Wham Paymaster robbery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wham Paymaster robbery |
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 Holding Up the Pay Escort by Frederic Remington |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
Unknown | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Joseph W. Wham |
Gilbert Webb (alleged) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12 infantrymen | 7–13 bandits | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 8 wounded | 1–2 killed (suspected) | ||||||
The Wham Paymaster robbery was an armed robbery of a United States Army officer and his guards on May 11, 1889. This happened in the Arizona Territory. Major Joseph W. Wham was a paymaster, meaning he carried money to pay soldiers. He was moving over US$28,000 in gold and silver coins. This money was going from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas.
Major Wham and his escort of eleven Buffalo Soldiers were suddenly attacked. During the attack, the robbers hurt eight of the soldiers. They forced the soldiers to hide and then stole all the money.
Because of their bravery, Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays received the Medal of Honor. This is a very high award for military heroes. Eight other soldiers also received a Certificate of Merit for their actions.
Later, eleven men were arrested. Most of them were from the nearby community of Pima. Eight of these men were put on trial for the robbery. However, all of them were found not guilty. The stolen money has never been found.
Contents
How the Robbery Happened
In April 1889, Major Joseph Washington Wham, a U.S. Army paymaster, was told to pay soldiers at several forts. On May 8, he picked up the payroll money in Willcox. He paid troops at Fort Bowie and Fort Grant first.
On May 11, Major Wham left Fort Grant. He had two mule-drawn wagons. One was a covered ambulance, and the other was an open wagon. They were going about 46 miles to Fort Thomas. The money left was US$28,345 in gold and silver coins. It weighed about 250 pounds.
The commander of Fort Grant gave Major Wham eleven Buffalo Soldiers to guard the money. These soldiers were from the 24th Infantry and 10th Cavalry. There was also a civilian driver for the open wagon. The two soldier leaders had revolvers. The other soldiers carried rifles. Major Wham and the civilian were not armed. A woman named Frankie Campbell was also with them. She was a soldier's wife and was going to collect money owed to her.
Before this, no paymaster had ever been robbed in Arizona Territory. But the area was very remote, with few people. Some people in Arizona did not like the U.S. government. Many white residents had supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Also, there were strong feelings against black soldiers. Some people thought the money would be better spent locally.
The road to Fort Thomas went through a pass. Wham's group reached Cedar Springs around noon. They changed their mules for fresh ones. Frankie Campbell, whose horse was faster, waited at a stagecoach station. The station was run by Wiley Holladay's wives. Wham and his guards reached the station around 12:45 PM. Campbell then rejoined the group.
The Attack and Gunfight
The robbery happened about 3 miles north of the stagecoach station. The road went down a narrow gorge to a creek. On the east side of the gorge was a steep, rocky slope. Robbers had built small walls, called breastworks, along the top of this slope. They even used yucca plants to look like rifle barrels.
Around 1:00 PM, Wham's group reached the attack site. Campbell was in front. She was trying to guide her horse around a large boulder blocking the road. The rest of the group came over a hill. When the wagons stopped, Sergeant Benjamin Brown led his men to move the rock. Corporal Isaiah Mays stayed at the back.
As they got closer to the rock, the soldiers saw it had been placed there on purpose. Then they looked up and saw two men stand up from behind a wall above them. These men did not wear masks. Soldiers later said they were Wilfred T. Webb and Mark E. Cunningham. Cunningham had a rifle, and Webb had two revolvers. The robbers then started shooting at the wagons.
The first shots killed three mules and wounded the ambulance driver. The driver crawled to a dry creek bed. The robbers seemed to think the Buffalo Soldiers would be easy to scare away. At first, they shot over the soldiers' heads. But when the soldiers fought back, the robbers started shooting directly at them.
The civilian driving the open wagon ran away to safety. Campbell's horse got scared and threw her off. It ran back toward the stagecoach station. The robbers called Campbell's name and shot at her. Then they focused on the soldiers. Campbell hid behind a bush and rocks and watched the rest of the fight.
The soldiers quickly grabbed their rifles and ran for cover. Sergeant Brown and two other soldiers were separated. They were forced further down the road. Brown was wounded in his arm. He fired his revolver at the robbers. After his revolver was empty, he used a rifle from one of the other soldiers. He kept fighting even after being shot a second time. Finally, one of the other soldiers was wounded. The three men then retreated to a dry creek bed.
