{"id":218602,"date":"2025-08-08T13:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T18:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=218602"},"modified":"2025-09-26T06:20:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T11:20:34","slug":"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">1<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minute<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sydney Sweeney has good genes. Those five words have recently touched off a hurricane of controversy amidst the cerulean-haired gender fluids who stand ever ready to be cataclysmically offended by pretty much anything. Full disclosure&#8211;as I am happily married and she is younger than all three of my kids, my interest in this woman is, tragically, more paternal than hormonal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"594\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-1024x594.jpg\" alt=\"Sydney Sweeny ad\" class=\"wp-image-218605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-1024x594.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-400x232.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-150x87.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-768x445.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-1536x891.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39.jpg 1562w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This ad campaign was brilliant. I read that it generated $300 million for American Eagle jeans in a day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ms Sweeney stands five feet three and, admittedly, has some exceptionally laudable attributes. Although such attributes can also be had for around nine grand these days, presuming you can find the right plastic surgeon, Google claims hers are not silicone. As such, I suppose there is truth in advertising in this case. Sydney does indeed have good genes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-genetics\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">Genetics<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-blood-and-water\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">Blood and Water<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-problem\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">The Problem<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-ruggles\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">The Ruggles<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-fallen-nature-of-man\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">The Fallen Nature of Man<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-ruggles-brothers-hit-again\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">The Ruggles Brothers Hit Again<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-chaos\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">Chaos<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-women-are-just-freaking-crazy\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">Women are Just Freaking Crazy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-denouement\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-level=\"2\">Denouement<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-genetics\">Genetics <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>She\u2019s hardly alone in that regard. LeBron James, Ben Carson, and Serena Williams all emerged from the womb with some mighty fine raw material as well. It is simply that Syd was blessed\/cursed with pale skin and blue eyes. That automatically makes her a Left-wing dog whistle. The fact that she is a registered Republican and has made a <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/lawsuits-save-a-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"201\">video shooting<\/a> with Taran Butler is just kerosene on that campfire. Here\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/syBy_5BHCLA\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-819x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Ben Carson\" class=\"wp-image-218606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-120x150.jpeg 120w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ben_Carson_official_portrait-1-1639x2048.jpeg 1639w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is Ben Carson. He&#8217;s a retired pediatric neurosurgeon who used to work at Johns Hopkins. In all fairness, he has good genes, too. (Photo\/Public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Life\u2019s not fair. Never has been, never will be. To believe otherwise is magical thinking. LeBron, Ben, and Serena would quite literally mop the floor with me in their respective fields. However, while some folks do indeed have a genetic leg up on the rest of us, there are also some others who seem to enter the world simply cursed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-blood-and-water\">Blood and Water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Just what is it about brothers, anyway? I have two myself. We fought like wildcats when we were kids. However, nowadays, Lord help you if you raise a finger against one of them and I hear about it. Humans are weird like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"some bears\" class=\"wp-image-218607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grizzly_Bear_Family_in_Glacier_National_Park-1.jpeg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">These adorable little guys will fight like, well, grizzly bears just to keep occupied. (Photo\/Public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just us. Polar bears, gorillas, tigers, and house cats\u2026all mammalian siblings fight just to pass the time. That is likely some byproduct of the fallen nature of the universe. And then there were John and Charles Ruggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-problem\">The Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some people just come from the factory with broken genes. Prisons are filled with such folks. In the United States today, 0.7% of the American population is behind bars. That\u2019s nearly two million souls or roughly one in every 140 adults. Ours is the highest rate of incarceration on Planet Earth. Though we have 4.2% of the world\u2019s population, we play host to 20% of the world\u2019s prisoners. That rate has increased by 500% since the 1970s. Why is that exactly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"498\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Prison_crowded.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-218609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Prison_crowded.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Prison_crowded-400x266.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Prison_crowded-150x100.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prison overcrowding is a perennial problem, but it is indeed worse now than ever before. This is San Quentin in California. (Photo\/Public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Lots of really smart people have devoted their lives to studying that thorny problem. I\u2019m not one of them. However, I did serve my time in an urban emergency room where I met some of the most fascinating criminals. The common denominator was usually just poor impulse control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The capacity to control one\u2019s emotions is the single greatest predictor of success in life. To use a Star Trek analogy, you want to be Spock, not Kirk. Our jails are not filled to bursting with psychopaths. There are a few, and they can be spectacular to behold. However, your typical inmate just can\u2019t figure out when to walk away. Sprinkle that with a little unfiltered greed, and you have the recipe for something truly horrible. The Ruggles brothers were right out of central casting in that regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-ruggles\">The Ruggles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The two Ruggles boys lived in the latter part of the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century. History has not been kind to the elder John Ruggles. Wikipedia describes him as an ex-convict and sex addict. I have no idea the basis for that second allegation. The details have been lost to time. However, I\u2019d put my money on that aforementioned lack of impulse control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"786\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18-786x1024.jpg\" alt=\"John Ruggles\" class=\"wp-image-218613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18-786x1024.jpg 786w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18-115x150.jpg 115w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18-768x1001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.20.18.jpg 904w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">John Ruggles was an exceptionally handsome man for his day. Good genes or not? He was also a psychopath with an unnatural enthusiasm for sex.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>People often died young and hard back then. John Ruggles lost his wife at a relatively early age and was never quite right afterwards. He passed his daughter off to relatives and struck out for the Sierra Nevada Mountains to take up subsistence living. After a time, his younger brother Charles began to fret about him. He then headed into the Great Unknown with the stated mission of rescuing his older brother John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a while spent living off the land, John Ruggles began longing for something a bit more civilized. Nice clothes and amenities require money, and he didn\u2019t have any. When faced with such a quandary, many men would seek out gainful employment. However, that\u2019s not the way John Ruggles rolled. Ruggles teamed up with a proper character named Arizona Pete and began robbing stage coaches. Charles finally caught up with him while he was amid this lucrative new profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-fallen-nature-of-man\">The Fallen Nature of Man<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody knows what that first conversation was like. Perhaps Charles entreated his brother to renounce his evil ways and come back to help him teach Sunday School. However, it\u2019s always easier to make things dirty than to clean them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is indeed a timeless truism. You add a cup full of wine to a vat full of sewage, and you get sewage. You add a cup full of sewage to a vat full of wine, and you also get sewage. In the case of John and Charles Ruggles, the wayward brother soon talked his sibling into joining him on his criminal forays. On 10 May 1892, they robbed the Weaverville Stage. They got away clean but didn\u2019t get much. They needed a bigger score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-ruggles-brothers-hit-again\">The Ruggles Brothers Hit Again <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two days after the first robbery that netted them about nothing, the two brothers set an ambush at the top of a hill some five miles north of Redding, California. I couldn\u2019t find any reference to Arizona Pete. I guess he had reformed, resigned, been killed, or something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"997\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-997x1024.jpg\" alt=\"an old stage coach\" class=\"wp-image-218614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-997x1024.jpg 997w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-292x300.jpg 292w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-146x150.jpg 146w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-768x789.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-1495x1536.jpg 1495w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Indians_Attacking_a_Stage-Coach_BAH-p243-1994x2048.jpg 1994w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stage coaches were targets of opportunity in the American West. Folks got pretty good at defending them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By now, the Ruggles boys had refined their tactics. The location they had chosen ensured that the horses pulling the stage would be tired. At first, everything went according to plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John stepped out in front of the stage and forced the driver, a man named Johnny Boyce, to stop and throw down the strong box at gunpoint. However, this stage company was not run by imbeciles. They had been robbed before. As Charles approached the side of the coach, a guard inside named Amos Montgomery caught him solidly in the face and neck with a hefty charge of buckshot. Curiously, Amos Montgomery went by the nickname \u201cBuck.\u201d That\u2019s when everything went all pear-shaped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chaos\">Chaos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This resulted in a most frenetic exchange of gunfire. A passenger named George Suhr was wounded alongside Johnny Boyce and Buck Montgomery. Montgomery crawled out of the stage only to have the elder Ruggles shoot him through the back and kill him. Boyce, hurt though he was, spurred on his team and got the stage out of the kill zone. John purportedly bid his grievously wounded brother Charles a tearful farewell and split with the cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"781\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-1024x781.jpg\" alt=\"man with gun\" class=\"wp-image-218611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-1024x781.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-393x300.jpg 393w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-768x586.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19-1536x1171.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.28.19.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">We have romanticized gunplay in the modern era. However, gunfights like these were brutal, bloody, inelegant things.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once Boyce got his stage into town, the local law formed a posse and made haste for the scene of the crime. There, they found Charles all bloody and gross but not as bad off as originally feared. He was remanded to the Redding jail, where he gradually recovered from his wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wells-fargo-discriminates-hogue-weapons-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"200\">Wells Fargo<\/a> detective John Thacker put the screws to the wounded criminal, who promptly gave up his brother. This is not unreasonable considering the elder sibling had essentially run off with the money and left him to die. Wells Fargo put a $1,100 bounty on his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"740\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59-740x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Reward poster\" class=\"wp-image-218612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59-740x1024.jpg 740w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59-217x300.jpg 217w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59-108x150.jpg 108w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59-768x1063.