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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.10.15 16:12l 54 Lines 2305 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 69181_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Oct 6
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 151006/1405Z 69181@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.64
1866
The Reno brothers carry out the first train robbery in U.S.
history
On this day in 1866, the brothers John and Simeon Reno stage the
first train robbery in American history, making off with $13,000
from an Ohio and Mississippi railroad train in Jackson County,
Indiana.
Of course, trains had been robbed before the Reno brothers'
holdup. But these previous crimes had all been burglaries of
stationary trains sitting in depots or freight yards. The Reno
brothers' contribution to criminal history was to stop a moving
train in a sparsely populated region where they could carry out
their crime without risking interference from the law or curious
bystanders.
Though created in Indiana, the Reno brother's new method of
robbing trains quickly became very popular in the West. Many
bandits, who might otherwise have been robbing banks or
stagecoaches, discovered that the newly constructed
transcontinental and regional railroads in the West made
attractive targets. With the western economy booming, trains
often carried large amounts of cash and precious minerals. The
wide-open spaces of the West also provided train robbers with
plenty of isolated areas ideal for stopping trains, as well as
plenty of wild spaces where they could hide from the law. Some
criminal gangs, like Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, found that
robbing trains was so easy and lucrative that for a time they
made it their criminal specialty.
The railroad owners, however, were not about to sit back and let
Cassidy or any other bandit freely pillage their trains. To their
dismay, would-be train robbers increasingly found that the cash
and precious metals on trains were well protected in massive
safes watched over by heavily armed guards. Some railroads, such
as the Union Pacific, even began adding special boxcars designed
to carry guards and their horses. In the event of an attempted
robbery, these men could not only protect the train's valuables,
but could also quickly mount their horses and chase down the
fleeing bandits-hopefully putting a permanent end to their
criminal careers. As a result, by the late 19th century, train
robbery was becoming an increasingly difficult - and dangerous -
profession.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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