Cornelius Donahue alias "Lame Johnny", born in Philadelphia about 1850, died 1878

Cattle rustler, horse thief

Horse thief

-United States:The term horse thief came into great popularity in the U.S. during the 19th century. During that time the Great Plains states, Texas, and other western states were sparsely populated and negligibly policed. As farmers tilled the land and migrants headed west through the Great...

 and general Wild West Outlaw from the Black Hills

Black Hills

The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...

 of South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. His gang's most notorious robbery was probably $3,500 in currency, $500 in diamonds, hundreds of dollars worth of jewelry and 700 pounds of gold dust, nuggets and bullion from a special “treasure coach” called the "Monitor" belonging to the Homestake Mine

Homestake Mine (South Dakota)

The Homestake Mine was a deep underground gold mine located in Lead, South Dakota. Until it closed in 2002 it was the largest and deepest gold mine in North America, producing more than 40 million ounces of gold. The Homestake Mine is famous in scientific circles for being the site at which the...

 in October 1878

Doug Engebretson

Doug Engebretson

Doug Engebretson is an American author and historian. His best-known work is "Empty Saddles, Forgotten Names: Outlaws of the Black Hills and Wyoming" , which includes accounts of early-day outlaws operating in Wyoming and the neighboring Black Hills of South Dakota.Engebretson also published an...

 in his book "Empty saddles, forgotten names: Outlaws of the Black Hills and Wyoming" has the following to say on the demise of Johnny.

"In July 1879 the coach going from Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...

 to Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...

 carried captured stage robber Lame Johnny who was being returned to Deadwood for trial. Near Buffalo Gap, Dakota Territory, Lame Johnny became "restless and nervous." He revealed his fear of Daniel Boone May

Daniel Boone May

Daniel Boone May , known as Boone May, was an American gunfighter, of the Black Hills of South Dakota.May was born in Missouri...

, who was seen riding parallel to the coach. May and messenger Jesse Brown left the stage at Buffalo Gap and "Whispering" Smith, retained responsibility for Lame Johnny. Shortly thereafter, the coach was stopped, and eight vigilantes hanged Lame Johnny."

His headstone, which is now missing, once read as follows:

Pilgrim Pause!

You’re standing on

The molding clay of Limping John.

Tread lightly, stranger, on this sod.

For if he moves, you’re robbed, by God