In the early 1900s, the modern era entered Wyoming aboard the railroad, and people flocked to the coal mines to provide fuel for these locomotives. Horses and mules were still crucial to the economy, and stagecoaches ran constantly.

These routes connected railroad depots with outlying communities throughout the young state.

One of these vital stagecoaches connected the Shoshoni metropolis with the rural town of Thermopolis across Wind River Canyon, a deep ravine that was impassable even with a horse.

It was a dangerous route across the canyon where constant rock slides threatened the scene and thieves were known to stalk their victims.

Until then, stagecoaches had been the target of outlaws and bandits for decades.

One of Wyoming’s most notorious and ruthless outlaws was “Big Nose” George Parrot who, before being hanged by vigilantes in Rawlins, robbed stagecoaches running between Cheyenne and Deadwood, South Dakota, in the late 1870s.

John Hulse, a coal miner from Gebo, took a job as a stagecoach driver for owner EJ Richards when work at the mine slowed. His route took passengers over Birdseye Pass and proved to be more dangerous than working underground in the coal mines.

Dangerous Road

“Many times I drove the stage through the snow, belly-deep, the lead team getting up and plunging to break the trail and the wheel team pulling the load,” Hulse told the Thermopolis Independent Record in the 1930s.

Passengers could buy their ticket at Simmon’s Fruit Store in Thermopolis and ship their goods through the American Express Company, according to a 1913 advertisement. The Shoshoni-Thermopolis stage line left daily, except Sunday, from either town to 7am and you would arrive at your destination at 6pm that evening, an 11 hour journey.

Hulse, however, claimed he could complete the route in half that time if the weather is good.

“Tuff Canyon on the Shoshoni side was a bad place,” Hulse said. “But in good weather, when the stage left at 6am, the run could be completed by 11am”

This particular stage route had a Halfway House that provided lunch for weary passengers. It was exactly 18 miles from Thermopolis and the same distance from Shoshoni.

The route was very dangerous, Hulse said. He drove a “four-up” for cargo and up to six horse teams when carrying a larger load or more passengers.

There was a place that made men and women “go weak in the knees,” and the passengers walked instead of riding.

It was called the Devils Slide and Hulse said it was too narrow for his diligence and nerves to drive. Loose stones fell under the stage wheels, and the wheels had to be blocked to prevent the horses and mules from going down the steep hill.

“You had to be really careful and stay on the trail,” Hulse said. “If you didn’t, it was a steep fall off the cliff.”

Highway robbery

One day, three men were waiting along the Birdseye Pass Trail with plans to hold the scene in a remote area. They were far from any lawmen and the scene was lonely.

John Hulse was driving and “Old Man Moore” was beside him, riding shotgun. As they approached, the men tried to stop the scene.

The team stopped, huffing and puffing. The shooting started, shots fired from both sides.

“Old Moore” dropped to the floor of the driver’s seat, immediately seeking cover. He left it to Hulse and a passenger to keep the bandits away.

The passenger, who was using a Luger, was injured and his weapon jammed.

He too had to seek shelter, and Hulse was left alone to defend the scene.

After some time, the bandits, seeing that their attempts were in vain, gave up and left without loot.

This was not the only robbery in which Hulse was involved. His daughter, Lonita Hulse Bentley, recalled another robbery she told him about years later.

In this incident, Hulse was even closer to the action.

He told him that a “little man” got behind the wheel and pointed a revolver in his face. At the same time the other bandit mounted on the right side and put a rifle to the man riding with Hulse.

“We want your money!” they shouted.

Somehow in the commotion, the bandit with the rifle distracted the other thief. Hulse said he knew the short bandit on the wagon wheel was scared because his revolver kept shaking.

He was so out of control with the shaking that Hulse knew that no matter what happened, he would be shot.

He started shouting and took the trembling gun. He was able to remove the gun and disarm the smaller man.

The other bandit ran when he saw the robbery was going wrong, but the frightened thief was taken to the Shoshoni jail. He was kept in a tiny cell until justice could be served.

Runaway horses

The danger was not only from bandits and dangerous roads.

Another time, Hulse said, he was driving a four up over Birdseye when the brake broke. This was a handbrake, which was pushed forward or backward to engage the wheels.

Aboard this race was Sheep Queen Moore, a prominent sheep breeder in the area. As the stage entered a turn, the brake broke and the stage overturned. He was dragged by the horses who continued to gallop in fright.

Hulse held the reins and stopped the team. If he got free, he said, the change would kill everyone.

As it was, Hulse was “skinned all over” and Queen of the Sheep Moore “buckled her knee”. She sued the stage company for $1,600 and collected damages for the injury.

Hulse continued to drive the stage until he returned to the coal mines, a much safer occupation.

Jackie Dorothy can be contacted at [email protected].