They Didn’t Call Him Smart for Nothing

One successful train holdup deserved another.

On April 27, 1887, Doc Smart and his band robbed a train near Pantano, AZ. The bandits uncoupled the engine, express, and mail cars from the rest of the train, hopped on the engine, and steamed toward Tucson, leaving the passenger cars and crew behind. They ransacked the express and mail cars—getting several thousand dollars–and a few miles from town, they got off, put the locomotive in reverse, and sent it back toward Pantano while they took off into the desert. The gang then repeated that robbery—same train, same place, same method—in August.