When did the last U.S. stagecoach robbery take place?
Marty Luffman
Nashville, Tennessee
The last one occurred just outside Jarbidge, Nevada, on December 5, 1916. The outlaws killed the stage driver, Fred Searcy, and stole about $4,000 in gold coins.
While a posse searched for evidence, a dog dug up one of the stage mail pouches. The dog was known to hang out with Ben Kuhl. The police rounded up Kuhl and two friends, Ed Beck and Bill McGraw. The latter was released, but Beck and Kuhl were convicted of committing the robbery.
One of the key pieces of evidence was a bloody palm print on an envelope, which matched Kuhl’s—the first time such evidence was used to convict a killer. He was sentenced to death, but that was later commuted to life in prison.
Some believed the stage driver was in on the robbery and that Kuhl murdered him in a fight over the loot.
The stolen gold has never been found; supposedly, it is buried in Jarbidge Canyon.
Related Articles
-
On August 30, 1882, a couple of masked robbers found a way to maximize their…
-
John Ford’s Stagecoach made John Wayne, who had been around for more than a decade,…
-
Stagecoach travelers were far more likely to perish from accidents, bad water or what passed…
