1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Just heads up. This episode has a lot going on, violent, 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: strong language, guns. It's a train yard, after all, I 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: can't second. It can't be driving around with the cops, 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: so that sometimes and I'm trying to figure out of town. 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: I asked the cops to show me around today. That 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: town is Colton, California, train Town, USA, as it says 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: on the city Seal. When I asked the Colton Police 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: Department for a ride along, they assigned Lieutenant Raymondendez, a 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: nineteen year veteran, to show me around. We're in the 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: south part of Colton, east of Rancho Avenue right here, 11 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: which is a main thoroughfare. I've asked Lieutenant Menendez to 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: take me to Southside Colton, the neighborhood next to the 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: train yard where hoboes from all over the country mix 14 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: it up. And Menendez says he's met plenty of writers 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: by virtue that our city has trains running through both north, 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: south and east west, which is obviously conducive to having 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: people jumping off the train and visiting our city and 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: not really knowing where they're at when they get off 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: the train. So it's kind of an interesting contact. But yeah, 20 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: Colton is like a lot of train towns around the country, 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: but I had heard it was a rougher place than 22 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: most for a hobo, a place where gangs ruled, and 23 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: hobos had to be extra careful if you're a tramp here. 24 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: They just they come down here for their initiation rights 25 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: or whatever, and they just they mess people up. He 26 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: beat the ship out of them, and then he went 27 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: and stole a bunch of ships for me, like the 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: Who's who goes and riding trains. Eventually going to come 29 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: to ranch over and this is about as good Medendez 30 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: steers us to Pepper Street, a narrow strip of land 31 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: overlooking the train yard, dotted with hobo tents. And then 32 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: I just saw a little camp over here. We're here, 33 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: but oh right, look there is a camp right there. 34 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: It's not a huge source of crime, this hobo encampment. No, no, 35 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: we try not to have big in caps at home. 36 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: This is when I start wondering if I'm getting a 37 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: straight story from Menendez. I'd heard Colton was the wild West, 38 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: a place where the extremes of hobo life were right 39 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: out in the open, and those extreme state back to 40 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: Colton's corrupt beginnings. But according to Lieutenant Menendez, Colton isn't 41 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: like that at all. It's just another small town with 42 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: small town problems. So who was telling the truth? Where 43 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: the hobo's exaggerating or was Menendez blow and smoke? And 44 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: how the hobo survived here? I'm Donel Morton and this 45 00:02:35,320 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: is city of the Rails. After Mike sent me a 46 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: copy of the Crew Change, that hobo guide book, I'd 47 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: looked up the city I had heard so much about. 48 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: The Crew Change describes Colton is wide open and recommends 49 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: dark hours best. It's a hub city for the railroad 50 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: and for hoboes. Josh Brack, a long time writer who 51 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 1: I met through another trap, told me every writer at 52 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: some point ended up in this patch of sand fifty 53 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: miles east of l A like Colton, Like who gives 54 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: the funk about Colton, California? Right? Like, like what the 55 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: fun was Colton? But me, to a train rider west, 56 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: Colton is a fucking capital city. The place was so 57 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: rough that hobo's bragged about surviving it. And I heard 58 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: about one tough guy who had s sc south side 59 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: Colton tattooed on his neck. And Colton I used to 60 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: sleep with the act by my sleeping bag, like everybody's 61 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: gonna get thrown, and everybody's gonna fistfight like hard, like 62 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: people were going to beat the ship out of each 63 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: other like Paul might. If I wanted to know what 64 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: Ruby and her friends were dealing with town to town, 65 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: I could see the worst of it in Colton, you 66 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: know I think that. So here I was with a tenant, Menendez, 67 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: in the Durango. I asked him to show me places 68 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: where train riders hopped out. I could tell he was 69 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: choosing his words carefully. So we're actually the ten here 70 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: at Rancho Um. And then I will take you to 71 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: the main switching yard off of Pepper. Pepper and Rancho 72 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: are two main bridges where city streets crossed over the 73 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: train tracks in Colton. We can get a bird's eye 74 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: view from Pepper. Josh told me a lot went down 75 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: under those bridges. It was like one of the most ridiculous, 76 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: like you will come across the craziest fucking tramps. Rancho 77 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: Bridge used to be like the most dangium splot. The 78 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: who's who both riding trains is like eventually going to 79 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,559 Speaker 1: come to ranch over yourself. And this is an old 80 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: old bridge. So there's the truck so I was with 81 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: Menendez at Rancho, but he wasn't given me much. Oh, 82 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: and I can see there's a chain link fence up there, 83 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: but it's got to cut in it. So if you 84 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: were gonna if the train was stopped there, you could 85 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: go through that cut and get on the train potentially. Yeah, 86 