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...
They Didn’t Call Him Smart for Nothing
read more
train robbery
An Explosive Robbery
Two outlaws discovered how not to stick up a train. On January 30, 1895, Joe George and Grant Wheeler, a couple of unemployed cowboys, held up the...
The First Train Robbery
But it didn’t happen in the West… May 5, 1865. About a dozen men derail and hold up an Ohio and Mississippi train at North Bend, Ohio. They rob the...
A Hot Stash
A savvy messenger put the loot in the stove. On the evening of April 27th, 1887, the Sunset Express was making its run toward Tucson when a man...
The Wild Bunch’s Big Haul
But what happened to the train robbery loot? August 29, 1900. Kid Curry (photo) leads Bill Cruzan, Ben Kilpatrick and another unidentified man in...
The Case of the Vanishing Train Robbers
On the evening of April 27th, 1887 southern Arizona’s only passenger train, the Sunset Express, was making its run toward Tucson. The train was...
Truth or Adair
The James-Younger Gang turns to train robbery. A half dozen men crouched next to the railroad tracks near Adair, Iowa, on July 21, 1873. The Rock...
Evans and Sontag: Finis
The final shootout in central California. June 11-12, 1893. A posse takes on train robbers John Sontag and Chris Evans at Stone Corral, an abandoned...
The Big Score
The Reno Gang’s last robbery is their largest. May 28, 1868. Just two months after breaking jail, the Reno Gang makes its biggest score. Some 12...
In His Brother’s Footsteps
Jim Burrow robbed Texas trains. Jim Burrow was an Alabama native who followed his brother Rube into the train robbery business. The outlaws pulled...
A Family Affair What are the connections between the Wild Bunch, the Sutton-Taylor Feud, and Pat Garrett?
O.C. “Deaf Charlie” Hanks is noted as a rider with the Wild Bunch, notably helping in the Wagner, Montana train robbery in July 1901. He was killed...
The Last Straw An Indiana train robbery led to a vigilante action.
For the Reno Gang of Indiana, their last big holdup was the last straw. They robbed a train near Marshfield, Indiana of some $97,000 (around...