Stumbling into Riches

The Joel Collins Gang accidentally found gold.

September 18, 1877. The Joel Collins Gang holds up a Union Pacific train at Big Springs, Nebraska. The outlaws–a laughingstock before this–stumble upon wooden boxes with $20 gold pieces. They make off with more than $60,000. Several of them–including Collins (lower right in photo)–are gunned down by posses within two weeks. But Sam Bass (upper left in photo) makes it back to North Texas, where he continues his outlaw ways before being mortally wounded by lawmen 10 months later.