May 12, 1971 (8 pages)

Ee —— —orewnneatod \e —_ Nevada County Nugge so :" BANDIT WHO STARTED GOLD HUNT The greater number of the narratives of this book were written of necessity from versions told me by old residents, printed accounts of references gathered from a variety of sources, As to one notable incident, however, I missed being on the scene by the margin of only two or three minutes, It was the lone. wolf robbery of the Nevada County Bank on May 17, 1912. a Had -I exercised a little more haste between the Grass Valley postoffice, then at the present Bret Harte Hotel site, and the Main and Mill streets junction, I might have observed a stranger, pockets abulge and a-sag, emerge from the bank, located at 110 Mill Street, sprawl! clumsily upon a waiting horse and ride south with what of forced dissimulation he could muster, Instead I was engulfed in a street rush, but did manage to glimpse the cavalry outfit, by then gathering speed, as it swung into Neal Street. 7 = At 12 o'clock a lone horseman had halted in front of the Nevada County Bank and dismounted, Without haste, he tied his mount loosely at the curb, glanced around casually and sauntered through the bank door. The bank's president, William D, Harris, was on duty at one of the wickets. Albert H, Mooser, the cashier, and Miss Alta Clemo, secretary, were at their desks, The lobby was devoid of customers, . The stranger, ayoungish man of compact build, approached the wicket and presented a silver dollar, requesting currency in exchange. One dollar bills were not as plentiful then as now, and it took the acting teller a minute or two to extract the required currency from a labeled package and make the necessary notation. Harris, on looking up, was surprised to find his window vacant. The customer had disappeared. But he was . soon located--atop the counter, two gun swinging, scowling horribly. "Hands Up!" The secretary was too frightened to comply, but the robber did not insist. Instead, he dropped lightly to the counting room floor. Shifting one gun to his shirt front, he helped himself liberally from the stacks of golden "fives," "tens" and "twenties" within easy reach.Things were going so well with him that the robber appar ently decided upon a larger haul. To that end he ordered the_ staff to walk backwards into the vault, the door of which was ajar. To emphasize his order the two fearsome guns came into . play. He closed the vault door and turned the combination. The three were locked in. : Presumably further drafts were made upon the gold and currency. But the robber's tarrying was brief. Entering customers brushed against a man walking with difficulty, as though in pata. To. their amazement, no attendants appeared to wait on them. As the alarm spread along Mill Street, the bandit increased the gait of his horse to atrot, then a gallop, At the Neal Street corner his hat blew off, probably by reason of his hands being occupied in trying to support his unwieldly pockets. From a groupof school boys came the shout, Hey, Mister, yer lost yer hat!" But the horseman was in a hurry and did not stop. By the time Auburn Street was reached the’ speed of the obviously unskilled rider was so great and bouncing that "twenties" were flying out like.corn from a popper. The bandit.continued his wild and disgorging flight the length of South Auburn Street and to a: point a mile beyond the city limits, There.he abandoned his spent horse (an animal rented from a_livery stable) and disappeared in the brush of Osborn Hill. eget Even before the apparition had vanished Auburn street ‘and its continuing road were clouded with people bent on recovering those popping coins, For hours the loot filtered back to the bank, or at least a portion oft. By nightfall the sum a check by the bank disclosed that more than five thousand dollars had been taken. Sheriff Henry Walker and his chief deputy John R, Martin quickly organized a posse to take up the chase, The hunt spread over Osborn Hill to converge at an abandoned mine tunnel, the path into which showed signs of recent. use. It was ticklish business, but a deputy poked cautiously into its depths, He found no robber, but did find towels and a jar of grease paint, such as used by actors. It wag decided that the fugitive had slipped away, : . For several days the sighting of a man answering to the description of the robber was reported from near and far. But all came to nothing, As the sequel was to disclose the lone wolf either lurked for a month in the vicinity of his robbery exploit or returned thereto for new adventures in banditry. It was a month and two days subsequent to the bank robbery that a stranger entered the saloon of B, H, Blair, 122 Mill Street, and precipitated one of the most amazing room fights in the history of Grass Valley, The time was midnight, and Blair was counting the day's receipts preliminary to closing. As he turned to put the cash tray in the safe the stranger remarked, half jocularly,."