A lifelong passion for outlaw tales from the Wild West inspired a Princeton woman to unravel the true identity and story of a local figure linked to the notorious robber known as the 'Gentleman Bandit.'
In 1975, 13-year-old Sylvia Hurd stumbled upon a little booklet titled Bill Miner, Train Robber by Frank W. Anderson, further igniting her already keen interest in the American frontier. She had been disappointed by the lack of similar outlaw stories in Canada but was excited to discover that an American rogue had briefly called B.C. home.
Now, 50 years later, that enduring fascination has culminated in Hurd authoring Wild West Princeton: Through the Life of Jack Budd, a book that delves into the intriguing connections between Budd and Miner during their time as neighbours in the small town while uncovering the enigma of Budd's past and his true identity.
Miner was an outlaw from Kentucky known for his unusually polite demeanour while committing robberies. He was nicknamed the "Gentleman Bandit" and is widely considered to have coined the phrase "hands up," which further cemented him as a legendary figure in Wild West history. After a lifetime of train and stagecoach heists and multiple prison terms, Miner fled to B.C. in 1903, where he forged a connection with an American rancher, Budd.
Budd's ranch became a haven for Miner, as he planned the province's first-ever train robbery on Sept. 10, 1904. The property was on the other side of Bald or Baldy Mountain from Princeton. The mountain has since been renamed Mount Miner in Miner's honour.
Rumours and suspicion surrounded both Miner and Budd after Budd's death, as their true relationship was never known. Were they brothers, relatives, or simply friends? Hurd was determined to uncover the truth.
As a young girl, Hurd did not have the knowledge or resources to do further research into Budd or Miner, eventually pushing the topic into the back of her mind, but Anderson's little booklet did kick-start her lifelong love and passion of collecting every book on B.C.'s history that she could get her hands on.
In her early 20s, Hurd spent a lot of time camping and exploring the Similkameen region with her husband, eventually falling in love with the area and moving to Princeton in the summer of 1991. Each day, Hurd would gaze upon a mountain devoid of trees a short distance away. One day, she suddenly realized what that mountain was and what it represented.
"It hit me like a lightning bolt — that was Baldy Mountain, where Jack Budd had lived and Bill Miner hid out," she recalled. "I quickly ran to find my little booklet on Miner and re-read it for facts."
Hurd had spent the previous decade working on her family's genealogy and had become quite good at researching, learning a few tricks along the way, so she was looking for a new project to take on where she could use those same investigative skills. She started poking around during the new computer era to see if she could find any information about Budd. There was already a lot written about Miner, but Hurd was curious about who Budd really was.
She eventually found a woman online who was looking for information about her great-grandmother's first husband, a fellow by the name of Jack Budd. The woman wanted to know why he abruptly left Montana and abandoned his wife and children before moving to Princeton. Hurd promised her that she would find out the truth.
"For the next several years, I would jot down any information I would find," she said. "It was fascinating to learn this orphaned cowboy from Texas, who once raced his horse against Sitting Bull's string, had lived in Princeton."
Hurd was disappointed that there was so little information about Budd and a lot of what she did read was mostly fabricated. Her husband had a solution.
"My husband said to me, and I'm sure he regretted it, 'Why don't you write your own book?' So, I did."
For the next two years, Hurd would write every day until 2 a.m. and would be right back at it by 7 a.m. the following morning. She aimed to compile as much true information about Budd as possible, verifying every fact she came across, to ensure that future researchers and curious minds would not have to sift through a clutter of misinformation.
When the book was finally completed, Ed Muckle from Ed's Image Emporium edited it and printed a copy for Hurd. It then sat in a drawer for 10 years, as Hurd was unsure how to get it published.
Last fall, Hurd was contacted by Princeton & District Museum manager Todd Davidson after he had heard of the book and asked for permission to put it on the museum's website for research purposes. Hurd agreed. Shortly after, a customer approached Muckle, asking him if he could print a few copies of the book so he could give them out as Christmas presents.
"That's how my book on Jack Budd came about," Hurd said. "I was thrilled that someone actually wanted to read my book."
Copies of the book will be printed to order for $40 at the Image Emporium.
