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 I. ft M. OTTENHEIMER, PUBLISHERS, 
 ill W. BALTIMORE ftT. BALTIMORE Ma 
 
JAMES BOYS 
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 ly JAMES EDGAR 
 
 A COMPLETE RECORD OF THEIR LIVES AND DEATHS^ 
 
 NARRATING MANY OF THEIR STIRRING ADVENTURES, 
 
 WHICH HAVE ONLY RECENTLY COME TO LIGHT, 
 
 AND WHICH HAVE NEVER APPEARED 
 
 IN PRINT BEFORE 
 
 COMPILED IN THEIR HOME STATE MISSOU 
 
 Copyright, 1911, by I. & "M. Ottenheimer 
 
 I. & M. OTTENHEIMER 
 
 Publishers 
 <|1 West Baltimore St. BALTIMORE, Mp, 
 
PREFACE 
 
 i 
 
 Stories of the life of the highwayman, bandit and train- 
 robber, with the romance of deadly adventure entwined about 
 bis life, hare ever fascinated the novelist and reader alike, 
 and the tales of his daring have ever proven of absorbing in- 
 terest to both young and old, despite the fact that his deeds 
 were criminal, and on the principal of ' 'the mills of the gods 
 grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine/' his punish- 
 ment by imprisonment or death surely awaits him at the end 
 of hig career. 
 
 Robin Hood and his merry band of robbers of Nottingham 
 Forest have been the theme of song and story for a century 
 or mere. Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard, the dashing high- 
 waymen, have furnished material for many tales of romance 
 and daring. Captain Kidd and Blackboard, the pirates, have 
 furnished material for volumes of thrilling reading, and so 
 through all times and ages the desperado has alike horrified and 
 fascinated, in many instances combining some good with bad 
 in the reving, dangerous life he led. 
 
 Among all the annals of soul -stirring adventure and des- 
 perate achievements in the history of the highwaymea of 
 the world the James Brothers Jesse and Frank undoubt- 
 edly stand at the head. They committed more daring rob- 
 beries than all the other outlaws of the world combined, and 
 while they lived, a perfect reign of terror prevailed 
 those whem circumstances placed them at Oftdr mercy. 
 
 But the last ef the bad men of the West have passed 
 away. Nevermore wffl tfce equal of the James Boys be heard 
 of again. This latest and perhaps last book of their lives 
 wffl recount m new form many of their famous accomplish- 
 ments as robbers of high degree, and win perpetuate some 
 of their deeds which have come to Hght of recent years and 
 which have not appeared in print before. It wiB appear 
 in the form of a galaxy of short stories now so popuiar with 
 magazine readers each a complete narrative IB itself; an 
 act from tbe drama of ma> We, which is stranger than fiction. 
 
JAMES BOYS DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE JAMES BOYS' EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 BIRTHPLACE OF THE FAMOUS OUTLAWS AND THE HIS- 
 TORY OF THEIR EARLY CHILDHOOD AND GROWTH TO 
 
 MANHOOD THEY WERE A PREACHER'S SONS HOW 
 
 THEY BECAME OUTLAWS IN THE WEST. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, the James Boys Frank 
 and Jesse the most desperate and murderous of all 
 bandits, were the sons of a minister of the gospel, 
 whose early training of them was of the best and 
 /hose home influences were in no manner such as 
 vvould have set them on a bad career. 
 
 Frank was the oldest of the two and was born in 
 Scott county, Kentucky, in 1845. ^ s folks later 
 moved to Clay county, Missouri, where Jesse was born 
 in 1849. Before he was a year old his father became 
 enthused with the gold fever, and, bidding his little 
 family good-bye, went west to seek his fortune. He 
 never returned, but died on the Pacific Coast. His 
 name was the Rev. Robert James and he was a regu- 
 larly ordained minister of the Baptist faith. 
 
 But though he was responsible for these inhuman 
 9 
 
10 JAMES BOYS 
 
 plunderers of their fellow-men being brought into ex- 
 istence, he was in no way responsible for their educa- 
 tion in the school of crime, or the shaping of their 
 desperate characters. 
 
 It were idle to discuss what might have been the 
 career of Frank and Jesse James had not death de- 
 prived them of a father's care and admonition in early 
 infancy. From what little is known of the life and 
 character of that father it is safe to conclude that it 
 would have made but little if any difference to the 
 boys; for the mother was the ruling spirit in that 
 household, and in any event would have exerted the 
 dominant influence in shaping the characters of her 
 sons. 
 
 An old proverb says, "Like father, like son," but 
 history establishes the fact that most of the remark- 
 able men that the world has produced received their 
 characters from their mother. Frank and Jesse James 
 were no exception to the rule. 
 
 In many respects Mrs. Zerelda Cole James was a 
 remarkable woman, and it is probably as natural that 
 she should have given birth to Frank and Jesse James 
 as that Cornelia, the famous Roman matron, should 
 have been the mother of the Gracchi. 
 
 Mrs. James has been represented by certain self- 
 styled "compilers" of the lives and exploits of the 
 James boys as being little short of a brutal, uncivilized 
 Amazon. Such misrepresentation is uncalled for as 
 it is untrue. No one who knows anything about the 
 personal life and character of the noted bandits' 
 
DEEDS OF DARING II 
 
 mother would make any such outrageous, because un- 
 founded, assertion. 
 
 Mrs. James belonged to a respectable and well-to-do 
 family, and though by no means a model of meekness, 
 she could not truthfully be called a termagant. 
 
 While she could not be considered of a refined and 
 gentle disposition, she had the reputation among her 
 neighbors of being a kind and helpful friend and an 
 affectionate and only too indulgent mother. 
 
 If, like the famous Roman matron, her character 
 was cast in an iron mold, and her temper and bearing 
 were stern and imperious, so too, like the Roman 
 mother, she idolized her sons and in her heart said of 
 them, "These are my jewels." Indeed, so wrapped up 
 in her boys was she that she believed that, like a king, 
 they could do no wrong. 
 
 This rare but misplaced confidence which their 
 mother had in them was fully reciprocated by them, 
 for although no matter how bad they became, they 
 always respected and loved her whom was responsible 
 for their being. This was their one virtue, linked as 
 it was with a thousand crimes. 
 
 Being left by the death of her husband with a family 
 of four children, two boys and two girls, to provide 
 for single handed, Mrs. James had to struggle pretty 
 hard for a number of years. She sent the children to 
 school, and did the best she knew how to train them 
 up in the way they should go. But as she lacked ten- 
 derness and feeling herself, she failed to inspire it in 
 her children, the boys especially. 
 
12 JAMES BOYS 
 
 Then came the outbreaks among the mountaineers, 
 who formed themselves into factions, and between 
 which factions feuds ensued. The seeds of the war 
 were brewing and the hearts of the young James boys 
 became imbued with the spirit of war. 
 
 Everybody in the border counties sided with one or 
 the other party of marauders. The excitement was 
 intense. The mother of the James Boys was distinctly 
 Southern in her sentiments, and her boys were with 
 her "tooth and toenail" at the outbreak of the war, and 
 Rrank and Jesse James were among the first to join 
 the guerrillas. 
 
 At the beginning of hostilities, in 1861, the border 
 warfare increased in virulency, and the sympathizers 
 were forced into extreme measures. The "Border 
 Ruffians" were now termed guerrillas, among the 
 most noted of whose leaders was Charles William 
 Quantrell. 
 
 Quantrell is said to have been the most heartless, 
 blood-thirsty marauder that ever lived in any country. 
 
 As Frank and Jesse James were introduced to guer- 
 rilla life and started on their career of crime by this 
 celebrated guerrilla chieftain, it may be of interest to 
 the reader to know something of his history and the 
 causes which made him the inhuman dare-devil ruffian 
 he was. 
 
 Charles William Quantrell was born in Hagerstown, 
 Maryland, July 20, 1836. While Charles was yet a 
 boy in his teens his father died, and shortly afterward 
 the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Charles 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 13 
 
 and a brother several years older attended school. 
 Shortly after they arrived in Cleveland the mother 
 didd ; the older brother moved to Kansas, but Charles 
 continued to attend school in the Ohio city. For sev- 
 eral years he paid his way in Cleveland by doing odd 
 jobs out of school hours, and was progressing finely 
 in his studies. His habits were good and he was re- 
 spected by all who knew him. In 1856 his brother 
 -wrote him from Kansas that he was about to start on 
 a trip to California to seek his fortune in the new 
 Eldorado of the Pacific coast, and he would like to 
 have Charles accompany him. Although much at- 
 tached to his friends in Cleveland, and anxious to com- 
 plete his education in the splendid schools of that city, 
 Charles had such affection and confidence in his 
 brother that he could not resist the latter's appeal. So, 
 bidding his friends and schoolmates good-bye, young 
 Quantrell joined his older brother in Kansas. 
 
 The exciting accounts of the dare-devil doings of 
 Quantrell and his chosen band of guerrillas, which 
 the papers published with glaring headlines at the 
 commencement of the war, sent a thrill of feverish 
 excitement through the nation, and many a youth in 
 Missouri burned to be enrolled under the folds of the 
 black flag of Quantrell's guerrillas. 
 
 Jesse James was among them. His brother Frank 
 was already with Quantrell. Jesse made repeated and 
 persistent efforts to join the band, but was rejected 
 by Quantrell on account of his youth, he being then 
 but little over fourteen years of age. 
 
14 JAMES BOYS 
 
 The sympathies of his mother and step-father, Dr. 
 Samuels, whom she had recently married, were all 
 with the South. Mrs. Samuels, especially, was loyal 
 to the Confederacy. By various means she managed 
 to learn of the movements of the Union troops, and 
 whenever the information was important she would 
 mount Jesse upon a fleet horse and send him to Quan- 
 trell. So open and obnoxious was Mrs. Samuels in 
 her demonstrations to Southern love that the Federal 
 militiamen began to notice it. From mere notice sus- 
 picion was aroused. 
 
 Her house was watched and it became known that 
 several secret midnight conclaves had been held there. 
 The part played by Jesse and the open and decided 
 expressions frequently made by Dr. Samuels and his 
 decidedly demonstrative wife greatly excited the Fed- 
 eral soldiers, and it was determined to make an ex- 
 ample of the family. Accordingly, in June, 1862, a 
 company of Missouri militia approached the Samuels 
 homestead, which is near Kearney, in Gay county, 
 and, first meeting Dr. Samuels, they addressed him in 
 language that could leave no doubt in his mind that 
 they meant to carry affairs to the bitter end. It was 
 in vain he pleaded that he was leading a peaceful 
 farmer's life, and didn't desire to be mixed up in the 
 strife of the time. They told him what he knew 
 much better than thy did that he and his whole 
 family were in secret alliance with Quantrell and his 
 followers. Frank was at the camp, Susie was away 
 from home, Jeate was plowing in the fields. Mrs. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 15 
 
 Samuels was nowhere to be seen. But she saw all 
 that was going on, just the same. 
 
 They had not come unprepared for their work. A 
 strong rope was produced, with which he was se- 
 curely pinioned, and then led away from the house a 
 distance of about one hundred yard*. Here the rope 
 was fastened in a noose around his neck, while the 
 other end was thrown over the limb of a tree, and 
 several men hastily drew him up and left him sus- 
 pended to choke to death. Mrs. Samuels, however, 
 had followed stealthily, and the moment the militia 
 had departed she rushed to the rescue of her hus- 
 band, whom she hastily cut down, and by patient nurs- 
 ing brought him back to life. The James Boys made 
 good their escape before the invaders could capture 
 them, but determined on revenge, and to get it was 
 ever afterward their constant thought. 
 
 When Quantrell organized his band of Border Ruf- 
 fians to avenge the murder of his brother he never 
 dreamed that he would ever have to fight the soldiers 
 of the United States in addition to the murderous Jay- 
 hawkers. But when the Civil War began the Jay- 
 hawkers, being Abolitionists, were all ranged on the 
 side of the Union, while the "Ruffians," being 1 pro- 
 slavery, sided with the South, and Quantrell and his 
 bamd found themselves more often pitted against the 
 boys in blue than against the Jayhawkers. 
 
 The guerrilla chieftain accepted the situation, 
 however, without faltering in the least, and entered 
 the service of the Confederacy with greatest enthu- 
 
14 JAMB6 BOYS 
 
 The sympathies of his mother and step- father, Dr. 
 Samuels, whom she had recently married, were all 
 with the South. Mrs. Samuels, especially, was loyal 
 to the Confederacy. By various means she managed 
 to learn of the movements of the Union troops, and 
 whenever the information was important she would 
 mount Jesse upon a fleet horse and send him to Quan- 
 trell. So open and obnoxious was Mrs. Samuels in 
 her demonstrations to Southern love that the Federal 
 militiamen began to notice it. From mere notice sus- 
 picion was aroused. 
 
 Her house was watched and it became known that 
 several secret midnight conclaves had been held there. 
 The part played by Jesse and the open and decided 
 expressions frequently made by Dr. Samuels and his 
 decidedly demonstrative wife greatly excited the Fed- 
 eral soldiers, and it was determined to make an ex- 
 ample of the family. Accordingly, in June, 1862, a 
 company of Missouri militia approached the Samuels 
 homestead, which is near Kearney, in Gay county, 
 and, first meeting Dr. Samuels, they addressed him in 
 language that could leave no doubt in his mind that 
 they meant to carry affairs to the bitter end. It was 
 in vain he pleaded that he was leading a peaceful 
 farmer's life, and didn't desire to be mixed up in the 
 strife of the time. They told him what he knew 
 much better than they did that he and his whole 
 family were in secret alliance with Quantrell and his 
 followers. Frank was at the camp, Susie was away 
 from home, Jewe was plowing in the fialds. Mrs. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 15 
 
 Samuels was nowhere to be seen. But she saw all 
 that was going on, just the same. 
 
 They had not come unprepared for their work. A 
 strong rope was produced, with which he was se- 
 curely pinioned, and then led away from the house a 
 distance of about one hundred yards. Here the rope 
 was fastened in a noose around his neck, while the 
 other end was thrown over the limb of a tree, and 
 several men hastily drew him up and left him sus- 
 pended to choke to death. Mrs. Samuels, however, 
 had followed stealthily, and the moment the militia 
 had departed she rushed to the rescue of her hus- 
 band, whom she hastily cut down, and by patient nurs- 
 ing brought him back to life. The James Boys made 
 good their escape before the invaders could capture 
 them, but determined on revenge, and to get it was 
 ever afterward their constant thought. 
 
 When Quantrell organized his band of Border Ruf- 
 fians to avenge the murder of his brother he never 
 dreamed that he would ever have to fight the soldiers 
 of the United States in addition to the murderous Jay- 
 hawkers. But when the Civil War began the Jay- 
 hawkers, being Abolitionists, were all ranged on the 
 side of the Union, while the "Ruffians," being pro- 
 slavery, sided with the South, and Quantrell and his 
 band found themselves more often pitted against the 
 boys in blue than against the Jayhawkers. 
 
 The guerrilla chieftain accepted the situation, 
 however, without faltering in the least, and entered 
 the service of the Confederacy with greatest enthu- 
 
l6 JAMES BOYS 
 
 siasm. Up to the time when young Jesse James was 
 accepted as a member of the band the guerrillas had 
 been engaged in but few skirmishes, their services 
 consisting chiefly in small foraging expeditions, 
 making themselves thoroughly acquainted with the 
 topography of the country, preparatory to engaging 
 in more effective measures. 
 
 The town of Richfield, on the northern bank of 
 the Missouri River, was occupied by a squad of 
 thirty Federal soldiers, under the command of Cap- 
 tain Sessions. Quantrell determined to attack this 
 garrison, and detailed a small company of his most 
 intrepid guerrillas to make a dashing raid on the 
 town. 
 
 Frank and Jesse James were among the number, 
 Frank James leading the attack. 
 
 The garrison was taken by surprise and a des- 
 perate conflict ensued. 
 
 Ten of the Federals were killed, including Cap- 
 tain Sessions, and the remainder taken prisoners. 
 
 When the attacking party returned to their com- 
 pany Jesse James was sent out with orders from 
 Quaatrell to scour the counties adjoining Clay and 
 locate the militia. 
 
 After passing through Clinton county he paid a 
 short visit to his mother, who received him with 
 many manifestations of pleasure, and then began to 
 unload herself of the valuable information she had 
 gathered for the benefit of the guerrillas. She told 
 him that the attack on Richfield had resulted in 
 
DEEDS OF DARING I 
 
 massing the militia for a determined stroke, and that 
 the troops were concentrating near that point ; that 
 Plattsburg had been almost entirely relieved of its 
 garrison and would fall an easy prey to the guerril- 
 las if they chose to profit by the opportunity. 
 
 Jesse lost no time in communicating the situation 
 to Quantrell, and, accordingly, three days after the 
 capture of the squad of militiamen at Richfield Cap- 
 tain Scott took fifteen men and silently stole upon 
 Plattsburg, which he found defended by less than a 
 score of Federals. 
 