“Don't bother with the safe--just hand that over to me." Such badniage was oftentimes heard in saloons, but seldom from strangers, Blair hesitated. Out of the intruder's pockets flashed two fearsome Smith and Wessons. Three belated customers of loungers -Edwin James, Thomas Peardon and Evan Lloyd--were in the room, Lloyd, perhaps a little tipsy, weaved toward the robber with the taunt, "Oh, your only fooling.” The bandit whirled and fired. Lloyd was shot through the abdomen. The robber then ordered Blair to come out with the cash-over the counter, not around the end. But a tense scene leaped ‘into action, Peardon and James,. despite the guns, closed in and grabbed for the bandit's hands and weapons, James managed to get a grip, but was hurled against the counter with such violence as to be rendered helpless, Husky Tom Peardon continued the fight alone. In a surprise lunge he grabbed both wrists of his adversary. But bullets continued to fly. Peardon, va experienced boxer, fought close in, avoiding the gun muzAs the two strong men surged backward and forward, each trying desperately for advantage, one of the guns yielded to Peardon's wresting power. With such missile he managed aN Lge ne a en which floored the robber. The battle was : ore could arise the man w and beaten into submission. : ms machi In the frail town lockup to which the robber was taken by the town marshal and, unaccountably, left unguarded pending the arrival ‘of the sheriff and his deputies, another scene was enacted--the robber, executed himself with a rope fashioned from his clothing. When the sheriff entered the lockup to Past fe anes harp to the county jail he found a stark whose unw \ at al ees wise jest drew the gunman s fire, died The developments of the next few days were: That the lone robber of the saloon and the lone pel of the bank werethe same man; that he had previously worked at the Union Hill mine under the name of C,M, Ohman; that he had (at that period) lodged at the Wisconsin Hotel, on East Main Street, = that he seldom spoke and made no acquaintances; that he ad appeared on the streets of Grass Valley in various resorts during the interval between the two robberies; that one of his guns failed to function during the saloon melee, due, ee, sil from its caching in a damp place; that but for was surmised t : have had four fatalities instead of oe mer _ sc “ The lodging place of C. M, Ohman during the month separating the two robberies (assuming that he remained in the city) ~ of four hundred and forty-five dollars had been returned, But, ~~ -—— — ———-Sie aan eee ee ar . , Sees _

Ee —— —orewnneatod \e —_ Nevada County Nugge so :" BANDIT WHO STARTED GOLD HUNT The greater number of the narratives of this book were written of necessity from versions told me by old residents, printed accounts of references gathered from a variety of sources, As to one notable incident, however, I missed being on the scene by the margin of only two or three minutes, It was the lone. wolf robbery of the Nevada County Bank on May 17, 1912. a Had -I exercised a little more haste between the Grass Valley postoffice, then at the present Bret Harte Hotel site, and the Main and Mill streets junction, I might have observed a stranger, pockets abulge and a-sag, emerge from the bank, located at 110 Mill Street, sprawl! clumsily upon a waiting horse and ride south with what of forced dissimulation he could muster, Instead I was engulfed in a street rush, but did manage to glimpse the cavalry outfit, by then gathering speed, as it swung into Neal Street. 7 = At 12 o'clock a lone horseman had halted in front of the Nevada County Bank and dismounted, Without haste, he tied his mount loosely at the curb, glanced around casually and sauntered through the bank door. The bank's president, William D, Harris, was on duty at one of the wickets. Albert H, Mooser, the cashier, and Miss Alta Clemo, secretary, were at their desks, The lobby was devoid of customers, . The stranger, ayoungish man of compact build, approached the wicket and presented a silver dollar, requesting currency in exchange. One dollar bills were not as plentiful then as now, and it took the acting teller a minute or two to extract the required currency from a labeled package and make the necessary notation. Harris, on looking up, was surprised to find his window vacant. The customer had disappeared. But he was . soon located--atop the counter, two gun swinging, scowling horribly. "Hands Up!" The secretary was too frightened to comply, but the robber did not insist. Instead, he dropped lightly to the counting room floor. Shifting one gun to his shirt front, he helped himself liberally from the stacks of golden "fives," "tens" and "twenties" within easy reach.Things were going so well with him that the robber appar ently decided upon a larger haul. To that end he ordered the_ staff to walk backwards into the vault, the door of which was ajar. To emphasize his order the two fearsome guns came into . play. He closed the vault door and turned the combination. The three were locked in. : Presumably further drafts were made upon