Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Public Domain
Traveling was hazardous in the early days. Roads were generally poor especially in winter and rarely maintained except near cities. Travelers also faced being robbed by thieves on the roads. Railroads changed that by connecting people and freight to cities and towns. It seemed implausible, except when the train was in a depot or a freight yard, that a moving train would be robbed. On October 6, 1866, the Reno Gang boarded a train in Indiana and made off with $13,000 in cash, bank notes, and gold coins. The daring robbery wase replicated by other gangs resulting in railroads having to come up with better methods of protecting both passengers and valuable shipments.
On the night of October 6, 1866, the Reno Gang boarded the Ohio & Mississippi train at the Seymour depot. Once the train was underway, they made their way wearing masks to the Adams Express Company–a company that transported currency, precious metals, and packages–car where they forced the clerk to open a safe. They got $10,000 in bank notes and $3,000 in gold coins. Another safe could not be opened so they tossed it out; they were never able to open it. After signaling the train to stop, they got off and disappeared into the night
Circa 1850’s
Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Reno Brothers were well known gang before and after the Civil War and caused lots of headaches. The gang frequently robbed post offices, homes, and murdered those who might talk about them. Their audacious robbery of a train would soon be imitated by other gangs and would become part of the lore of the old west. Trains carrying gold, cash, and other precious metal would become targets and became frequent in the 1870’s-1880’s. And they would become more deadly over time. Railroads were anxious to stop this banditry as it caused lots of bad press, angry passengers, and impacted shipping. So, they began adding armed guards to their trains along with horses in some cases so they could give chase. Bounties were made and the famous Pinkerton Agency was used to help track them down as well.
To make it more difficult to offload safes, they were made extra heavy all but making it impossible to toss them off the trains. And the people on the train may not have access to those safes for security reasons either making it useless to try and hold up the train (except to rob the passengers). While in the early days targeting trains was easy, deadly shootouts between the armed guards and gangs made it not worth trying as time went on. The Reno Brothers, an already notorious gang before and after the Civil War, added this to their roster of crimes that included robbing post offices, banks, homes, and murder. It did not end well for them. In 1868 after another successful train robbery that netted them $96,000, they were captured and held in jail pending trial. They had badly beaten an armed guard in the robbery and when he died while they were in jail, a vigilante mob was formed. They broke into the jail and took the Reno Brothers (Frank, William, and Sim) out and hung them from a tree.
Like most gangs, they had their supporters who threatened retaliation. The vigilantes-officially called the Jackson County Vigilance Committee-made it known that any retaliation would be met fiercely, which seems to have worked. While many in law enforcement wanted to bring them to trial and were not happy with this action, none of the vigilantes were identified or brought to trial for their actions. This ended one of the darker periods in southern Indiana history. The Reno Brothers Gang though would fade in memory while other gangs (such as the James Gang) would become more well known.
Sources
Jason Daley, “How The Reno Gang Launched the Era of American Train Robberies,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 6, 2016, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/reno-gang-launched-era-american-train-robberies-180960702/.
“Reno Gang’S Reign of Terror,” HistoryNet, last modified August 9, 2016, accessed October 6, 2025, https://www.historynet.com/reno-gangs-reign-of-terror/?r.
“The Reno Brothers Carry Out the First Train Robbery in U.S. History | October 6, 1866 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified May 27, 2025, accessed October 6, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-6/first-u-s-train-robbery.
“Outlaws,” accessed October 6, 2025, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-renogang/.
