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Published: April 3rd 2013
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EUGENE BLAIR
From the Hwy 49 underpass on I-80 in Auburn go north about a quarter mile to Fulwieler Ave and turn left. Proceed westward about another quarter mile to the cemetery entrance. Turn left into the cemetery and make your way to the southwest corner. The gravesite is beneath a prominent tree. EUGENE BLAIR
Eugene Blair died peacefully in his sleep on June 27, 1884 and lies at eternal rest in the cemetery at Auburn, CA. His grave is about 300 yards to the south of the grave occupied with the remains of Grampa Glen Oliver. It gives us the weakest sort of connection to the first man ever pensioned out by the Wells Fargo Express Company. When he went into retirement Eugene was 32 years old. When he died Wells Fargo paid all funeral expenses including a fine granite headstone. In his day nobody ever thought he might die peacefully in his sleep. He was among the most feared and respected shotgun messengers that Wells Fargo had. He was such a fierce defender of the strongbox that highwaymen began attacking the coaches he was guarding in hopes of an assassination. Years of riding shotgun and sometimes driving the stagecoach took a toll on his health. As the year of 1877 came to a close Eugene Blair was put out to pasture with a breathing disorder. He was born on a farm near Augusta, in Kennebec County, Maine in 1845. It seems a distinct possibility that he may
GRAMPA
Just as you enter the cemetery turn right and look for a large sycamore tree on the right. Grampa's grave is right beside Fulweiler Ave under the tree. have learned to fight and to survive in one of the Maine regiments during the Civil War. Just after the war ended in 1865 Eugene made his way westward to Virginia City, NV where he worked briefly in the mine and then became a jailer. In the 1870 census he is listed as a policeman, and then moved to Pioche as a deputy sheriff in Lincoln County. He began working part time for Wells Fargo in November of 1872, and was elevated to permanent status. In February of 1874 he was put to work in Colfax, CA but by June was sent to Corrine, UT. Corrine was the connection point on the railway for coaches going into Montana. One winter of that was plenty, and by February of 1875 he was back in Pioche. By then Blair had established himself as a tough capable man that the bandits would do well to avoid. Idaho Bill Sloan thought he was a bad man and got to ripping it up at Desert Springs Station with his pals. They moved on to Pioche and started swaggering around town hoping to strike terror into the hearts of the inhabitants there with the same menacing persona that worked up at Desert Springs. The menacing persona did work with Blair. Idaho Bill meekly surrendered to him and offered no trouble at all as Blair escorted the rascal back to the halls off justice in Salt Lake City. Blair threatened to kill Idaho Bill at the first hint of trouble, but there was none. Wells Fargo would routinely reward express messengers with a fine gold watch or a fancy new shotgun in appreciation for their efforts in protecting passengers and valuables entrusted to the company. Blair had received both a watch and a shotgun by 1877 when he took a few weeks off for a visit with family back in Maine. When he returned the express routes were being menaced by Big Jack Davis. Among the desperadoes in Nevada Big Jack was the big dog with the brass collar. He was a hardened criminal of long experience. In 1867 he had knocked over a stage but was acquitted after bribing the jury. In 1870 he knocked over the train at Verdi Station and made off with $50K. It was the first train robbery in the western United States. Big Jack was caught and this time the Central Pacific law dogs saw to it that conviction held. He was sentenced to a lengthy stretch in prison but won parole in 1875 and returned to outlawry. On September 3, 1877 Big Jack decided to tackle a stage guarded by Blair. He had a good plan and it would have worked except that particular stage happened to be guarded by two express messengers; Blair and Jimmie Brown. When the stage rolled in to Willow Springs Station 40 miles south of Eureka Big Jack and his gang was in possession of it. It was well after dark and Big Jack ordered Blair to step down and surrender. Blair thought it was a prank and did step down. Two of the gang members fired on him but missed due to the darkness. Big Jack stepped up to capture Blair from behind and Jimmie Brown shot him. The other two gang members skulked off into the darkness and Big Jack died the next day. Blair and Jimmie Brown collected the bounty out on Big Jack, the others were caught and held to justice but by December Blair’s health spiraled into decline and he was offered the pension from Wells Fargo. It wasn’t enough to live on though so Blair took a job as superintendent of the Hillside Mine in Bristol, NV. The mine soon went broke and the 1880 census lists Blair as a local butcher. On October 5, 1882 he married Nellie Leahigh. Apparently she was fond of his meat. He was badly injured in a wagon crash on Feb 3, 1883 and nearly died, but pulled through long enough to get Nellie pregnant. He was slow to recover and the consumption in his lungs was getting worse so in the fall of 1883 he moved to San Diego for the salubrious benefits of a mild winter. His little daughter, Loretta, was born on January 6, 1884. The health condition worsened again in May and his doctors decided to send him to a drier climate. He made it as far as Auburn, CA before he died on June 17, 1884. The photo shows the gravesite in Auburn Cemetery. Grampa Glen Oliver was born in 1884 and he lived a hard but good life, but he took sick near the end of WWII and decided to move from Sandpoint, Idaho to Southern California. Grampa only got as far as Auburn before his health took a turn for the worse too. He died December 25, 1945.
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