Outlaws plagued the Cheyenne - Deadwood Stage Line during the Deadwood gold boom in Dakota Territory, when by the end of 1877 gold seekers had mined more than ten million dollars from the Black Hills and stage companies were desperate to protect it. In 1877, the Cheyenne - Deadwood stage company bought a “salamander” iron safe for one of its stages, backed by a warranty claiming it could not be opened in less than six days without the combination, and used the specially outfitted coach for weekly treasure runs to Cheyenne. On the afternoon of 26 September 1878, a band of outlaws rode into Canyon Springs Station, locked the stable hand in the grain room, hid in the barn, and set an ambush. When the stage arrived and the horse team was being changed, the attack began. In the gunfire, one passenger was killed, while two guards and two outlaws were wounded. The outlaws then seized the stagecoach, drove it into the trees, broke open the supposedly uncrackable safe, and escaped with more than $27,000 in gold bullion, currency, and jewelry; about forty percent of the gold was never recovered, and local legend holds that it is buried somewhere nearby.