the gold and currency. But the robber's tarrying was brief. Entering customers brushed against a man walking with difficulty, as though in pata. To. their amazement, no attendants appeared to wait on them. As the alarm spread along Mill Street, the bandit increased the gait of his horse to atrot, then a gallop, At the Neal Street corner his hat blew off, probably by reason of his hands being occupied in trying to support his unwieldly pockets. From a groupof school boys came the shout, Hey, Mister, yer lost yer hat!" But the horseman was in a hurry and did not stop. By the time Auburn Street was reached the’ speed of the obviously unskilled rider was so great and bouncing that "twenties" were flying out like.corn from a popper. The bandit.continued his wild and disgorging flight the length of South Auburn Street and to a: point a mile beyond the city limits, There.he abandoned his spent horse (an animal rented from a_livery stable) and disappeared in the brush of Osborn Hill. eget Even before the apparition had vanished Auburn street ‘and its continuing road were clouded with people bent on recovering those popping coins, For hours the loot filtered back

to the bank, or at least a portion oft. By nightfall the sum a check by the bank disclosed that more than five thousand dollars had been taken. Sheriff Henry Walker and his chief deputy John R, Martin quickly organized a posse to take up the chase, The hunt spread over Osborn Hill to converge at an abandoned mine tunnel, the path into which showed signs of recent. use. It was ticklish business, but a deputy poked cautiously into its depths, He found no robber, but did find towels and a jar of grease paint, such as used by actors. It wag decided that the fugitive had slipped away, : . For several days the sighting of a man answering to the description of the robber was reported from near and far. But all came to nothing, As the sequel was to disclose the lone wolf either lurked for a month in the vicinity of his robbery exploit or returned thereto for new adventures in banditry. It was a month and two days subsequent to the bank robbery that a stranger entered the saloon of B, H, Blair, 122 Mill Street, and precipitated one of the most amazing room fights in the history of Grass Valley, The time was midnight, and Blair was counting the day's receipts preliminary to closing. As he turned to put the cash tray in the safe the stranger remarked, half jocularly,."“Don't bother with the safe--just hand that over to me." Such badniage was oftentimes heard in saloons, but seldom from strangers, Blair hesitated. Out of the intruder's pockets flashed two fearsome Smith and Wessons. Three belated customers of loungers -Edwin James, Thomas Peardon and Evan Lloyd--were in the room, Lloyd, perhaps a little tipsy, weaved toward the robber with the taunt, "Oh, your only fooling.” The bandit whirled and fired. Lloyd was shot through the abdomen. The robber then ordered Blair to come out with the cash-over the counter, not around the end. But a tense scene leaped ‘into action, Peardon and James,. despite the guns, closed in and grabbed for the bandit's hands and weapons, James managed to get a grip, but was hurled against the counter with such violence as to be rendered helpless, Husky Tom Peardon continued the fight alone. In a surprise lunge he grabbed both wrists of his adversary. But bullets continued to fly. Peardon, va experienced boxer, fought close in, avoiding the gun muzAs the two strong men surged backward and forward, each trying desperately for advantage, one of the guns yielded to Peardon's wresting power. With such missile he managed aN Lge ne a en which floored the robber. The battle was : ore could arise the man w and beaten into submission. : ms machi In the frail town lockup to which the robber was taken by the town marshal and, unaccountably, left unguarded pending the arrival ‘of the sheriff and his deputies, another scene was enacted--the robber, executed himself with a rope fashioned from his clothing. When the sheriff entered the lockup to Past fe anes harp to the county jail he found a stark whose unw \ at al ees wise jest drew the gunman s fire, died The developments of the next few days were: That the lone robber of the saloon and the lone pel of the bank werethe same man; that he had previously worked at the Union Hill mine under the name of C,M, Ohman; that he had (at that period) lodged at the Wisconsin Hotel, on East Main Street, = that he seldom spoke and made no acquaintances; that he ad appeared on the streets of Grass Valley in various resorts during the interval between the two robberies; that one of his guns failed to function during the saloon melee, due, ee, sil from its caching in a damp place; that but for was surmised t : have had four fatalities instead of oe mer _ sc “ The lodging place of C. M, Ohman during the month separating the two robberies (assuming that he remained in the city) ~ of four hundred and forty-five dollars had been returned, But, ~~ -—— — ———-Sie aan eee ee ar . , Sees _