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A RAILROAD HOLDUPby Bob Bowman
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Railroaders
love to tell stories, and the one they relish the most is about the
railroad president and the holdup man.
Confirmed as true by Cotton Belt Railway historians, the story occurred
in the late l800s as a plush business coach carrying a group of Cotton
Belt officials, including president Colonel Samuel W. Fordyce, rolled
north into Arkansas during an inspection tour.
At twilight the train stopped at the Red River, waiting for a drawbridge
to lift.
As Fordyce and his officers rested in their car, a shot rang out several
cars ahead. Fordyce jumped to his feet, stepped on the platform at
the rear of the coach, and found himself staring down the barrel of
a pistol held by a masked man.
"Get back inside," ordered the man.
As the Colonel stepped back, the masked man seemed startled. He seemed
to recognize his victim. At the same time Fordyce recognized the bandit's
voice.
It was an old friend, Shag Doland, who had been a freight conductor
in Ohio when the colonel worked as a station agent. Doland later turned
up in Hot Springs, and he and the Colonel met again.
In Hot Springs Fordyce helped Doland land a job as a policeman, but
he killed a man and was sentenced to life in an Arkansas prison. After
serving a short time, he was freed through the Colonel's help.
As the two men stared at each other on the Red River, the Colonel
said, "Shag, aren't you ashamed of yourself, robbing a railroad as
poor as the Cotton Belt? Why don't you rob the Iron Mountain; they're
a lot richer." Doland was startled. He pulled off his mask and extended
his hand. "Excuse me, Colonel," he said, "If I'd known this was yore
train, I wouldn't have held it up. I'll go and stop the boys."
With that, the train robbers left the railroad and fled into the night.
A few nights later, Doland took the Colonel's advice and held up an
Iron Mountain train near Texarkana.
Several weeks later Colonel Fordyce received a keg of moonshine liquor,
along with a note from Doland. He said he and his gang were hiding
out in the hills and had found a whiskey still. The liquor was so
fine, he said, that he wanted the Colonel to have some.
In his memoirs, Colonel Fordyce recalled: "I took great delight later
in giving a federal judge some of that liquor and then told him the
revenue tax had never been paid on it." |
All
Things Historical
>
Sept. 26-Oct. 2 , 2004 Colum
Published with permission
(Distributed by the East Texas Historical Association. Bob Bowman
is a past president of the Association and author of 30 books about
East Texas.)
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