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Published: September 22nd 2014
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WILCOX TRAIN ROBBERY
Westbound at Rock River, WY. This not the same route that existed in 1899. Wilcox Station was about 9 miles northeast of Rock River. and 43 miles northwest of Laramie. The bridge crossing was a mile or so north of the station. SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 Breakfast at the Days Inn place in Rawlins is scarcely worth getting up for. The Jeep place in Rawlins decided not to bother with looking into the “check engine” light problem. A bottle of mouth wash leaked all up in my bag. I stopped to go pee under the highway bridge at Rock River, WY and tried to off-gas a little but loaded up my britches pretty good with some sort of foul smelling brown sauce. I was looking for the place where the Wild Bunch pulled off the Wilcox Train Robbery but could not find much evidence of a bridge anywhere. I discovered later on that the railroad had since been re-routed to save track mileage. Found a cheap motel in Cheyenne near the Jeep place, showered and changed my britches, and then went to see if the bastards could be prevailed upon to address the light issue. They could not be bothered either. The service manager told me that he has a Ford truck that the engine light has been “on” for five years. I give up on these Wyoming redneck assholes. All I am trying to do is contribute to their livelihood, but apparently
WILCOX ROBBERY
To reach the robbery site take Hwy 287 north of Rock River a few miles to Road 61 and turn right. Follow it until you come to the abandoned railway. You will be very near the site of the Wilcox Station of which nothing remains. The blown bridge is a mile or so to the north. Watch out for rattlers. Don't trespass on private property. such a thing taxes their capabilities too heavily. Supper at Estevan’s Mexican Joint has lightened my billfold by $20 and has left me wondering what passes for Mexican grub in Cheyenne, WY. This has not been the best of days. Tomorrow will probably be better.
WILCOX TRAIN ROBBERY The outlaw, Butch Cassidy, pretty much got the blame for everything that disappeared in Wyoming around the turn of the century. He was guilty of many things, but robbing trains was not among them. Those jobs were difficult to pull off, the risks were high, the rewards were uncertain, and robbing a train was a hanging offense. Aside from a few head of livestock that might have wandered off in the general direction that he was heading Butch tried to keep his nose clean in Wyoming. He was hoping for amnesty from the governor there and remaining crime free, at least in the Wyoming jurisdictions, was part of his parole agreement when he was let out of prison in Laramie. The thing that Butch most enjoyed was a nice brisk bank robbery. He pulled off bank jobs in Telluride, CO, in Montpelier, ID and in Winnemucca, NV. In Utah he knocked off a mine payroll at Castle Gate. Those jobs kept him in plenty of spending money although most of the Montpelier loot was used for legal expenses on behalf of Matt Warner. Nonetheless, the westbound Union Pacific Overland Flyer #1 was flagged down about a mile north of the Wilcox Station and plundered of booty worth in excess of 50 thousand dollars at about 2am on June 2, 1899. The robbery was bold in its innovative use of explosives. Grindstone Jones, the engineer, saw emergency signals to stop the locomotive so he did. The emergency turned out to be the robbers stopping the train. The passenger cars were disconnected and the rest of the train proceeded across a small bridge that was then blown up to prevent the second section train from crossing. The express messenger, a brave man by the name of Woodcock, refused to open the express car door so the robbers used more dynamite to blow the door off of the car. The explosion knocked Woodcock senseless and he was unable to open the safe so the robbers used the remaining dynamite to blast open the safe. The entire express car was demolished but the robbers made off of booty including some currency, some unsigned bank notes, a few baubles and watches, and an undisclosed amount of gold coin. Grindstone Jones claimed to have seen six robbers at work on this job. Perhaps there were only three robbers and Grindstone had double vision after getting knocked in the head. Driving a train is probably a good job for a guy who has double vision as the train steers itself along the tracks. The job was without doubt planned and led by Flat Nose George Currie with Harvey Logan and the Sundance Kid along to help. In the movie Flat Nose was the guy who Paul Newman kicked in the nuts, but in real life Flat Nose was a highly esteemed leader among the Wild Bunch. Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay were in their bunks lustily snoring the balmy night away on the WS Ranch near Alma, NM while the Wilcox Robbery was taking place.
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