Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1887 — DIAMOND BETRAYED HIM. [ARTICLE]

DIAMOND BETRAYED HIM.

How Ba:ton, tH*> jilige-Robber, Was Finally Captured. ! From the Kansas City Journal, j The publ cation of the adventures of Burton, the noted stage-robber, in the Eastern papers, recalls the history of his capture. Capt. W. L. Richardson, of this city, was the man who captured him. In speaking of the matter he said: “One day I was in Pueblo, when news came that the mysterious bandit had robbed a stage just outside of Alamosa about dusk the n ght before, and, after taking between $6,000 ands7,ooo, boldly rode into the town ahead of the despoiled coach. Knowing the nature of the man, I suspected he would come to Pueblo, and I determined to catch him and catch him alone. “A singular freak of Burton’s was to wear an immense diamond shirt-stud whenever he held up a coach, and many a victim’s eyes had been dazzled by this cruel display while his pockets were being emptied. I determined to watch for that diamond. About 1 o’clock p. m. the train from Alamosa pulled in, and among the passengers was a well-built man, fairly dressed, with a cap pulled over his eyes. He walked toward the depot door in a manner that attracted my attention and I intercepted him. “ 4 Your name is so and so,’ said I. ‘No it isn’t,’ was the reply. ‘Ye3 it is,’ I returned. He denied it again and I said, carelessly, ‘Well, I guess you’re right.’ As I was talking to him I saw the famous diamond. I was sure that a man who would rob a. stage full of minors single-handed would fight. I covered him and told him to throw up his hands. H e hesitated a moment. I thought I would have to kill him, but he finally weakened and confessed. I then secured all the money and sent him up to Denver. When near Tombstone he received permission to go to the closet, and took advantage of the chance to leap through the window. The train was stopped, backed down, and Burton was recaptured. After his heavy sentence and while on his way to the Detroit House of Correction he again leaped from the train and nearly succeeded in escaping, but that part of the story is too well known to bear repetition. “The worst adventure I ever had with this class of robbers, who are now hardly ever heard fr®m, was in 1883 in Texas near Colorado City, and a true account of it has never appeared in print' before, I believe. I had been appointed to a position in the secret service and given the task of breaking up the Donovan gang of stage and mail robbers, There were thirteen members, some of whom had been with Sam Bass. They were a desperate lot and committed many murders, among which* was that of an inoffensive traveler and his wife. They hid in the Talpena Mountains in holes and caves that were almost impossible to discover, but one day we found seven of them in a blind canon and besieged them. I had seven Texas rangers with me and determined to make them come out and fight. After lying before the entrance of the canon three or four days they made their appearance and opened fire. We were about 400 feet apart and that is point-blank range with a Winchester when a dead shot is working the pump-handle. One of the rangers was wounded and another one skulked, but we made the riflle after an hour’s fighting. They surrendered and we found we had killed two of their party, Elias Courtright and a man named Dean, two of the worst of the gang. J. Walker, the two Donovans, Johnson, and Carter were sent up for life. I was shot through the right shoulder, but kept right on until another ball caught me iu the arm. I was laid up fourteen months from the effect of the wounds. ” Kansas City Journal.