 Shortly after the scheme materialized to sack the 
 town of Lawrence, Kansas. Quantrell consulted 
 with his chief lieutenants, the James boys, and they 
 heartily backed him up in the scheme, Quantrell 
 did not neglect to inform his followers of the danger 
 such an undertaking involved; that their road 
 would be infested with militia, the forces of which 
 would be daily augmented when the first intimation 
 of the purposes of the guerrillas should be made 
 known ; that it would be ceaseless fighting and 
 countless hardships, and many would be left upon 
 the prairies to fester in the sun. He then called his 
 command to arms and acquainted every man with 
 the decision in the following speech : "Fellow-sol- 
 diers, a consultation just held with several of my 
 comrades has resulted in a decision that we break 
 camp tomorrow and take up a line of march for 
 Lawrence, Kansas; that we attack that town, and. 
 if pressed too hard, lav it in ashes. This undertak- 
 
IS JAMES BOYS 
 
 ing, let me assure yon, is hazardous in the extreme. 
 The territory through which we must pass is full of 
 enemies, and the entire way will be beset by well- 
 armed men, through whom it will be necessary for 
 us to carve our way. I know full well that there is 
 not a man in my command who fears a foe ; that no 
 braver force ever existed than it is my honor to 
 lead; but you have never encountered danger so 
 great as we will have to meet on our way to Law- 
 rence; therefore, let me say to you, without doubt- 
 ing in the least your heroism, if there are any in my 
 command who would prefer not to stake their lives 
 in such a dangerous attempt, let them step outside 
 the ranks." 
 
 At the conclusion of Quantrell's remarks a shout 
 went up from every man, "On to Lawrence !" Not 
 a face blanched, but, on the other hand, there was 
 but one desire, to lay waste the city on the Kaw. 
 
 On the following day the order was given to 
 "mount," and with that dreadful black flag stream- 
 ing over their heads the command, two hundred 
 strong, turned their faces to the west. As they 
 crossed the Kansas line at the small town of Au- 
 brey, in Johnson county, Quantrell compelled three 
 men, whom he found sitting in front of a small store 
 kept by John Beeson, to accompany him as guides. 
 
 The command passed through Johnson county 
 midway between Olathe and Spring Hill, and 
 through the northern part of Franklin county. 
 When they reached Cole creek, eight miles from 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 19 
 
 Lawrence, the three guides were taken into a clump 
 of thick woods and shot by Jesse and Frank James. 
 
 One of the party, an elderly man, begged piteous- 
 ty to be spared, reminding his executioners that he 
 had never done them any wrong, but his prayers 
 for mercy ended in the death rattle as a bullet went 
 crashing through his neck. 
 
 Quantrell had been agreeably mistaken concern- 
 ing the resistance he expected to encounter. Not a 
 foe had yet appeared, but he never permitted a per- 
 son to pass him alive. No less than twenty-five 
 persons whom he met in the highway after getting 
 into Kansas had been shot, and yet he avoided the 
 public roads as much as possible. 
 
 Early in the morning of August 21 Quantrell and 
 his band came in sight of the fated town. The sun 
 was just straggling above the undulations of the 
 prairie and the people of the place were beginning 
 to resume the duties of a newly-born day. 
 
 With a cry which froze the blood of everyone in 
 the town who heard it, Quantrell and his two hun- 
 dred followers descended upon the place with pistol, 
 sword and firebrand. Their work of devastation 
 soon completed, they moved on other scenes of war 
 and bloodshed. ^ 
 
 Quantrell was the most heartless of all. What 
 cared he for the glory won to his name by the sack- 
 ing of the unprotected and defenseless city? It 
 woukl bring him not fame, but infamy. And, in- 
 
2O JAMES BOYS 
 
 deed, because of that inhuman act he has ever since 
 been known as "Butcher Quantrell." 
 
 Disgusted with the extent of their own hellish 
 propensities, Quantrell and his band of murderers 
 hastily retraced their steps, but they were terribly 
 harassed during the entire return march by the 
 Kansas militia and federal troops that hurriedly 
 concentrated and went in pursuit of them. 
 
 Just how many men engaged in this pursuit of 
 the retreating guerrillas is not definitely known, but 
 the force has been reliably estimated at fully seven 
 thousand, and nothing but hard marching, deter- 
 mined fighting and an endurance that has never been 
 equaled saved the guerrillas from total destruction. 
 At Black Jack, about fifteen miles from Lawrence, 
 a stand was made, and some brisk fighting occurred. 
 The guerrillas took to cover in a large barn which 
 stood at the edge of an orchard. 
 
 Several assaults were made to dislodge them, but 
 in vain. The horses of the guerrillas were suffering 
 severely, however, and realizing that without horses 
 they would be unable to get out of .Kansas, the 
 guerrillas made a desperate charge, in which thirty- 
 two of the militia were killed, and a panic was the 
 result. But the guerrillas did not care to follow up 
 the victory, as every moment was precious. The 
 militia were swarming and closing in upon them 
 rapidly, and it was only by the rarest stroke of for- 
 tune tha^$ Quantrell and his men ever es'eaped from 
 Kansas. 'When once more safely across the border 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 21 
 
 on their old stamping ground in Missouri, the guer- 
 rillas disbanded and once more mingled among 
 their friends and sympathizers in Jackson and Clay 
 counties. When the Civil War had ended, and the 
 restoration of peace had forced the guerrillas out 
 of existence, the monotony of a peaceful life began 
 to pall on the James boys, and they quite naturally 
 took up the wild existence which subsequently 
 made them the most feared desperadoes of America. 
 
I 
 24 JAMES BOYS 
 
 trashy novels chey could get their hands on, and 
 gloried in the old stories of lawlessness and van- 
 dalism. Their ideal was the road agent or high- 
 wayman, and it is little wonder they grew up to 
 follow the course of crime they adopted. Many acts 
 of vandalism are attributed to them, and the poi- 
 soning of neighbors' live stock, the mutilation of 
 their crops and live stock and other misdemeanors 
 of similar character were charged against them in 
 many instances. They were arrested several times 
 in their boyhood days, but on account of their youth 
 and promises to do better in future they were re- 
 leased. They had not the slightest regard for their 
 word, and as soon as released went right back to 
 their waywardness. They were young men when 
 the war broke out, and just as naturally as ducks 
 take to water did they fall in with the guerrillas, 
 which were on land just about what the pirates 
 were on the high seas. While ostensibly an arm of 
 the Confederate Army, they were a lot of freeboot- 
 ers and cut-throats, wko respected the property of 
 no one and used the gray uniform as a cloak to 
 mask their villainy and crime. 
 
 In their youthful days they associated much with 
 the Younger brothers, with whom they quite nat- 
 urally farmed an alliance later, making up a quar- 
 tette of the worse desperadoes the country ever 
 knew. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE JAMES BOYS AS BANK ROBBERS. 
 
 THEY FREQUENTLY VARIED THE MONOTONY OF LOOTING 
 TRAINS IN* ORDER TO CRACK A RICH BANK NOW AND 
 
 THEN. 
 
 Life at best is montonous and causes desperadoes 
 engaged in lawlessness to seek other pastimes where 
 gold is in sight. Bank robbing offers an most alluring 
 diversion, for which reason, perhaps, the James Boys 
 frequently flitted from the prairie to the cities and 
 small towns, where they put in their time robbing a 
 few banks. This they did to recuperate their frenzied 
 finances and to keep them in practice, perhaps. The 
 notion of these bank robberies took them all of a sud- 
 den as a rule, and they were usually committed on the 
 spur of the moment, little preparation being made for 
 the raid and but small planning having been done in 
 advance. 
 
 One of their most successful robberies was that of 
 the Bank of Gallatin, Mo., in 1869. It was a dark and 
 gloomy day in December, when the bank was flush 
 with funds, the farmers having nearly all deposited 
 the proceeds of their big grain crops and having 
 
*6 JAMES BOYS 
 
 drawn little or no money out for spring planting and 
 other expenses. Without a moment's warning a gang 
 of mounted men rode wildly down the main street of 
 the little town, firing revolvers and driving everybody 
 into the houses on pain of instant death. Several men 
 who dared their fire dropped dead in the street and 
 others staggered to places of safety badly wounded. 
 Stopping in front of the bank, the marauders dis- 
 mounted and, with their revolvers in their hands, 
 dashed inside, leaving two heavily-armed members of 
 the gang to mind the horses. The cashier was held 
 up at the point of a revolver, and when he made a 
 move to slam the vault doors, but was shot dead in 
 his tracks. The paying teller was wounded and the 
 other clerks and attaches driven into a room and held 
 prisoners while the others looted the bank. They se- 
 cured only about $7,000, owing to their hurry and the 
 fact that they overlooked several hundred thousand- 
 dollar bills, which were in a secret compartment of the 
 vault, which they did not know of. Cursing their luck 
 at getting so little, they fled outside, and, mounting 
 their horses, rode away, still firing at everyone they 
 saw out of sheer malice. 
 
 Before they left they openly announced themselves 
 as the James robbers and thretened to return some 
 other time, when the bank was more well burdened 
 with cash, and clean it out again. 
 
 Perhaps more by reason of the cold murders and 
 audacity of the affair than the rather small proceeds 
 of the robbery the people demanded that the James 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 27 
 
 Boys and their gang of villains be rounded up, and 
 while the Governor was at first tardy to act, public 
 opinion at last became so strong that orders were at 
 last issued that they must be run down. 
 
 Amongst those who believed most thoroughly in the 
 guilt of the James brothers was Capt. John Thomason, 
 of Clay county, Missouri. He thought that it was no 
 use in the world to deal in half measures with these 
 miscreants. He was persuaded that there would be 
 no peace, no security for life or property, as long as 
 they were at large, hence he put himself at the head 
 of a band of men who were resolved at all hazards 
 and at any cost to arrest Frank and Jesse James and 
 bring them to justice. Captain Thomason had served 
 during the war on the Confederate side; he had also 
 sustained the office of Sheriff of Clay county to the 
 great admiration of the county at large. He carried 
 with him great moral influence as a man who was the 
 outspoken friend of law and order. No man in Clay 
 county could command a larger following for any 
 good purpose. The James brothers were made ac- 
 quainted with the purpose of Captain Thomason ; they 
 knew the man they had to deal with, but they were 
 not in the least dismayed. They went out to meet him 
 and his band. The meeting is said to have taken place 
 near the home of the Samuels. Captain Thomason 
 demanded their immediate unconditional surrender. 
 Of course, as may be well supposed, they laughed the 
 demand to scorn, and seemed disposed to treat the 
 whole affair as a huge farce. When the thing as- 
 
28 JAMES BOYS 
 
 sumed a move serious aspect and Captain Thotnason 
 hinted at force, then there was nothing for it but to 
 meet fire with fire. And the guerrilla boys proved 
 themselves ready for the encounter. A shot from 
 Jesse's pistol brought down Captain Thomason's horse 
 dead under him. The fray lasted only a few minutes. 
 The pursuing party felt that to proceed would only 
 be to endanger life, with little prospect of capturing 
 their prey, so they returned, and Frank and Jesse rode 
 back home scathless and triumphant. 
 
 A whole year or more had passed since the last 
 bank raid, and the public mind began to rest in a sense 
 of security. Besides which, the managers of banks, 
 as may well be expected, looked more diligently to 
 the means and methods of security and defense. But 
 while there is no insurmountable difficulty in guarding 
 against ordinary dangers, the special and unexpected 
 and stidden dangers are not so easily foreseen. 
 
 Columbia is a pleasant little village in the County 
 of Adair, in Kentucky. A quiet, sleepy little place 
 that knew nothing to disturb the even tenor of its 
 way, save when the holding of the Courts of Session 
 stirred the dull monotony of the place. 
 
 On the afternoon of April 29th, 1872, all was in 
 statu quo. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 The bank was still open. The president of the Bank 
 of Deposit was chatting with Mr. R. A. C. Martin, 
 the respected cashier of the bank, and Mr. Garnett, 
 an old citizen of Columbia. All in a moment the con- 
 versation was interrupted by a most unusual occur- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 2p 
 
 i 
 
 rence. Five well-armed horsemen dashed into the 
 street. Promiscuous firing of pistols, oaths and 
 threatenings ; every human being was driven into the 
 house on peril of instant death. Those who lingered 
 got a bullet dangerously near their heads, which put 
 them into instant movement for safety. The cashier 
 of the bank, who had just closed and locked the safe, 
 was ordered to open it, and did so, with a revolver 
 pushed alongside his head, accompanied by the threat 
 of having his brains blown out if he didn't. The bank 
 president came out of his office with a revolver in his 
 hand, and was shot through the head the next instant. 
 Gathering what money they could get their hands on, 
 the robbers put it into bags, and, after a few parting 
 shots, fled. This time they secured even less than on 
 the occasion of the former robbery, for they had 
 neglected to inform themselves that that very day the 
 bank had met? some heavy obligations and had little 
 funds on hand. As before, the fact of their small 
 booty seemed to enrage the robbers, and they shot at 
 everybody they saw. After they had left town, the 
 usual indignation meeting was held and the authorities 
 aroused to action, but none seemed particularly desir- 
 ous to pursuing the gang, and, after a lot of bluff and 
 bluster, the matter was again dropped. 
 
 The third robbery of the series occurred some time 
 later at Cory don, Iowa, which was about the same as 
 the other two which preceded it. It was on the 28th 
 of June, 1873, at about 10 o'clock in the morning. The 
 bank was just opening for business, when seven des- 
 
30 JAMES BOYS 
 
 peradoes charged furiously into the center of the town, 
 firing 1 right and left and swearing to shoot dead every- 
 body who remained in the streets. Their commands 
 were obeyed. The streets were cleared. None of the 
 inhabitants thought of offering any resistance. Three 
 of the robbers dismounted and, with cocked pistols, 
 entered the bank, swearing to blow the heads off any 
 who dared to interfere with them. The six heavy 
 dragoon pistols served to terrify those who were in 
 the bank, and they yielded at discretion. The safe 
 was opened and the contents thrown into a sack. It 
 is said that the robbers made by this one haul a sum 
 nearly approaching $40,000. The people in the bank 
 were charged to order and silence, and one of the rob- 
 bers' brood boasted that he could fetch a button off 
 the coat of any of them with his pistol; so they had 
 best have a care. 
 
 Of course, after the consternation had given place 
 to quieter moments, the inhabitants instituted a vigor- 
 ous pursuit. The common result followed. Not ont 
 of the robbers were caught 
 
BEKB6 OF DARING 3! 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE JAMES BOYS' FIRST TRAIN ROBBERY. 
 
 AFTER BANK ROBBING BECAME MONOTONOUS -THEY 
 TACKLED HOLDING UP EXPRESS TRAINS, AND WERE SO 
 SUCCESSFUL THEY KEPT AT IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS. 
 
 Ever since the world began man has grown tired 
 of the same old thing over and over. It would 
 hardly be credited that such an exciting, perilous 
 vocation as bank robbing could become monoto- 
 nous, but if the James boys and their close asso- 
 ciates, the Younger brothers, are to be believed, 
 even bank robbing palls on one's nerves after awhile 
 and something more exciting must be hunted up. 
 Naturally, train robbery offered the greatest allure- 
 ments in the excitement line, and therefore it was 
 to it that this quartette of bad men turned after they 
 had decided to shelve bank robbery for awhile and 
 try a new line of thieving. 
 
 The idea of a change to a more daring and reck- 
 less species of robbery is supposed to have origi- 
 nated with Frank James and Jim Younger. 
 
 These two desperate bandits had been absent 
 frem the band for several months, and it is probable 
 that they were on a tour of observation. They made 
 a trip westward by rail as far as Cheyenne, and evi- 
 
$2 James Boys Robbing the Missouri Pacific Express, 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 33 
 
 dently learned a great deal regarding the running 
 of trains, shipment of money by express from the 
 Pacific Coast and other important information nec- 
 essary to be possessed in the successfully carrying 
 on of their new business enterprise of wrecking and 
 robbing railroad trains. 
 
 The result of their confab was a determination to 
 inaugurate a new order of "knights of the road." 
 The "road agents" of the Far West were to be com- 
 pletely thrown into the shade. Holding up and 
 robbing mere stage coaches on lonely roads in Eng- 
 land had made the names of Claud Duval and Dick 
 Turpin world renowned. What would the world 
 say of this daring scheme to tackle the great railway 
 trains, the giant stage coaches of this latter part of 
 the nineteenth century? 
 
 This thought fired the vaulting ambition of the 
 James boys to the intensest degree, and the terrible 
 crime it involved of the indiscriminate slaughter of 
 helpless women and children did not cause them a 
 moment's hesitation. 
 
 It was on the night of July 21st, 1873, in pursu- 
 ance with the plan agreed upon at their meeting in 
 their Jackson county cave, the gang of eight ban- 
 dits met at a point near Council Bluffs, Iowa, where 
 they were to hold up their first train. At this point 
 there is a sharp curve in the road, which is also in 
 a 'deep cut, and it was decided that these existing 
 conditions would greatly add to the success of the 
 
34 JAMES BOYS 
 
 plot and render the train crew and passengers more 
 easy victims than if it took place elsewhere. 
 
 Their conjectures in this line proved right, for 
 the train fell an easy victim to their wiles and the 
 desperate attack that followed the stopping of the 
 train. 
 
 The train consisted of seven coaches, including 1 
 two sleepers, and was in charge of Engineer Martin 
 Kelly, who was looking sharply along the glistening 
 rails, when he saw the ties piled across the track. 
 He instantly threw the reversing lever, applied the 
 air brakes, but too late. The robbers had also 
 loosened a rail. 
 
 The engineer saw the movement and uttered a 
 cry of despair. 
 
 The screaming engine struck the loosened rail 
 and plunged sideways into, the bank, while the cars 
 telescoped and piled up in terrible confusion. Engi- 
 neer RafTerty was instantly killed and a dozen pas- 
 sengers seriously injured. Regardless of all this, 
 however, the robbers quickly boarded the wreck, 
 two of them entering the express car, while the 
 others forced the excited and demoralized passen- 
 gers to deliver up all their money and valuables. 
 
