The Great Stagecoach Robbery
When you're driving on the beautiful stretch of Route 28 that runs along the Hudson River between North Creek and North River, you're on the same route that vacationers in the late 1800s took by stagecoach when -- on their way to the summer playgrounds built by Thomas Durant and his son William on Indian, Blue Mountain, and Raquette Lakes -- they disembarked at North Creek, the end of their 60-mile trip from Saratoga Springs on the Adirondack Railroad.
That’s Will Eldridge at the reins of the stagecoach that was robbed on August 14, 1901.
For travelers in both directions, North River was a favorite place to stop for a meal or for rest. It started as a logging camp and became a permanent community when hotels started opening there in the late 1840s. That's when Jones Ordway built the first hotel a quarter mile before the turn onto Thirteenth Lake Road. Elmer Dunlap bought the hotel in 1896.
Five years later, Dunlap's Hotel was the starting point of the Great Stagecoach Robbery, a story told by Bill Waddell in a column found by Glenn Pearsall and published in Echoes in These Mountains.
The date was August 14, 1901. Will Eldridge was the stagecoach driver. Born in 1839, Will had fought with Sherman and served as a drummer on his famous march to the sea.
The robbery happened just after the stage left Dunlap's Hotel, heading north. About a mile out of North River, they rounded the bend and, to their dismay, encountered a masked man standing in the road with a rifle. He had just jumped out of the woods.
Recklessly perhaps, Will threatened to run him over. The masked man responded by raising his gun to his shoulder and firing, bringing down the lead horse and throwing everything into chaos. The coach lurched to the side of the road, throwing Will from his seat. The passengers jumped from the coach and ran for the woods. Among them was Mr. Bernstein, who happened to be carrying a large amount of cash.
"Throw me the mailbags and baggage," the masked man demanded. "Now empty your pockets and get out of here." Seeking treasure, he ripped into the bags.
Miss Miriam Smith, a red-headed school teacher from Indian Lake and a great lover of animals, was so enraged by the robber's shooting of the horse that, ignoring his revolver, she walked up to the robber and scolded him.
That, at least, is how one version of the story goes.
People later surmised that the robber probably was expecting to find cash to be paid to men working on the Indian Lake Dam, but he either was off by a day or Will Eldridge had carried the money up the day before in his buggy. At any rate, the robber got away with just $16 and was never identified or seen again.
There was no Facebook in those days. No Twitter. When the passengers made it on foot to the North River Hotel, they told their story by telegraph and made national news. "A Regular Wild-West Hold-Up in the Peaceful Adirondacks" is the way the Utica Saturday Globe reported it. Somehow, the reporter erroneously asserted that two or three highwaymen had made off with $1000.
Even The New York Times sent a reporter and a photographer. When Will's wife, Ella, heard they were coming, it's said she changed quickly into her most fashionable garments and donned her fancy hat with the feather plume. She then climbed aboard the stage so that the photo that appeared in The Times would include her. She was a character.
Will Eldridge lived another 27 years, ultimately passing at age 89. You'll find his gravestone in North Creek's Union Cemetery, along with others whose stories we'll tell.
If you're a hiker and you enjoy places with great history, we suggest you take a left on Thirteenth Lake Road and drive up to the Thirteenth Lake, Hooper Mine, Balm of Gilead Mountain, Garnet Hill Lodge. The views are spectacular.
Go straight and you'll drive through the beautiful Hudson Gorge on your way to Indian Lake.
Since you're leaving Warren County and entering Essex, this is where we say goodbye. We welcome any suggestions you have for improving this tour in its next edition. Please send your comments to the Warren County GIS team by addressing them to GIS Administrator Sara Frankenfeld. You'll find her email address in the app.
