering such interrogatories. Whoever the Unknown is or was, he
has probably not a single comrade of the occasion alive, and is
therefore in little danger of being betrayed.
There are people who believe that Jesse James was with the Big
Springs bandits. Upon what particular grounds such belief is
based, we have been unable to ascertain. He may or may not have
been present. Our readers may well be left free to draw their own
inferences. But certain it is, a mystery, which perhaps may forever
remain such, surrounds the personality of one of the daring raiders
who accomplished one of the greatest robberies which has yet taken
place on any American railroad.