 The express messenger was made to open the safe 
 and give the bandits what money he had in charge, 
 bu^ the amount was small, consisting of about throe 
 thousand dollars. From the passengers nearly as 
 much more was obtained. This was a bitter disap- 
 pointment to the outlaws, for they confidently ex- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 35 
 
 pcctcd to find not less than fifty thousand dollars in 
 gold, as reported. Fortunately, the bandits were 
 twelve hours too soon, as on the following day the 
 express carried over the same road seventy-five 
 thousand dollars in gold. 
 
 After securing all the booty possible, the seven 
 daring wreckers waved their hats and shouted fare- 
 well to their victims, and, gaining their horses, they 
 rode away to the south. 
 
 The excitement created over this dreadful outrage 
 was very great, and hundreds volunteered to assist 
 in apprehending the desperadoes. 
 
 The trail led straight through Missouri and to the 
 Missouri River, where there was unmistakable evi- 
 dence that the outlaws swam the stream with their 
 horses. Following the track on the other side, the 
 band was followed into Jackson county, where, as 
 usual, every trace disappeared. A party of detec- 
 tives went down to Monegaw Springs in search of 
 the outlaws, and found Jesse James and two of the 
 Younger boys, but they made no effort to bring" 
 them away, and were glad to escape, themselves 
 alive. 
 
36 JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE FAMOUS LIBERTY BANK ROBBERY. 
 
 ONE OF THE MOST DARING AND SENSATIONAL OF ALL 
 
 THE JAMES BOYS* LONG LIST OF BANK ROBBERIES 
 
 HOW THEY LANDED $2O,OOO IN A VERY SHORT TIME. 
 
 It was ever the game of the James boys to make 
 their operations a complete surprise. They found 
 by experience that when they could surprise a town 
 or a bank absolutely they had things pretty much 
 all their own way. The very suddenness of the at- 
 tack seemed to daze the victims, and they did not 
 even think of resistance, in most instances. 
 
 The war had made the guerrillas expert in massa- 
 creing repugnant citizens, and in appropriating the 
 property of their victims. Many of the old crowd 
 were banded together by the sinews of the "black 
 oath," and scarcely had the smoke of battle been lifted 
 up and assimilated witfy the refreshing dew clouds of 
 heaven before plans were matured for the robbing of 
 country banks. 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1866, the sheriff of Harri- 
 son county attempted to execute a capais for the ar- 
 rest of Bill Reynolds, in Pleasant Hill, who was under 
 indictment for crimes committed during the war. 
 Geo. Maddox and N. P. Hayes were in town at ths 
 
DEEDS OF DARINC 37 
 
 time, and as the three were members of the same 
 organization, resistance to the officer was made. It 
 became necessary for the sheriff to summon a posse 
 of citizens to his assistance. A fight in the open street 
 then ensued, ending in the death of Reynolds and 
 Hayes and the capture of Maddox. Threats of an 
 attack on the town by guerrillas were rumored, and 
 for several days nearly every male citizen was bearing 
 arms in anticipation of an attempt being made to lib- 
 erate Maddox. 
 
 The excitement was unabated in Pleasant Hill until 
 the 1 4th of February, when the robbery of the Clay 
 County Savings Association at Liberty, Misouri, was 
 reported. The reason why rumors were so persist- 
 ently circulated of an intended attempt to deliver Mad- 
 dox was now clearly understood to be for the purpose 
 of making the surprise on Liberty more complete. 
 Early in the morning of St. Valentine's JDay a squad 
 of the old guerrillas, numbering an even dozen, rode 
 into Liberty from different directions and, meting in 
 the public square, they disposed themselves as fol- 
 lows: Three of the robbers were stationed some dis- 
 tance from the bank at eligible positions, which would 
 most readily detect any centralizing attack or suspi- 
 cious movement of the citizens ; the other nine rode 
 directly up to the front of the bank, where two of the 
 number dismounted and entered with drawn revolvers. 
 The hour being early, luckily for the bandits there 
 was no one in the bank except the cashier, Mr. Bird, 
 and his son. 
 
38 JAMES BOYS 
 
 A pistol was presented at the head of each, and 
 under threats of instant death, in case of refusal, Mr. 
 Bird opened the bank vault, from which the sum of 
 seventy-two thousand dollars was taken and crammed 
 into a pair of saddk bags carried for the purpose. As 
 the robbers were regaining their horses for flight, Mr. 
 Bird thrust his head out of a window and called to a 
 little boy by the name of Wymore, whom he saw 
 passing, telling him that a robbery had been com- 
 mitted and to raise the alarm. As the little fellow, not 
 more than twelve years of age, raised the cry of "Rob- 
 bers ! Help !" he was fired on by the bandits, and fell 
 dead with five fatal bullets in his body. The robbers 
 then began firing indiscriminately and yelling with 
 savage fury, so that for some time after the bandits 
 had departed the citizens were too badly intimidated 
 to think of pursuit. A posse, under the leadership of 
 the sheriff, was organized about one hour afterward, 
 however, and started out on a spirited chase. The 
 trail led to Mount Gilead Church, where the evidence 
 of bank paper showed that the robbers had tarried a 
 few moments to divide the spoils. It was also evident 
 that the band had separated and taken various direc- 
 tions so as to elude pursuit, which they accomplished 
 so effectively that not one of the bandits was appre- 
 hended. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 ROBBING THE OVERLAND STAGE COACHES 
 
 THOSE VERSATILE BANDITS AND THEIR EXPLOITS AS 
 ROAD AGENTS IN SEVERAL SENSATIONAL HOLD-UPS 
 F THE OLD-TIME STAGE COACHES. 
 
 Although they favored train roibberies as being 
 more prolific of profit, the James boys did not hesi- 
 tate now and then to engage in a little road agent 
 business on the side, when things were dull and op- 
 portunities were good, and they made a number of 
 pretty big hauls in that manner. The hold-ups were 
 all tragic and sensational, and in several of them 
 rather sharp battle preceded the robberies. One of the 
 first stage robberies perpetrated was that of the reg- 
 ular coach which ran between Malvern and Hot 
 Springs. These coaches were more in the nature of 
 ambulances for the sick who went to Hot Springs for 
 treatment, but as these patients were of the rich 
 rather than the poor, the James boys decided to take 
 a chance, and, as they expected, the chance panned out 
 well. At a little place called Sulphur Vale the stage 
 halted for change of horses, and it was there the ban- 
 dits decided to attack it. It had proceeded about a 
 mile from the relay station when the driver of the 
 coach was suddenly accosted: 
 
The Overland Stage Robbery. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING $8 
 
 V 
 
 "Stop I stop ! or I'll blow your head off!" 
 
 With this unceremonious chalUn^e five men, 
 dresstd in Federal uniform, sprang from their am- 
 bush, each with cocked revolvers in their hands, 
 threatening the lives of every passenger who dared to 
 resist them. Of course, the passengers were struck 
 dumb with consternation and terror. Presence of 
 mind is an uncommonly good thing, but by no means 
 common under such circumstances. 
 
 "Come, d n you! Tumble out quick; we have 
 no time to spare!" was the order of the foremost 
 robber. 
 
 "Oh. certainly!" said a Mr. Charles Morse. "We 
 can do nothing else." 
 
 '1 am paralyzed in my legs and cannot walk," cried 
 a poor old victim of rheumatism within the stage, as 
 the other passengers came tumbling out. 
 
 "Never mind! Stay where you are," was the reply. 
 
 The stage was emptied, save of the one lame old 
 gentleman. The rest of the passengers were ordered, 
 with oaths and threats, and with pointed revolvers to 
 confirm the threats, to form in a circle and hold up 
 their hands, which they did without delay. 
 
 The brigands then began to search, examine and 
 rob every passenger. Not one escaped, and not one 
 seemed equal to offoring the least resistance or mak- 
 ing the slightest remonstrance. The net result in 
 money and valuables approximated the sum of $4,000. 
 
 The next stage robbery was that of the Concord 
 stage. It came rumbling along with eight pas- 
 
42 JAMES BOYS 
 
 sengers, seven men and a woman. The coach 
 had scarcely entered the shadow of a deep 
 woods, when the driver noted two horsemen some 
 distance ahead in the woods. Suspecting nothing, he 
 drove on until he came up with them, when he 
 wheeled suddenly across the road, and, pointing rifles 
 at his head, ordered him to halt. There was nothing 
 to do but obey and he did so with alacrity. He saw 
 at once he had stage robbers to deal with and ac- 
 cepted his fate. He recognized them as the James 
 Boys and begged his passengers if they valued their 
 Mves to offer no resistance. 
 
 "You see, they'll have your money, anyhow, and if 
 you bother 'em they'll have your life as well as your 
 money." 
 
 "Come out the stage, please," said the rider who 
 had first commanded the halt. 
 
 The order took the shape of the most polite request. 
 The passengers looked through the open windows and 
 saw the muzzles of two pair of revolvers, commanding 
 the whole line of the stage. The passengers needed 
 no further argument. Mr. R. S. Rountree, of the 
 Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin, was wide awake to 
 the importance of the hour, and managed to slip his 
 gold watch and pocketbook under the cushion as he 
 rose to leave the stage. Miss Rountree, daughter of 
 the Hon. R. Rountree, of Lebanon, Ky., the only lady 
 on board, was permitted to retain her seat. After the 
 passengers were out and stood in single file, Frank 
 James tossed his rein to his companion, who covered 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 43 
 
 / 
 
 the whole line with his pistols, and then proceeded to 
 seach their pockets, while they were charged to hold 
 up their hands and keep them up. There seems not 
 to have been the first thought of resistance. 
 
 When they were through with their examination 
 and robbery, they generously returned the- railway 
 passes and tickets that were no manner of use in the 
 world to them. Then, with the utmost nonchalance, 
 they proceeded to explain that they were not robbers ! 
 Oh! dear, no, nothing so vulgar! They were only 
 moonshiners who, unduly pressed by an unreason- 
 able government, were compelled to leave the country, 
 and, of course, they could not go without money. 
 Anri, therefore, though much against their principles, 
 they were compelled to levy toll after this fashion. 
 They were extremely sorry if they had given any 
 undue annoyance. It might be some consolation to 
 know that they had taken toll from the outgoing 
 coach that very afternoon, and Mr. George Grogham, 
 one of the owners of the celebrated cave, had con- 
 tributed the handsome sum of $700. 
 
 Turning to Mr. Craig, of Georgia, Frank said he 
 hated worse than anything to take his money, for in 
 the late war he had fought in a Geogia regiment him- 
 self, but then he had no option. 
 
 "You know, my dear sir," said Frank, with a smile, 
 "needs must when the devil drives." 
 
 Turning to the only lady of the party, the imperti- 
 nent robber inquired her name- 
 
34 JAMES BOYS 
 
 "Miss Rountree, of Lebanon," said the lady, 
 scarcely able to hide her disgust. 
 
 "Indeed!" said Frank, his face quite lighting up 
 with a smile. "Why, then, you'll probably know 
 some friends of mine. I have some very dear friends 
 in Lebanon. Do you happen to know the Misses 
 Smithers who live there?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, I. do," replied Miss Rountree. 
 
 "Dear me," added Frank, "what a coincidence! 
 Nice." 
 
 After sarcastically bidding the party good bye, and 
 asking Miss Rountree to remember him to the Smith- 
 ers girls of Lebanon, when she saw them again, the 
 robbers rode off, headed by Frank James, while the 
 coach and its terror-stricken passengers got under 
 way once more and proceeded on its trip. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 45 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 ROBBING THE RUSSELLVILLE BANK. 
 
 ANOTHER DARING ACHIEVEMENT OF THE JAMES BOYS 
 BY WHICH THEY SECURED NEARLY $75,OOO, WHICH, 
 AS USUAL, THEY SOON SQUANDERED. 
 
 The robbery of the Russellvilk (Mo.) National 
 Bank was another of those daring deeds of lawless- 
 ness, which very daring proved beyond doubt it was 
 the work of the James gang and left its "earmarks," 
 the indisputable evidence of their clever work. When- 
 ever those desperadoes planned they planned welt 
 and whatever they attempted they came pretty neaf 
 making a success. This was particularly true of 
 their bank exploits. They never failed to land the 
 treasure in a single instance. 
 
 Russellville is a pleasant little town of about five 
 thousand inhabitants, saving and thrifty, and highly 
 proud of their bank and its contents that is, they 
 were proud of its contents prior. to the James boys' 
 visit. There wasn't much contents to be proud of 
 after they went away. It was in the center of a very 
 thriving agricultural district, and its bank was well 
 filled with farmers' money. 
 
 It was a beautiful spring morning in 1873. The 
 stores were open and the store dealers wsi'e begin- 
 
46 JAMES BOYS 
 
 ning their uiioiness for the day. Now and then a 
 rumbling wagon, corn laden, creaked along the quiet 
 street. The bank was just about to open its doors, 
 when suddenly a clatter of hoofs was heard. Sharp, 
 quick and terrible as the crash of doom, a dozen 
 horsemen, each armed with two pairs of revolvers, 
 dashed down the street, to the terror and amazement 
 of the villagers. With the most fearful oaths and 
 threatenings these armed brigands commanded the 
 people to go into their houses and keep quiet on pa&i 
 of instant death, and to confirm their purpose they 
 fired in all directions. Two of the men of whom 
 Jesse James was one and Cole Younger the other* * 
 dismounted at the bank and entered. The cashier 
 had opened the safe and the books were out on the 
 counters, and a quantity c* gold was spread on* be- 
 fore the cashier, which Ke .vas then in the ace of 
 counting. The suddei; entrance ot thebc armed mei; 
 astonished him for i moment. He turned at once to 
 the safe and wab in the act of swinging back the 
 door, when Jesse James said: 
 
 "Leave that alone and keep quiet, or I'll blow your 
 brains out/' 
 
 What could the cashier do with such a threat in his 
 ears, supported as it was by the loaded revolvers, too 
 close to said brains to be pleasant? The cashier, set- 
 ting a higher value on his life than all the gold in the 
 safe, kept quiet, and the safe was rifled. The loose 
 gold on the counter was swept off by Cole Younger. 
 Everything- of value was taken away except a few 
 
Robbing the Russellviifc Bank, 
 
48 JAMES BOYi, 
 
 revenue and postage stamps. These the robbers 
 thought hardly worth the trouble of taking, and so 
 Jesse, to whom a joke was never untimely, tossed 
 back the stamps, remarking to the affrighted cashier 
 that he "might want to mail letters later in the day!" 
 
 The booty secured, the robbers departed as they 
 came, cursing and threatening instant death to any 
 who dared to follow. No one blamed the cashier of 
 the bank. He was thoroughly helpless. 
 
 As with their other robberies, the James Boys were 
 so quick in this instance that the robbery was over 
 and the robbers gone almost before anyone realized 
 it had happened. It was the very boldness of it that 
 carried it through successfully and the very audacity 
 that appalled every one who was about when it oc- 
 curred. 
 
 The usual appeal to the authorities was ma4e, and 
 the customary posse was organized to run down the 
 robbers, but in a little while the sensation died out; 
 the robbers were reported hundreds of miles away, 
 and the matter came to an end. 
 
DEEDS OF DARIN* 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 A $50,000 EXPRESS CAR ROBBERY. 
 
 HOW THE JAMES BOYS CLEANED UP A WELLS-FARGO 
 EXPRESS CAR AND GOT AWAY WITH A BIG SUM OF 
 BANKNOTES AND BULLION. 
 
 Muncie, Kansas, is a little hamlet, about eight miles 
 west of Kansas City, on the line of the Kansas Pacific 
 Railroad. It is usually as tranquil and quiet as sleepy 
 country stations are reputed to be, and seldom, if 
 ever did anything occur, to awaken it out of its nor- 
 mal terpidity. For years it had slumbered by the side 
 of the railroad tracks just about on the map and 
 that was all. But on December I2th, 1874, there 
 came its awakening, and after a reign of the wildest 
 excitement, it became known the country over, by 
 reason of the sensational doings that took place 
 there. 
 
 It was on the afternoon of the day above men- 
 tioned that five horsemen, heavily armed, rode into 
 town, led by a man wearing a heavy black beard and 
 carrying two heavy Colt revolvers. They were all 
 masked with black dominoes, and as they entered the 
 town limits attracted the attention of a few strag- 
 gling- villagers, who saw them riding slowly down the 
 main street. In front of Purdee's store, OD the main 
 
ijO JAMBS BOYS 
 
 street, they dismounted and went inside, leaving one 
 of their number outside with the horses. Almost in- 
 stantly they held up Purdee with their revolvers and 
 robbed his till of the few dollars it contained. 
 
 Then they compelled the store-keeper to accompany 
 them to the railroad water-tank near the station build- 
 ing and point out a quantity of old cross-ties. These 
 they piled on the track, effectually blocking the line. 
 They also set out the flag at the station as a signal 
 for the next train to stop. 
 
 During this time a horseman, a wagonload of 
 women and children, and several villagers happened 
 along. These the robbers immediately herded to- 
 gether altogether twenty-five persons and put un- 
 der guard of one of their number. 
 
 The 4.45 passenger express from the West was 
 the next train due. As it neared the station the en- 
 gineer, Robert Murphy, saw the signal and the pile 
 of cross-ties on the track and pulled up his train 
 within a hundred feet of the cross-ties. 
 