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: Colton is a small town with a population of about 87 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: fifty thou seems unlikely that a veteran cop wouldn't know 88 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: what went down there. So far, Menendez wouldn't give me 89 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: a straight yes or no about anything, but I hoped 90 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: he would at least know about this I'd heard. Colton 91 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: isn't just a hub for hoboes in the railroad. It's 92 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: also a gang battleground. The area south of the train yard, 93 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,559 Speaker 1: south Side Coulton has a notorious gang, the Colton City 94 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: Crips or Three C's, has territory running right up to 95 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: the edge of the train yard. One hobo told me 96 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: the Colton gangs are so infamous that there are songs 97 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: written about them south Side in the plate with east Side, 98 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: and if they know the fra The Colton branch of 99 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,119 Speaker 1: the Crips was so violent that part of the city 100 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: was under a gang injunction for more than a decade, 101 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: ending in cold and like totally like this tolo like 102 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: baflo local town. Like I guess they think you're a punk. 103 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: Like they'll try you, like they'll try to like fucking 104 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: basically like fuck your girl and like take your ship 105 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: and like make you by from them. So I asked 106 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: the tenant, Menendez, about the gangs in Coulton. If the 107 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: gang violence was as bad as i'd heard, I figured 108 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: you'd have a few stories to Um, let's get back 109 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: to the gang's ansers. We're about to go to southside Coulton. Um, 110 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: how bad was the gang problem before? I honestly don't know. Uh, 111 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: you know, I think that Um. I think they had 112 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: their fair share of shootings and violence and and turf wars. Um, 113 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: but maybe no more than any other city or smaller city. UM, 114 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: nothing that would stand out more than anything else. UM. 115 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: With each question ev aided, I grew more and more 116 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: suspicious of Menendez. I'd heard that the gangs in Colton 117 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: fought turf wars and sometimes hobos were targeted as part 118 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: of their initiation rights, and I had met one Zoe. 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: He took me through the Roseville Yard introduced me to 120 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: her friend Lee, who grew up around Colton, and for Lee, 121 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: the turf wars and initiation rights weren't a rumor, they 122 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: were a reality. That was my home yard. When I 123 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: left Colton, I was leaving home. When when I rolled 124 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: into Colton, I was coming home. I would hang out 125 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: around Rancho Pepper or the yard if I was feeling 126 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: it that night, but usually I would try to wait 127 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: around and outside of the yard. It felt a little better. 128 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: As a local, Lee believed he knew how not to 129 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: get tangled up with the street gangs of the south 130 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: side Riverside County. So it's very true. It's a different 131 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: street politics. There's rules. What are those rules? Keep your 132 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: head down, I don't know. Just don't cost trouble, you know. 133 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: The old timers just say hey man. Every now and 134 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: again there's a beat down or killing and they come 135 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: down here for their initiation rights or whatever. And these 136 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: attacks happened in the past few months and uh the 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: past few years steadily. Lee experienced this firsthand. Six years ago, 138 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: he found himself on the wrong side of the Southside 139 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: Culton gang. He was in the train yard with a 140 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: friend when a gang member came up like three in 141 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: the morning. Let me just roll by and shot you. Well, 142 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: he puts it to my face through the chain link 143 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: fence and he pulls the trigger and it just goes 144 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: click click, and then he cocks it or gets it 145 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: right or whatever, and then it turned to blah blah blah, 146 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: and he just unloaded on me and he struck me twice. 147 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: The bullet passed in and out of my hat twice 148 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: and grazed my head, and the other one went through 149 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: my back, through my lungs and my ribs and came 150 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: out of my chest. Lee ran for his life as 151 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: the gang member chased after him, still firing off rounds. 152 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: As I was running, blood was just dripping out of 153 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: my mouth and breathing blood, and it just didn't really 154 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: know where it came from. Little see the sparks flying 155 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: all around me. I thought maybe they're gonna finish me off, 156 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: because they were running after me, still firing. Once the 157 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: shots rang out and we ran, a getaway car screeched 158 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: up to pick him up, and the woman that he 159 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: was with was cheering them on and saying, yeah, I 160 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: get them and choose us, laughing, And he just shot 161 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,679 Speaker 1: me in the head and shot me in the tor show. 162 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: We stumbled to a nearby house and got a guy 163 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood to call him an ambulance. And yet 164 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: it somehow gets worse. Once Lee arrives at the hospital, 165 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: he was hooked up to half a dozen machines with 166 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: his stomach stitch together. When the Colton cops arrived, they 167 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: asked him some routine questions, but didn't take Lee's assault seriously. Yeah, 168 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: they interviewed me in the hospital, told me they didn't 169 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: believe the witness, my friend who was also being fired upon, 170 