Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, June 23, l904

The two daughters of MR. and MRS. JOHN VANDERLEY, of this city, MRS. R.E. BRANT, of Humeston, and MRS. ELI GRAY, of Chariton, enjoyed the novel but disagreeable experience of being on a train which was held up in Colorado on June 8th. The ladies were on their way to Collbran, Colo., to visit their sister, MRS. DELL HUMESTON. MRS. BRANT has written the following account of the affair which will be read with interest by her many friends in this city. The letter was written for De Beque, Colo.:

"We arrived here last night at 3 o'clock, the train being four hours late on account from being held up between Parachute and De Beque by robbers. We had got started out of Parachute, had gone about two and a half miles, when the train whistled four times in quick succession and began to slow up. Just as the train stopped there were several shots fired in an instant and then an awful explosion. Every one in the car sat straight up and exclaimed, "A Hold-up." The highwaymen kept firing constantly and the brakeman came running through the car and said, "Everybody sit still and make no noise." They kept firing from the back end of the train and the shots whizzed past our window. They did not damage our coach, but did the one just ahead of us. They shot through the windows, but all the passengers were down in the aisle and under the seats just as flat to the floor as they could possibly get. By that time there was another terrific explosion and many more shots. We all expected every minute to see a masked man step into the car and order us to throw up our hands, but they didn't bother the passengers at all. After the second explosion they detached the engine, mail, express and baggage cars and took them down the track, leaving us standing out in the mountains all alone. After they got down the track a short distance there was another explosion, then we heard nothing more until about a half hour later when the engine and wrecked cars returned, and took us back to Parachute. The baggage and express cars were perfect wrecks, the whole side and roofs being blown into pieces no larger than a stick of stove wood. Many of the trunks were blown to atoms. There was no one hurt, except a brakeman who was wounded though not seriously. It was really laughable how quickly everyone shut up. There was not a sound in the car while the shooting was going on. I was pretty badly scared for a time, and hope that I will never meet with a similar experience."

Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
May 17, 2003