Compounding this was the fact that most white residents of Arizona had been either Confederates or Confederate sympathizers during the American Civil War. federal government in low regard, feeling it ruled the territory from Washington with little interest in the territorial residents' well-being. Many residents of Arizona Territory held the U.S. At the time, the territory was remote and had only a small and scattered population. Despite this, there were several factors favoring such an attack. There had never been an attack by highwaymen upon a paymaster within Arizona Territory prior to May 1889.

Accompanying Wham on the journey was a black woman, Frankie Campbell (also known as Frankie Stratton), who was the wife of a soldier stationed at Fort Grant and was going to collect gambling debts owed to her and her husband by soldiers stationed at Fort Thomas. Wham and the civilian members of the convoy were unarmed. The two non-commissioned officers leading the escort were armed with revolvers while the privates carried single-shot rifles and carbines. In addition to the military personnel, there was a civilian contractor who drove the open wagon. The commander of Fort Grant had assigned eleven enlisted Buffalo Soldiers from the 24th Infantry and 10th Cavalry to serve as an escort between his fort and Fort Thomas. The remaining payroll consisted of US$28,345 in gold and silver coins and weighed an estimated 250 pounds (110 kg). WhamĮarly on May 11, Major Wham left Fort Grant with two mule-drawn carriages, a covered ambulance and an open wagon, for the 46-mile (74 km) journey to Fort Thomas. The paymaster performed his duties at Fort Bowie on May 9 and at Fort Grant on May 10. Gibbon, met a train carrying the payroll in Willcox on May 8. Army paymaster, was assigned Fort Bowie, Fort Grant, Fort Thomas, Fort Apache and Camp San Carlos. In April 1889, Special Order 37 directed all paymasters in the District of Arizona to pay troops mustered as of April 30. All of the accused were found not guilty, and the stolen money was never recovered. Eleven men, most from the nearby Mormon community of Pima, were arrested, with eight of them ultimately tried on charges of robbery.

During the attack, the bandits wounded eight of the soldiers, forced them to retreat to cover and stole the payroll.Īs 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. Wham was transporting a payroll consisting of more than US$28,000 (equivalent to $911,970 in 2022) in gold and silver coins from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas when he and his escort of eleven Buffalo Soldiers were ambushed. The Wham Paymaster robbery ( / ˈ hw ɑː m/ WHAHM) was an armed robbery of a United States Army paymaster and his escort on May 11, 1889, in the Arizona Territory.

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