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: and uh, they just wrote a couple of things down, 171 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: rolled their eyes and laughed. I never heard from him again. Yeah, 172 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: I don't know. It just basically was swept under the rug. 173 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: Just the home police report. I don't I don't know. 174 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: It seems like the police wanted to pretend the Hobos 175 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: and the violence and Colton didn't exist. But I tried 176 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: Menendez one last time. I'd made a public record request 177 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: for LEAs police report, so I pulled it up on 178 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: my phone and started reading. Transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, 179 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: where he was treated for his wounds. Witnesses were contacted 180 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: and evidence was booked into the Colton Police Department. No 181 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: suspects were contacted. So there's a lot. So there's a 182 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: lot it's missing here, there's a lot that's redacted. The 183 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: truth is, I don't know, and I don't think that, 184 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: like you had said before, there was some initiation and uh, 185 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: you know, to get into the gang. I think you 186 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: said that they had to kill or beat up a 187 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: train rider or something. I've never heard that in the 188 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: years I've been here. Um, now, does south Side Colton 189 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: Gang exist? Yes? Have we had any activity in years 190 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: with respect to them and train riders? I can't think 191 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: of any within the past fifteen plus years. I just, 192 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: I honestly think that's probably an urban legend. Nineteen years 193 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: on the force years is a detective and Lieutenant Menendez 194 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: said he didn't know much about the gangs, but that 195 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: bullet that went through Lee in the train yard wasn't 196 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: a myth. So no justice for Lee and no getting 197 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: shot apparently wasn't worth investigating. Hobos are on the lowest 198 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: run of the ladder, ignored, doubted, and discounted, But this 199 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: issue of not being seen or heard isn't so black 200 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: and white. Of course, ly deserves justice, but choosing to 201 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: live a life apart away from scrutiny and society comes 202 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: at a cost. Hobo's don't trust the cops and one 203 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: of them gets beat up in a fight. Mostly they 204 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: nurse their own wounds rather than go to the hospital, 205 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: and people can be shunned if they call the cops. Yeah, um, 206 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: hopefully that helped. It did help? Yes, thanks? Menendez was 207 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: not much help to me then or later. Before I left. 208 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,560 Speaker 1: He said he'd connect me to more knowledgeable detectives, even 209 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 1: retired ones who knew more about the gang beat, but 210 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: he ignored me as soon as we parted ways. It 211 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: was clear and Colton, the hoboes and the cops both 212 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: wanted to pretend the other didn't exist. A fight between 213 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: vagabonds and gang members. Both of them went to stay 214 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: in the shadows. Just how do you follow up with 215 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 1: a witness who could be states away tomorrow? But even still, 216 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: if you get shot, you want the police to take 217 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: you seriously. On this trip, I was starting to see 218 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: the cost of life in the Shadows, that people in 219 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: power value your life and wouldn't do a whole lot 220 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 1: to help you protect it. But I had more people 221 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: to talk to in train Town, USA, even if Menendez 222 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: hadn't heard them. I heard wild stories about hobo life 223 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: and Colton, and about the life of Colton himself and Colton. 224 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: I kept thinking about Lee and how if he'd been 225 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: a high school student instead of a hobo, maybe the 226 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: cops would have taken his shooting more seriously. But Colton 227 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,199 Speaker 1: has always been a place where the powerful decide who's 228 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: in and who's out. Lieutena. Menendez told me during our 229 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: ride along that Colton was one of the few places 230 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: where the tracks of rival railroads Union Pacific in BNSF crossed. 231 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: That made Colton and battleground. Back in eighteen seventy, the 232 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: two railroads paid armed security to battle it out at 233 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: the spot where the tracks crossed, so Colton was born 234 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: in conflict. After my time with Menendez, I stopped by 235 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: the San Bernardino Historical Society, a little Victorian near the rails, 236 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: to ask their president, Nick Catalbo, how Colton came to be. 237 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: I feel like I know you. Starting out, many railroad 238 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: towns were just little stopping places along the tracks where 239 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: the engine could get more wood and water to continue 240 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: on their journey. Those places never amounted too much, but 241 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: a place where two railroad tracks crossed. That was a 242 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: place where there might be some trouble. This part of 243 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: the California Desert isn't much. It's not the beach ball 244 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: vision of the Golden State. It's the edge of the 245 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: Mojave Desert, an hour east of Los Angeles, a piece 246 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: of land that wasn't worth very much to anyone until 247 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: the railroad came after the Civil War. The railroads were 248 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: the high tech of their time. They could bring the 249 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: country together and create a faster, more connected world. At 250 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: least that was the hype of the people who ran 251 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: the railroad. And just like tech, a lot of money 252 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: was made by the founders and a lot of money 253 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: was lost by the average joe who wanted in on 254 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: the deal. The founding of Colton is a good example 255 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: of these schemes. The story in Coulton starts after the 256 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: Central Pacific finishes the first transcontinental railroad through the center 257 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: of the country, and the race is on to build 258 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: another one in the South. In the early eighteen seventies, 259 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: Southern Pacific Railroad was running eastbound from Los Angeles, and 260 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: their their role was to connect with the eastern lines 261 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: as they laid track east across the California Desert. They 262 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: sold off the locations of the train stations and rail 263 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: yards to the highest bidders. Oh yeah, there's always money 264 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: involved somehow, you know, somehow, the railroads, they're working with 265 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: the cities and these land speculators, real estate barons. So 266 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: Samberdandino was the only city out here. So Sambordino, they 267 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: really wanted Southern Pacific to run through their town, and 268 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: they had a spot already, really wanted us to happen. 269 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: The wealthy landowners of San Bernardino County as Southern Pacific 270 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: executive David Daddy Colton, how much it would cost them 271 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: to get a train yard. David Colton, an experienced railroad man, 272 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: gave them an exact number. They said that they can 273 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: work out a deal. If the supporters from Sanardino would 274 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: buy a hundred thousand dollars worth of Southern Pacific bonds, 275 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: this could happen, but there's still no guarantee that would 276 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: actually go into San Fardino. A hundred thousand dollars back 277 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: then would be three million today. So that the people 278 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: in Sanmardino said no, So they turned down the hundred thousand, 279 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: and that's why the Southern Pacific continued on in a 280 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: straight route by bypassing this city, and what feels like 281 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: a middle finger to San Bernardino, Southern Pacific plunk the 282 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: train station down in the dusty clearing just four miles away. 283 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: They named it after David Dowdy Colton, who was at 284 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: the vice president. So that's how you get Colton. So 285 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: Colton was established, Semonino lost out, and thus Colton is 286 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: born at the will of the mighty Southern Pacific Railroad 287 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: and the cherry on top vice President. David Daddy Colton 288 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,239 Speaker 1: never breathed a single breath of that desert air he 289 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:25,719 Speaker 1: died in and the town had already been, uh, you know, established. 290 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: But I don't believe he had ever visited his namesake. 291 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: Even if he never stepped foot of the town. It's 292 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: no coincidence Colton was named after David Daddy. At the time, 293 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: he was a big deal in the railroad world. He 294 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: was the go to guy for the Big Four, the 295 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: corrupt group of Robert Barons who founded the Southern Pacific Railroad. 296 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: He might recognize some of their names, especially if you 297 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: live in California. Stanford Huntington's Crocker and Hopkins. David Daddy 298 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: Colton became so critical to their operations that he was 299 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 1: adopted as the fifth member of the Big Four. At 300 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:02,159 Speaker 1: one time, the Big Four was the Big Five, and 301 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: David Colton was the fifth Guy. Stanford historian Richard White 302 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: told me about the rise and fall of David Colton. 303 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: Colton was a big guy, broad shouldered, with bright red hair, 304 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,360 Speaker 1: the kind of bloviator who, after he earned the honorary 305 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: title of General, demanded that everyone after that call him 306 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: the General. He was an insider, one of the original 307 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: lobbyists who spread money around Washington, d C. For the 308 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: Big Four. He winded and dying congressman at the Willard 309 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: Hotel trying to get them to grant tax breaks or 310 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: subsidized construction. And then there were his illegal activities. David Colton, 311 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: in fact, was an embezzler and was embezzling money out 312 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: in ways that the Big Four were all too familiar with. 313 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: They did it to other people, but they didn't do 314 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: it to themselves. This is where Colton got greedy. He 315 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: broke the cardinal rule of the Big Four. We cheat 316 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:55,360 Speaker 1: other people, we don't cheat each other. David Colton cheated 317 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: the Big Four. Once they began looking at the books, 318 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: they realized how how much money Colton had taken. They 319 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: will um go after Colton. Colton will die. The story 320 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: goes that early in October of eight seventy eight, David 321 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: Colton's carriage pulled up in front of his mansion on 322 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: Knob Hill in San Francisco. He was slimped in the back, 323 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: beating nearly to death. The driver said Colton had fallen 324 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: off a horse, but it was obvious that no fall 325 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: could have done that. And that's not where the Big 326 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: Four stopped. They're not gonna let his wife keep it. 327 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: They didn't go after his wife, and they pretty much 328 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: break his wife, bring the money back in, and David 329 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:40,120 Speaker 1: Colton is going to be expunged from the corporation. After 330 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: David Colton died, the Big Four bankrupted his estate, seized 331 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,439 Speaker 1: his house, and threw his widow out into the street. 