Author Description

A work of creative non-fiction based on the true story of the celebrated highwayman, Reimund Holzhey, a German immigrant and former resident of Fort Howard and Pulcifer, Wisconsin, who robbed a stagecoach on Stagecoach road between the south end of lake Gogebic and Gogebic Station, in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, on 26 August 1889. This is said to have been the last stagecoach robbery east of the Mississippi river. The story is drawn from contemporary newspaper reports published in various parts of the Midwest, as well as other sources, and is as true to life as possible. Holzhey suffered from mental problems as a result of a skull fracture, and subjected himself to daring and foolhardy exploits as a form of release, until he was finally caught. His exploits were sensationalized and he was portrayed as a greedy and bloodthirsty desperado. The publicity surrounding his capture and trial would be considered highly questionable nowadays. There was doubt concerning who fired the shots that killed one of the men on the last stagecoach he attempted to rob. His treatment during the first few years of his imprisonment conjure up scenes from Papillon. By the time he was released from prison twenty-three years later, he was considered to be an erudite and well-read man and accomplished writer. Bruce K. Cox a graduate of Gogebic Community College and Northern Michigan University, is a local historian, with a particular interest in early history and mining on the Gogebic Iron Range of Michigan and Wisconsin. He writes and publishes books on Gogebic Range history in his shop, Agogeebic Press, at 408A Sunday Lake Street, in Wakefield, Michigan.