Charles and John. Robbed
the Weaverville stage in 1892 of approximately $5000 in coin and currency
and killed the messenger/guard Amos "Buck" Montgomery. A posse quickly
formed and captured Charles. John was captured six weeks later in
Woodland. The brothers were held in the Redding jail. John
stated he hid all the gold except the coin in Middle Creek with a floating
device that came within a foot of the top of the water; the gold has apparently
never been recovered. An express pouch was later found near Lower
Springs with all the letters intact, but the money was missing. While
in jail, the handsome brothers were fed and pampered by local ladies who
brought flower bouquets, cakes, fruits, and even offers of marriage, which
supposedly prompted their speedy hanging by local jealous males. A lynch mob forcibly took them from the jail and hung them beside a Redding
blacksmith shop at the northwest corner of
Passengers on passing trains
easily saw their hanging bodies from the train windows as they passed by. Their memory is preserved in a hanging photograph on postcards and posters
sold by the Shasta Historical Society. A historical marker has been
placed at the site of their stage robbery on the old Middle Creek Road.
SOURCE: The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History
- by Dottie Smith - copyright 1999
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