Michigan's Most Notorious Outlaw: 1880s-1900s

He has been called Michigan’s most notorious outlaw – and he sounds like something that came straight out of one of those “B” cowboy movies from the 1940s.

His name was Reimond Holzhey, a thief and murderer who was on the loose. It was at the end of August 1889, when Holzhey robbed a stagecoach near Lake Gogebic telling passengers, “I’m collecting. Donate.” In doing so, he killed a banker in the process. He fled through the Upper Peninsula and stopped at the nearest town: Republic, in Marquette County. He stopped at a hotel for a room and walked into the lobby.

Holzhey’s characteristics were a small mustache, large ears, and slight build. As he entered, a group of men playing cribbage stopped their game and eyed this stranger. Little did Holzhey know – the hotel owner was also a detective and one of the cribbage players was a sharpshooter. After ordering a bottle of pop and some food, Holzhey went to his assigned room.

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The detective went to the back room to retrieve a newspaper clipping that mentioned the murder and robbery and noticed that the description of the culprit matched the man who just got himself a room.

The next morning they waited for him to leave, jumped him, and threw him in jail. Holzhey’s words after being arrested: “I only regret being taken in a little mossback town like this.” After spending time in Marquette prison he displayed violent outbursts, took a prisoner hostage, and tried to starve himself. He was sent to the Michigan Asylum in Ionia. The end result? Two life sentences and a total of 25 years behind bars.

Holzhey’s background included escaping from Germany to avoid being drafted into the army, mental illness since childhood, bad memory, and violent outbursts.

Described in the trial as “outlaw,” “lone highwayman,” “desperado”, and “the cleverest woodsman in the Northwest,” Holzhey’s criminal exploits earned him the nicknames "the Black Bart of Michigan” and "the Jesse James of Wisconsin.”

Stagecoaches weren’t his only choices of robbery attempts: he held up trains by himself and random people he met in his travels. His reputation was so great, travelers feared crossing through the Upper Peninsula for fear of running into Holzhey.

After being released on parole for good behavior, he was released in 1910. He changed his name to Carl Paul and became a photographer/writer in Florida.

After a long illness, Reimond Holzhey committed suicide in 1952.