 The next minute he was gazing into the cold steel 
 barrels of a quartette of revolvers, while his cringeing 
 fireman was also in a similar predicament, both being 
 threatened with instant death if they moved a muscle. 
 Meanwhile others of the gang were at work in the 
 passenger coaches robbing the affrighted passengers 
 and trainmen. They next tackled the express car. 
 In the meantime the robbers on the locomotive had 
 forced the engineer to uncouple the express car and 
 run it up the track seveial hundred yards, to where 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 5! 
 
 the pti%o cross-ties on the track prevented any fur- 
 ther progress. The express messenger had not time 
 to lock the doors of the car before he was covered 
 by a couple of guns and forced, under pain of in- 
 stant death, to open the safe. 
 
 He did so reluctantly, and almost in less time tha&, 
 it takes to tell it, the robbers had tumbled out some 
 $55,000 and stowed it away in a mail sack, the con- 
 tents of which they dumped out for the purpose. 
 The robbers left the. car, carrying the treasure, after 
 warning the express agent they would fill him full 
 of lead if he even dared look out of the rifled car. 
 At a signal from the leader, the gang collected 
 around him ; they held a momentary consultation, and 
 then mounting their hordes, rode back to where the 
 white- faced passengers were peering out of the car 
 windows and bade them, "Give our regards to the 
 folks in Kansas City." Before riding away they re- 
 turned several watches they had taken from women 
 passengers, saying they might need them later on. 
 
 Wheeling their horses,- the robbers dashed off at 
 top speed, going in the direction of Kansas City and 
 carrying with them nearly sixty thousand dollars in 
 booty. 
 
 With the arrival of the train in Kansas City, posses 
 were sent out in pursuit of the robbers. The chase 
 was futile, for the gang had crossed the State line 
 into Jackson County, Missouri where their trail was 
 lost in the mountains. 
 
 The methods of the robbers and the descriptions 
 
52 JAMES BOYS 
 
 of the black-bearded leader convinced the authorities 
 that the gang was headed by Jesse James, who, al- 
 though scarcely thirty years old, was already known 
 as a desperado, with a score of robberies and mur- 
 ders in Missouri to his credit. Associated with him 
 were his brother Frank, three years older than he; 
 Bill McDaniells, Clell Miller, Arthur McCoy, and 
 several others. 
 
 The only one of the gang captured was Bill Mc- 
 Daniells, who was arrested while on a spree with 
 some of the jewelry taken from the Muncie train in 
 his possession. Two months later McDaniells es- 
 caped, but was discovered and shot by an officer who 
 attempted to capture him. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 53 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 A COUPLE OF DARING BANK ROBBERIES. 
 
 JESSE JAMES AND THE YOUNGER BROTHERS PLAY A 
 FOUR-HANDED GAME AT BANK-ROBBERY AND CLEAN 
 UP TWO MONEY DEPOSITORIES FOR GOOD ROUND SUMS. 
 
 From the standpoint of a criminal critic, the Tames 
 Boys and Younger Brothers did their best work m 
 the line of bank robbing, when they undertook a iob 
 together. They were adepts at planning such events 
 and went into such details that they seldom failed 
 to make a complete coup when they started in to 
 get away with the treasure. The rapidity with which 
 they worked precluded all possibility of the assem- 
 bling of a posse and subsequent capture or death. 
 As a usual thing the bank was robbed and the rob- 
 bers and booty gone before the people of the village 
 fully realized what was happening. From this it 
 must not be inferred that they always chose night 
 for their operations, as they more often worked in 
 mid-day, for the reason that at that hour the vaults 
 were unlocked and open and the money easier to get 
 at. For instance, the robbery of the Bank of Lex- 
 ington, Mo., occurred at high noon, October 30, 
 1866. At that hour, four determined men rode down 
 the main street and leisurely hitched their hores hi 
 an alley near the banking house of Alexander Mitch- 
 
54 JAMES BOYS 
 
 ell & Co. Two of the men walked into the bank, 
 meeting the cashier, Mr. J. L. Thomas, in the door- 
 way, who went behind the counter to attend the wants 
 of the strangers. One of the men handed a $50 7-30 
 bond to the cashier with the request to have it 
 changed. As Mr. Thomas opened the cash drawer 
 two more of the robbers appeared at the door with 
 drawn revolvers, the fifth man being left in charge 
 of the horses. It was quick work now, for, looking 
 into the muzzles of four deadly pistols, the cashier 
 was compelled to hand over all the money in the 
 bank, $2,000, which being placed in a sack, the rob- 
 bers coolly walked out of the bank with a parting 
 admonition to Mr. Thomas that if he raised any 
 outcry they would kill him. Mounting their horses, 
 the robbers rode swiftly away, and it was more than 
 an hour after the robbery before the pursuing party 
 was organized. Twelve well-armed citizens started 
 after the bandits, and spent two days in a fruitless 
 search for the despoilers. People began to consider 
 the insecurity of country banks and the means of ap- 
 prehending the daring outlaws; meetings were held 
 and various plans discussed, but in two weeks' time 
 the outrage was almost forgotten. 
 
 For six long months nothing startling was heard 
 from the James and Younger brothers, and they 
 were supposed to be far away from their old stamp- 
 ing ground. But, like the proverbial bad penny, they 
 always turned up unexpected 
 
 Savannah is the capital seat of Andrew county, a 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 55 
 
 thrifty little village of tweleve or fifteen hundred in- 
 habitants, that has suffered but little from the blight 
 of war. The place contained a small banking insti- 
 tution, under the proprietorship of Judge McLain, 
 with small capital. 
 
 On the 2d of March, 1867, five ex-guerrillas, J. F. 
 Edmunson, Jim White,, Bill Chiles, Bud McDaniels, 
 and a fellow named Pope, rode into Savannah in 
 such^a manner as indicated they were on important 
 business. It was nearly high noon, and no one was 
 in the bank except the Judge and his son. The ban- 
 dits rode up and four of them dismounted, leaving 
 their horses in charge of the fifth man. As the four 
 entered the bank with drawn pistols, the Judge 
 looked earnestly over his spectacles, and at once 
 comprehended the character of his customers. He 
 slammed the door of the safe shut, and, seizing a re- 
 volver which lay on the bank counter, he met the 
 bandits halfway, but the shots proved ineffectual, 
 while a big navy pistol ball went tearing through 
 his breast, which made him sink to the floor as one 
 death-stricken. Young McLain ran into the street 
 and gave the alarm, which brought many citizens to 
 the rescue. The robber left in charge of the horses 
 shouted for the return of his companiong, who, find- 
 ing their position becoming very serious, mounted 
 the ready horses and fled 
 
 A. posse of twenty-five citizens went in pursuit of 
 the bandits a few minutes after their hasty departure 
 and trailed them for a few miles, after which thejr 
 
56 JAMES BOYS 
 
 lost all trace of them and the chase was abandoned, 
 Judge McLain's wound was desperate, but he eventu- 
 ally recovered. 
 
 The next robbery and raid occurred a few months 
 later at Richmond, Mo., where the James and Youn- 
 ger boys, with a gang- of ten other desperadoes, ter- 
 roized and looted the town, robbing 1 the private bank 
 of Hughes & Mason of some $5,000. 
 
 The robbers next began an attack upon the jail, 
 which at that time held a number of prisoners whose 
 arrest, it was claimed, was due to the expression of 
 secession sentiment. The jailer, B. G. Griffin, and 
 his son, fifteen years of age, were at the jail, and 
 they received their assailants with remarkable brav- 
 ery. The boy stationed himself behind a tree, and 
 was emptying a revolver ?n the face of the outlaws 
 when he was surrounded and shot to death. Mr. 
 Griffin, seeing the fate of his brave boy, rushed up, 
 and, standing over the lifeless body, fought like the 
 frenzied man he was until, pierced by seven bullets, 
 he fell dead across the bleeding and lifeless body of 
 his son. By this time the citizens recovered their 
 lost nerves, and from a score of windows there 
 poured the rifle and pistol flame, yet throughout the 
 Combat not a single robber was harmed. 
 
)EEDS OF DARING 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 ROBBING THE "DAVENPORT LIMITED." 
 
 HOW THE JAMES BOYS* GANG HELD UP A WELL-FILLED 
 TRAIN AND MURDERED AND ROBBED THE PASSENGERS. 
 
 One of the most notorious' as well as brutal rob- 
 beries committed by the Jair^-s Boys gang was that 
 of the Davenport Limited, from Kansas City for 
 Davenport, Iowa, on the Chicago, Rock Island and 
 Pacific Railroad. July I5th, 1881, it left Kansas 
 City at 6.30 P. M., and was due a*. Davenport the 
 following morning, running over the southwestern 
 division of the road. The make-up of the train was a 
 combination baggage aud express car, a smoker, two 
 day coaches and a sleeper. There was a fair num- 
 ber of passengers on board and everything was going 
 along nicely, when the train stopped at Cameron, a 
 small station, some sixty- four miles from the start- 
 ing point, where several rough looking men got 
 aboard and seated themselves in the smoker. Al- 
 though the lights were dim, there was sufficient light 
 to see these men four in number were deeply en- 
 grossed in discussing some plans of r, scheme they 
 had on hand. 
 
 Finally the train rolled into Winston. The stop 
 
Robbing the "Davenport Limited. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 59 
 
 was a short one, but during the few seconds that the 
 cars lay beside the platform several things happened. 
 One of the four men in the smoker carelessly placed 
 his white handcerchief against the window-pane, and 
 held it there for a moment. Outside it was very 
 dark and quiet, only the monotonous chrugging of 
 the engine disturbing the silence 
 
 Waiting until the trainmen were on board again, 
 two men slipped across the platform and mounted the 
 front end of the baggage car next to the tender. Sev- 
 eral other dark figures flitted toward the train, and 
 two more men swung on the platform between the 
 baggage car and the smoker. 
 
 Then, without the slightest warning, the tragedy 
 began. 
 
 As the two men climbed to the platform between 
 the smoker and the baggage car the conductor swung 
 his lantern from the front plat form of the smoker 
 as a signal for the engineer to go ahead. Turning, 
 he entered the car, the two men behind him follow- 
 ing with a rush. At the same instant the four men 
 inside the smoker sprang forward with drawn re- 
 volvers. 
 
 There was a yell of "Throw up your hands!" and 
 a revolver exploded, the flame shooting toward the 
 ceiling of the car. 
 
 The conductor dropped his lantern and made a 
 movement of resistance. The next instant a pistol 
 shot rang out, and he fell dead on the platform. 
 
60 JAMES BOYS 
 
 The other men stood near the doorway, close beside 
 the tall brigand, who was now recognized as Jesse 
 James, holding their revolvers so as to cover the pas- 
 sengers in the seats. Just then the sleeping car con- 
 ductor entered the car from the other end and was 
 promptly shot the whole length of the car. 
 
 In the smoker the rapid discharge of revolvers 
 formed a dense, white smoke in the forward end of 
 the car. The passengers, seeing an opportunity to 
 flee, were the more desirous to escape, as one of the 
 desperadoes now proposed to "go through the gang." 
 
 Several men sprang up, among them a Mason 
 named John McCullough, who had a heavy stone 
 trowel in his hand. As he jumped into the aisle, 
 still clinging to his trowel, he unconsciously swung 
 it near the head of one of the outlaws. The brigand 
 immediately shot McCullough through the head. 
 Fatally wounded though he was, the stone mason 
 managed to stagger to the rear door, where he fell 
 off the platform and, like Conductor Westphal, was 
 afterward foand dead in the ditch. 
 
 This third xnurder completed the panic of the pas- 
 sengers. Yelling with fear, and pursued by the jeers 
 of the murderers, they fled to the rear of the train, 
 fighting with each other to get ahead. When the car 
 was empty the two young girls, who had shown the 
 greatest courage throughout the whole scene, left 
 their seats and followed the others, 
 
 Thg utmost confusion now reigned in the train. 
 
 On the rear platform of the first day-coach, when 
 
DEEDS OF DARINCl 6l 
 
 the mob of passengers came tearing through the 
 train, was C. F. Chase, of the Topeka Police Depart- 
 ment. With him was Harry Thomas, the rear brake- 
 man. After the crov/d had passed him, Chase looked 
 forward through the cars. Three or four terrified 
 passengers were crawling under the seats of the day- 
 coach. Chase drew his hair-trigger revolver. 
 
 "For God's sake, put that up!" Thomas cried. 
 "They've got the train. We've got to stop the en- 
 gineer." 
 
 Chase still stood with his pistol in his hand, watch- 
 ing the men in the smoker, and Thomas swun% out 
 from the platform, waving his lantern frantically to 
 the engineer, knowing that every rod they went from 
 Jie station meant a rod farther from help. 
 
 The train continued to run on. Either the engineer 
 did not see the signal or there was trouble on the 
 locomotive. 
 
 "I'm going to stop him !" Thomas cried. He sprang 
 into the car and pulled down the cord that controlled 
 the automatic air-brakes, setting the brakes on every 
 car on the train anc stopping it with a jolt. He 
 swung out again from the platform, shouting, *'RoD- 
 bers !" 
 
 But the desperadoes on ths train knew tinir busi- 
 ness They wc/e .>repard for just such an emer- 
 gency, and they acted promptly. As sooa at the air- 
 brakes stopped the train, the gang in which there 
 were at least twelve man separated, some running 
 
63 JAMES BOYS 
 
 to the engine, the others making for the express can 
 As the first two ruffians jumped into the cab, re- 
 volvers in hand, the fireman jumped from the other 
 side. Running back to the rear platform of the 
 smokecx he cor: sealed himself in the darkies on the 
 lower steps. 
 
 The engineer was trying to release the train from 
 the grip of the automatic brakes. One of the board- 
 ing party clapped a revolver to the engineer head. 
 "What in are you stopping for? Pull ahead!" 
 the man shouted. 
 
 "I can't," the engineer said. "Some 'me's put J 
 the automatic." 
 
 A robber's pistol flashed in the darkness and a bul- 
 let whistled by his head The next instant the en- 
 gineer had tossed the cab lantern out of the window 
 and was out on the running board of the engine 
 from which he reached the pilot and lay down across 
 it, to be safe from the robber's fire. The Jame* 
 gang then began ransacking the train and went irom 
 car to car, shooting right and left those who Mi'ered 
 the slightest resistance. The car floors were covered 
 with blood, and the cars perforated with bullets. No 
 less than nine men were killed, and their bodies lay 
 in the car aisles They robbed everybody, battering 
 in the doors of the express and mail cars and rob- 
 bing the safes of both. The express and mail clerks 
 were among those kiltes* lor trying to protect ttwir 
 safes. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 The James gang got over $40,000 out of this rob- 
 bery, which was divided among them, as was their 
 usual cutom, tor despite their being suck 
 robbers, they were fair to each othefe 
 
JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHArfER XI. 
 A BOLD DAYLIGHT ROBBERY. 
 
 HOW AN EXPREtS CAR WAS ROBBED OF $7O,OOO IN 
 BROAD DAYLIGHT BY THE JAMES BOYS AND THEIR 
 GANG. 
 
 The task of holding up a long train and robbing 
 the express car of over $70,000, in broad daylight, 
 is not an easy one that would be essayed by the 
 average train robber, but that is just what the James 
 gang did to the car containing that amount in Calu- 
 met and Heckla miners' pay envelopes. 
 
 This was back in 1880 and in the days when the 
 name of the James boys was the synonym of deadly 
 daring and expert highwaymanism. One of the robbers 
 held up the engineer at the point of a rifle, another 
 chased the fireman down the track, while the rest of 
 the gang broke into the express car, killed the mes- 
 senger and got the money. 
 
 The engineer and fireman were joking in the cab 
 about the trip and the joy pay day always brought 
 to the miners. The conductor paid no attention to 
 the passengers except to collect their fares and chat 
 a bit with a few whom he knew. It was 9.50 when 
 the train wheezed up to a little shanty in the woods, 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 65 
 
 dignified with the name of Stanley. Several persons 
 alighted and the conductor gave the signal to go 
 ahead when the outbreak occurred. 
 
 With the suddeness of 'a lightning flash, a tall 
 fellow with a black mask over the upper part of his 
 face, arose from between the engine and tender with 
 a big revolver in each hand and advised the engineer 
 and fireman to throw up their hands quick. They 
 instantly obeyed. 
 
 There was seventy thousand dollars aboard that 
 train, and he was the engineer in charge, on whom 
 its safety depended. But then there was that gun, on 
 which his life depended, and it yawned in an ugly 
 way. Discretion was much better than valor under 
 such circumstances. 
 
 Back in the express car things were moving at a 
 swift pace also. At the moment the shot was fired 
 from the tender two more men, masked and envel- 
 oped in linen dusters, like the first, sprang up, also 
 apparently from nowhere, and forced themselves into 
 the car. 
 
 It was only the work of an instant for the robbers 
 to enter the express car and cover the messenger 
 with their pistols. Then they clearly and concisely 
 stated that they were after about seventy thousand 
 dollars of Calumet and Heckla money and proposed 
 to 'have it even if 4hey had to kill off all the express 
 messengers in Christendom. The messenger did just 
 as the others had done and threw up his hands. When 
 directed to open the safe and pass out the two big 
 
66 JAMFO BOYS 
 
 sacks containing the money, he did so without a 
 word. 
 
 No sooner was the swag in a bag than the big 
 fellow fired a single shot. It was not for the mes- 
 senger, however, but a signal to let their pals know 
 they had the money and were ready to escape. An 
 answering shot came from the front of the train. 
 With that the men jumped off the train and made 
 for the woods, but not before bidding the engineer 
 to "keep her going for a hundred miles or so." 
 
 There was a great hurrah when the train reached 
 Heckla and the news of the robbery spread. A whole 
 army of detectives were put to work on the case, and 
 many of them followed false trails, but the Pinker- 
 ton men, who were also at work, sized it up right 
 away as another of the James Boys' jobs. 
 
68 JAMES BOYS 
 
 tertainment was the races. Ethan Allen was to trot 
 against a running mate at five o'clock. The people 
 were crowding into the fair grounds between four 
 and five in masses. The ticket sellers and the gate- 
 men were doing a roaring trade. Mr. Hall, the secre- 
 tary and treasurer of the association, had counted up 
 the receipts of the day and found the same reached 
 nearly $10,000 in hard cash. Arrangements had been 
 made to bank this money at the First National Bank, 
 though it was considerably after banking hours. 
 
 Mr. Hall called one of his trusty assistants and 
 gave him a tin box containing the money, and sent 
 him to deposit it in the bank according to arrange- 
 ment. The idea of this box being stolen in a street 
 crowded with tens of thousands of people was never 
 dreamed of. It would have been regarded as quite 
 preposterous to think anyone would have the daring 
 to attempt so wild an exploit. The young man who 
 had charge of this box started off, carrying the treas- 
 ure in his right band. 
 
 Just at this moment the general attention of the 
 crowd was attracted by the clatter of hoofs. Seven 
 heavily armed horsemen rode along, the leaders be- 
 ing recognized as Jesse and Frank James. Their 
 dress and manner was such as to mislead many spec- 
 tators into the belief that they were a part of the 
 show contingent of the fair. They realized their 
 mistake when the horsemen were seen to surround 
 the man with the money box, and as one of then? 
 felled him with a blow from the butt of a big re- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 69 
 
 rolver, the others grabbed the treasure and all rode 
 away like the wind. So quickly was it accomplished 
 that although there were thousands of people all 
 about, they were all too surprised to even start in 
 pursuit of the robbers and they escaped with ease. 
 
 The robbery of the Craig store at Bentonville, Ark., 
 was another instance of sleek action on the part of 
 the James gang. The firm did a large business on a 
 strictly cash basis and therefore always had consider- 
 able money in the store. Mr. Craig and his son were 
 alone in the store when the two James brothers en- 
 tered as though to make a purchase. "What can I 
 do for you, gentlement?" asked the elder Craig affa- 
 bly, as he approached from the rear of the store. 
 
 "You can keep quiet," was the blunt answer of 
 the foremost of the men as he presented a revolver in 
 each hand and continued: "If either of you speak a 
 word or stir an inch, I'll blow your brains out, so if 
 you value your d d lives, why be quiet!" 
 
 Looking round the Craigs saw two other men keep- 
 ing" guard at the door. Resistance was utterly impos- 
 sible. The safe door was open; it was the work of a 
 moment to rifle it of its . contents. But the refebers 
 were disappointed. They expected to make a big 
 haul, but the Craigs had banked all their cash on 
 hand at four o'clock, and the safe only contained 
 about $150. This greatly disgusted the rogues, so 
 they swept up about $200 worth of valuable silks and 
 went as quickly as they came, leaving strict charge 
 
70 Robbing the Craig Store, Bentonville, Ark. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING J\ 
 
 that if they attempted to raise an alarm before they 
 had time to leave the town, they would shoot them 
 dead at sight. * 
 
 Another bank robbery of note which was success- 
 fully accomplished by the James boys, was that of the 
 Savings Bank of St. Genevieve, an old Catholic town 
 of Missouri. The town is more than a century old 
 the home of the French aristocracy. The residents 
 were among the most thrifty of. the State, and nearly 
 all of their money went into the bank, instead of 
 being invested in the many wildcat ^schemes of the 
 day. The vaults of the old bank often contained as 
 much as $100,000 at a time, and it was regarded as 
 one of the most prosperous financial institutions of 
 Missouri. Its fame reached the ears of the James 
 -Boys and quite naturally its looting followed. 
 
 It was a beautiful spring morning, the 27th of May, 
 1873. St. Genevieve was looking its very loveliest. 
 Mr. O. D. Harris, the cashier of the bank, accom- 
 panied by F. A, Rozier, a son of the Hon. Forman A. 
 Rozier. the president of the bank, had left his garden 
 home all bright and cheerful, little dreaming what an 
 episode was at hand. The cashier and his . young 
 companion arrived at the bank, the door swung open, 
 and suddenly Mr. Harris and young Rozier were con- 
 fronted by four armed men and accosted thus: 
 "We have eome to help you to open the bank. 
 
 Open the safe instau.y. d n you; we have no 
 
 'time to lose/' 
 
}^2 JAMES BOYS 
 
 "J am helpless and cannot resist you," replied the 
 overpowered Mr. Harris. 
 
 Meantime another of the robbers pointed a pistol 
 at 'the head of young Rozier, and called out: 
 
 "You keep still, d d little rat, if you don't want 
 
 to have your brains blown out in an instant!" 
 
 "I? What for?" asked the young clerk, who had 
 shown signs of desiring to create an alarm. 
 
 "Not another word, young devil," said his stern- 
 faced foe ; "that's enough ! A blabbing tongue can be 
 stopped d- d easy." 
 
 Taking advantage of the moment, and desiring that 
 these strange visitors should have all his room and 
 none of his company, he made a bold leap and sprang 
 down the steps of the bank into the street. As he fled 
 the fellow fired at him and cried: "Halt! halt! you 
 wretched young cuss!" 
 
 Several shots were fired after him, one grazing 
 his shoulder, but he managed to dodge the bullets and 
 got -away, giving the alarm. Noting the townsmen 
 were arming themselves, the robbers hastily com- 
 pleted the ; - t"^k of looting the bank of some $70,000 
 and me .lilting their horses ro.de swiftly away. 
 
 The next event on their criminal calendar #as tho 
 robbery of a train in Nebraska. A regular meeting 
 of the gang- was held at which a number of projects 
 were discussed. 
 
 Comanche ,Tony a desperate Texas ranger. was 
 added to the plundering brotherhood. The gang. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 73 
 
 comprising- the James boys, the Youngers, Bob Hoore, 
 and this Texas Tony, met each, of course, coming 1 
 different ways at a point about fourteen miles east 
 of the city of Council Bluffs, on the Chicago, Rock 
 .id and Pacific Railway. 
 
 The train was due to pass their point of ambush 
 about three o'clock "in the morning. All night they 
 waited and watched, scarcely exchanging a wold with 
 each other, and when they did, not above a whisper. 
 Three or four rails were loosened and torn from 
 their places. Several cross-ties were placed in posi- 
 tion to be used the moment they were required. They 
 worked and watched and waited in silence. They had 
 chosen a most suitable spot. It was fourteen miles 
 from Council Bluffs, six miles from Adair, and about 
 the same distance from Des Moines. There was not 
 a single human habitation for miles around. 
 
 The rumbling 'of the train was heard in the dis- 
 tance. The gang set to work with dogged determina- 
 tion, resorting to the old game of piling railroad ties 
 on the track to derail the engine. It succeeded well. 
 The train came bowling along at a good r; te of speed, 
 struck the ties and not only derailed the engine, but 
 upset it as well, killing the brave engit eer in the 
 wreck. Then this -band of desperadoes broke loose 
 like the demons of hell, firing their pistils in the 
 windows of the coaches at the panic stricken passen- 
 gers. When they were sufficiently cowed, they were 
 systematically robbed of everything of value they 
 possessed. 
 
74 JAMES BOYS 
 
 The express car was broken into and the .::::senger 
 in charge had his arm broken and was forced to un- 
 lock the safe. The robbers secured some $6,000, and 
 the poor guardian of the mails had his watch taken 
 and ten dollars, the only money he possessed. After 
 this every passenger was searched and robbed of 
 money and jewelry. The spoils were put in a sack 
 and the masked robbers sought" their horses, and as 
 the light broadened that peaceful summer morning 
 they took their way southward, $25,000 richer for 
 their dreadful exploit. 
 
 A reward of $50,000 was offered for their arrtat 
 But it was offered in vain. 
 
DEEDS OF BARING 75 
 
 CHAPmR XIII. 
 
 ROBBERY OF THE CHICAGO AND ALTON 
 EXPRESS. 
 
 THE JAMES BOYS' FAMOUS HOLD-UP NEAR GLENDALE, 
 MISSOURI, AND WHAT CAME OF IT, WITH DESPERATE 
 PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF SOME OF THE GANG. 
 
 Early on the morning of September 7th, 1881, 
 ten or a dozen rougly clad men drifted into a farm 
 house a mile or so west of Glendale, Missouri, in 
 the very heart of the hold-up district. They ranged 
 in age from youth to half a century and looked like 
 farmers from the adjacent wheat fields. That is 
 their attire denoted peaceful farmers, but their "heavy 
 revolvers and repeating rifles did not. They were 
 several hours assembling, and when the last men 
 v ho, by the way, were the James Boys, had arrived 
 a conference was held in a carefully guarded loom". 
 
 As soon as the. last arrival'had taken his place at a 
 large table, one of the company, a tall, determined- 
 looking fellow with a sneering, treacherous face, 
 formally addressed the meeting, tapping with the 
 muzzle of his revolver upon a small railroad map 
 spread out before him. 
 
 "There isn't any talk necessary, boys," he said. 
 
Finding a Dead Outlaw After the Train Robbery. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 77 
 
 "I sent for you to come ready to take the train, under 
 my direction." 
 
 A chorus of voices announced the willingness of 
 the men to follow their chief. 
 
 The tall man ran his eye over the cirowd, and then 
 looked at the map. ^ 
 
 "It's dea easy," he said. "We're going to do it 
 tonight, and we'll make a whole lot of money. The 
 C. and A. passenger goes through this ctlt here be- 
 tween Glendale and Independence, about nine o'clock 
 tonight. We'll do it there. 
 
 '\She always carries a lot of United States Express 
 money, & and those big excursion parties are always 
 going through besides if we need them." 
 
 TJ^e men crowded around the chief as he proceeded 
 with the details of the robbery, agreeing to all of his 
 proposals. None of the band paid any attention*to a 
 dark-faced, middle-aged woman who brought some 
 liquor to the table, and who listened eagerly to every 
 word of the conversation, occasionally casting spite- 
 ful glances at the chief and at a short man whom the 
 former addressed as "Dick Little," and who seemed 
 to be second in command. . 
 
 After their conference of half hour or so, the rob- 
 bers disappeared, after agreeing to meet near .the 
 railroad tracks that night. Jesse James mounted his 
 horse and rode away, his followers scattering in 
 every direction, while a sinister-looking woman, who 
 seemed in charge of the house, gathered up a few 
 artir 1 ", of nothing and left the house also. 
 
78 JAMES BOYS 
 
 At tnu cut selected by the chief of the gang, the 
 Missouri Pacific crossed the line of the Chicago and 
 Alton. It was considered a dangerous point for nu- 
 merous reasons. Glendale, only three miles away, 
 had been the scene of several railroad robberies with- 
 in the past few years. 
 
 Aside from the bad reputation of the district, the 
 crossing in the cut, with its steep sides and thickly 
 wooded summits, was s a constant menace to passing 
 trains. Knowing this, it was the custom for en- 
 gineers, especially on night trains, to slow up a little 
 just before entering the ravine. 
 
 It was due to this fact, and to the quick eye of 
 Engineer Foote, that the Chicago and Alton passen- 
 ger train, west-bound, to Kansas City, owed its escape 
 from derailment on the night of September 7. 
 
 It was nearly nine o'clock when -train Number 
 Forty-Eight entered the east end of the cut. Luckily, 
 it was a fairly clea/ night, for just before the loco- 
 motive reached the deepest part of the cut Engineer 
 Foote saw' a light as of a small torch. flare up 
 and wave across the track. He saw something else, 
 too, that made him jam down his brakes with every 
 ounce of pressure, not a moment too soon. 
 
 The gleam of the . headlight showed Foote a pile 
 of rocks heaped up five feet high between the rails 
 and surmounted by a small stick with a red flag tied 
 to the end flapping in- the wind. The engine ran 
 
I ZEDS OF DA 79 
 
 right up to the obstruction, the pile ffestmg itself 
 in among the stones as the train stopped. 
 
 Just beyond the pile of rocks stood a tall masked 
 man, holding a revolver in each hand. In the glare 
 of the headlight, Engineer Foote "could see the 
 whites of the fellow's eyes as he stared into the 
 cab/' 
 
 Foote knew then that the train was held up by 
 road-agents, but there was no time for him to back 
 away. The masked man waved his revolver toward 
 the bank and shouted: 
 
 "Now, men, to your work! Fire away!" 
 
 A rolling discharge of firearms came in response 
 to his order. 
 
 After thoroughly cowing the train crew and pas- 
 sengers, the robbers went though the train and 
 "cleaned up" everybody. They even took the por- 
 ter's tips and his dollar watch. "They went through 
 the bunch with a fine-toothed comb," as a drummer, 
 whose samples were even taken, expressed it. 
 
 As the looters went through the cars, each person 
 was compiled under threat of death to empty the 
 contents of his or her^ pockets into the huge sack, 
 where everything money, watches, and articles of 
 jewelry was jumbled together indiscriminately. 
 Neither women or children were spared 
 
 There wre a number of emigrants aboard, who 
 begged to be allowed to retain at least a small part 
 of their money all that they h?d in the world. They 
 were left nothfilg of value. 
 
8o JAMES r.ovs 
 
 Women -wtiv. .-mpelled to sit on the floor ..> cne 
 cars while the robbers stripped them of their jewelry. 
 Valuables that had been hidden in the carseats and 
 elsewhere were hunted up and tumbled into the sack: 
 Every car^ was swept clean.- 
 
 On the train was an excursion party of fo/ty per- 
 sons from Penn Yaii, New York, going West in 
 charge of the regular traveling agent of the Fort 
 ScottVoad for the purpose of buying land. From 
 this party alone the robbers took over six thouand 
 dollars in money and valuables. 
 
 While this part of the robbery was in p. ogress an 
 emigrant from one of the forward cars came run- 
 ning after the, robbers, half-crazed with grief and 
 fear, crying to them to give him some of his money 
 for his wife and children. As the man passed the 
 plat form from one car to another he was fired upon, 
 but was dragged back uninjured by his friends. 
 Meanwhile* the passengers in the Pullman cars in 
 the rear of the train were trying to conceal their 
 valuables with frantic haste. Several of the ladies 
 in the car managed to secrete their valuables about 
 their clothing, but even this would not have saved 
 them from search, and the surrender of them, but 
 for the fact of an unexpected interruption. 
 
 It occurred in this manner. The conductor had 
 been rounded up with the rest of the crew, after 
 he had been fired on twice. 
 
 While the robbers were going through the coaches 
 it suddenly occurred to him that a freight train vas 
 
DEEDS OF DARIN6 Si 
 
 following his train West and must be about due at 
 the cut, where the passenger train had now been 
 lying about fifteen or twenty minutes. , 
 
 Hazelbacher knew that Frank Burton, the rear 
 brakeman, ought to be on the rear platform of the 
 sleeper, and he shouted to him. Burton was at his 
 station. He heard the call from the conductor, and 
 knew what it meant. At the same time he heard 
 the robbers entering- the other end of the sleeper and 
 heard them call out to the Pullman passengers that 
 they were "coming in and going through the car." 
 
 In spite of the proximity of the bandits, and of 
 the guard with rifles on top of the bank, Burton de- 
 termined to risk getting back up the track to flag 
 the freight train. Holding two Pullman lamps in 
 front of him, he started back over the line. 
 
 At that moment he heard the train approaching 1 , 
 and he knew there was no time for explanations. He 
 started off top speed. 
 
 Before he had gone a car length the men on the 
 bluff opened up on him with their rifles. The bullets 
 came pinging all around him, striking the rails and 
 stones as he ran for his life, hugging the Pullman 
 lamps in his arms. Twenty-five or thirty shots were 
 fired at him, two of them going through his coat. 
 
 Then he heard Engineer Foote, of the passenger 
 train, call out: 
 
 ''For God's sake, don't shoot the boy; he's trying 
 to save the lives of all these people!" 
 
 la the meantime the brakeman had managed to 
 
&2 JAMES BOYS 
 
 signal the approaching" freight train with his lan- 
 terns and it came to a stop within twenty feet of the 
 rear Pullman. The robbers by this time realized 
 that the .freight crew would reinforce the men of 
 the passenger train, hurriedly packed the last of their 
 booty in small bags and made their escape over the 
 hills as fast as their horses could carry them. 
 
 Great excitement followed this robbery, and the 
 authorities made strenuous 1 efforts to capture the 
 gang. At first it war not suspected the James Boys 
 had a hand in it, but later on certain circumstances 
 cropped up, which put the blame fulty on them. 
 
 The theory of the officers concerning the com- 
 position of the band was quickly confirmed, though 
 in an unexpected manner. 
 
 A dark, middle-aged woman called , at the head- 
 quarters of the Chicago and Alton road in Chicago 
 and gave information which convinced the authori- 
 ties thd*t they had to deal with a dangerous league. 
 
 The woman, who sought revenge for personal 
 wrongs, revealed the ~vhole plot. She gave names, 
 and described in derail the proceedings of the plot- 
 ters. 
 
