Bob Paul's Ultimate Act of Bravery

[Bob Boze Bell]

July 10, 2012

   Went home for lunch and finished a painting that I thought was finished, but of course, it wasn't. This is a painting of shotgun messenger Bob Paul just after he had jumped down on the wagon tongue of a careening stage being pulled by runaway horses in the middle of the night after robbers killed the driver and a passenger. Paul was able to retrieve one rein dragging in the dirt (think about that!) and managed to stop the stage with that one ribbon, probably saving the lives of all the other passengers, including himself. This event, known as the Benson stage robbery (even thought the robbers didn't get the loot) led indirectly to the O.K. Corral fight.

This illustration accompanies an excerpt we are running of John Boessenecker's new biography of the unsung lawman. I got the uncorrected proof of the book and dug into it yesterday. Going to be a classic.

"Bob Paul, as fearless a man and as fast a friend as I ever knew."

—Wyatt Earp

[Dr Buck Montgomery]

Great Image... and heck, I can re-create that on film!... Just in case ya ever want to, of course.

[Wolfgang]

Nice painting . . .   :)

[Christopher Zimmerman]

Was this the Bud Philpot muder?

[Bob Boze Bell]

Yes, Chris, this is the Benson Stage Robbery. To my knowledge, no one has ever showcased this particular aspect of the crime. I mean, imagine yourself on a runaway stage, in the dark, along the banks of a river bottom and you decide to jump down off the box, onto the wagon tongue and try and retrieve the reins. And he did it. I think it's one of the most courageous episodes in the history of the West.

[Bungalo Bill]

Bob, I am curious as to what Bob Paul's take on Doc Holliday's alleged involvement in the robbery.  I do not recall having ever read about his beliefs on the incident.  I believe he was the lawman sent to Colorado in the unsuccessful effort to extradite Doc back to Arizona to face the charge for the murder of Frank Stillwell. As you know, Bat Masterson was instrumental in blocking the extradition.  Curious businesss, all the relationships among these men.

[Wolfgang]

Bob sed,  "Yes, Chris, this is the Benson Stage Robbery. To my knowledge, no one has ever showcased this particular aspect of the crime. I mean, imagine yourself on a runaway stage, in the dark, along the banks of a river bottom and you decide to jump down off the box, onto the wagon tongue and try and retrieve the reins. And he did it. I think it's one of the most courageous episodes in the history of the West." 

And replicating this in western movies gives stunt men a lot of work . . . . how many of the stunt men have survived doing it ? ?  ;)

[Jim Holden]

Didn't Yakima Canutt (sp) do this in "Stagecoach", the famous stunt where he falls from the wagon tongue and then the stage runs over him - not hitting him of course?  In fact, in the "silents" he supposedly created all these stunts, climbing onto the runaway horses, transferring from horse to another object, falling from a gallop.  He's not as well known as he was but still a legend in that business (I had a friend in the stunt business in Hollywood - he was the ape that roped Charlton Heston in the first "Planet of the Apes".)

[Rifleman]

Glad to see that the unsung will be sung. By a really good writer, too.

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