Monday, May 6, 2013

Happy Train Robbery Day!!!

When it comes to train robbers people always talk about Butch Cassidy Wild Bunch or the Reno Gang and great train robberies like Canyon Diablo Train Robbery or Fairbank Train Robbery. There is one train robbery that is always overlooked though, The Great North Bend Train Robbery of 1865. As you can see from the date it becomes obvious why it is overlooked, and for those not paying attention the Civil War was winding down, and that is why it is never talked bout. Well that is the main reason but there are a couple of parts to this story and why Americans don't know about it. What may be worse is that this train robbery is the first train robbery in American History!

So what happened that May 5, 1865 night. The 8pm, Ohio & Mississippi from Cincinnati to St. Louis left on time and very uneventfully. It was a fully load ride too, four passenger cars, two baggage cars, one of which was an Adams express car which carried three safes. Over 100 passengers boarded and mainly women were making the trip.The ride was going smooth until about 20 miles outside of Cincinnati between the stations of Gravel Pit and North Bend. Between these two stations the train suddenly derailed and flew off the tracks. What happened next? Well cue the bad guys...whoever they might have been.

Now it is here that the story get a little fuzzy because, well know one knows who robbed the train. After the train was derailed 20 armed men boarded the train and held the passengers at gun point. After taking the terrified passengers valuables the robbers headed to the baggage cars. There they blew open 3 safes that were on board which contained roughly thirty thousand dollars in U.S. Bonds. Then the pioneers of train robbery made their way across the Ohio River and into Kentucky. Local authorities were notified but due to the scale and uncommon type of robbery the U.S. Army was brought in to find the culprits. Unfortunetly for the U.S. Army and passengers, but luckily for the train robbers, no one was ever found or tried for the robbery. Which leads us to the mystery. Who did it?

Who were these daring bad guys? Confederate soldiers? Run of the mill bad guys? Very creative criminals? Frank & Jesse James? The Reno brothers? Well, no one knows. what we do know is that is wasn't Frank & Jesse James or the Reno brothers as, even though suspected, could have never carried out the crime. Stories conflict with one another, but there are some clues that can help us figure out maybe who pulled off this robbery. Some passenger retold the story of the night as seeing one of the robbers wearing a uniform very similar to that of the Rebels, and hearing the men refer to each other as lieutenant and captain. Now could they have been Confederates? Perhaps, but the robbery took place well north of the fighting and deep in Union territory. Secondly, the robbers were armed with various types of pistols, were if it were a group of Rebels, they surely would have been armed with rifles. Another reason it was not Confederates on a mission is the way the train was derailed. If it was some southerns they would have destroyed the whole track, the robbers only blew up one side of the track, an easy fix come the morning. So what does all of this mean?

So here is my take. With the calling of military names and the possibility of a uniformed man, I think these could have been Confederate soldiers on the run. Remember it is May of 1865, Sherman had left a path of destruction across the south, Richmond had fallen and Lee had surrender to Grant. The war was more than over and the south would soon go through Reconstruction and northern occupation. It only makes sense that the men that robbed that train were Confederates, Confederates looking to get the hell outta dodge and make new start for themselves in the north or west. But we will never know. It one of America's greatest mysteries and is often overlooked and even forgotten. That May 5, 1865 the first train robbery in American History, and should be retold as the rest of the great train robbery tales are told. So instead of celebrating Cinco De Mayo, celebrate Train Robbery Day (Patent Pending, so hands off Hallmark) and honor who ever it was that held up that train and got away for the first crime of its kind.

1 comment:

  1. Very cool story. I have a current train robbery story to share--yes Nov 7, 2013. I am opening up a very cool VOM FASS Oil, Vinegar and Spice Shop in Cary, North Carolina. I have fixtures (furniture--casks and beautiful displays) coming from Germany. They were loaded in Germany week before last....horrible storms hit.... and our train container was invaded. Our wonderful German Police came to the rescue and my furniture and fixtures were released. Thank you --- wish I had a pic of the robbers and release.---thank friends in Germany