On  November 4, 1870, Davis led the gang in holding up the Central Pacific Railroad between Verdi and Reno, Nevada. Along with gang members, John Squires, James Gilchrist, Tilton Cockerill, and R.A. Jones, the robbers boarded the train at Verdi and when it reached a deserted stretch of track paralleling the Truckee River, the robbers slipped the pin behind the express car, and the passenger coaches fell back. As they entered the Express car, the Wells-Fargo messenger gave the outlaws no trouble. They then ordered the engineer to pull to a stop at an abandoned stone quarry and the robbers rode off with nearly $40,000 in gold and silver coins.

Though the outlaws had done a "good” job robbing the train and getting the lead on their pursuers, they would be undone by R.A. Jones, when he began to spend his share of the loot foolishly. Unable to explain his newly found wealth, he was picked up for questioning in the robbery, soon confessed and named the others. Much of the stolen cache was said to have been returned to the company, but the rest was allegedly buried along the north bank of the Truckee River, between Reno and Laughton's Hot Springs west of town, near the site of the long-abandoned River Inn. (see Stolen Loot at the Truckee River)

All five of the men were sentenced serve time in the Nevada State Prison. Davis was sentenced to serve ten years. In 1871, 29 prison inmates broke out in the largest prison escape in the West. The inmates included three of Verdi train robbers, but, though Davis could easily have left with the others, he refused. Later, he cooperated with prison officials on providing information on the escapees. The prison warden, P.C. Hyman later wrote to the Board of Pardons, explaining Davis’ assistance and requesting his release. He was let go on February 16, 1875.

Though Davis had been a model prisoner, it didn’t take him long to return to his old ways after his release. He was soon robbing stages again. He was very careful to rob only those stages that carried one shot-gun messenger, but his cautiousness in the end, would not be enough. On September 3, 1877, he went to rob a stagecoach at Warm Springs, Nevada. During the attempted robbery, he was shot and killed.