transcontinental C.P.R. line follows
the north bank of the river.

First Canadian Train Robbery

On his trip to Chilliwack with his
cattle old Bill Miner must have taken
all this in, for he dropped out of
sight for a few weeks. And during
that time a C.P.R. train was held up
at Silverdale, not far west of Chilli-
wack but on the opposite side of the
river. It was the first Canadian train
robbery and it netted three masked
men $7,000.

An intensive man hunt failed to
reveal their trace, but one of the
searchers—a veteran bushman—gave
the opinion after a week of tracking
that the bandits got out of the Fraser
Valley, east over the Hope pass. It
was a rough route, but Bill Miner
brought his cattle over it.

Back at Aspen Grove Miner
puttered around his log cabin. He
was cheerful, his neighbors said, that
he’d made a little money on his cattle
and astonished to hear of the train
robbery.

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Dick's Auto
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Corner 7th Ave. and Victoria Street
KAMLOOPS BRITISH COLUMBIA

TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION

Then in November, 1905, he was
absent for a week or two; prospecting
in the hills he told a neighbor. He
was prospecting somewhere, for dur-
ing his absence a Great Northern
train was held up at Raymond brick-
yard, near Ballard, Washington, and
just across the B.C.-Washington
border. Again there were three men
on the job and they got $30,000.
Some had their doubts that Miner
was one of the trio; but P. K. Ahearn,
veteran superintendent of Pinkerton’s
Seattle office, always claimed that
little Bill Miner pulled the Ballard
job. But the question is, if he got his
cut of the loot why did he have to
hold up the C.P.R. train near Kam-
loops the next year? Some people
claimed that he needed the money to
put a daughter through university.
A romantic thought, but it wasn’t
borne out by any recorded evidence.
Miner never married and had no
women associates.

Life Imprisonment for Only $15

Whatever the reason, when he held
up the Westbound Imperial Limited,
it netted him $15 and life imprison-
ment. And the little grey haired
robber saw the inside of a Canadian
penitentiary. It was the grim fortress
like institution on the banks of the
Fraser River at New Westminster, 13
miles from Vancouver.

A Canadian newsman described
Miner at his trial as “a rather striking
looking fellow, with grey hair and
moustache, erect and active and does
not appear to be within 10 years of
his age... he claims to be 63, but
looks like a man of 50, and moves
like one of 30.”

Miner had tried many escape
attempts at San Quentin, and the
warden of the B.C. Penitentiary—
who had heard of this—was taking no
chances. So for a year after the front
gate clanged behind him, Miner was
kept on indoor work. Prison officials
said he was a model prisoner, always
quiet and orderly. He read a lot, they
said, principally religious books.

However, after a year of this model
conduct, the young-old man started to
complain about his health. It was
breaking down, he said. He’d always
been outdoors and the confinement
was killing him. So the warden re-
lented and Miner got a job outside.
Of course although he was working
“outside” he was still behind a big

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227 Victoria St.

Kamloops, B.C.

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President: R. R. McMahon

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FOR
ALL YOUR HAULING REQUIREMENTS
FUEL GAS
and and
FEED OIL

Box 481 REVELSTOKE, B.C. Phone 276

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Page Twenty-three