Major Wham first hid behind the ambulance. The remaining mules panicked and pulled the wagons off the road. This damaged their harnesses. Wham had to hide behind a small rocky ledge. His clerk and most of the soldiers joined him there. Wham told the soldiers where to shoot. His clerk helped the wounded. Both men, who were unarmed at first, took rifles from wounded soldiers and joined the fight.
Corporal Mays also returned fire with his revolver. He then joined Wham behind the rocky ledge. The robbers moved along the ridge to shoot at them from two sides. About 30 minutes into the fight, Mays told Wham their position was too dangerous. He said he was ordering the men to retreat. Wham did not agree at first, but later said Mays made the right choice.
Wham and Mays moved to the dry creek bed. Wham tried to get the soldiers to go back for the money box. But he saw that eight of the eleven soldiers were wounded. He knew they could not do it. The soldiers were about 300 yards from where they started. The robbers kept shooting at them.
With the soldiers pinned down, some robbers came down the hill. They used an axe to open the strongbox with the money. Around 2:30 PM, the robbers stopped shooting. They left in two groups. One group led a mule that seemed to be carrying a slumped man. The second group covered them.
Around 3:00 PM, the soldiers returned to the ambulance. Campbell also came out of hiding. They found that nine mules had run off. Their harnesses were cut up. Harriet Holladay, from the stagecoach station, arrived. She had heard the gunfire and came to check. She and Campbell helped the wounded soldiers.
They found four mules by the creek. The soldiers managed to fix enough harnesses to hitch them to the ambulance. Most of the wounded were put in the ambulance to go to Fort Thomas. Sergeant Brown and one other soldier were too badly hurt to move. Campbell stayed with them until a doctor from Fort Thomas arrived. A rancher named Barney Norton also arrived with his workers. Major Wham reached Fort Thomas around 5:30 PM.
The Investigation Begins
Before leaving the robbery site, Major Wham looked around. A bag with his personal items had been cut open, but nothing was taken. Another bag with payroll receipts was gone with the money. Wham found over 200 empty rifle casings at the robbers' walls. Wham also arrested Frankie Campbell, thinking she was involved. She was released later and became an important witness.
After Wham reached Fort Thomas, soldiers were sent to guard the scene. Troops across southern Arizona Territory were sent out. They wanted to stop the robbers from escaping into Mexico. On May 12, Sheriff Billy Whelan, Sr., with deputies and Buffalo Soldiers, tried to follow the robbers' trail. People said the robbers went south. They passed through a herd of horses, divided the money, and went in different ways.
The sheriff found a trail leading to the Gila River. It went to the Follet Ranch. The trail to the river looked like horses had their shoes on backwards. The shoes were removed at the river to confuse anyone following. More trails to other ranches were found on May 13. The sheriff asked the ranchers where they were on May 11. Deputy Billy Whelan, Jr. said, "The ranchers... tried to make us think they were at other places. But the buffalo soldiers identified them."
The bag with the payroll receipts was found about 1.5 miles from the ambush site. The papers were covered in blood. Based on this and what Campbell and Wham's clerk said, it was thought that one or two robbers were killed. But no body was ever found. No one in the area was reported missing either.
On May 13, 1889, Governor Lewis Wolfley offered a $500 reward for the robbers' arrest. The U.S. Marshal for Arizona, William K. Meade, also joined the search. They focused on the area around Pima. Many people were arrested, but most were released because there was not enough evidence.
People in Pima, a mostly Mormon town, had mixed feelings. About half helped the investigation. The other half felt it was unfair, like past problems with the government. The wife of a hotel owner said, "It's just following the usual pattern... I have expected nothing else than that it would be laid on to the Mormons." Some even said marshals planted gold coins on church members to get reward money.
Marshal Meade arrested M. E. Cunningham based on Frankie Campbell's information. Soon after, Ed Follett, Lyman Follett, Warren Follett, Thomas N. Lamb, David Rogers, Siebert Henderson, Gilbert Webb, and Wilfred Webb were arrested. William Ellison "Cyclone Bill" Beck was also arrested. He became famous in Tucson while waiting for his alibi to be checked. He even charged people to see him.
Beck's alibi was confirmed, and he was released. Henderson and Ed Follett were also released. During a first hearing, no one else had an alibi. Only Gilbert Webb could pay bail to be released temporarily.
Gilbert Webb was thought to be the leader. He was the mayor of Pima and a respected businessman. Non-Mormon neighbors had a different view. They noted he had left Utah years earlier to avoid theft charges. There were also stories of things disappearing near where the Webb family lived. In the years before the robbery, Webb had financial problems. He had closed his store and sold his stagecoach line. He had a new contract to provide supplies to forts. But he might not have had enough money to start. This could have been a reason for the robbery. While out on bail, Webb looked for witnesses to help his case.