 The woman's information was confirmed. Investi- 
 gations by the railroad officials showed that the rob- 
 bery had been planned by the James Boys. 
 
 To the east and west for one hundred miles picket 
 lines were thrown out to pen in the robbers. All the 
 members of the road-agent league were said to have 
 their homes within thirty miles of Qendale, but it 
 
DE8DS OF DARIfcv, 83 
 
 was thought probable that they might scattc* for a 
 time, to throw the officers off the scent. 
 
 Bodies of picked men were sent in from the cor- 
 don to rake the guarded district, and on September 
 8, the day following the robbery, the advance guard 
 of captives came in. The sheriff of Saline County, 
 with his posse, rounded up Creed Chapman and Sam 
 Chapman the latter a mere boy and John Ziegler, 
 all taken with weapons in their hands. 
 
 A fourth robber, John Wilkinson, alias Nolen, was 
 arrested the same day, after he had taken a train 
 to Kansas City, where he was endeavoring to gather 
 information about the movements of the officers, for 
 his comrades now realized that they were caught in 
 a trap. 
 
 Once landed in jail, young Chapman weakened, 
 giving- the names of the other members of the band, 
 in the hope of saving himself. 
 
 With their usual good luck, the James Boys es- 
 caped capture and pursuit of them was temporarily 
 abandoned. The others were sent to prison for long 
 terms. 
 
JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 SOME OF THE JAMES BOYS' FAILURES. 
 
 A NUMBER OF CLEVERLY PLANNED ROBBERIES THAT 
 DID NOT SUCCEED, AND WHICH CAME NEAR RESULT- 
 ING DISASTROUSLY FOR THE DARING BANDITS. 
 
 To successfully get away with it is the most im- 
 pdrtant part of the game of the train robber. Not 
 only must the plans be perfectly laid, and the whole 
 scheme worked out to the final end, but the get away 
 at the finish must be perfectly -arranged for, in order 
 that the escape may be made before the sleuths of 
 the law are on the trail or a volley of shots poured 
 into the escaping party by the train crew and passen- 
 gers. Although generally successful, the James Boys , 
 weare by no means infallible, and not a few of their 
 cleverly laid plans went wrong and disaster followed, . 
 even resulting in the death of several of their gang, 
 from which luckily for themselves, the bandit chief 
 escaped. It is when the robber's back is turned, 
 when the attention is diverted or when he is riding 
 away from the scene of his crime, that a splendid 
 opportunity is presented to a good marksman to 
 kill with a Winchester or revolver. Here are several 
 cases in point: 
 
 The Helena express, of the Northern Pacific Rail- 
 
DEKDS OF DARING 85 
 
 road, was just crossing the Little Green Kiver o& 
 a moonlight night, when the engineer and firemen 
 when suddenly aroused by a stern command, "Throw 
 up your hands, both of you, quick!" They turned 
 to find a man confronting them with a pair of % big 
 revolvers and up went their hands. Then the en- 
 gineer was given orders to stop the train, which he 
 did. 
 
 The conductor and the train crew had surmised the 
 reason for the stopping of the train, and they did not 
 venture to show themselves any nearer to the en- 
 gine than the rear platform of the last car. They 
 would have .been fools if they had, for they did not 
 know how many were in the attacking party, nor 
 from what point along the track a shot might come. 
 
 At the point of the bandits' pistol the engineer 
 uncoupled the express car from the passenger 
 coaches behind it and from the baggage car in front. 
 Then he returned from the engine and hauled the 
 baggage car out of the siding, coming back on the 
 main track and closing up to the express car. 
 
 He got down from the engine to^jturn the switch 
 at each end of the siding, and again to couple the 
 express car to the engine, on each occasion escorted 
 by the desperado, with the pistol cocked and rady. 
 
 During- all this period the train crew and the pas- 
 sengers remained inside the car. Indeed, few of the 
 passengers knew that any unusual occurrence had 
 stopped the train. 
 
 Under the robbers' directkm, the engineer took 
 
86 JAMES BOYS 
 
 the express c^r up the line a couple of miles away 
 from the rest of the train, where he brought it to a 
 standstill. There was no other train due along the 
 line for several hours, so that there was no immediate 
 danger of a collision, and now the engineer and his 
 captor approached the baggage car, where the latter 
 called upon the express .messenger, Ike Perkins. 
 There being no response, the robber produced a stick 
 of dynamite from his boot-leg and made Fischer 
 blow the door open, the explosion tearing out one 
 end of the car. 
 
 Approaching this aperture, forcing Fischer to walk 
 before him as a shield, the desperado discovered Per- 
 kins, with cocked revolver, standing guard over the 
 property committed to his care, and called upon him 
 to throw his weapon out of the car and empty his 
 pockets. The express messenger obeyed orders. He 
 could not shoot at the robber without endangering 
 the life of Fischer. On the other hand, Perkins 
 afforded a fair mark for Young. 
 
 Once inside the express car the Big Swede, cool 
 and masterful, produced another revolver and more 
 dynamite ' and, covering both of the other men with 
 his battery, he ordered them to blow open the safe, 
 which he knew to contain many thousands of dollars 
 in actual cash. 
 
 And now a surprising thing happened. As the 
 safe fell apart at the sound of the explosion a mass 
 of loose yellow coin rolled out on the floor seven- 
 teen thousand dollars in gold double eagles. The 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 87 
 
 sight tcri^)orarily unbalanced the Big Swede's mind, 
 and, with a roar of delight, he dropped both of his 
 pistols and fell head forward into the golden flood, 
 attempting to pick up an armful. In a fraction of 
 a second Perkins seized a piece of the wreckage of 
 the car and struck the desperado a terrible blow over 
 the back of the head. 
 
 The bandit did not recover consciousness until 
 noon the following day, when he found himself un- 
 der guard in the hospital at Montana. He proved 
 to be Bill Horn, one 'of the James gang, and is at 
 present serving a term of fifty years in State prison, 
 for the hold-up men get long sentences in Montana. 
 
 Another instance of a prearranged robbery failed 
 was on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Road, 
 where several of the James gang", headed by a burly 
 ruffian, known as Al. Redding, attempted a little 
 hold-up without the aid or council of their -leaders. 
 In order to accomplish this robbery the bandits 
 boarded the train at a way station and intended to 
 spring the hold-up when it got far away from civili- 
 zation. But it so happened that the conductor be- 
 came suspicious of one of the men who was sitting 
 in the smoker and kept an eye on him, and when 
 that person followed him out to the platform, a quar- 
 ter of an hour after leaving Billings, he was prepared 
 for him. The result was that each drew a revolver, 
 and that Jackman got his out first and shot the other 
 man through trie heart. 
 
 Meantime, the confederate had reached the tender 
 
88 JAMES BOYS 
 
 of the engine; but, before he had attempted to hold 
 up the engineer, the,, conductor v had pulled the com- 
 munication cord as a signal to stop the train, ^ upon 
 the shooting of rascal No. i. 
 
 - Rascal No. 2 evidently surmised that the scheme 
 to rob the express was not working smoothly, for 
 the engineer saw him jump from the engine as the 
 train began to slow down. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 89 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE DYNAMITE TRAIN ROBBERY. 
 
 THE JAMES BOYS RESORTED TO THE USE OF HIGH 
 EXPLOSIVES IN THEIR LATTER-DAY ^EXPRESS-CAR ROB- 
 BERRIES, WHERE STRONG SAFES WERE OFTEN EN- 
 COUNTERED. 
 
 The introduction of dynamite as a factor in train 
 robbing came with the latter day operations of the 
 James Boys and their gang, and it is said that al- 
 though the leaders themselves were wary of the high 
 explosive and not over- fond of being in any way as- 
 sociated with it or its usages, they were compelled 
 to adopt it as a means of opening express car safes 
 of the later improved patterns, and, in order to safely 
 and expeditiously accomplish the same, enlisted, a 
 former blasting expert in their gang, and to him fell 
 the exclusive task of blowing the captured safes, 
 white the others guarded him while at his work and 
 kept the train crew and officers at bay. The intro- 
 duction of the dangerous and powerful explosive 
 came at a time when a perfect beehive of criminal 
 inductry was buzzing over the west, and lent new 
 terrors to those whose duty it was to pursue and try 
 to capture the death-defying train robbers. The 
 most notable of all dynamite train robberies occurred 
 
90 JAMES BOYS 
 
 on the Missouri Pacific, not many hundred miles 
 west of St. Louis, in Augut, 1886. It was one of 
 the most important trains of the road. It carried, 
 besides the usual through tourist and passenger 
 coaches, the baggage and mail, and a through ex- 
 press car of the Wells, Fargo Express Company. 
 
 The express car, according to the usual custom of 
 the company, carried two treasure boxes, one being 
 a "way safe" for the convenience of the express mes- 
 senger, the other a through safe, which was billed 
 to San Francisco direct, locked and sealed. 
 
 The through safe, of the strongest modern con- 
 struction, always carried the bulk of the money and 
 valuables for the Pacific coast. After reaching San 
 Antonio from the East, it was again made up and 
 relocked. It was not supposed to be opened en route, 
 or until it reached the company's office in San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 The night run was made witho'.t unusual incident. 
 The train reached Clayton (nearly half-way on its 
 journey) at 2.30 in the morning. It was -in this 
 vicinity that a previous attempt had been made to 
 rob the train. The next stop was at a siding, called, 
 by courtesy, Samuels, located about twenty miles west 
 of Clayton, and twelve miles from the Rio Grande. 
 To this point the run was made at low speed. 
 
 It was a bright, cold morning, with a starry sky, 
 such as can only be seen in southwestern Texas, that 
 made the surrounding prairie almost as light as daj. 
 Just before reaching Samuels the fireman remarked 
 
DEEDS OF DARXNu 91 
 
 xo the engineer that he thought "a buncu of horses 
 was riding 1 the train over to the left." 
 
 "Probably some cows broke loose from a herd," 
 Seiver answered him. They paid no more attention 
 to the matter until the engineer pulled up at the sid- 
 ing. 
 
 Everything was still about them; the cars closed 
 and dark, and the only sound was the faint puffing 
 of the engine or an occasional remark by the engine- 
 men. 
 
 The fireman again remarked that he thought there 
 was "a bunch of something" near them, on the 
 prairie. They had stopped a little short of the sid- 
 ing. The engineer reached for the throttle to pull 
 ahead, when from somewhere either on or near the 
 train came a voice: 
 
 "All hunk, boys." 
 
 From the prairie came a sudden pounding of hoofs 
 and clattering of spurs and accoutrements as the 
 horsemen dismounted, and six or seven men came 
 running toward the engine and cars. There was no 
 time for the trainmen to realize what had happened, 
 much less make any resistance, before a dropping 
 volley of rifle shots was fired in the direction of the 
 baggage and express car, the bullets thudding against 
 the woodwork. 
 
 For a moment the engineer mistook the attacking 
 party for a band of larking cowboys, for the star- 
 light showed them plainly, dressed in "chaps," or 
 riding breeches, sombreros, and the usual cattle- 
 
92 JAMES BOYS 
 
 riders' outfit. But he quickly noted that all the men 
 were masked and carried rifles. 
 
 Immediately on firing- the volley two of the bandits 
 sprang upon the locomotive, guarding the enginemen. 
 Four others made for the experss car. 
 
 "Jtist watch and you'll see a new Wild West 
 Show," one of the robbers on the engine remarked. 
 
 The remainder of the robbers' troop, if there were 
 more, stayed back ouf of sight with the horses, 
 "planted" for the usua) get-away. 
 
 One of the men at the express car yelled to the 
 messenger to open up or it would be worse for him. 
 As there was no response from Messenger Smith 
 or the United States mail clerk, who was in the mail 
 car, the robbers began shouting threats. It was plain, 
 from their language and appearance that the rob- 
 bers were all Americans, and not a mixed band of 
 Mexicans and renegade raiders. 
 
 They paid no attention to the passenger coaches, 
 except to fire once or twice when a sopnd came from 
 the rear part^of the train and to yell to some others 
 in the background to be on the lookout. 
 
 Unsuccessful in getting any answer from^the mes- 
 senger, the robbers called something to the mail clerk 
 (who was working like a beaver secreting his valu- 
 able packages in the car). His reply enraged them, 
 for one of them cried out with a curse: 
 
 "We've monkey 1 long enough. Tote that dyna- 
 mite over here, V ell." 
 
 A man came from where the horses had been left, 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 3 
 
 carrying a small parcel in his hands and coolly smok- 
 ing a cigar or cigarette. 
 
 They quickly laid the cartridge and fuse. One 
 explosion was sufficient to shatter the safe so that 
 the robbers could gain entry. Here they secured 
 the real express treasure, in various forms and 
 amounts approximating twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 The final booty satisfied them. One of the party 
 brought up a led horse. Across the saddle they tum- 
 bled two mail sacks containing the money and mis- 
 cellaneous matter. The leader x shouted to the others 
 to get away, and the men on the engine climbed 
 down, still watching the enginemen, * with their rifles 
 frf their hands while waiting for the others to fetch . 
 the horses. 
 
 It was broad daylight by this time nearly five 
 o'clock in the morning. The robbers had delayed 
 the train almost two hours. The other members of 
 the band sat their horses, in plain sight an ominous 
 crew of brigands in the pale light of that prairie 
 morning when the leader sprang down from the car 
 with a parting word to the express, messenger: 
 "Here's your money," he said. "We don't want 
 that now. And here's the other Johnny's, too," re- 
 ferring to the mail clerk who had also been relieved 
 of his personal possessions. He picked up his rifle 
 and turned to go, with a laugh and a final remark: 
 
 "Don't look so downhearted, Sonny. You aint 
 the last express man that's going to wea^"v <n front 
 of dynamite!'' 
 
94 JAMES BOYS 
 
 With a rush and a pounding of hoofs, as tfiey .^a 
 come, the bandits f departed. In a moment only a 
 cloud of dust told of the successful get-away of ^c 
 first successful railroad dynamiters. 
 
D OP DARING 
 
 CHAPTER XVT. 
 THE JAMES BOYS IN MEXICO. 
 
 A WILD VISIT TO THE LAND OF PRESIDENT DIAZ AND 
 THE GREAT SENSATION THE BANDITS' VISIT TO THAT 
 COUNTRY CREATED. 
 
 After having "played the devil generally," so to 
 speak, in the United States and being the object 
 of pursuit not only of the State and Government 
 troops, but of the police authorities of nearly every 
 Western State, the Pinkertons and railroad police 
 'in general, Jesse and Frank James -decided wisely 
 perhaps that they would leave the dominion of 
 Uncle Sam for awhile and sojourn neath the tropic 
 sun of Mexico, believing rightly that in that genial 
 clime, where police methods are lax and American 
 wrongs adjusted very slowly, they would be safe 
 from pursuit or capture until things blew over a 
 bit. After a few days journey they reached the 
 Mexican border and passed over into the domain 
 which seemed to offer them security and rest, it 
 might be added peace, but that condition of human 
 afl[airs seems not to have been intended for them, 
 so the white dove perched not long above them. 
 Their first social event afttr reaching the land of 
 
90 JAMES- BOYS 
 
 the ca^-us was a fandango or dance, which wae 
 held near the little country town where they were 
 stopping-. Of course, they had not been invited, 
 but that fact cut little figure with gentlemfen of as 
 extreme , narve of the Tames Boys, so they literally 
 invited themselves and went. More than that they 
 actually danced with the Mexican senoritas,. aand 
 thereby occasioned much jealousy on the part of 
 the native cavaliers. 
 
 The onlookers were first amused and then broke 
 out into open ridiculue, and laughed at Frank and 
 Jess$ and began to mimic, with exaggerated con- 
 tortions, the awkward dancing of the brothers. 
 
 Now, the boys could stand a good deal, but you 
 were not to laugh at them. They were not very fas- 
 tidious or exacting in their demands, but they 
 would not stand being laughed at! So, quick as 
 thought, down went one of the boldest beneath 
 the strong hand of Frank. In a moment a strong- 
 ly-built Mexican struck Frank a blow on the cheek 
 which s*fent him spinning headlong into the ample 
 laps of two Mexican maidens, much to their 
 amazement and disgust. This was no time to 
 waver, so Jesse improved the moment by sending 
 a bullet through the brain of the Mexican who had 
 struck his brother Frank. This stirred the Spanish 
 blood, and, what lovers of the sanguinary would say, 
 the fun began, and the fighting was beautiful. Frank 
 and Jesse made for the door, but their way was 
 blocked 'by the furious and vengeful hi^algoes. StK 
 
James Boy's in Mexico 
 
98 JAMES BOYS 
 
 lettos gleamed and glistened. But stillettos are poor 
 where revolvers come. A desperate fight followed in 
 which revolvers were freely used on both sides, and 
 many of the revelers were wounded. 
 
 Carmen, a town in the northern part otf the 
 State of Chihuahua, Mexico, next saw the brother 
 desperadoes. This town is on the line of travel 
 from the silver mines for merchants and seemed 
 to offer exceptional advantages for a hold-up. Just 
 by way of diversion the James boys determined 
 on it, "in order to keep in practice," as they after- 
 wards admited. 
 