332 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: And then one of the biggest of the Big Four, 333 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:54,919 Speaker 1: Collis P. Huntington's, moved into it. You don't mess with 334 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: the railroads. Colton tried and paid for it. So David 335 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: Colton is a brook even among crooks. He's the proof 336 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 1: of the adage to live outside the law, you must 337 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: be honest, at least with each other. That's the man 338 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: that Colton, California is named after, a crook betrayed by 339 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: his fellow crooks. It maybe honor among thieves and among hoboes, 340 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: but apparently not Robber Barrens. I was starting to appreciate 341 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,199 Speaker 1: this during my trip to Colton. How once you were 342 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: no longer useful, like David Dawdy Colton, he became an outsider, 343 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: someone who was powerless and vulnerable. Maybe you chose this position, 344 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: or maybe it's thrust upon you, but either way, you're 345 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: on your own. The Hoboes and Colton knew this better 346 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: than anyone. Maybe my sympathy for this part of hobo 347 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 1: life was convenient timing. As I was learning about what 348 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: it meant to be an outsider, I was becoming one myself. 349 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: My place in the world suddenly was in free fall. 350 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: Seven months after Ruby left, I found out my book 351 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: The Single Mom Effect had been rejected after I missed 352 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: my first deadline. The book had been knocked around and 353 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: landed on the desk of an edit or, my third 354 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: who hated single moms. In her rejection, she wrote, You've 355 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: wasted a considerable amount of sympathy on the problems of 356 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: poor women. And when are these women going to start 357 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: accepting responsibility for their unplanned, unwanted children. Okay, got it. 358 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: After that rejection, reality set in. When the publisher buys 359 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: your manuscript, they advanced you part of the money, and 360 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: when they cancel it, they want that money back. Well, 361 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 1: mine was long gone. With that and my credit card bills, 362 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: I was circling the financial drain. I was a hundred 363 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: and forty dollars in debt. The afternoon I got the rejection. 364 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: I sat at my dining room table, looking out at 365 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: the view of the lake. I could feel the last 366 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: pillars of my identity falling away. I was a writer, 367 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: or had been. And I was a mom, and I 368 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: used to think I was a pretty good one. And 369 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: I was the woman who hosted dinner parties in my 370 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: beautiful apartment, but clearly not for much longer. Here in 371 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: the dining room, I felt how big institutions, big corporations 372 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: could destroy your sense of your value in the world 373 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 1: in one rough move, and the decision could be up 374 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:18,159 Speaker 1: to one person. So who's in and who's out? I 375 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: read about this very idea and the single mom effect, 376 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: no wonder it got canceled. One of the chapters was 377 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: set in a housing project in Oklahoma, and it was 378 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,800 Speaker 1: all about surviving as an outsider. The bonds single moms 379 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: created there kept them above water and built a stronger community. 380 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: If one mom needed money for her electricity bill, she 381 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: could get it from one of the other moms, And 382 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: if another mom needed some high hill shoes for a date, 383 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: she knew who she could borrow them from. Now I 384 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: was beginning to see my circumstances as connected to these 385 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: savvy single moms and to the bonds that travelers made 386 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: on the rails. What came first as outsiders was a 387 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: different kind of debt, one they owed to each other 388 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: and always assume that depending on other people, not our 389 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: financial and legal systems, was a gamble. But I spent 390 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: my whole life striving and where had that landed me? 391 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: So as I sat at my dining room table, I 392 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: almost couldn't believe the thoughts I was entertaining that with 393 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: the Hobos and Ruby's friends said about stepping away from 394 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: the status quo actually seemed logical. Were you really that 395 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: much more at risk when you reject all of that? 396 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: All outsider groups have something in common, going against the grain, 397 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: surviving despite those are the stories. I've always been drawn to, 398 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: the stories of alliances between outsiders, like the single moms 399 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: banding together. That same camaraderie exists in the hobo community 400 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: and in Colton, I was going to see the extreme 401 00:23:44,800 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: forms that camaraderie could take. Oh. My trips to the 402 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: train yards and the conversations I've been having with hobo's 403 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: ever since we be left had sucked me into the 404 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: city of the rails. But it wasn't until Colton that 405 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: I saw its harshest realities. To survive into town like Coulton, 406 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: hobo's had to rely on each other for protection. There 407 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: was a coat, they made alliances and enforced their values 408 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: with vigilante justice. Just having a traveling family and knowing 409 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: where the squads were may not be enough to make 410 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: it in Colton. Like Richard White said, when you live 411 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: outside the law, you have to be honest at least 412 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: with each other, and if you're a hobo in a 413 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 1: town like Colton, that honesty takes extreme forms. Well. Sylvia, Yeah, 414 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,199 Speaker 1: Sylvia was one of the train hoppers I spoke with 415 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: while investigating Colton. I got her number through Lee, the 416 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: hobo who got shot near the Colton Yard. Did he 417 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 1: tell you what I'm up to? One of the stories 418 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,439 Speaker 1: Sylvia told me about Coulton Stuck with Me showed just 419 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: how far hoboes will go to protect each other. Sylvia 420 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: described the cold winter night when she and her boyfriend 421 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: got off the train at the edge of the West 422 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,199 Speaker 1: Colton Yard and immediately started looking for other people at 423 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: the usual hobo spots. So we were going down to Rancho. 