At last the stage hove into sight, and Bass, the trusty leader, cautioned his hoodlums not to shoot, but merely to stop the coach and demand the mail pouch. Presumably the sentiments of the period held that robbery without gunfire was quite condonable, and an entirely different affair from burglary accompanied by shooting. It is also quite possible that Bass was only minding his own safety, for the night had already been marked by one misfortune—one of his men had managed to shoot himself in the foot while putting on his deadly hardware.
As might be expected, however, Bass’s well-laid plans went very much agley. In the excitement of calling “Halt!” one of the bandits proved a bit too eager-fingered, and even as the stage driver was reining his team to a stop, a shotgun blared out, emptying its charge at close range into the driver’s chest.
Calamity Jane, during her carnival days
Wild Bill Hickok, from an early portrait
Cheyenne-Black Hills Stage carrying bullion guarded by shotgun messengers
Deadwood Gulch in 1881