Jesse James Robs Train: Wild West's First Heist
Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang derailed a Rock Island train near Adair, Iowa, on July 21, 1873, by pulling a rail loose with a rope. The engineer was killed in the crash. The gang then robbed the safe and passengers of roughly $3,000 in cash and valuables, far less than the reported $75,000 in gold they had been told the train was carrying. This was the first successful train robbery in the American West, proving that the expanding railroad network was vulnerable to the same banditry that plagued stagecoaches. Within months, railroad companies began hiring Pinkerton detectives to pursue the James gang, beginning a cat-and-mouse pursuit that lasted over a decade.
July 21, 1873
153 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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Jesse James
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Jesse James 1847
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train robbery
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Adair, Iowa
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James-Younger gang
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American frontier
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Adair, Iowa
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Jesse James
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James–Younger Gang
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Train robbery
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American frontier
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gangs
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