The Legend of Railroad Bill
The Legend of Railroad Bill
Morris Slater (known as Railroad Bill) was a train robber in the 1890’s. None of his loot was ever recovered in the 6 years of his operation. Many believe that the cash was buried in a cave. The only clue left behind is that he never strayed far from the railroad trackes between Atmore and Bay Minette. He was gunned down in 1896.
(A little bit more: Railroad Bill was an African American said to have lived between Pensacola, FL and Alabama and that he may have worked with a circus at some point during his life. Stories began to surface around 1895 about an armed individual riding the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad line between Flomaton and Mobile. Caught sleeping on a water tank along the railroad on March 6, 1895, railroad employees attempted to restrain the man who fired on them and escaped after hijacking a train car. This incident began a manhunt by railroad detectives that led a posse to Bay Minette, Alabama on April 6, 1895. It was here that Baldwin County deputy sheriff James H. Stewart was killed in a gunfight. After the lawman’s killing, the full attention of law enforcement and a $500 reward posted in Mobile identified him as Morris Slater, a convict-lease worker who fled from a turpentine camp in Bluff Springs in 1893 after killing a lawman.
On July 4, 1895, E.S. McMillan, Brewton Sheriff, was fatally wounded. Railroad Bill became a “Robin Hood” like individual, robbing trains and reportedly selling good to impoverished people for prices lower than the local merchant stores as well as engaging in shoot-outs with lawmen and L&N personnel. On March 7, 1896, Railroad Bill was gunned down by a host of law enforcement officials at Tidmore and Ward’s General Store in Atmore, Alabama.)
“Looking for Railroad Bill”: On the Trail of an Alabama Badman
More treasure legends can be found at Alabama Treasure Legends Main Page.