b'Bandits continued from page 19Bush provided authorities with a diagram of where he had buried the drafts in San Bernardino County before his arrest and the drafts were recovered. Bush and Gibson were tried and convicted. Mantle was released from custody by order of the Attorney General of the United States. It was then that Mantle went to Prescott to become involved in the May 12th stage robbery between Black Tanks and Wickenburg. He escaped going to Yuma prison with Sutton and Brophy by the intervention of the U.S. Attorney General in that robbery as well.The Miner pointed out that while the Army drafts were recovered from one holdup, the cash taken from the passengers and the Wells Fargo boxes$2000 in gold dust, smallHoldup on the Agua Fria was not. The Prescott paper impliedgold bars, and cash. NextIt was the night of November 23, 1878, that the stage Mantle had made off with much ofcame the mail bags. Ellison the Black Canyon route along the Agua Fria entered this cash, including $25 of The Minerswas ordered to toss thema small canyon some two miles from the mining camp money taken in the holdup neardown to the ground. Heof Gillette near the Tip Top Mine. Suddenly three Walters Station. did. The highwaymen ordered Thorne and Ellis to slashmen appeared out of the darkness and ran along with them open and pull out the contents. The two complied. the stage. One ran along the left side of the coach, the Close Call for Ed Peck and Family other two along the right side. One of the two on the It was nearly dusk on September 17, 1877. Ed Peck,It was known that there was $600 in post office funds inright snatched the reins from the drivers hands. At the discoverer, and partner in the Peck Mine and the miningthe bags. How much of value was in the rest of the contentssame time the man fired a couple of shots at the driver town of Alexandra, not far from Crown King in thewas unknown. Next, the bandits looked over the two silverWilliam Ayers. His two companions, one on each side Bradshaws, was on the stage to Wickenburg. So were hisbars. They decided they were far too hefty to take. Theyof the coach, began firing into the coach at William wife, child and elderly parents. Two other passengers,mounted up and disappeared without molesting any ofThomas, a merchant from Tip Top. Thomas was the only Doc Thorne and Gus Ellis were also aboard, along withpassengers or even bothering to go through their wallets. passenger that night.the driver, who was making the trip without a shotgun rider that day. Before leaving Prescott, two mail bags, aThe stage continued on into Prescott where the driverThomas was hit several times by the gunfire and fell to Wells Fargo box and two huge bars of silver belonging totold the Wells Fargo agent, Doc Pierson, of the holdup.the floor of the coach. The bandits then attacked him Peck were placed aboard. Peck had the bars, reportedlyPierson telegraphed F.W. Blake, the Wells Fargo agentwith knives. When stabbed from one side, Thomas worth several thousand dollars each, poured to be soin Prescott. U.S. Marshal Standefer formed a posse andwould spring to the other side, where he would be large as to discourage theft. headed for Wickenburg, followed by Joe Evans, a Wellsstabbed again. Finally, Thomas fell to the floor exhausted Fargo detective. The Sheriff of Maricopa County alsoand unconscious. One of the bandits, Demetrio The stage rolled through Skull Valley, Kirkland, Peeplesheaded for the scene with two deputies. Despite rewardsDominguis, jump in the coach and threw Thomas out Valley, Stanton and on towards Wickenburg. Some 12offered by the Governors office, Wells Fargo and the U.onto the road.miles north of Wickenburg, however, two men steppedS. Postal Service the highwaymen were never found. Nor from the brush beside the trail, black gauze mask overwas there any evidence that Joe Mantle, postal investigator their faces. One leveled a sawed-off shotgun at the driver.extraordinaire, was involved.No order was given. None was needed. The driver reined in his team and held his hands over his head. Now theRobbery at Woolsey Canyonorders came. The driver was told to get down and holdOn August 24, 1877, A. Vance appeared for trial before his team. Peck, Ellis, and Thorne were ordered out of theJudge Tweed on charges of robbing the mails during a coach. Thorne was ordered to throw down the expressstage holdup on Tonto Springs Road at Woolsey Canyon. box from the boot under the drivers seat. All the menPassenger J. W. Evans, the key witness to the holdup, was were relieved of their guns. not at the trial. He was in San Francisco. Jesus Lujan, the stage driver, was at the trial as was Marshall Standefer One of the highwaymen handed Thorne an ax he hadwho had arrested Vance and his partner in the crime, brought along for the job and told Thorne to break openThomas Berry.the express box. Thorne complied. The box held nearly After the holdup, Evans mounted a horse and rode into town to summon the Marshal. When the two wereThis revived Thomas a little and he crawled 10 to 12 The stage rolled throughreturning to the scene, they encountered Vance and Berry.feet from the stage in a final effort to get away from his Skull Valley, Kirkland, PeeplesThe twosome was heading into town with their loot. Theytormentors. Dominguis walked up to the prone man, had the money and the property taken from the stage onput a pistol to his temple and was about to fire when Valley, Stanton and on towardsthem but claimed that a stranger overtook them on thethe other bandits intervened. The trio then went about road on horseback and gave them the money and therobbing the stage. They forced Ayers to get the keys from Wickenburg. Some 12 miles northproperty. They judge and the jury didnt buy their story.Thomas body to open the merchants trunk. Then they of Wickenburg, however, two menVance was convicted and in a separate trial so was Berry. took the contents of the trunk and robbed Thomas and stepped from the brush besideThey were confined under orders of the U. S. Marshal atAyers of their belongings.the trail, black gauze mask overthe stockade in Fort Whipple until a permanent placeWhen the robbery was discovered Thomas was still alive for their imprisonment could be set by the court. A yearand was taken to Gillette. Suffering more than a half their faces. One leveled a sawed- later, that place still had not been named. On Saturday,score of wounds, the most serious were in his chest and off shotgun at the driver. No orderthe 18th of August, 1878, the pair escaped from Fortabdomen. Thomas clung to life for three days, dying in Whipple during the night through a large hole they dugGillette on November 26, 1878. was given. None was needed.under the guardhouse wall. Authorities suspected the pair headed for Mexico. Continued next month.20 November 2019'