Foresthill, California: Roadside Grave of Old Joe - Murdered Stagecoach Horse

Old Joe was gunned down during a stagecoach robbery. A stone monument with a plaque and half-embedded wagon wheel marks the fatal spot. Or close enough.

Roadside Grave of Old Joe - Murdered Stagecoach Horse

I grew up on the Auburn-Foresthill Rd. At the end of our driveway where we caught the bus was the grave of "Old Joe." He was a stagecoach horse shot during a robbery. It's never been officially put on the marker, but the town always said that it was because of his devotion to his route, and he would have raced to his next stop with his driver alerting the authorities before the bandits had a chance to make their getaway.

My family still lives there, and a couple of years ago the road was widened considerably. When his headstone was removed, the community threw such a fit that now there is a much larger traditional "Gold Country" looking stone marker with his story and a large coach wheel embedded in the top of the stones. I was glad to see this. Mostly because some of my first memories are pulling the weeds away from his marker so that it could be read while waiting for the bus to go to school.

[Shanti Warlick, 04/26/2002]