Bill Miner

Bill Miner

Bill Miner was born in 1847 in Bowling Green, KY. His birth name was McDonald. He had several sisters and a brother. He attended school until he was sixteen, learning reading, writing, and math. He learned to respect human life and developed a hatred for bigotry from two of his grandmothers. After school, he had various jobs as a prospector, cowhand, and pony express rider.

On April 3, 1866, he was sent to San Quentin for his first stint in prison for his part in a robbery in which the gang netted $75,000. He spent four years, three months, and three days there after time had been added on from a subsequent conviction. He spent the next little while holding up stagecoaches. On February 9, 1872, he was again convicted of robbery. He was sent back to San Quentin for 12 years. On May 7, 1874, he tried to escape but was quickly picked up. He was released on July 14, 1880 after having served nine years and 21 days. He was 33 years old.

From there he went to Denver, where he hung around saloons and flirted with the ladies. There he hooked up with highwayman Bill Leroy, already wanted for robbery. In December 1880, the two men robbed the Del Norte stage. They received $3,600 in gold dust and coin for their trouble. Rio Grande County Sheriff Lew Armstrong got a posse after them right away. The two had to split up. Miner got away with all the booty. So Leroy teamed up with his brother to try to rob another stage but were caught and lynched by an angry mob.

Meanwhile Miner left Denver and next turned up in Onondaga, Michigan. But he soon ran out of money and returned to Denver, where he looked up an old friend Stanton T. Jones, a notorious stagecoach robber. They made plans to rob the Del Norte stage again. They robbed the stage just after dusk one day, but didn’t get much. Then they stole two horses from a nearby ranch. Unfortunately a man at Creede saw them there and alerted the sheriff. Sheriff Armstrong picked them up without a fight. However, while camping overnight on the way to the jail, the two men broke free. Miner shot the sheriff in the arm with a hidden gun. He fired four shots and all four hit the sheriff in the arms, none fatal. It was the first time Miner was known to have used a gun.

He fled south and was soon holding up stages in Arizona. Victims often described his distinctive tattoo, the ballet dancer, on his forearm. The tattoo helped the Pinkertons keep track of his whereabouts.

In the fall of 1881, Miner moved to California. He had adopted the alias of William Anderson. He was holed up at Chinese Camp near the Arizona border while he recovered from a fever. While there, he met notorious horse thief Jim Connor; Bill Miller, whose ranch was an outlaw hangout; and his pal James Crum. The Sonora stage looked ripe for picking and Miner picked these three men to accompany him. They successfully lifted $3,750 from the stage. They immediately rode to San Francisco.

However Wells Fargo was quickly on their trail. Agent L. Aull discovered a dance hall girl that Miner had been chummy with. Miner had promised to send her some sheet music from San Francisco. As soon as she received it, the girl immediately reported it to Aull. The detectives were off to San Francisco and soon hauled in the whole gang. On December 15, 1881, Miner was convicted of robbery and this time received a sentence of 25 years at San Quentin due to his prior convictions. He went to work in the jute mill. He attempted to escape again, but was quickly recaptured. He was released on June 17, 1902 after having served 19 years, five months, and 27 days. He was 54 by that time.

You would think he would be cured from his outlaw ways by that time. But he wasn’t. After leaving San Quentin, he went to his sister’s home near Bellingham, Washington. Another sister lived nearby. By that time, stagecoach robberies were a thing of the past, and the modern trains would be difficult to rob. The telegraph and newspapers made identification too easy. So Miner had to rethink his strategy.

He hooked up with 17 year old Charles Hoehn and the two traveled to Portland. While there they met a man named Jim Connors. They hatched a plot to rob the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company’s express train. The robbery failed. They used dynamite to blow off the door to the baggage car rather than the express car. The express messenger heard the commotion and started firing at the robbers. In his haste, he hit the engineer, but he seriously wounded Connors. Miner thought he was dead, so he and Hoehn took off without any loot.

The law took Connors (a.k.a. Guy Harshman) in, who gave Miner’s name as Morgan. Another alias. He told them he lived in the town of Whatcom near Bellingham. Sheriff Storey headed there immediately. They were able to catch Hoehn, but Miner slipped through their fingers once again.

Miner next appeared at Princeton, B.C., about 175 miles from Vancouver. He used the alias George W. Edwards. He moved in with Jack Budd, who was actually his brother. He helped Jack with his farm and did some prospecting. Miner, his brother, and one other man planned a train robbery.

On Saturday, September 10, 1904 at 9:30 p.m., the Canadian Pacific Railway Transcontinental Express No. 1 pulled out of the Mission Junction Station. It was very dark and very foggy. The train was already two and a half hours behind schedule due to the fog. It was a perfect opportunity for three men to sneak on board and hold up the train. The leader was slight, about 5'9" and 130 lbs. The leader directed the engineer to drive west toward Silverdale, where he stopped the train. Brakeman Bill Abbot was able to sneak away and use signals to alert oncoming trains. Then he ran five miles back to Mission to report the holdup.

