A Daring Highway Robbery In Calaveras County 1874

Calaveras County Sheriff Ben Thorn

In case you haven't heard of him before, Calaveras County Sheriff Benjamin K. Thorn was the man who captured highwayman Black Bart. He was also the man who captured the bandit Joaquin Murietta. While this isn't a biography of Sheriff Thorn, below is a story of a highway robbery in Calaveras County. It took Sheriff Thorn only four days to track down and arrest the bandit. That's faster than most lawmen in the Old West. 

The Tuolumne Independent newspaper dated January 2, 1875, reported that a highway robbery took place East of Sandy Gulch near Sawyer's Bridge, on December 26, 1874. For those of you who have told me that you use maps to find the locations of the incidents that I talk about, that robbery took place about halfway between the towns of West Point and Glencoe in Calaveras County. It took place near the present-day South Fork bridge of the Mokelumne River on what is today California State Route 26.

As for the 1875 news article mentioning Claude Duval and Jack Sheppard? Claude Duval (or Du Vall) was a 17th-century French highwayman in Restoration England. Believe it or not, he robbed and killed male travelers and took the time to dance with women travelers in France during his holdups. Believe it or not, he robbed and killed on behalf of exiled English royalists who would later return to England under King Charles II. 

I guess that was one way of making money as a royal, just have others rob and kill for you. Then again, that should not surprise anyone since the British Crown also commissioned "Privateers" to rob and kill on the high seas for them. With a license and support from Elizabeth I of England to distinguish them from "Pirates," "Privateers" like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh made themselves and their backers immensely rich by robbing Spanish ships.

As for Claude Duval, according to popular legend, he supposedly abhorred violence unless it was necessary. But, he is known to have killed men without provocation. He's also known to have shown polite courtesy and chivalry to women passengers. His behavior is thought to have created the myth of the "romantic highwayman." Yes, supposedly, he was the model used by many writers when describing a supposed "romantic thief" who kills men and charms women. 

As for the mention of Jack Sheppard, he was also known as "Honest Jack." He was a notorious English thief, highwayman, and prison escapee of 18th-century England. Though he was hanged on November 16, 1724, his life's story and tales of his robberies and prison escapes have been told and retold usually romanticized in books, plays, and even in movies. 

From the Tuolumne Independent newspaper:

Daring Highway Robbery

Mr. S. M. Miller, traveling for the wholesale liquor house of Starbuck & Co., of this city [Stocton, California], was robbed on one of the highways in Calaveras County last Saturday [December 26, 1874], under circumstances that invest it with the interest of a romance, and bring to mind the days of Claude Duval, or Jack Sheppard. 

As for Mr. Miller being held up, he was en route from West Point Io Mokelumne Hill and was driving a "spirited pair of horses" attached to a light buggy. At a point between Sandy Gulch and Sawyer's Bridge, he was stopped at about 3 o’clock when an unknown man stepped out from the chaparral that lined the road. The unknown highwayman is said to have presented a pistol, (a Coll’s five-shooter), and ordered Miller to halt, remarking, "Come out! Come out! We want to get rid of you!" 

To that, Mr. Miller told the robber to keep cool and that he would give up. Upon this, the robber stepped upon the wheel of the buggy, and grabbing Miller’s cap, threw it into the road. He then stepped back about six feet and deliberately discharged his pistol at Miller, the ball barely missing his head.

The shot started the team, and one of the horses ran and obliged Miller to whip the other. After traveling at this gait for a mile and a half, Millar discovered he had struck the wrong road and turned back. When he had retraced his course for a half mile he was again confronted by the highwayman, who fired at him putting a bullet through his coat, but missing his body. 

About one hundred yards from this point Mr. Miller found himself hemmed in by the chaparral and again turned back his team. The third time he was met by the robber, who told him to come out, and Miller surrendered. The robber first took the whip and threw it away. He next relieved Miller of his purse, containing $220, examined the puree for a moment, and told his victim to "go on" while refusing to give him back the whip or cap. 

Mr. Miller drove back to Sawyer’s Bridge bareheaded. The knight of the road is a tall, stout man, and he is known. He had his face covered with a piece of gunny sack which was used as a mask. Calaveras County Sheriff Ben Thorn is in pursuit of the villain and is likely to capture him. 

(This report above originated in the Stockton Independent newspaper on December 30, 1874.)