424 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: She's like, smoke coming from underneath the bridge. They needed 425 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: a warm place to camp, so they approached from out 426 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 1: of the darkness, trying to get a sense of the situation. 427 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: When they saw that smoke, they walked toward it. There's 428 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: fire going He stopped, like whatever, sucking homebomb because he 429 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: was burning railroad sides underneath the bridge. Sylvia sized him up, 430 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: sim he was probably a local burning wood from the 431 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: rail yard. But she and her boyfriend were about to 432 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: be in another legend of the train world. She was like, hey, guys, 433 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,439 Speaker 1: like you guys, just get off. That train comes from 434 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: the north and it's like, yeah, what's up, dude. He 435 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: was like, watch out, there's some dude or around here 436 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,920 Speaker 1: going around killing people, and I was like, yeah, we 437 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: don't give a funk, We're just trying to get out 438 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: of the rain. Dude. We finally got underneath the bridge 439 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 1: and it's dirty Mike, the same dirty Mike who pulled 440 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: a gun in camp before looking for his friend's lost dog. 441 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 1: Mike was testing Sylvia and her boyfriend, but they weren't 442 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 1: the kind of people who scared easily. They passed Mike's test. 443 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: Then we introduced ourselves and then we just like lung 444 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: out and then like we had like ten bucks to 445 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: go get beer, and we bought beer and just hung 446 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,640 Speaker 1: out with him. But as they huddled around the fire 447 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: with Mike, Sylvia saw that this wild man enforced his 448 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: own idea of justice. Sylvia had a terrible cold, and 449 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: Mike took matters into his own hands. I was like, 450 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: super Ship, I had a really bad fever, and like 451 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: he was pissed that my boyfriend at the time went 452 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: to paying care of me, and he beat the ship 453 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: out of him and then he went and stole, like 454 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: day cool Nichael Vick a bunch of ship for me 455 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: for me to get better. This was part of the 456 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: hobo code. If a man was traveling with a woman 457 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: and didn't take care of her. Another writer would remind 458 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: him of his responsibilities. You're not going to do that, 459 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: but you'll get fucking greenlighted. Green Lighted means the word 460 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: got around that you should be beaten or worse on site, 461 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: especially if your girl you're like a real fucking like 462 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: train writer and like like you did her and like 463 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: something bad happened to her, or like she gets great 464 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: and you don't stand up for her, like you'll get greenlighted, 465 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 1: like they're gonna like her friends are gonna fuck you up. 466 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: Travelers rarely called the cops on each other when something 467 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 1: goes wrong because they can't be certain the cops would 468 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,719 Speaker 1: side with them. Maybe they'd all get arrested, so they 469 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: police each other. It was as simple as that. Sylvia's 470 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: boyfriend wasn't taking care of her, so dirty My showed 471 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: him he better change his ways, and the next day 472 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 1: Dirty Might kept looking out for Sylvia. I went to 473 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,479 Speaker 1: bed by the fire, woke up about like I don't know, 474 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: three or four o'clock. I went and like welu a 475 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: sign flying a sign as hobo speak for panhandling. Sylvia 476 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: didn't know she was standing on someone else's turf and 477 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 1: tome Bomb comes up and was like, what the funk 478 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,199 Speaker 1: are you doing? This is my fucking fly spot. And 479 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: I was like, no, dude, like it's my turn fly, 480 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,400 Speaker 1: like you weren't here, and he's like, I've been here 481 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 1: ten years, and I was like, I don't get full 482 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: long you've been here. I just trying to make enough 483 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: for a half gallon or twelve bucks. Got tiger mark 484 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: and then I'll be done. Are homeless in the train yard, 485 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: many of them older retired hoboes. They defended their turf. 486 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: They guy yelling at Sylvia got physical and then he's 487 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: like no and grabbed my shine and I was like 488 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: you should fucking do that, dude. He's like, you're a 489 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: girl by yourself. What the fuck you gonna do about it? 490 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: And I was like, oh yeah, motherfucker, and I yelled 491 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: dirty Mike's name. She comes growning up. She's the dude 492 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: has my sign and you fucking punches them, throws them 493 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: over the off ramps. He goes flying down the hill 494 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 1: and then like, I get my sign back and then 495 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: we were friends ever since. But surprisingly mossed about that 496 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: story outside of a guy getting tossed over an off ramp. 497 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: Is just how quickly Mike decides to help Sylvia. She 498 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: was a total stranger to him, but just hours after 499 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: meeting her, he's stealing meds and fighting a home bum 500 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: to protect her. But that helped came with some expectations. 