The robbers ordered Freeman to uncouple the express car from the rest of the train. Then they ordered the engineer N. J. Scott to drive a short distance to the next stop, Whonock. One man guarded the engineer and fireman while the other jumped down to break in the express car. The express messenger Herbert Mitchell saw them coming and armed himself. He quickly gave in, however, when the men threatened to use dynamite to blow up the car. They forced Mitchell to open the safe. Inside was about $6,000 in gold dust, $1,000 in currency, and $150,000 in U.S. bonds. They had picked this train because they thought it would be carrying a $62,000 gold shipment from the Cariboo gold mines. It wasn’t there. They took the gold dust and left without harming anyone.

As soon as the train got to Vancouver, the engineer and his crew reported the robbery. They described the three men and identified them as Americans. Their descriptions were wired and posted all over the country.

It was the first train robbery ever in Canada. They solicited the help of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, who had 35 years experience tracking down train and bank robbers. James E. Dye, the Pinkerton Superintendent in Seattle sent immediate assistance. A total reward of $11,500 were posted by the railroad, B.C. government, and the U.S. government.

Dye was sure Bill Miner was behind the robbery. He was the only one he knew that was so polite while robbing a train. The smaller robber had warned the engineer to be careful while backing the train. This, plus descriptions of the robber, convinced him it was Miner.

In November, 1905 Miner and Shorty Dunn robbed the Great Northern train at the Raymond brickyard near Seattle. He and Dunn went right back to Princeton, where Miner gave gifts of candy to little kids and worked a ranch.

In March 1906, Miner, Dunn, and a new fellow robber Louis Colquhoun went prospecting in Kamloops. At least, that’s what they told people. They soon found their next target. It would be the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Imperial Limited, westbound to Vancouver. The train had just made its scheduled stop at Ducks (now Monte Creek) east of Kamloops. Unfortunately, Miner again made the mistake of going after the baggage car instead of the express car. He didn’t notice until he had already ordered the engineer to drive the engine away from the rest of the train. So they didn’t get any money but for some reason took a bunch of liver pills that were there.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was after them almost immediately. So was B.C. constable W. L. Fernie. They found a camp near the robbery site with footprints leading south. They followed them to two more camps but found no one. Fernie spotted them once and went for help, but when they came back the robbers were gone. But the next day the posse caught up with and after a brief resistance by Dunn, the three robbers were taken in. They were taken to Kamloops where they stood trial. Miner was 62 years old. The preliminary hearing was held May 17. Railroadmen McQuarrie and Thorburn identified Miner as the man who had robbed the train. Engineer Callin identified Colquhoun. Enough evidence was presented for a trial.

The trial started on May 28. Despite the evidence the jury was hung with a vote of 7 to 5 for conviction. A new trial began on June 1. This time the conviction was unanimous. Miner and Dunn received life sentences due to their prior convictions. Colquhoun received 25 years. They would go to the prison at New Westminster.

Miner worked in the prison shoe shop. He was then transferred to the prison brickyard. It wasn’t long before Miner was able to escape. On May 8, 1907, while working in the brickyard, he began digging a hole by the fence out of view from the guards. Other convicts noticed what he was doing and spelled him once in awhile. When the time was right, Miner escaped through the hole. Inmates Woods, Clarke, and McCluskey went with him. They ran to the outer wall, grabbed a ladder from a nearby toolshed and climbed over the wall. It was at least a half hour before anyone went after them as the guards had to first secure all the inmates. Bloodhounds were sent out after him the next morning but he could not be found. Wanted posters were printed and a $500 reward offered.

He remained at large for over two years. Evidently during that time he held up a train in Oregon and got enough money for a trip to Europe. When he returned he worked at a sawmill in Pennsylvania. In 1910, he left there with another hand named Charles Hunter. They headed south and hooked up with another man named George Handsford in Virginia. The three traveled to Lula, Georgia. On February 22, 1911, the three men held up the Southern Express at White Sulphur Springs, Georgia. They got $1,000 from a small safe, but were unable to get the big prize of $65,000 in a big safe which Miner was unable to crack. They escaped into the woods but were soon picked up. On March 11, 1911 they went to trial at Gainesville. Miner, now 68, received a 20 year sentence, the others got 15.

On October 18, 1911, Miner and Tom Moore escaped from the prison. After 17 days, the posse caught up with them. Moore was shot in a gun battle. Miner was returned to the prison, this time in chains. Incredibly on June 29, 1912, Miner escaped again. He sawed through his chains and the bars on his windows and escaped with two other men. This time he was recaptured within a day, exhausted from the terrible swamp conditions. He never recuperated and died on Sept 2, 1913. Normally when an inmate dies and no relations can be found the body is given to the medical school. But this time prison Sunday school teacher Joseph Afred Moore intervened, feeling Miner was a cut above the average convict. He bought a casket and a burial plot and paid for a funeral. A service was held by an Episcopal Minister and a large crowd attended.

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Source: Bill Miner: Stagecoach & Train Robber, by Frank W. Anderson

Last updated: 6/9/00