A Cure for Depression

Even in the 1970’s some of the old gold rush style miners lived the life of a hermit and it was a risk to life and limb to explore the mountains in Northern Nevada.

You never knew when you would stumble across one of these characters. The first indication you were trespassing on their claim would be the sound of a bullet ricocheting off a rock at your feet.

Taking a page out of Wild West history, in mid-summer of 1974 one of Winnemucca’s sheriff’s deputies decided to put together a gang and rob the Mayfair Market grocery store. As the major market in the county the Mayfair safe could hold thousands of dollars in cash and coin when payday rolled around.

As a member of the local constabulary, the deputy was familiar with the schedules and routines of the sheriff and city police departments. He knew when they made their rounds and when the coast would be clear at the Mayfair store, located on the west edge of town.

Late one night, the deputy and his cohorts started their escapade by stealing a tow truck from Billingsley Motors on the east side of town. The stolen truck was brought to the front of the Mayfair store, backed through the front of the building smashing through windows.

Once inside the gang chained the safe, located inside the front of the store, to the tow truck and ripped it off the mounts. After dragging the safe out of the store it was hoisted off the ground and the robbers drove off into the night.

There were no witnesses to the crime and they would have gotten off Scot-free if they had not been as stupid as they were clever.

The gang drove deep into the wilds of Humboldt County back into one of the dozens of valleys of the Humboldt Mountains. It was at this point their plans started to go awry.

None of them had thought about how they were going to open the safe. From the evidence that was eventually gathered, the gang first tried to cut into the safe with an oxy-acetylene torch.

When this didn’t work they tried to drill the combination lock and that failed. Their last attempt to open the safe worked. It also gave the authorities the lead they needed to catch the culprits.

The crooks decided to use dynamite to blast open the safe. Once again their inexperience played them false. No one knows how much they used but they succeeded in opening the safe. They blew it high wide and handsome sending pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars and pieces of the safe screaming through the air like pieces of shrapnel from a bomb.

One of the robbers was seriously injured by the flying metal and was taken to Washoe Medical in Reno for treatment. When the doctors were treating the injured man they noted that his injuries were caused by pieces of flying metal. Some of the pieces turned out to be coins and pieces of coins.

They removed several pieces of metal from him and then notified the police.

Within a few days the man confessed and the rest of the gang, including the Humboldt County deputy were arrested, ending his attempt to supplement his income.

The Wild West was still alive and well in Humboldt County and Winnemucca, Nevada during the 1970s. It seems that it is still alive today, but in another part of America. Our national government housed in Washington, D.C. sure bears a strong resemblance to Wild West towns of yesteryear. The current Democrat controlled federal government is acting more and more like crooks who are robbing Peter to pay Paul. The average American wage earner is Peter and Paul is obviously the Democrats’ uber rich donors.

And like all crooks, they have not been able to hide their activities from witnesses, that is you and I if you watch more than liberal news media. Question is: Will these gang members be held accountable? Vote them out of office, starting with this year’s Senate and Congressional elections.

P.S. Keep a sharp eye open on our own Nebraska Senators and Congressmen. We need to make sure they work for you and I, and not the Washington Gang.

P.P.S. If they can raid Pres. Trump’s home, they can raid yours, too.