 Not long afterward two seemingly affable young 
 Americans approached a pack train of twelve mules 
 from the silver mines and, after making friends with 
 the muleteers and guards, offered to travel along with 
 them a way, in order to help protect them against 
 any stray bandits that might be hiding in the hills. 
 They played their game so well, the simple Mexicans 
 suspected nothing and seemed glad of their company. 
 They represented themselves as being anxious to get 
 back to the, States, but afraid to travel alone, owing 
 to bandits and Indians. Frank and Jesse had three 
 other friends who were really in the same box with 
 themselves. The chief of the guard was inter- 
 viewed with a request that he would allow these 
 young men, who had been inspecting mines, to go 
 under their escort for safety just across the peril- 
 ous border, of course, agreeing that if danger 
 
_^. DEEDS OF DARING 99 
 
 > 
 
 came they would fight in the interests of the 
 guard and their treasure. 
 
 The chief consented, and so there started out 
 next day from Carmen the procession of mules 
 and their treasures and guards, and these five 
 pious - looking young gentlemen goody-goody 
 looking enough to teach in Sunday-school or ex- 
 hort at a mission. And yet Mexico had not five 
 such desperadoes from the North Fork to the most 
 southerly sweep of the Rio Grande! 
 
 For two or three days they were watched, but 
 soon all suspicion gave way to confience. It was 
 noon, about the fifth day out, when the cavalcade 
 halted near a most refreshing fountain. The bur- 
 dens were taken from the mules that they might 
 graze at leisure in the valley. The muleteers, all 
 save two who were reserved to stand sentinel 
 over the bags of silver were enjoying their noon- 
 day siesta. The ingenious five were under a tree 
 apart, holding a quiet converse. The guns of the 
 whole party were stacked against a tree. The two 
 guards on duty over the silver pouches were hold- 
 ing their guns in the most formal and careless 
 manner over their shoulders. 
 
 The opportune moment had come! 
 
 "Let's go, boys!" was the brief signal from 
 Jesse, accompanied by his low, shrill whistle. 
 
 Crack! went a couple of pistols, and the two 
 armed guards sank quivering to the earth, shot 
 dead! The arms staged against the tree were de- 
 
IOO JAMES BOYS 
 
 stroyed in less time than it takes to tell. Tnc 
 other guards were ordered to hold up their arms, 
 and were at once disarmed. They then ordered 
 the muleteers to put the bags of silver on the 
 best mules. All the rest of the horses were shot. 
 Then Frank and Jesse and their confreres rode off 
 with their stolen treasure, threatening instant 
 death to anyone who dared to follow. The rob- 
 bers bore their treasure into Texas, divided the 
 spoils, and congratulated each other on the suc- 
 cess of the enterprise. 
 
 But they did not linger long in Texas, and then 
 when things began to grow hot again they decided 
 upon returning to Mexico, where living was easy 
 and they had no trouble in turning a trick when 
 their cash ran low. They went to a town called 
 Monclova, in Coahuila, and here to their surprise 
 met one of their old companions of wartime days. 
 He had returned after the war to peaceful pur- 
 suits and, having become enamored with the bright 
 eyes of a pretty half-breed, had settled down to a 
 quiet rural life in the country 1 . 
 
 The sight of the James boys and' the sound of 
 their voices woke up a thousand pleasant mem- 
 ories. They talked v of the old times, and sang the 
 old songs, and fought the old battles over again, 
 till the Mexican bride was alarmed to think how 
 desperate a man she had married. 
 
 Now. it seems the one essential proof of Mexi- 
 can kindness is to honor your frienH who visits 
 
~>KEDS OF DARING ^OI 
 
 " yon with * fandango. Frank and Jesse, nothing 
 loth, on the promise that the grace and beauty of 
 Monclova should adorn the scene, accepted the 
 honor. The night came, aand with the night the 
 fandango. 
 
 The honored guests were summering in beauty's 
 smiles, the host was charmed that all went so well, 
 and the gentle hostess beamed and smiled com- 
 placently around. AH went well for a time, till 
 the quick eye of Jesse thought he discovered a fur- 
 tive glance in the eyes of two of the guests. A 
 young lieutenant 'of the Mexican Army and an 
 American from Matehuela were among the guests. 
 Jesse became more and more convinced that trou- 
 ble was brewing and informed his brother Frank 
 of his suspicions. His surmises were correct, for 
 both men knew there was a reward of $1,000 hang- 
 ing over the James boys' heads and had secretly 
 determined to earn it. They managed to commu- 
 nicate the news of the James brothers' presence 
 to the Mexican authorities, and at midnight the 
 house was surrounded by a large detachment of 
 soldiers. When the festivities were at their gay- 
 est the raid was made. The door was suddenly 
 thrown open and a .stately uniformed officer strode 
 into the room, followed by a military guard. 
 
 A scene of indescribable confusion ensued. The 
 men were astounded, the ladies were panic-stricken. 
 The only calm people at the fandan; were the 
 two most concerned. 
 
IO2 JAMES BOYS 
 
 The officer marched up to Frank and Jesse, ana 
 in the name of the Mexican Government demand- 
 ed their surrender. The brothers laughed deri- 
 sively in the faces of the officers. 
 
 "Will you surrender peacefully?" he asked. 
 
 "Never!" was Frank's calm reply. 
 
 With that the officer motioned to his guards to 
 move up. 
 
 "Stop!" It was Jesse's voice of command The 
 officer waved to his guards to halt. . 
 
 "We have a proposition to submit. Will you 
 hear it?" 
 
 "If.it means surrender, yes," replied the officer. 
 
 "It is this," pursued Jesse; not appearing to no- 
 tice the purport of the officer's reply, "to allow these 
 ladies here to retire, and we will discuss the question 
 with you. 
 
 To this the officer finally agreed, and they did so. 
 
 "Now will you surrender?" demanded the officer. 
 
 "No," yelled Jesse, and the next moment a pistol 
 flashed and the officer lay dead at his feet. 
 
 Three more shots rang out in quick sniccesion 
 and three more Mexican soldiers fell dead to the 
 floor. 
 
 The guard became demoralized and fled. The 
 boys now rushed for the street. The soldiers 
 guarding the house fired, but they fired aimlessly 
 in their confusion, and Frank and Jesse only re- 
 ceived a few scratches. 
 
 In a little while the whole town was mad with 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 103 
 
 excitement, and the wildest stories got abroad. All 
 the ladies of the fandango had been remorselessly 
 butchered by hireling murderers, the soldiers were 
 all shot, and the work of massacre was going on. 
 The wild stories grew and grew. The streets soon 
 surged with a most excited crowd. The fire bells 
 rang, the alarm drums beat at the barracks, the 
 whole of the soldiery formed in line and marched 
 to the scene of the disaster. Men, women and chil- 
 dren made the night hideous with their screams. 
 The darkness was dense and favored the fugitives. 
 Frank and Jesse reached their horses, and while 
 Monclova was hunting them about the region of 
 the place of blood they were riding fast and furi- 
 ously away. 
 
 After this desperate affair the James brothers 
 lived quietly in a secluded spot in the mountains 
 until the excitement had died out, and then, per- 
 haps, tired of the bloodshed and excitement amid 
 which they had lived so long, determined to seek 
 rest in the simple pastoral life, and took up a 
 sheep ranch, where they accumulated large and 
 valuable flocks. They seemed doomed to warfare, 
 however, and despite their really earnest efforts 
 t live at peace with the world, even for a short 
 time, they were soon again forced to take up the 
 trail again. This came about by reason of the dep- 
 redations of one Juan Palacio, a Mexican cattle 
 thief, who had included sheep in his stealings. He 
 robbed the sheepfoldls right and left, driving away 
 
JAMES BOYS 
 
 whole droves, which he afterwards sold. So long 
 as he confined his stealings to the Mexican herds 
 the James boys paid no attention, but when their 
 sheep began to go they arose to anger and ven- 
 geance quickly. Although robbers themselves 
 they quickly resented any attempt to rob them and 
 started out after the greaser who stole their sheep, 
 assisted by a murderer named Almonte, another 
 outlaw. 
 
 Palacio proposed to carry away all the cattle, 
 and if the cowboys on the various ranches object- 
 ed well, cold lead and a short shrift.^ And the 
 cold lead first. The stampede was complete. 
 Three of the "cowboys" were killed, but the herds 
 were marched to the banks of the Rio Grande. 
 Two days afterwards Frank and Jesse heard of 
 this from one of the sorely distressed herdsmen. 
 It so happened that Frank and Jesse had posses- 
 sions in the valley, and their flocks had been car- 
 ried off by the murdering Mexicans; and, of all 
 men, they were not the men to sit down and be 
 robbed in silence. Their plans were soon formed. 
 Prompt action was needed now. It was in Oc- 
 tober. Frank and Jesse soon got on Palacio's 
 trail. They came to El Paso. All was silent, 
 though the robbers had driven through the village. 
 Palacio and Almonte came to camp in the moun- 
 tains. They felt themselves quite secure, and so 
 fell asleep in fancied safety. But they had but 
 little sleeping time. They were suddenly aroused 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 105 
 
 by the ports from the avenging pistols of the 
 James boys. Shot after shot was fired, dealing 
 death at every discharge. Roused from the midst of 
 a fitful sleep, the robbers were dazed and bewildered, 
 and thought they were surrounded by a huge com- 
 pany of avengers, and so they fled as fast as their 
 weary legs could carry them, giving themselves 
 no time, fo\ they were in no mood to examine the 
 state of things. Ten of these robbers lay dead, 
 and the rest, terror-stricken, had hurried away in 
 wild confusion to the shelter of the hills. The 
 leaders, Palacio and Almonte, were not with the 
 camp when Frank and Jesse made their murder- 
 ous onslaught. When the tidings reached them 
 they, of course, imagined what the rest of the thir- 
 ty thought that there must be a company of aven- 
 gers, or "Grino Diablas," as they called them, 
 from the Pecos Vale. When they came to under- 
 stand that this successful raid had been carried on 
 by two men only they were furious, and swore 
 by all their gods to be avenged. The whole troop 
 of the twenty-five were on the trail of the brothers 
 to recapture the cattle and strike death to the 
 hearts of the graceless two who had wrought them 
 such humiliation and decimated their band. 
 
 At last they came in sight of the great crowd- 
 ing herds of cattle, and there were only these two 
 men to deal with. Who would give a pin's worth 
 for the chances of the boys? 
 
 Arrived on the crest of the hill, he saw fifteen 
 
IO6 JAMES BOYS - 
 
 of these greasers coming up he hill. They were 
 four hundred yards away, but Jesse's trusted long- 
 range Winchester did splendid service. One after 
 another of the Mexicans fell, till by the time 
 Frank came up four of the leaders and one of their 
 mustangs lay dead, and the rest of the company 
 had beat a retreat. As Frank reached the brow 
 of the hill, Jesse said: 
 
 "Well, I've prepared a feast for the vultures over 
 yonder." 
 
 "How many are down?" asked Frank. 
 
 "Oh, only four men and one horse," he answered, 
 with a grim sort of smile. 
 
 And the rest of the valiant Mexican host were 
 galloping away for dear life. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MORE CRUEL THAN NERO WERE THE 
 JAMES BOYS. 
 
 WHEN THOROUGHLY AROUSED OR WHEN THEIR HOME 
 WAS ATTACKED BY RAIDERS, THEIR CRUELTY AND DE- 
 SIRE FOR REVENGE KNEW NO BOUNDS AND NO UNDER- 
 TAKING WAS TOO BLOODTHIRSTY. 
 
 There were two sides to the natures of the James 
 Boys, and despite the fact that to their old mother 
 they were all kindness and tenderness, and to women 
 in general they were considerate and gallant, Nero 
 was never more cruel in his worst moods than were 
 these two outlaws when on the trail for revenge. 
 This vindictive spirit was particularly directed against 
 the Pinkerton Detective Agency and its men, which 
 had been remorsely hunting them down for several 
 years. Several times tHey had experienced very nar- 
 row escapes, and in more than one instance the Pin- 
 kerton man never returned to report what happened. 
 
 Governors Woodson, of Missouri, and Baxter, of 
 Arkansas, offered large rewards for the apprehen- 
 sion of all or any of the bandits, as did likewise the 
 American Express Company, who engaged Allen 
 
IO8 JAMES BOYS 
 
 Pinkerton and his efficient force of detectives to hunt 
 them down at all hazards and at any cost. 
 
 In a number of instances the pursuers became the 
 pursued, and it was the bandits who chased the de- 
 tectives instead of vice versa. 
 
 The following account of the meeting of Detectives 
 Allen Wright and Daniels, of the Pinkerton force, 
 I will give some idea of the character of these des- 
 peradoes: "We were riding along the road from 
 Roscoe to Chalk Level, in St. Clair county, which 
 road leads past the house of one Theodore Snuffer. 
 Daniels .and myself were riding side by side, and our 
 companion, Wright, was a short distance ahead of us. 
 Some noise behind us attracted our attention, and, 
 looking back, we saw two men on horseback coming 
 toward us; one was armed with a double-barrel shot- 
 gun, the other with revolvers; don't know if the lat- 
 ter had a shotgun or not; the one that had the shot- 
 gun carried it cocked, both barrels, and ordered us to 
 halt; Wright drew his pistol, but then put spurs to 
 his horse and rode off; they ordered him to halt, and 
 shot at him, and shot off his hat, but he kept on 
 riding. Daniels and myself stopped, standing across 
 the road on our horses ; they rode up to us and or- 
 dered us to take off our pistols and drop* them on 
 the road, one of them covering me all the time with 
 his gun. We dropped our pistols on the ground, 
 and one of the men told the other to follow Wright 
 and bring him back, but he refused to go, saying he 
 would stay W&h him; one of the men then picked up 
 
DEEDS OF DARING IOQ 
 
 the revolvers we had dropped, and, looking at them, 
 /emarked they were damned fine pistols, and that we 
 must make them a present of them; one of them 
 asked me where we came from, and I said, 'Osceola ;' 
 he then wanted to know what we were doing in this 
 part of the country; I replied, 'Rambling around/ 
 One of them said : 'You ^vere up here one day be- 
 fore.' I replied that we were not. He then said we 
 had been at the Springs. I replied that we had been 
 at the Springs, but had not been inquiring for them; 
 that we did not know them; they said detectives had 
 been up there hunting for them all the time, and 
 they were going to stop it. Daniels then said : 'I am 
 no detective; I can show you who I am and where 
 I belong/ and one of them said he knew him, and 
 then turned to me and said: 'What in hell are you 
 riding around here with all them pistols on for?' and 
 I said: 'Good God! is not every man wearing them 
 that is traveling, and have I not as much right to 
 wear them as anyone else?' Then the one that had 
 the shotgun said: 'Hold on, young man, we don't 
 want any of that/ and then lowered the gun, cocked, 
 m a threatening manner. Then Daniels had some 
 talk with them, and one of them got off his horse and 
 picked up the pistols; two of them were mine and 
 one was Daniels'; the one mounted had the gun 
 drawn on me, and I concluded that they intended to 
 kill us. I reached my hand behind me and drew a 
 No. 2 Smith & Wesson pistol and cocked and fired 
 at the one on horseback; my horse became frightened 
 
HO JAMES BOYS 
 
 at the report of the pistol and turned to run; then I 
 heard two shots and my left arm fell; I had no con- 
 trol over my horse, and he jumped into the bushes 
 before I could get hold of the rein with my right 
 hand to bring him into the road; one of the men 
 rode by and fired two shots at me, one of which took 
 effect in my left side, and I lost all control of my 
 horse again, and he turned into the brush, when a 
 small tree struck me and knocked me out of the 
 saddle. I then got up and staggered across the road 
 and lay down until I was found. No one else was 
 present." 
 
 Captain Allen was struck very hard in the left side, 
 two inches above the hip ; he was carried back to Ros- 
 coe, where he lingered for a period of six weeks, and 
 then died, surrounded by his family, that had come 
 to him from Chicago, directly after the shooting. His 
 remains were enclosed in a metallic case and returned 
 to Chicago, where they were buried with Masonic 
 honors. Ed Daniels was laid away in the little 
 churchyard at Osceola. . 
 
 The torture and murder of Detective Wicher, a:^"> 
 of the Pinkerton force, by the Tames boys, was par- 
 ticularly brutal and aroused tru entire country when 
 its details became known. 
 
 Pinkerton received inforniatioL that the James boys 
 and others of the band of robbers were in hiding 
 near Kearney, in Clay county, Missouri, and he deter- 
 mined to send some brave, trusty man out there to 
 definitely locate them, get into their confidence and 
 
DEEDS OP DARING III 
 
 prepare the way for ?~i early capture of the whole 
 gang. Pinkerton had come to the conclusion thai 
 open pursuit of the bandits would never result in 
 their capture, for they had too many friends in the 
 community where they operated o make it possible 
 to apprehend them. They always had timely warn- 
 ing of the approach of an enemy, and ready shelter 
 in the houses of their friends on a moment's notice. 
 The chief of detectives, therefore, resolved to cap- 
 ture the gang through strictly detective methods, and 
 called u[on his force for a man to do the delicate 
 and dangerous work. 
 
 John W. Wicher, of Chicago, one of Pinkerton's 
 most trusted men, volunteered for this dangerous 
 duty. Wicher was scarcely thirty years of age, but 
 had seen much service as a detective, and was con- 
 sidered by Pinkerton to be one of his bravest, clear- 
 est-headed and most trusty men. 
 
 Young Wicher was fully informed of the dangers 
 of stich a mission, but his self-reliance and pride 
 made him anxious to make the attempt which had 
 already cost the lives of so many courageous officials. 
 The chief gave his consent, and Wicher set out at 
 once for the Samuels residence. In the early part of 
 March the detective arrived in Liberty, where he 
 soon laid his schemes before the sheriff of Clay 
 county, and asked for assistance when the time and 
 circumstances were ripe for a strike. The Sheriff 
 promised all needful aid, and gave Wicher all the 
 fnformation in his possession concerning the habits 
 
H* JAMES ROYS 
 
 and rendezvous of the James and Younger beys. 
 