In a follow-up report of that robbery, the Tuolumne Independent newspaper stated that Mr. Shine, the stage driver, informed us that the fellow who committed the robbery was arrested last Wednesday, December 30, 1874, by Sheriff Ben Thorn of Calaveras County. Yes, Sheriff Thorn arrested the highwayman only four days after the robbery was committed. 

The Sheriff arrested him on suspicion and told him that Miller knew him. The bandit was a Cherokee and the same man whom Mr. Miller suspected. The robber confessed and told Sheriff Thorn the whole story, including how he had disposed of the money; that he had paid a grub bill of $6O, gave $40 to his mother, and gave a part of the money to his partner.

Since the above report was in type, the newspaper learned by telegraph that the robber's name was Bob Maxwell. He was arrested at West Point and also confessed to having robbed the West Point Stage two months ago. Thus ends the story of the highway robbery of Mr. Miller, and the swift capture of highwayman Bob Maxwell. 

Considering it took him only four days to identify, locate, and arrest Maxwell, it's no wonder Sheriff Ben Thorn was a legend in his own time throughout California. And really, if you don't think that's amazing, remember that Sheriffs in the 1800s were responsible for a variety of duties, including keeping the peace, collecting taxes, maintaining jails, arresting fugitives, investigating crimes, escorting prisoners, keeping a list of wanted criminals, and serving orders and writs among other things not listed here.

Who was Calaveras County Sheriff Benjamin Kent Thorn? Why haven't you ever heard of him? 

Well, he was born in New York on December 22, 1829, and grew up in Chicago. He arrived in California in the fall of 1849 during the California Gold Rush. In fact, he arrived with the first rush of argonauts seeking gold and their fortunes. Ben Thorn initially arrived in the mining camp of Volcano which was then in Calaveras County. After a short while there, he moved to San Andreas where Mexican gold miners established the camp in 1848 and named it after the Catholic parish of St. Andrew. For more than 50 years, he was a resident of Calaveras County.

He died on November 15, 1905, while visiting his daughter in San Francisco. He is buried in the San Andreas Protestant Cemetary. The Calaveras Prospect newspaper published his obituary on November 18, 1905, which read: 

"In 1867, he was elected Calaveras County Sheriff, and except for four years, he held that office continuously for 35 years. His name was associated with the capture of some of the most noted criminals of the West, among them the famous Black Bart and Joaquin Murietta." 

It's said that Ben Thorn was never discovered by Hollywood. That's the reason many have never heard of him. Of course, when you think about it, some who ended up being famous later, and weren't while they were alive, would have been completely forgotten if they hadn't self-promote themselves by finding a biographer who wrote what they told them -- or simply twisted the truth so much that the facts didn't matter. 

Take for example the case of Wyatt Earp. Today, because of History Revisionist, Fan Worship, and Fiction Writers putting out books and movies, he's seen by many as a hero and intrepid lawman. But yet, for those folks like me who have studied Wyatt Earp, and read a great deal about him to discern the truth from fiction for the better part of 50 years, we know Wyatt Earp was just a pimp, a thief, a con artist, a lawman who was fired a few times for breaking the law, a man who used a badge to commit murder, a man who was a fugitive and evaded being tried for two murders in Arizona, and "Bad Man" who associated with criminals and was as crooked as a dog's hind leg. 

In the 1890s and very early 1900s, Americans knew Wyatt Earp as being a notorious and infamous person, a villain, and "Bad Man" which was a term used a lot to describe him in the newspapers at the time. Being called a "Bad Man" was a term that he hated a great deal. Yes, Americans in the late 1890 and early 1900s knew he was not the hero that he is being portrayed as today. He was anything but that when he was alive. So what changed? He self-promoted himself in Hollywood by befriending actors, and of course, he found a biographer who wrote what he told them even if it were lies and exaggerations.

 

As for Bat Masterson, he certainly was a lawman and a Sheriff. He certainly skirted the law to do friends like Wyatt Earp favors. Of course, he is considered by some to be one of the longest-serving Sheriffs in the Old West during the 1800s. But Bat Masterson, who served as Sheriff in different counties, including Ford County, Kansas, and Dodge City, Kansas, was never a Sheriff as long as Ben Thorn was in Calaveras County. 

In the case of Ben Thorn, who served for 35 years as the Calaveras County Sheriff, it is proof that he was a County Sheriff longer than anyone I can think of who was a County Sheriff in the 19th-century Old West. And yet, he's not even noted for that because Hollywood never noticed him. And frankly, my friends, I think that's sad.