Historedia
Episode 1 of 1

Adair Train Robbery

When
July 21, 1873
Where
West of Adair, Iowa
Part of
James–Younger Gang carries out first train robbery at Adair, Iowa

The James–Younger Gang derailed a Rock Island train near Adair, Iowa, stealing $3,000.

On July 21, 1873, the gang derailed a Rock Island Line train west of Adair, Iowa. This incident is cited as arguably the first train robbery west of the Mississippi River. The robbers stole approximately $3,000 from the train.

Sources

  1. Jesse James Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13
  2. James–Younger Gang Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-15

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.