Godard Bailey, a clerk in the Department of the Interior and a relative of Secretary of War Floyd, admitted to ransacking the Indian Trust Fund of up to $870,000 to support the transportation business of William H. Russell, of the Pony Express. Floyd, also financially involved with Russell, was forced to resign. A District of Columbia grand jury indicted all three men but no-one was ever tried for the crime and the U.S. Government replaced the funds in 1862 at a cost to the taxpayer of an estimated $830,000. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Raymond W. Settle and Mary Lund Settle, Saddles and Spurs: The Pony Express Saga (Harrisburg, PA: The Telegraph Press, 1955), 171-176.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
