In the 18th century, a time when many people in Europe were not doing well, there were a multitude of robber gangs. This is also the case in the Overmaaze region, today's Limburg, Schinnen and Herzogenrath areas. The Euregio cities Alsdorf and Baesweiler also belonged to the catchment area of the gangs. From around 1735 to 1745 the first time of the “buck riders”, or “dark journeymen”, as they liked to call themselves, lasted.