Wham Paymaster Robbery

The Wham Paymaster Robbery (/ˈhwɑːm/ WHAHM) was an armed robbery on a United States Army paymaster transporting over US$28,000 in gold and silver coins (about $744,000 in present-day terms) and his escort that occurred on May 11, 1889. Major Joseph W. Wham was transporting a payroll from Fort Grant, Arizona Territory to Fort Thomas when he and his escort of eleven Buffalo Soldiers were ambushed. During the attack, the bandits wounded eight of the soldiers, forced them to retreat to cover, and stole the payroll. As a result of their actions under fire, Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays were awarded the Medal of Honor while eight other soldiers received a Certificate of Merit. Eleven men, most from the nearby Mormon community of Pima, were arrested with eight tried on charges of robbery. At trial all the accused were found not guilty and the stolen money has never been recovered.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wham Paymaster Robbery