Ruggles Robbery Revisited
REDDING LIFESTYLES, REDDING RECREATION, SHASTA COUNTY
March 16th, 2009
A reader of my blog emailed me recently regarding my post that retold the story of the Ruggles brothers stage robbery in Shasta. She was writing a play loosely based on this local historic event and wanted to visit the site of the robbery for inspiration. I provided some brief directions and I hope she found the right spot.
It has been a number of years since I rode past that marker on my mountain bike, so I asked my wife if she would join me for a leisurely walk on this unseasonably warm winter afternoon. She lived in Old Shasta for years but never ventured down this old wagon trail. Off we went!
We drove to Middle Creek Road and turned north off Hwy 299 to find a gate blocking the road. We parked, I grabbed my camera pack and headed down the paved road behind the gate until we crossed the bridge over Middle Creek then veered right to begin the gradual descent down the dirt wagon road. Middle Creek drops sharply into a rocky canyon as it twists its way toward Iron Mountain Road. The wagon road winds its way along the side of the south facing hills above the creek offering occasional glimpses of the tumbling waters at the bottom of the gorge.
We walked by signs warning visitors not to remove any artifacts. We hadn’t seen any yet but suddenly we felt the historical significance of this pretty valley on the outskirts of Redding. As we passed a sharp bend in the road that crossed a small side drainage we noticed some man-made rock walls that appeared to funnel the water across the road. A shear wall covered in brush supported the downhill side of the grade. Not far from this point, about a mile down the wagon trail from the pavement was the spot that I recall being marked with a stake and small metal plaque signifying the place 
where the Ruggles brothers held up the stage in the Spring of 1892.
The robbery site is located where the road cuts through a hill with high road banks on either side. I assume the brothers positioned themselves on top of the road banks (photos right) to take advantage of the view and shooting angle as the stage approached. The photo below is the hillside behind and below the south road bank looking east toward Mt. Lassen.
Click here for robbery details: http://movetoredding.com/2008/09/25/ruggles-brothers-loot-never-found/
For those with GPS capability, here’s the UTM coordinates of the site I believe to be the spot where the marker once stood: 10 T 0544616 /4494068
Click here for a slide show of our hike:
http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1828662
For a map, click here:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Shasta&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.915634,78.134766&ie=UTF8&ll=40.59714,-122.471766&spn=0.017303,0.038152&t=p&z=15
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
