California Newspaper Transcriptions
Crimes and Criminals (pre 1924)
TOM BELL

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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TOM BELL

Tom Bell and his gang of robbers were suspected of the holdup. Bell, a noted 
highwayman of that day, was killed near Auburn in Placer County in 1856.  In 
stature nearly six feet tall, he was well proportioned, combining in his frame 
strength with action.  He was of a sanguine temperament, quick in his motions, 
being never at rest.  He had sandy hair and a full crop of it, and a light 
goatee to match his hair in color.  His nose, which was originally well formed 
and large, was mashed in the bridge, almost level with his face.  This defect 
rendered his countenance, which was otherwise prepossessing, somewhat repulsive, 
and even hideous when viewed in connection with his lawless practices.  His eyes 
were a very light blue, of that class which approximates so nearly to grey, and 
in their restless wanderings were constantly sparkling with intelligence.
Bell was a native of Alabama.  He had received a medical education, and, it is 
said, practiced that profession when he first came to California, in 1850.  He 
first took to mining, and being unlucky at that, his next step was gambling.  
When that ceased to pay, he took to the road, and was engaged as a robber for 
about two years, in which time he acquired a fame for boldness and success in 
this section second only to Joaquin Murietta’s.

At the outset, it is said, he generally traveled alone, and, for his better 
security, wore a coat of armor under his clothes.  He never shed the blood of 
his victim unless it became absolutely necessary to enforce a compliance with 
his demands.  It was known that he had associated with him several persons 
scarcely less noted than himself, one of whom, an escaped convict named Bill 
Gristy, alias Bill White, when the band was broken in upon by a detachment of 
the Sacramento and Marysville police, was the only one who escaped.  Gristy was 
cruel, cunning and blood-thirsty.  This scoundrel was in Bell’s band for three 
months.  The band was supposed to number from six to eight, and they ranged the 
country along the foothills from the Yuba to Granite City.  Their depredations 
were mainly confined to the several roads crossing in the neighborhood between 
Granite and Gold Hill, in Placer County.  The country was rough, broken and 
covered with an impenetrable chaparral, in the recesses of which “an army with 
banners” might securely hide.  Their outrages in this favorite field followed 
each other in such rapid succession that scarcely a day passed during the summer 
of 1856 without furnishing a newspaper story from the calendar of their 
exploits, but in no instance did they shed blood.  The plan of the chief was to 
frighten the traveler to terms, and avoid the cruelty of murder.
On one occasion, Bell and Gristy, with one other, made an attack upon a man who 
was traveling from Downieville to Marysville with a large sum of money in his 
possession.  The traveler resisted, fired upon his assailants, and finally fled 
from them toward a deep canyon in which, if he could reach it, he knew he was 
safe from pursuit on horseback.  Just as he was about to reach his goal, Gristy 
fired with a navy revolver and shot him in the thigh, knocking him down.  The 
robbers relieved him of his money; but instead of dispatching him, or leaving 
him to die from the hemorrhage of his wound, “Doctor” Bell kindly and expertly 
took up the severed artery, bound up the wound, and just at that moment hearing 
a wagon pass, turned to one of his subordinates and ordered him to attend to the 
teamster.  The wagon was stopped, the driver relieved of his cash, the wounded 
man placed upon a mattress, hastily made in the bottom of the wagon, and the 
parties dismissed, with the injunction to “drive slow and pick their road.”  The 
wounded man requested Bell to tie his (the traveler’s) horse behind the wagon.  
Bell refused, but assured him that he should have his horse, as he seemed 
attached to him, and that he would turn him loose in the woods, after stripping 
off his bridle and saddle, which promise he faithfully kept.

History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles