The Sontag Brothers...

John Contant was born to parents Jacob Contant and Maria Bohn in Mankato, Minnesota on May 27th, 1861. His brother, George Contant followed three years later on April 10th, 1864. After George's birth, their father passed away, and their mother remarried a man named Matthias Sontag, a veteran of the Union Army. The boys adopted their stepfather's last name, with George switching back and forth between that and his birth name, Contant, over the course of his life. The family resided in Mankato for a while. During this time, George worked as a train brakeman before moving to Nebraska, where he found a job in a grocery store.

This was a brief employment, as it didn’t take long before George embezzled money from his employer and ended up in state prison. After serving about a year, George escaped with another inmate. Wearing their prison uniforms, they robbed a store the same night and obtained civilian outfits before vanishing. Despite this, George was eventually apprehended and returned to prison on his own, completing his sentence until he was released in 1887. John Sontag moved to Los Angeles, California in 1878, and became a brakeman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He sustained an injury on the job in Fresno, after getting one of his legs crushed during a routine railcar coupling. John grew resentful towards his employer, accusing them of consistent poor treatment during his recovery.

0:00 Intro
4:44 From Brothers To Bandits
11:08 The Great Pursuit
16:58 Gunfight At Stone Corral


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