The Outlaw Who Robbed a Colonel: A Seattle Man’s Wild Tale of Army Gold

SEATTLE, March 11.—Several army officers who left here for Manila about ten days ago stopped and lodged a few days before they left Fort Leavenworth, Kan., for this city. The story is told by friends in this city by a Seattle, Wash., man, who, at the outbreak of the war with Spain, secured a quartermaster appointment in the regular army through the influence of Congressman Grover, of Ohio.

"It was one night during the stay in Kansas," said the quartermaster, "that my other friends and myself decided to go to town, about six miles away, to see a show we had heard was good. The road was very wet and mud was falling, so we decided to ship four mules to an ambulance and go in that. We had come about half way to town when the driver stopped the mules and told us there was a train coming out in the road ahead of us. We thought, of course, the man a soldier—likely officer or a stranger from the fort. Beside it by the cold, and all cut over to get in, the revolver. We had scarcely stepped out of the ambulance before a pistol was thrust in the face of each officer and we were ordered to throw up our hands. The robber was described as a sturdy colonel, distinguished for his bravery. Lowered one hand to rub his eye which had got full of smoke from his tear and his lieutenant went in command for a moment fired a cross in the colonel's ear that his hands went up as high as he could reach by standing on tiptoes.

While we were kneeling in this way two men went through our pockets and took our pocketbooks and everything of value had I left government money in my coat and there took it to let me assist it. I would have had to make it good soon how, and even then it might trouble me. The robbers said they had no fear for the government's money was, what they wanted as they could justify some way have the government's money as mine. Much.

After robbing us, the highwaymen, all of whom were masked, marched us back up the road and left the fort and left us to walk home—shooting several shots while we went over our heads as ran presented us from passing tombs in the snowfield, shirt—we might have frozen. When we got back in the fort nearly grown we went into the club room and were telling of the hold-up to an excited crowd of men before we noticed that the colonel of artillery, who had been with us, was missing. We just started out with a search party him and pursued the outlaw when the ambulance dropped up and the colonel stepped out, followed by two other officers with masks in their heads. Then I knew where the colonel of artillery had gone at all of leaving our guns at the fort when we started to go.

"Yes, I got the government money back, but we were taken hold no better chances for the sake and that cost you much and made us all feel like expatriates next year."