501 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: Sylvia told me she knew that she'd need to pay 502 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,719 Speaker 1: Mike back. We're all hanging out underneath the bridge, so 503 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: I think there was like kind of us underneath Rancho. 504 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: We're all just like hanging out. Then Mike had found 505 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: out that I do stick and poach, and I had 506 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: a bunch of needles and ink on me and he 507 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: was like, hey, you should do train tracks on my face. 508 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, sure, whatever, I don't care. 509 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: And then he was like really like pissed me off 510 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: that day, And I really didn't want to do a tattoo, 511 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: but Sylvia owed Mike, so she agreed. She took out 512 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: her bundle of needles and her pot of ink and 513 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,000 Speaker 1: sat down by the fire. So I was just like 514 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: pretty much doing a tattoo to hurt him. We're shent 515 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: down and he just had his face on my lap, 516 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: but I was just tattooing his face to try and 517 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: track down a space while from like his eyebrow down 518 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: his cheeks. I did that. Even though Sylvia didn't feel 519 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: like tattooing this maniac resting his face in her lap, 520 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: she knew she had to do it to keep a 521 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: good reputation, and reputation was everything in the train hopping community. 522 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: Lee told me the same thing. You had to size 523 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: each other up, pay each other back, and spread the 524 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: word when people didn't do right by you. That's how 525 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: we check each other, you know, gossip in storytelling, it's 526 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: like how we weed people out. Like, no matter where 527 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: you're at on the totem pol, there's gonna be a 528 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: different little way that humans are weaning out the worst 529 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 1: of mankind and the good will of man fucking manifest. 530 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: Surviving on the edges unsupported by society, you have to 531 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: be resourceful. Knows all about this. He's been off the 532 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: rails for a while and keeps his distance from the 533 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: regular world, meaning he has to support himself in an 534 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: unconventional way. Instead of writing, Lee decided he'd strike gold. 535 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: That's pretty much the only thing that keeps me off 536 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: the rails right now is searching for goal. Zoe and 537 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: I met Lee outside a country store in Oroville, Spanish 538 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: for gold Town, where he lives in the summer. He 539 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: wanted to show me some places most people never see. 540 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: We hiked underneath the freeway covered with graffiti and down 541 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: a steep hill to a spot where trains cool their 542 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: breaks after sending the Sierras. Jonathan Esposito had described this 543 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: place to me. Lee was crashing at a friend's place 544 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: and spent a lot of summer nights camping out by 545 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: the streams where he searched for gold in the old 546 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: veins in northern California. In the winter, he head south 547 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: mining gold, platinum, and gemstones in the desert out past 548 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: Joshua Tree, where he sleeps under his truck in the 549 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: heat of the day. There was actually being a hobo 550 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: that brought Lee here in the first place, well, hopping 551 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 1: trains and uh coming out to this part of the 552 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: country for seasonal work. Started meeting a lot of the 553 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: locals out here, and it's just a part of their heritage, 554 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: and they shared their culture and their their methods with me. 555 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: Lee met old guys mining the public lands in the Sierras, 556 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: using the same methods miners from the gold rush did 557 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 1: running water through a sluice and examining the heavy pieces 558 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: that sink to the bottom for spects of gold, and 559 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: just like hopping a train. Lee started as an apprentice. 560 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: It's not too many young people into it. Kind of 561 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: a grum field van hobby. Uh Miners don't like talking 562 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: to each other all the time. It's kind of a 563 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 1: weird thing. And Lee told me, all the easy gold 564 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: is gone, so if he's gonna make enough to get by, 565 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: he has to look carefully. I found as much as 566 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: like six hundred dollars in a weekend, but sometimes in 567 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: a day, you know, it could just be a matter 568 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: of sense or a couple of dollars. But it's a 569 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,719 Speaker 1: lot of work. What did you call that snowflakes? Or 570 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 1: what I call a fly poop? The really tiny, invisible 571 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: gold is the fly poop. But at the end of 572 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: the day, that could be your bread and butter. So 573 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: I I got to recover the small stuff and the 574 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: big stuff. But Lee told me he wasn't frantic about 575 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: his yield. From the hours he spent huddled over the sluice, 576 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: he could be delighted by even the tiniest speck of 577 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: fly poop. He sold the biggest pieces he mind and 578 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: melted down the rest to make jewelry. And the thing 579 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,160 Speaker 1: I like about Lee is how he sees the world 580 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: living this way. Lisie's potential everywhere. It is a lot 581 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 1: of work. It's a process start to finish, and that's 582 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: why it's not for everybody. Or that's also why everybody 583 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: doesn't know that they're surrounded by gold everywhere, because we're 584 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,840 Speaker 1: sitting here right now. It's like we're surrounded by gold. 585 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,839 Speaker 1: It's all over. It's just a process to get it out. 586 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,920 Speaker 1: You gotta work it out of the ground, you know, 587 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,360 Speaker 1: either out of the soil or the wrongs. And Colton 588 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 1: I was beginning to see how the rails changed people, 589 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: and sometimes change them in ways that meant they couldn't 590 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: come back to regular life. Life on the rails was naked, 591 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,840 Speaker 1: not covered by platitudes and promises. To step inside the 592 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 1: train yard is to realign your sense of power and 593 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: your sense of honor. I kept thinking about least sleeping 594 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: under his truck in the desert. That's how far he 595 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 1: went to stay away from the false promises of life 596 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: on our side of the tracks, until the day my 597 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: book got canceled I'd been an insider. Now I was 598 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,840 Speaker 1: becoming an outsider just like Ruby. But I still wanted 599 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: her back. How do you bring an outsider back in 600 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: and how do you at them to stay? I had 601 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: a chance to find out when Christmas rolled around. Ruby's 602 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:07,359 Speaker 1: father was trying to figure out how to get her 603 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: to come home for the holidays. But it was a 604 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,760 Speaker 1: logistical crisis. She lost her I D so she couldn't 605 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,120 Speaker 1: take a plane or a train. He finabled her an 606 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: Amtrak ticket from Houston, but she had already left and 607 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: gone to Austin. On top of that, I knew there 608 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 1: was more trouble in Ruby's life on the rails than 609 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,720 Speaker 1: she was letting on. Right around Thanksgiving, I found hospital 610 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,600 Speaker 1: bills in the mail addressed to Ruby. I ripped one open, 611 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:35,479 Speaker 1: not a bill, but a receipt for medication. I called 612 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:39,360 Speaker 1: a nurse friend to ask about the drugs, strong antibiotics. 613 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,720 Speaker 1: Ruby must have had a pretty serious infection, my friend said, 614 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 1: emergency injun carrot A County hospital. This is my first 615 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: evidence of Ruby slipping into the cracks. What was going 616 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: on with her? My heart sank thinking about just how 617 00:35:54,600 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: hard it was to get someone off the rails. But 618 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: if father was able to get her a bus ticket, 619 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 1: and Ruby was taking the Greyhound from Austin to Oakland. 620 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 1: She was coming home for Christmas. This guy knew her, 621 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,919 Speaker 1: he was one of the elders in that eighteen Street gig. 622 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: And then she's gone. And during that time she became 623 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: someone that I didn't know anything. I slept in the 624 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: backyard with the dogs, just like being inside. I felt claustrophobic. 625 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: Come back here, be here tomorrow night, and I'll have 626 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,200 Speaker 1: her here. That's what he said. I'm looking for my daughter. 627 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 1: I walked through the fires at hell. That's next episode 628 00:36:37,320 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: on City of the Rails, said Mocka, just drinking gastle. 629 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: Look what you've done. City of the Rails is written 630 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 1: and hosted by me than el Morton and developed in 631 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,880 Speaker 1: partnership between Flip Turn Studios and I Heart Podcasts. Have 632 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,360 Speaker 1: a Colton story. I think we got it all wrong. 633 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,920 Speaker 1: Call in and tell us you might just end up 634 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: on the show. The number is seven oh seven six five, 635 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,320 Speaker 1: three oh three three nine. And thank you to everyone 636 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: who's been calling us. We listened to every message and 637 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: they really give us a boost. I want to help 638 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: us out. You can do it. Very quickly by leaving 639 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: us a rating or review wherever you're listening to. This 640 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:45,359 Speaker 1: will help more people find the show and it means 641 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: a lot to us. I want to follow along. Find 642 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,040 Speaker 1: us on Instagram at flip turn Pods. Our team is 643 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: executive producer and showrunner Julian Weller and executive producer Mark Keeley. 644 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: Julian will Always have Colton and the World's Largest Pancake, 645 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,280 Speaker 1: Senior producer and editing master abooz Afar and producers Emily 646 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: maronof Sina Ozaki and Zoey Denkla, who do not like 647 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,479 Speaker 1: the fact that I keep calling them my lady squad. Well, 648 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,880 Speaker 1: I've got the microphone, so you're outvoted. The lady squad 649 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,000 Speaker 1: knows how tough some of this was to write, and 650 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,240 Speaker 1: they were with me every step of the way, battling 651 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:21,520 Speaker 1: it out and keeping the gin in the freezer for 652 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,799 Speaker 1: when things got glum. So grateful to you three and 653 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: I will never forget you and the production support from 654 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: Marcy di Pina. Original music every episode by Aaron Kaufman. 655 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: Our theme music is Wayfaring Stranger, performed by Profane Sass. 656 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,160 Speaker 1: Thanks to Scott Mischot at Flail Records. Our logo is 657 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 1: by Lucy Quinia and uses a photograph by Mike Brody, 658 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,239 Speaker 1: the roving now phoneless photographer and at I Heart thanks 659 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 1: to Nikki Etre and Bethan Macaluso. We'll be back next 660 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 1: week in the days of Christmas past and also the 661 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,640 Speaker 1: fires of Hell on City of the Rails.