Pagosa Country’s last stagecoach holdup

Art courtesy John M. Motter
Before the railroad connected with Pagosa Springs, most of the freight and mail and many of the visitors reached town by way of a stage coach running between Pagosa Springs and Amargo. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad ran through Amargo on its way to Durango.

Pagosa Country’s last stagecoach holdup took place three miles south of town in September of 1892.

Seventeen-year-old Alfred Black was driving the mail wagon, a hack, bound from Pagosa Springs to Amargo. Frank Spickard was a passenger on the stage. The holdup took place near the present junction of U.S. 84 and Hot Springs Boulevard.

The Pagosa Springs News reported:

“On Wednesday morning, three miles out from Pagosa, the mail carrier was unceremoniously invited to hold up his hands. Frank Spickard was a passenger and the request was also directed at him. Alfred Black was driver that morning. As the two gentlemen looked down the barrel of a large six-shooter they unhesitatingly, though unwillingly, complied with the slight request.

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