America Had These Siblings to Thank for its First Peacetime Train Robbery
Frank Reno returned home in 1864, and with his brother John and a collection of horse thieves, safe crackers, counterfeiters, gamblers and other ne’er do wells, formed the Reno Gang. They started off with post office and store robberies in southern Indiana. Frank and two gang members were arrested, but released on bail. One agreed to testify against Frank, but was murdered before the trial, and Frank was acquitted. After the acquittal, Frank and his gang grew more violent. They effectively took over the small town of Rockford Indiana, whose Rader House hotel became their headquarters, and robbed and murdered unwary travelers who checked in. They soon expanded their reach and ambition, and began to rob trains and banks, and raid communities throughout the Midwest.
After the gang’s first train robbery in 1866 – America’s first peacetime train robbery – a passenger identified Frank’s brother, John, and two other gang members, who were arrested. The witness was shot dead soon thereafter, at which point the other passengers refused to testify and the charges were dropped. In 1867, the Reno Gang demonstrated its disdain for the law when it attacked and robbed a county courthouse in Missouri. For that crime, Frank’s brother, John, was eventually convicted and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. A vigilante group formed to hunt down the gang, so in early 1868 they fled to Iowa. There, they attacked and robbed two county treasuries on successive days.