A Holdup for the Ages

The Reno Gang’s first train robbery set the stage for the Wild West’s robber bands of brothers.

- Mark Boardman

Just after 6:30 p.m. on October 6, 1866, two passengers aboard an Ohio & Mississippi train put on pasteboard masks—one black, one white— pulled their pistols and entered the express car. History was about to be made by one of America’s first outlaw gangs of brothers.

Based outside of Seymour, Indiana, the Reno Gang was a family outfit that included close friends. They had been involved in criminal activities for more than a decade— back to when leaders Frank and John Reno were teenagers.

The boys were probably inspired by a train stickup that had taken place five months before. The robbers of the Ohio & Mississippi train in North Bend, Ohio, got away scot-free with some $30,000.