Drawing in Burton the Bold's diary

Ham White drew this illustration of himself robbing a mail stage on the inside cover of his journal. The journal was recovered from White after his arrest.

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

On June 28, 1881, a man stopped and robbed a mail coach carrying 13 passengers near Alamosa, Colorado. The lone thief convinced the driver and passengers that he was accompanied by armed men hiding nearby. He robbed the passengers and the mailbags before fleeing. The next day, P.J. Desmond, the city marshal of South Pueblo, Colorado, arrested suspect Ham White for the crime. White, also known as Burton the Bold, was wanted for similar holdups in Arkansas and Texas. White was taken to Denver, Colorado, where he was turned him over to postal inspectors who investigating the mail theft.