Most of the accused were not active members of the LDS Church. But they were all related to active church members. They were also seen as good people in the community.
The Trial and Verdict
A U.S. Federal grand jury met in Tucson in September 1889. They started looking into the Wham robbery. About 65 witnesses, many from Graham County, spoke to them. The grand jury accused the eight remaining suspects of robbery on September 27, 1889.
After the accusations, Judge William H. Barnes lowered the bail for the accused. He was a friend of one of them. This made the U.S. Attorney, Harry R. Jeffords, ask for the judge to be removed. The grand jury was worried the judge was scaring witnesses. They sent a message asking for a different judge. Judge Barnes then dismissed the grand jury. A few days later, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Richard E. Sloan to replace Judge Barnes.
Problems continued before the trial. Three horses were shot, and cattle were stolen from the accused. Ed Follett was arrested for trying to scare a witness. The court clerk, Ben M. Crawford, had to resign. He was later accused of getting witnesses to lie for the defense. These events made for a difficult trial.
The trial started in Tucson on November 11, 1889. U.S. Attorney Jeffords led the prosecution. Mark Smith and Ben Goodrich led the defense. There were 165 witnesses, more than half for the defense.
Major Wham said three of the accused were among the robbers: Gilbert Webb, Warren Follett, and David Rodgers. Wham also said gold coins found with Gilbert Webb were from the robbery. He based this on unusual marks on the coins. But during questioning, Smith mixed in other coins from a bank. Wham could not tell the difference. Frankie Campbell also gave her testimony. Smith questioned every prosecution witness very closely. Many admitted they did not see the attackers clearly. Also, the black witnesses and white jurors used different slang. This, and some jurors not trusting a former slave's word, may have hurt the prosecution's case.
The defense brought many witnesses. They were "brothers, sisters, cousins, and aunts of each other and the defendants." They gave alibis for the accused. The defense took five hours for their final arguments. Smith used this time to appeal to the jury's feelings. He said the robbers dressed like his clients to make them look guilty. He also said the robbers fled to Mexico right after. Smith pointed out that U.S. Marshal Meade did not look for trails at the crime scene. He also claimed government officials cared more about reward money than finding the real robbers. When Smith questioned the court's honesty, Judge Sloan threatened him with a $500 fine.
The jury thought for two hours. Then they delivered a "not guilty" verdict. Deputy William "Billy" Breakenridge later said, "the Government had a good case against them... but they had too many friends willing to swear to an alibi, and there were too many on the jury who thought it no harm to rob the Government."
After the Robbery
Many people were shocked by the verdict. The jury later said they were in the courtroom the whole time and did not know what was happening outside. They also might have misunderstood the judge's instructions. They thought they had to find all eight defendants guilty to convict anyone. Since they could not agree that all eight were involved, they felt they had to say "not guilty."
U.S. Attorney Jeffords became very sick and died months later. Major Wham was held responsible for the lost money. But on January 21, 1891, the U.S. Congress passed a law saying he was not responsible. Mark Smith, the defense lawyer, faced political attacks for taking the case. Most of the blame for the failed case fell on U.S. Marshal Meade. He was replaced on March 4, 1890. His replacement, Robert H. "Bob" Paul, hoped a $500 reward would solve the case. In August 1892, the Department of Justice looked into claims that the jury had been bribed.
Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays received the Medal of Honor for their bravery during the robbery. Also, Privates George Arrington, Benjamin Burge, Julius Harrington, Hamilton Lewis, Squire Williams, Jason Young, Thorton Hams, and Jason Wheeler each received a Certificate of Merit.
The accused men still faced legal problems. In May 1890, Mark E. Cunningham, Lyman Follett, and Warren Follett were arrested for stealing cattle. They were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. They appealed, and the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court gave them a new trial. But the charges were dropped before the second trial.
Meanwhile, Gilbert and Wilfred Webb were accused of cheating the Graham County school district. Wilfred Webb was not found guilty of these accusations. He later became active in politics. He served as Speaker of the House in the Arizona Territorial Legislature. He was also part of Arizona's constitutional convention. When asked about the robbery, he would say, "Twelve good men said I wasn't." When he died, Webb owned a very large ranch. The money taken during the robbery has never been found.
Images for kids
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Holding Up the Pay Escort by Frederic Remington
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Major Joseph W. Wham
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Defendants and defense counsel for the Wham Paymaster Robbery trial
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Isaiah Mays with a Medal of Honor
