Gads Hill Train Robbery
The Gads Hill Train Robbery (also known as the Great Missouri Train Robbery) was a crime committed by the James-Younger Gang in Gads Hill, Missouri. In January 1874, five members of the James-Younger gang robbed a train and stole $12,000 in cash. All five escaped. The robbery has since been recognized as one of the most infamous crimes committed by outlaws in the American Old West. Background It was the prime of the wild west in the United States, with frequent stagecoach robberies, bank robberies, train robberies and gunfights occurring in an untamed land. Outlaws such as Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickok and Jesse James were quickly gaining traction as well-known outlaws in the 1870s. Due to minimal government presence in the western half of the U.S., crime rates were high, and outlaws often getting away with their crimes. James-Younger gang The James-Younger Gang was a gang of outlaws consisting of well-known criminal Jesse James and his brother, Frank James; Cole, Jim, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gunslingers
Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the term "gunslinger" is more or less used to denote someone who is quick on the draw with a pistol, but can also refer to riflemen and shotgun messengers. The gunfighter is also one of the most popular characters in the Western genre and has appeared in associated films, video games, and literature. The gunfighter could be a lawman, outlaw, cowboy, or shooting exhibitionist, but was more commonly a hired gun who made a living with his weapons in the Old West. Origin of the term The term "gun slinger" was used in the Western film ''Drag Harlan'' (1920). The word was soon adopted by other Western writers, such as Zane Grey, and became common usage. In his introduction to ''The Shootist'' (1976), author Glendon Swarthout says "gunslinge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Train Robberies
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often known simply as "engines"), though some are self-propelled, such as multiple units. Passengers and cargo are carried in railroad cars, also known as wagons. Trains are designed to a certain gauge, or distance between rails. Most trains operate on steel tracks with steel wheels, the low friction of which makes them more efficient than other forms of transport. Trains have their roots in wagonways, which used railway tracks and were powered by horses or pulled by cables. Following the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom in 1804, trains rapidly spread around the world, allowing freight and passengers to move over land faster and cheaper than ever possible before. Rapid transit and trams were first built in the late 1800s t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saint Clair, Missouri
Saint Clair is a city in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,472 at the 2010 census. Geography Saint Clair is located between the Meramec River to the southeast and the Bourbeuse River to the northwest. Interstate 44 passes along the northwest side of the city and Missouri Routes 30 and 47 both pass through the city. Union is approximately six miles north along Route 47 and Stanton is about eight miles to the southwest on I-44. Parkway is on Route 30, just southeast of the city. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. History An early variant name was "Travelers Repose". Saint Clair was platted in 1859 when the railroad was extended to that point. The present name is after a railroad official with the surname St. Clair. The International Shoe Company Building and Panhorst Feed Store are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Demographics 2010 census As of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Younger
John Harrison Younger (1851 – March 17, 1874) was an American outlaw, the brother of Cole, Jim and Bob. He was briefly a member of the James–Younger Gang, a band of outlaws who also included the infamous Jesse James. Origins He was the 11th child of Henry Washington Younger and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe's 14 children and their fifth son, the fourth to survive into adulthood. In July 1862, his father was shot and killed while on a business trip to Kansas City by a detachment of Union militiamen. As a result of this killing, several of John's brothers joined Quantrill's Raiders, but John and his younger brother Bob were too young to join so they stayed at home to look after their mother and sisters. Killing of Gillcreas In January 1866, Bob and John took their mother to Independence, Missouri, to purchase winter supplies. Recognizing the family from his military days an ex-soldier named Gillcreas came up to the wagon and made some comments about Cole. John told him t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton & Co, and finally the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. It is currently a subsidiary of Securitas AB. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Lincoln later hired Pinkerton agents to conduct espionage against the Confederacy and act as his personal security during the Civil War.p. 43 The Pinkerton National Detective Agency hired women and minorities from its founding, a practice uncommon at the time, as they were useful as spies. At the height of their power, the Pinkerton Detective Agency was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world. Following the Civil War, the Pinkertons began conducting operations against organized labor. During th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Callus
A callus is an area of thickened and sometimes hardened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Since repeated contact is required, calluses are most often found on the feet and hands, but they may occur anywhere on the skin. Some degree of callus, such as on the bottom of the foot, is normal. Calluses are generally not harmful and help prevent blisters, as well as offering protection. However, excessive formation may sometimes lead to other problems, such as a skin ulceration or infection, or cause the affected person to try to offload the affected painful area, which can place excessive stress on the asymptomatic side. Rubbing that is too frequent or forceful will cause blisters, as opposed to calluses, to form. Cause Normally, a callus will form on any part of the skin exposed to excess friction over a long period of time. Activities that are known for causing calluses include (but are not limited to) construction work, many spo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Train Robbery
Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains. History Train robberies were more common in the past when trains were slower, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target. These shipments would be guarded by an expressman whose duty was to protect the cargo of the " express car". Bandits would rely on the expressman to open the safe and provide the goods. Without the combination lock information, it was almost impossible to break into the safes. However, the invention of dynamite made it much easier to break into safes and rob the train. If the outlaw was unsatisfied with the goods, unarmed passengers of the train's carriages are held at gunpoint and forced to hand over valuables, usually in the form of jewelry or currency. Contrary to the method romanticized by Hollywood, outlaws were never known to jump from horseback onto a moving train. Usua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adair, Iowa
Adair is a city in Adair and Guthrie counties of Iowa in the United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census. History The Rock Island Railroad was built through the area in 1868, which led to the area being known as Summit Cut. This was in reference to the ridge that forms the watershed divide between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The town officially became known as Adair on August 20, 1872, when it was incorporated with the county. The town is named after General John Adair, a general in the War of 1812 who later became the eighth governor of Kentucky. Adair was the scene of the first successful train robbery in the American West when on July 21, 1873, the James-Younger Gang (led by Jesse James) took US $3,000 from the Rock Island Express after derailing it southwest of the town. The derailment killed the engineer. A rare F5 tornado occurred near this town on June 27, 1953, although the damage occurred closer to the town of Anita. One person was killed an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated Laurentian Mixed Forest Province, North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is Forest cover by state and territory in the United States, covered in forests, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 14,000 bodies of fresh water of at least ten acres. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub. With a population of about 3.7 million, the Twin Cities is the List of metropolitan stati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Springfield, Missouri, Springfield and Columbia, Missouri, Columbia; the Capital city, capital is Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson City. Humans have inhabited w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |