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April 3, 1899 - Club Saloon Robbery
The
Sundance Kid, Harvey Logan and
"Flat Nose" George Currie originally wound up in
Elko, Nevada to rob a bank. Under the aliases Frank Bozeman (Sundance),
Joe Stewart (Logan) and John Hunter (Currie), the outlaws were in town for
a week when they heard about the Club Saloon.
The
Club Saloon was owned by E.M. Gutridge and was rumored to keep a great
deal of money in the safe. Had he known this was common knowledge,
Gutridge may have thought it wise to keep his money elsewhere. The trio of
outlaws switched their focus from the bank to the Club Saloon, after all,
why risk robbing a bank in broad daylight, when you can knock over a club
under the cover of darkness?
Elko
Constable Joe Triplett had just left the club on the evening of April 3,
1899 and Gutridge, along with his night bartender C.B. Nichols, was
counting up the day’s receipts when three men entered the bar. Realizing masked men with guns entering your establishment at closing time was
a bad sign, Gutridge began yelling for Triplett to return. Unfortunately
Triplett was already out of earshot and Gutridge was hit upside the head
with a revolver for his efforts.
While
one of the robbers watched the door and another covered Gutridge and Nichols, the third went about the process of relieving the club of its
profits. Typical of crimes of the era, the amount stolen is in dispute,
ranging from $500.00 to $3000. Once the money was gathered up, the outlaws
fled into the night.
Three
local men, John Page, J. Cook and Bart Holbrook, were apprehended for the
crime, but later released when they produced solid alibis. Gutridge
eventually suspected Bozeman, Hunter and Stewart, who he had seen around
town, but by this time the outlaws were long gone.
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