Were Old West banks insured against loss by robbers?
Nik Morton
Alicante, Spain
Until federal deposit insurance came about during the 1930s, you put money in a bank at your own risk. If it was stolen, it was gone. That’s probably why the citizens of Northfield, Minnesota, and Coffeyville, Kansas, didn’t take too kindly to the James-Younger Gang or the Dalton brothers coming to town to pilfer their hard earnings.
Actually, bank robberies weren’t that common during the Old West because few banks existed. Folks usually kept their money in the mercantile store safe or someplace similar.
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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.