Pockets Jingling, Stomach Empty, Time to Eat
Kansas Charley, after murdering his two traveling companions in a railroad car, got off of the train when it stopped at the Hillsdale station in Wyoming at a little after 11 A.M. While the train was taking on water Charley went in search of something to eat. Although he was still ragged in remnant, his pockets were filled with cash. At the station house, inhabited by John Brooks, Charley told Mrs. Brooks a tale of how he'd been traveling for days and nights all the way from New York City. Mrs. Brooks recalled later that, although Charley Miller's cloths were ripped and patched, he was well able to pay for his good meal. Her husband remembered how nervous the boy seemed.
A Deadly Deed Discovered
While Charley ate his meal a commotion was going on outside by train car number 15. The cause of the disturbance was the discovery of the two young men who had been found shot in their heads inside the car. One man was dead; the other barely alive. Before the train pulled out once more on its way to Cheyenne, Wyoming train officials telegraphed Cheyenne officials about the ghastly cargo that would be arriving there later in the afternoon.
Charley stayed behind when the train pulled out of the Hillsdale station. Ticket Agent McGuire later remembered Charlie asking about the price of a ticket to Manhattan, Kansas. However, he bought a ticket to Cheyenne, Wyoming instead where he arrived on September 27, just a few hours after the train carrying the bodies of Emerson and Fishbaugh. Already the story of the soon to be double murder had spread all over town. Fishbaugh died shortly after arriving in Cheyenne.
Through communications between the boys' parents and representatives and the officials in Wyoming it was soon learned that at Grand Island they had met a third youngster who had began traveling with them. Soon, all along the railroad stops, persons were reporting having seen the three young men.
Charley Spends His Stolen Fortune
In Cheyenne, while authorities puzzled over the double murder, Kansas Charley set about spending his stolen funds on a good meal. He bought himself a new shirt, complete with a black silk handkerchief, and got a haircut. He also made a friend in Cheyenne, Henry Howland who was from Grover, Colorado.
Hopeful Cowboy Herds Sheep
Howland later recalled that Charley had said he was from New York and that he had come to Cheyenne in hopes of getting a job as a cowboy. However, about all that Charley knew about being a cowboy was what he had read in the Dime Novels. Instead, he took a job that surely, in cowboy country, did little to boost his confidence. Kansas Charley became a sheepherder. He joined a group that was headed south, on foot, to Grover.
Once Charley reached Grover he was so tired from walking and herding sheep that he quit the job. Four days later on October 6, he showed up in Leonardville, Kansas where he was reunited with his brothers, Fred and Willie, who were living together with the Loofbourrow family.
Confession and Arrest
It was in Leonardville that Charley read a newspaper article describing the murders he had committed. He took the newspaper to his brother Fred and told him he was the murderer. Fred told the Loofbourrows the story and Charley agreed to give himself up. Three days later, Charley traveled to Manhattan, Kansas where he turned himself over to Sheriff Joseph Meyers at the Riley County Jail.
Meyers wasn't totally surprised when Charley presented himself. He had already received word to be on the lookout for the suspect of a murder committed in a train car at Hillsdale, Wyoming.
Kansas Charley continues with: Kansas Charley Makes Headlines: Cattle Barons Condemn Kansas Charley.
Previous: Murder on the Union Pacific
