The U.S. first Train robbery
October 6, 1866: Around the area of Marshfield, Indiana, a train stops to refill the water and wood needed for it engines, when suddenly, a group of bandits descend upon it. The robbers disconnected the express car, broke into two safes inside and swept them clean before heading to the nearby town of Seymour. The combined cost of the gold, cash and bonds totaled 96,000$, a wildly successful heist orchestrated by four men: the Reno brothers.Frank, John, Simeon, and William Reno are the US’s first train robbers, and with this first theft, they begin the trend of train robberies all over the Western US. The brothers began their life of crime with smaller robberies, stealing from individuals, stores, and post offices, as well as running an underground counterfeit ring. The grand robbery of the train at Marshfield was their greatest accomplishment, but also the beginning of the end for the gang. The robbery attracted the attention of the Pinkerton detective agency, who hounded the gang until eventually Frank, Simeon, William, and Charlie Anderson, a gang member where caught and help in a prison. Vigilantes eventually stormed the prison, where they lynched the four gang members. John was being held at a different prison at the time and so was spared, and eventually he died in 1895.