Last Stagecoach Hold-Up in San Mateo County

Hillborough, California

Along a creek bed and a bend in the road, a heinous crime was perpetrated over a century ago. On August 17, 1905, the last stagecoach robbery in San Mateo occurred, an event odd enough to merit an E Clampus Vitus Historical Marker in 2009. The marker reads, in part, in overly crowded type illustrated with cartoonish line drawings:

"A masked desperado described as 'nine feet tall and armed with a small cannon' stopped the Half Moon Bay stagecoach. He angrily ordered driver Ed Campbell to throw down the Well's Fargo and Co.'s treasure box, Levi Bros. strongbox, and the US Mail Bag."

The stagecoach occupants were told to fork over their valuables, but they managed to hide most of it, and the robber was spooked by the approach of another wagon, and left with his meager take -- the treasure box turned out to be empty. He was never caught.