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.19.59.jpg 850w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wanted posters like these got John Ruggles&#8217; face out in front of the masses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John had gone to lay low with an aunt who turned him in when she heard the details of the crime. He was arrested without incident while eating in a restaurant in Woodland, California. In short order, John was extradited to Redding, where he was thrilled to discover that his brother was unexpectedly still above ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-women-are-just-freaking-crazy\">Women are Just Freaking Crazy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ruggles kids were fine-looking lads. A local official was quoted as having said, \u201cWhile in jail, the handsome brothers were fed and pampered by local ladies who brought flower bouquets, cakes, fruits, and even offers of marriage\u2026\u201d After a lifetime\u2019s worth of effort, I swear I will never comprehend the human female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All this was more than the local guys could stand. The Ruggles brothers were given a trial date of 28 July 1892. However, four days prior, somewhere between 40 and 75 armed, masked vigilantes assaulted the jail, blew open the safe containing the keys with explosives, and dragged the two criminals outside. John offered up the location of the loot in exchange for his brother\u2019s life, but the crowd was not in a negotiating mood. The mob hanged them both from a derrick on the corner of Shasta Street. Nobody was prosecuted for the killings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"629\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26-629x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Ruggles Brothers hanging \" class=\"wp-image-218610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26-629x1024.jpg 629w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26-92x150.jpg 92w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26-768x1251.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-10.18.26.jpg 890w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Things did not end well for the Ruggles men. They made some bad life choices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That same local official said, \u201cThe recent sentimental attitude of a number of women toward the prisoners as well as the line of defense adopted by their counsel, who has been evidently endeavoring to implicate Messenger [Amos &#8220;Buck&#8221;] Montgomery as a party to the crime, had been denounced by a number of persons in the county and it is believed the lynching was due to those causes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>READ MORE HERE: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-denouement\">Denouement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The allegations of complicity on the part of Buck Montgomery were baseless. The Ruggles\u2019 take from the robbery was around $5,000 in gold, which was never recovered. It\u2019s still out there somewhere. John claimed to have hidden the stash on the bottom of nearby Middle Creek with some sort of bobber on top to mark its location. I\u2019m certain folks have since gone looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48-1024x743.jpg\" alt=\"fake pirate gold \" class=\"wp-image-218616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48-1024x743.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48-400x290.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48-150x109.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48-768x557.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-13.59.48.jpg 1486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This fake pirate gold is 72 pieces for $11.57 on Amazon. The real deal is a bit spendier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The locals were fairly pleased with the outcome. The neighborhood newspaper said, \u201cIt was a disagreeable job, but under the circumstances appeared to be necessary for the public good and is an example to the courts.\u201d At the time of their violent deaths, Charles was 22 and John 33. With the crystalline clarity of hindsight, I suppose the Ruggles brothers just had bad genes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\" title=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sydney Sweeney has good genes. Those five words have recently touched off a hurricane of controversy amidst the cerulean-haired gender fluids who stand ever ready to be cataclysmically offended by pretty much anything. Full disclosure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":218605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[102,636,2836],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-218602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-will-dabbs","8":"tag-feature-articles","9":"tag-history","10":"tag-will-dabbs"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Will - The Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the strange parallel between a Hollywood star\u2019s headline and the bad genetics that sealed the doom of two Old West outlaws.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sydney Sweeney has good genes. 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Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will - The Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics","description":"Discover the strange parallel between a Hollywood star\u2019s headline and the bad genetics that sealed the doom of two Old West outlaws.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/will-the-ruggles-brothers-the-inimitable-power-of-genetics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Gory Demise of the Ruggles Brothers: The Inimitable Power of Genetics","og_description":"Sydney Sweeney has good genes. 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.word-monkey.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/will.dabbs.9","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drwildmanmd\/"],"url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/author\/willdabbs\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-04-at-12.01.39-150x87.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218602"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221237,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218602\/revisions\/221237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218602"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=218602"},{"taxonomy":"hunt365","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hunt365?post=218602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}