Stagecoach Robberies in California

California was the mining center of the West for half a century. Wherever precious minerals were found, road agents appeared to “mine the roads” of treasure being shipped out and payrolls being shipped in. The first recorded robbery of a stagecoach occurred in 1856, and the last in 1913. Over that period there were 458 stagecoach robberies, many with special characteristics such as a claim the robbers were Confederate soldiers, a murder, a gun battle, or a thrilling pursuit and capture. Surprisingly, there were many robberies in which the perpetrator remained unknown or in which was so little stolen the robber was not even sought out. This book gives all the details of those robberies taken from the contemporary newspapers and from a variety of other sources.

R. Michael Wilson has been researching and writing about the history of the American West for more than a decade. A retired law enforcement officer, he is the author of numerous books on crime and capital punishment. He lives in Henderson, Nevada.

R. Michael Wilson

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 292
Bibliographic Info: appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7996-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1541-7
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1

Introduction 3

Stagecoach Robberies by County

Alameda County    11

Amador County    11

Butte County    24

Calaveras County    29

Colusa County    58

El Dorado County    60

Fresno County    68

Inyo County    70

Kern County    73

Lake County    80

Lassen County    84

Los Angeles County    85

Madera County    88

Marin County    93

Mariposa County    93

Mendocino County    98

Merced County    116

Modoc County    119

Mono County    120

Monterey County    121

Napa County    127

Nevada County    133

Placer County    147

Plumas County    161

Sacramento County    167

San Benito County    167

San Bernardino County    167

San Diego County    169

San Joaquin County    171

San Luis Obispo County    173

San Mateo County    176

Santa Barbara County    178

Santa Clara County    183

Shasta County    188

Sierra County    215

Siskiyou County    220

Sonoma County    228

Stanislaus County    236

Tehama County    237

Trinity County    239

Tulare County    239

Tuolumne County    241

Yuba County    247

Appendix: Stagecoach Robberies Listed Chronologically 261

Bibliography 269

Index 271

“Meticulously researched…intriguing tales abound among the researched stories…a thorough and welcome addition”—Midwest Book Review.

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