Chapter 7 - A case of cold feet...maybe?

Once the men made up the decision to go ahead with the heist life only got more complicated. Swede was the only who came close to holding his composure, if you set aside the fact that his left eye twitched more frequently.

Despite the commitment to go about things in a normal way, and to stay off the booze, Jimmy and Frank came down with a severe case of the jitters and nipped on whisky in private. Swede took note of it, however, and pulled the two aside down on the river bank near the camp. "If you guys can't handle this we're calling it off. I can't trust partners who fold under pressure. Fools wind up in jail...or dead. Got it!!!!!"

"It's Monday," he went on, "and in four days the train with the gold shipment is comin' through. Stop drinkin', get ahold of yourself...or we cancel the plan. What's your answer?"

"You're right, Swede," Jimmy said, his voice quivering. I'm in. It's my ticket oughta here to sunny California."

"What do you say, Frank? Swede said, jabbing his index finger hard into Frank's chest.

"I'm in...yah, all the way, 'cept I'm headin' for Alaska."

"California, Alaska...cut the crap! The hell with that cockameanie jabber about tomorrow. Get your head around today...or there'll be no tomorrow!"

To be continued...

Chapter 8 - Getting Ready: Horses, masks and guns

For the next three days, when not working on their 'road job, the men met to talk through the steps for the holdup. They checked and found the horses were pastured where they could get them an hour ahead of the arrival of the train.

"We'll wear burlap over our faces," Swede said. "Can't have anyone recognizing us." He added, "Wear clothes you ain't never wore around here before. Can't take chances that will lead back to us."

Then he said something that surprised the other two men. "I got guns...Colt .45s...but we get no bullets. Guns but NOT loaded!"

"You nuts, Swede?" both men stammered. "What if we have to use them?"

"That's exactly my point. If this don't go off without a hitch we're NOT gonna shoot our way out of it. Kill someone and sure as hell we'll hang for it. I don't aim to leave this life on the end of a rope in front of the courthouse."

Then he repeated with emphasis. "If things don't go according to plan...if the guards get the drop on us...lay down your guns. A few years in jail for a holdup is a helluva lot better than swingin' from a rope."

"Okay? Let's go over the plan again..."

To be continued...

Chapter 9 - Thursday Night and the northbound train a mile out of East Henderson station

The three men crouched in a ravine a block east of the depot...the horses tied up nearby. In the distance they heard the engine's steam whistle sound the approach. Only a few men stood on the platform outside the depot.

"Good," Swede whispered, "It's a quiet night...no moon, either. That's in our favor." Swede was aware of the heavy breathing coming from both Jimmy and Frank. All the more reason not to have loaded guns, he thought to himself.

"Remember now," Swede said in a low voice..."when the train comes to a stop...pull the burlap up over your lower face...jacket collars up around your neck...caps on tight. We'll move over so we can climb on the caboose the minutes the train stops. Only supposed to be eight cars on the train tonight. We'll move forward car by car...DON'T show the guns until we're in the car where they have the gold. We got surprise on our side. We tie-up and gag the guards...no unnecessary rough stuff.

"Hunker down," Swede whispered. "Train'll be here in a few minutes."

Frank was sweating heavily now. Jimmy could feel his heart pounding. Swede's left eye twitched noticeably.

To be continued...

Chapter 10 - Gold up in those hills...somewhere

The depot in many ways was at the hub of community activity. Fire had destroyed the original building but by 1899, the time of our story, a new structure, the pride of East Henderson, was open. The depot agent F.M. Spencer was on the platform the fateful night of the train robbery, as was Walter Helle, who operated the dray hauling service to and from the town.

The train braked to a screeching stop and let out an ear-shattering blast of steam that could be heard a mile away in the town of Henderson. The horses on Helle's dray wagon whinnied as if in response.

It was men's signal to act.

As planned, they boarded the train through the caboose. As they made their way forward the car in front of the caboose had only one passenger who was sleeping soundly. In the next car they spotted a lone guard who was facing away from them as they approached. They quickly and silently overpowered, tied and gagged him, all in a matter of seconds. Swede then gently tapped on the closed compartment door and a second, unsuspecting guard opened the door and met the same fate.

Inside the men found six canvass bags, each secured with a lock. Quickly they grabbed the bags and moved toward the rear of the train and the caboose. The sleeper in the last car was snoring softly now.

The trio off-loaded the bags of gold, mounted their horses, and in less than ten minutes were on their way up Mueller Hill.

Over their shoulders to the rear they saw no sign of activity back at the depot. Not a word had been spoken by any of the men during the whole episode.

To be continued...

Chapter 11 - All hell breaks loose at the depot

The engineer's plan was to take on water at the East Henderson station for the engine's boiler. Freight in the car immediately behind the engine was loaded off on the platform and Helle pulled his dray wagon along side. In the midst of all this activity the lone conductor sauntered back to the rear cars and discovered the two guards bound and gagged. Stunned at the sight, he quickly untied the men and learned that the gold shipment was gone.

"Three men, masks on, all had guns," one guard said excitedly. "It all happened so fast...it was over before we knew it."

