***Bill Miner, the gentleman bandit, enjoyed more popularity in his day than Jesse James or Billy the Kid.*** He robbed stagecoaches and trains across California, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Washington State and British Columbia until just before the **First World War**, by which point the public actually wanted him to escape the police. ***Reporters visited him during his time in jail and dubbed him “Old Bill Miner.”*** When he died in Georgia, where he had committed the state’s first train robbery, locals chipped in to pay for his funeral. **Described by some as North America’s Robin Hood,** Bill Miner’s character has starred in folk songs, stage productions and movies. He is also credited with the invention of the phrase “Hands up!”