Robberies to Wells Fargo had numerous faces; one of
them was Bronco Bill. William E. Walters was born in 1869 in Fort Sill, an
Oklahoman Indian Territory. It is know that during the early days of his life he
worked as a cowboy before getting a job at the Santa Fe Railroad as a section
hand.
At this stage of his life, he began with train and
stagecoach robberies who later became Bronco Bill, an outlaw that joined the
Black Jack Ketchum’s gang in Arizona, but after shooting several men, he invited
some bandits to form his own gang specializing in robbing Wells Fargo
stagecoaches.
Targeted by Wells Fargo as public enemies, Bronco
Bill was caught with his men at their hideout outside of Solomonville, Arizona,
where it is believed he buried the Wells Fargo gold. Convicted of train robbery
Bronco bill was sent to prison for life.
However, the stolen cache was never found after
Wells Fargo took over the hideout to recover it. Bronco Bill was suddenly
released from prison in 1917. Sent to Hachita, a small town in New Mexico,
William Walters worked as a wrangler at the Diamond A Cattle Company, a ranching
outfit.
Bronco Bill never returned to Solomonville, perhaps
because there was no gold to rescue, but probably because he simply wanted to be
known as William E. Walters once again, a common citizen who died after falling
from a windmill tower at the company he was working on.
It is undeniable that Bronco Bill robbed a fortune
from Wells Fargo and that he had no time to spend that gold or move it away from
Solomonville, although it is clear that he would not take the risk of burying
his treasure inside or near his hideout. On the other hand, that amount of gold
was impossible to be carried out without making it noticeable so it must be
still be buried somewhere around Solomonville, Arizona.