"Get to town and alert the sheriff," depot agent Spencer hollered to Helle. "Get him out here fast!" Spencer retreated to the depot and teletyped a message to the Omaha Railroad office in Minneapolis. "How in Sam Hill could this have happened?" he said to no one in particular.

Sheriff August Gaffke arrived just after midnight and began to questioning everyone. Spencer, Helle, the railroad people, and especially the two guards. "We couldn't see their faces, sheriff, they were wearing masks."

"Describe them best you can. Tall, short, fat?" the sheriff pressed.

"Hard to tell. Kinda bulky jackets...nothing unusual. Khaki colored...I think."

It took Gaffke an hour to round up a 10-man posse and they began combing the hills to the east and along the river both north and south. Could have escaped by boat, he thought to himself.

"They couldn't just disappear into thin air."

To be continued...

Chapter 12 - Dawn the next day at the railroad camp

Before the first light of day the railroad camp boss rousted the workers in the bunkhouse. "Out of your cots and into your socks, boys. We got trouble." He continued:

"A little problem at the depot last night. Seems someone...actually three guys, I hear...held up the train and made off with a shipment of gold."

The news had the men's immediate attention. "They catch the guys, boss?" one half-awake man asked.

"Nope, least not yet. They combed the hills and up and down the river searching for them. Nothing so far. The sheriff'll be here in half and hour to talk with us. Get dressed...coffee's ready in the mess tent."

At 6 o'clock Sheriff Gaffke walked into the mess tent with two deputies a step behind. He told the men what had happened at the depot the night before. "Any of you noticed anything unusual the past few days? Any ideas on who the culprits might be?"

A confident Swede Larsson spoke up, "I hardly think it's anyone here, sheriff, most of us were sawin' logs in the bunkhouse at the time you're talking about. Besides," he continued, "you'd have to believe anyone pulling off a heist like that would be long gone by now."

"Maybe," the sheriff replied. "And maybe not. It was a brazen act and I'm not jumping to any conclusions. Railroad detectives are on there way here now and they'll want to talk to you later. Keep your eyes and ears open. Somebody made off with fifty grand in gold."

Jimmy almost fainted when the sheriff dropped the fifty thousand number. The boys had stashed the bags in haste and had no idea how much was in them. He avoided any glance at Bob or Frank for fear his actions might tip off the sheriff or his bunkmates at the camp.

Frank begin to sweat. He hoped no one noticed.

To be continued...

Chapter 13 - A catfishin' rendezvous three days later

The three men avoided each other in the days immediately following. Word was around that it was three men who had robbed the train and they did everything they could to appear and act casual. On the Monday evening of the following week they met at the river bank to do some catfishing. A mile down stream, past the bridge leading into the town, Jimmy spoke up:

"Ya think anyone's suspicious of us?"

After a spell Swede asnwered, "I don't think so...at least it doesn't seem that way. The railroad dick's been snooping around plenty but it doesn't appear he's got any leads."

Frank joined in. "Stashin' the gold bags where we did, Swede, that was brilliant. Nobody in this world's ever gonna think to look there."

"Not unless," Swede interrupted, "we get loose tongues and let something drop. For the next couple of months we leave the gold where we hid it. Let things cool down. Then he added, "And watch the drinkin', boys...it could be our downfall. Men do stupid things when whiskey works on their brains."

"Damned if I don't think I got a big 'cat on my line," Jimmy said as he raised his pole to set the hook.

A welcome moment of relief from the mounting tension.

To be continued...

This is my favorite part of the day. Thanks, Don. Sure beats "Wolves Talk."

Chapter 14 - Special railroad investigator Patrick Fitzgerald

On the Sunday following the robbery, Patrick Fitzgerald, the top investigator for the Omaha Railroad, stepped off the train and onto the platform at the East Henderson station. He was greeted there by Sibley County Sheriff Frank Gaffke. Fitzgerald, or "Fitz" as he was known, had grown up in Boston and was part of a well known political family, his older brother being John "Honey-Fitz" Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald had been a railroad detective for twenty years and had established a reputation for dogged determination. Yes, he confirmed to Sheriff Gaffke, there was $50,000 in the shipment. All in $20 Gold Eagle coins, 2,500 coins in all.

Gaffke spent the next hour briefing Fitzgerald. What they knew for certain was that there were three men, their faces covered by burlap masks. "My posse covered the surrounding hills, twice actually, with no signs of the thieves. We then combed the river banks, figured they might have escaped by boat. We've found nothing. They vanished into thin air," the sheriff said.

"Then I suspect they're still around here," Fitz said. "The gold bags are heavy enough...not likely they transported them very far. They could be right under our noses and we don't know it."

The detective ordered a search of the buildings in the area, with special attention to the nearby Peavey elevator, just a few hundred yards from the depot. Workmen checked the elevator thoroughly, even pushing probes into the stored grain but there was no sign of the gold.

Fitz next turned his attention to the workers at the railroad camp.

"Work camps like these," he told the sheriff, "can a attract a lawless bunch capable of pulling off a robbery like this."

To be continued...