 Determined to either capture the James boys or 
 forfeit his life in the attempt, Detective Wicher dis- 
 guised himself as a tramp and started for the home 
 of the bandits. He reached there in due time, and 
 before he could even realize it had fallen into their 
 clutches. Realizing that it was useless for him to 
 try resistance at that time, he decided to resort to a 
 ruse and solemnly averred that he was only an 
 humble wayfarer. They accused him of being a 
 Pinkerton man, which he indignantly denied. 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, I am nothing more than a poor 
 man, without as much as a dollar in my pocket, and 
 what I have told you as to* my purpose is true. If 
 you will be good enough to let me proceed, or fur- 
 nish me with means by which I can secure work, I 
 shall be thankful." 
 
 At this the bandits laughea scornfully, while Jesse 
 James proceeded with the examination: 
 
 "I think you are from Chicago, and when you ar 
 rived at Liberty a few days ago you wore much bet- 
 ter clothes than you now have on ; besides, it seer* ' 
 that you and Moss (the sheriff) have some busines^ 
 together. Say, now, young fellow, haven't you set 
 out to locate the James boys, whom you have found 
 rather unexpectedly?" 
 
 Wicher saw that he was in the hands of his ene- 
 mies, and his heart beat in excited pulsation as he 
 thought of the young wife he had so recently wed- 
 ded, and from whom an eternal separation appeared 
 
DEEDS OF DARING ."*Ij 
 
 i. Dropping his head as if resigning himself 
 to cruel fate, Wicher hoped to deceive his captors, 
 and in an unguarded moment be able to draw his 
 pistol and fight for his life. Like a flash from a hazy 
 cloud the detective thrust his hand into his bosom 
 and succeeded in grasping his pistol, but ere he 
 could use it the bandits sprang upon him, and in the 
 grip of three strong men he was helpless. He was 
 then disarmed and firmly bound by small cords which 
 Frank James produced. Clell Miller went into the 
 woods and soon returned, leading three horses, on 
 the largest of which Wicher was placed and his feet 
 tied under the horse's belly. A gag was placed 
 tightly in his mouth, and Jesse James, mounting be- 
 hind, the desperadoes rode into the deepening woods 
 with their victim. They crossed the Missouri River 
 at Independence Landing, and fust before day they 
 halted in the black shadows of a copse in Jackson 
 county. Here they prepared for the torture and exe- 
 cution of their prisoner. Wicher was taken from his 
 horse and bound fast to a tree ; the gag was removed 
 from his mouth, and then the bandits tried to extort 
 from him information concerning the plans of Pin- 
 kerton and the number and names of the detectives 
 he had engaged in the attempt to capture the outlaws. 
 Though they pricked him with their bowie knives 
 and bent his head forward with their combined 
 strength until the spinal column was almost broken, 
 and practiced other atrocious torments, yet Wicher 
 never spoke. He knew that death was kis portion, 
 
JAMES BOY& 
 
 and he deiie^ the desperadoes and dared them to do 
 their worst. 
 
 Finding all their endeavors fruitless, Jesse and 
 Frank James murdered theif victim, one of them 
 shooting him through the heart and the other 
 through the brain. The body was then carried to 
 the nearest highway, where it was lelt to be found 
 next day by a farmer who was driving into Inde- 
 pendence. 
 
E>BDS OP DARING 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 THE IRON MOUNTAIN TRAIN ROBBERY. 
 
 Perhaps the most celebrated train robbery com- 
 mitted by the James brothers and their close ac- 
 complices, the Youngers, was that of the Iron 
 Mountain express in Missouri, near a place called 
 Wayne, which for daring and actual audacity cer- 
 tainly eclipses all their other achievements in this 
 line. It was the big sensation of the entire coun- 
 try at the time, and is still recalled by Westerners 
 as the most desperate affair of its kind that ever 
 occurred in that country. The spot where the rob- 
 bery occurred was ideal, inasmuch as it was inhab- 
 ited by only a few people. The surrounding coun- 
 try was a perfect jungle, which made the escape 
 of the bandits comparatively easy after the perpe- 
 tration of their crime. 
 
 The Iron Mountain express was due at Wayne 
 at 5.40 P. M., and a little before that hour a band 
 of six men rode up on horseback, halting a short 
 distance from the railroad station. They were all 
 stalwart fellows, wearing gray felt hats and oM 
 blue army overeoaJg, and wfcbairt close Inspec- 
 tion might have been tel:er lot a detachment of 
 
ir6 The Iron Mountain Express Hold-Up. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 United States troopers, especially as thc> carried 
 big revolvers in their belts and Winchester rifles 
 in their hands. Dismounting, they fastened their 
 horses to a clump of trees near by, and walked 
 quietly up to the little railroad station. The few 
 loiterers about the station were greatly surprised 
 when the sextette drew their pistols and ordered 
 them inside the station. But they stood not on the 
 order of their going, and simply went without par- 
 ley. They were all promptly locked inside, under 
 threat of instant death if they attempted to escape. 
 
 Now in absolute control of the station, the bri- 
 gands prepared to receive the Iron Mountain ex- 
 press. The switch leading into the side track was 
 thrown open in order to prevent the engineer from 
 running past the station in case his suspicions 
 should be aroused, and a red signal flag was plant- 
 ed in the center of the track immediately in front 
 of the station platform. Then the robbers lit che- 
 roots and moved back into the shadow of the sta- 
 tion house to await the arrival of the train. 
 
 The robbers had a definite purpose in holding 
 up the Iron Mountain train. In the railroad rob- 
 bery of the previous July they had missed $75,000 
 in gold by stopping the wrong train the one 
 which preceded the treasure. Now they had 
 learned that Treasurer Stanchfield, of the CUar- 
 water Lumber Company, was to be on this train 
 ftrith $5,000, no mean sum in those days. Moreover, 
 
Il8 JAMES BOYS 
 
 they counted on cleaning out the Adams Express car. 
 They had well timed the arrival of the train and 
 had not long to wait, for in a very few minutes 
 the faint trail of smoke from the locomotive was 
 seen in the distant sky, and soon the puffing of 
 the engine was heard as it came speeding across 
 the prairie. Wayne was not a regular stop, trains 
 stopping there on being signalled. This the rob- 
 bers knew, and set the proper flag by the track for 
 the train to halt. The engineer saw it and, sus- 
 pecting nothing, brought his train to a stop beside 
 the station platform. 
 
 For a moment there was no one to be seen. 
 Then the leader of the gang made a dash for the 
 engine cab and climbed into it with a drawn re- 
 volver. 
 
 "You fellows need some exercise," he remarked 
 to the helpless engineer and firemen. "Climb down 
 and take to the woods. ... No foolishness! 
 You walk straight out, and don't come back until 
 we whistle for you, unless you're tired of living." 
 
 The conductor sprang down to see what the 
 trouble was. He found himself looking into the 
 muzzles of two revolvers, and was greeted with a 
 command to throw up his hands or have his head 
 blown off. 
 
 "Come along to the coop," the robber added 
 cheerfully, through the black calico mask which he 
 wore over his face. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 119 
 
 A glance forward showed him that three other 
 masked men were approaching with revolvers in 
 their hands, and that he had no choice but to obey. 
 
 The work of going through the cars was done 
 expeditiously to the accompaniment of a running 
 fire of remarks. Then, after finishing with the pas- 
 sengers and warning them as they valued their 
 lives to keep quiet, the bandits turned their atten- 
 tion to the express and mail car. They broke 
 open the safe of the Adams Express Company, but 
 in it they found only $1,080. One of them re- 
 ported, from the door, the smallness of the sum 
 to the leader, who was keeping a watchful eye 
 upon the cars and the prisoners. 
 
 "Rip up Uncle Sam and see what he's got in- 
 side," he answered. 
 
 The United States mail bags were immediately 
 cut open and rifled. In one letter the robbers 
 found $2,000 in bills, and varying sums in a num- 
 ber of others. Coolly counting up the entire pro- 
 ceeds, the looters found that their booty was 
 aearly $12,000, including $1,260 from the mail bags. 
 
 The robbers, "who were all six-footers and heavily 
 rmed, escaped on fine, blooded horses, going in a 
 southerly direction." 
 
 This remarkable document wound up with the 
 Statement: "This thing made a h 1 of an excite- 
 ment in this part of the country. 
 
 "Here's the lojt item/' the leader said, when he 
 handed the paper to one of the trainmen. "We 
 
I2O JAMES BOYS 
 
 like to do things in style and save people all the 
 trouble we can. All right, Al!" he shouted to the 
 conductor, "you can travel on now." 
 
 Just as the engineer was pulling out, the robber 
 who had thrown the switch discovered that he had 
 left his overcoat on the track beside the switch- 
 board. The engineer was again stopped while the 
 fellow went forward aand secured his coat, throw- 
 ing back the switch at the same time. 
 
 As the passenger cars passed the robbers on the 
 platform they waved their hands with sarcastic 
 farewells. 
 
 "We'll see you some oth^r day when we get 
 short of funds," the leader cried. 
 
 A minute later they threw open the door of the 
 station aand released the prisoners. Then, mount- 
 ing their "fine, blooded horses," the six ruffians 
 rode leisurely away. 
 
 The robbery created a tremendous sensation, 
 particularly as it was ascertained that the outrage 
 was committed by the same men who had robbed 
 the Hot Springs stage coach only two weeks be- 
 fore. Aside from the amount of the booty, which 
 was a secondary consideration, the authorities, in- 
 cluding the railroad, express and postoffice offi- 
 cials, realized that the audacity of the crime called 
 for immediate acttion. 
 
 There was not the slightest doubt of the iden- 
 tity of the brigands. As an editorial witer re- 
 marked at the time: "No continent comJ pro- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 121 
 
 duce two bends of such blithesome ruffians!" Be- 
 sides, forty pairs of eyese had studied them, and 
 there was plenty of material for identification, 
 
 Rewards amounting to a large sum were at once 
 offered for the apprehension of the outlaws. After 
 the Governor of Missouri had sent his indignant 
 message to the Legislature, that body declined to 
 allow him the use of the militia or to vote suffi- 
 cient money for the organization of a secret po- 
 lice, but it did vote $10,000 to use as rewards. 
 
 The Governor immediately offered $2,000 apiece 
 for the capture of the Iron Mountain desperadoes 
 and subsequently the Governor of Arkansas of- 
 fered $2,500 more. The Postoffice Department 
 also offered a reward of $5,000, making an aggre- 
 gate of $17,500 from these sources alone for the 
 apprehension of the robbers, "living or dead." 
 
 The Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Adams 
 Express Company, besides offering any reasona- 
 ble sum in rewards, also instituted vigorous meas- 
 ures to capture the gang. A number of St. Louis 
 detectives were put on the case, and the Pink- 
 erton Detective Agency sent out two of their best 
 detectives. 
 
 Despite all these efforts to capture them, how- 
 ever, the James boys seemed to bear charmed lives, 
 for they had seemingly vanished as though the 
 earth had opened and swallowed them up. 
 
122 JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE GREAT MAMMOTH CAVE STAGE 
 ROBBERY. 
 
 DARING HOLD-UP OF THE COACH FILLED WITH SIGHT- 
 SEERS AND THE EXCITING TIME THAT FOLLOWED THE 
 ROBBERY. 
 
 Generally, after a big train or bank robbery, the 
 James Boys retired to their home with their booty 
 and lived the easy and simple life until it was gone. 
 This period of inactivities, of course, varied in dura- 
 tion according to the magnitude of the haul and the 
 laxness or activity of the law officers, who were in 
 pursuit. If they lagged, and the bankroll was a big 
 one, the desperadoes stayed home and took it easy 
 for months. If not, they were on the warpath again 
 in a week or two. As long as they kept away from 
 the gambling table they had money, but very soon 
 after they began bucking the tiger, they were invari- 
 ably broke, for bold and successful robbers as they 
 were, they lacked tact with the pasteboards, and were 
 known to be very poor card sharps. It was while 
 taking one of these periodical recuperative spells 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 123 
 
 that they planned the robbery f the Mammoth Cave 
 coach, the details of which are given below. 
 
 It occurred in September, 1880, at which season 
 the great cave ^is visited by thousands of tourists 
 from all parts of the country and world. One of 
 the favorite routes to this natural wonder is by way 
 of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to Cave 
 City, and thence by stage to the caves, about ten 
 miles distant. 
 
 On the day of the robbery of the stage the pas- 
 sengers were the Right Rev. Bishop Gregg, of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Texas; Mr. Breck- 
 enridge, president of the First National Bank of San 
 Antonio, and other ladies and gentlemen of good 
 standing eleven in all. Merry, happy souls, who 
 knew the brighter side of life, and knew no lack of 
 earthly gear. The stage called at its usual halting 
 place about six o'clock in order that man and beast 
 might be refreshed. 
 
 Just after resuming their journey the driver des- 
 cried ahead of him six mounted men, whom he took 
 for rancheros; but as they drew nearer he became a 
 little puzzled. They were mounted not on the rough 
 mustang of the prairies, but on splendid American 
 horses of the best breed The driver became a little 
 nervous. 
 
 It was about 6 P. M. that the stage was nearing 
 Cave City on its return from the cave, that it was 
 suddenly confronted by a number of masked horse- 
 men, in a dark and deeply wooded ravine. In 
 
124 JAMES BOYS 
 
 answer to c. pistol shot, which whizzed cloie to his 
 head, the driver reined up his horses, and the coach 
 was at once surrounded by heavily armed horsemen. 
 The passengers, in terror, looked into the muzzles 
 of what seemed to be a whole battery of revolver 
 barrels and were ordered to alight. It was also 
 explained by the highwaymen that the order applied 
 to women as -well as men. 
 
 "Come, tumble out!" was the brief command. 
 "Tumble out quick, if you don't want to die where 
 you sit." 
 
 A scene of confusion ensued. The women of the 
 party lost all presence of mind, and without the 
 slightest regard for the proprieties, clambered over 
 and clung to the gentlemen of the party for pro- 
 tection. Surely, never in the world, was a bishop 
 hugged by a very ponderous maiden lady, of a 
 very certain age, as she begged him for the love of 
 God to protect her from "those wicked, horrid men." 
 
 But the bishop was more in danger than his stout- 
 clinging friend. Indeed, there was little danger to 
 the women of the company, if they would but keep 
 quiet. Jesse James did most of the talking on the 
 occasion, though Younger occasionally put in a word. 
 The ladies were assured they had nothing to fear, if 
 only the men behaved themselves. "Behaving them- 
 selves" on this occasion meant simply getting out of 
 the stage and delivering all their possessions quietly. 
 
 "Come, tumble out or die'" was lesse's brief com- 
 mand. 
 
DEEDS OF DARIN 
 
 125 
 
 And now came the plunder of personal possession. 
 
 "Gentlemen and ladies," said Jesse in a mock polite- 
 ness, "it will be our painful duty now to trouble you 
 for the money and jewelry you may chance to have 
 about you." 
 
 "Do you mean to rob us?" asked the bishop in a 
 tone of offended dignity, as he gazed on the scene. 
 
 "Oh ! fie, fie," said the shocked young robber ; "you 
 snouldn't use such ugly language! Rob you! Oh! 
 never, never! We would scorn the action! Do we 
 look like robbers? No, gentlemen, we only wish to 
 relieve you of a burden that's all; so out with your 
 money and quick, we have no time to spare." 
 
 "Don't you call that robbery?" asked the bishop. 
 
 "Come, now, old coon ! Dry up, or you'll not have 
 an opportunity to ask any more nonsenical questions. 
 Hand out your money. 
 
 The bishop reluctantly complied, handing out his 
 pocketbook. 
 
 The eight gentlemen were all searched, but very 
 little was obtained till they came to Mr. Breckenridge, 
 of the Louisville bank. He proved to be a big bo- 
 nanza. They obtained from him over $1,000. The 
 ladies were ordered to yield up their treasures. One 
 was evidently poor. They examined her pocketbook, 
 and Jesse said: 
 
 "Madam, is that ah you **ave?" 
 
 "Every cent in the world," she replied. 
 
 "And how far are you going?" 
 To Louisville, sir." 
 
126 JAMES BOYS 
 
 "Well, then, take yoar money; we won't trouble 
 you." 
 
 To her intense surprise, the affrighted old lady 
 found, when she got home, that Jesse had slipped ,i 
 twenty-dollar bill into her poorly furnished pockcl- 
 book, and she was wont to say in after years: 
 
 "Well, well, the James boys were bad enough, 
 Heaven knows, but they might have been a good deal 
 worse." 
 
 Being in need of fresh horses, the James boys took 
 the fine pair of leaders that belonged to the coach 
 and rode away, leaving the coach and its passengers 
 to proceed to Cave City with a single pair of horses, 
 sadfy and slowly, as may be imagined. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 XX. 
 
 QUICKEST EXPRESS CAR ROBBERY ON 
 RECORD. 
 
 ONE OF THE NEATEST ANB MOST QUIET TRAIN HOLD- 
 UPS IN THE HISTORY OF THE JAMES BOYS' DARING 
 ESCAPADES. 
 
 Alacrity was always one of the characteristics of 
 the James boys' robberies, but peace and quiet were 
 not. They were usually accompanied by wild yells, 
 pistol shots, etc., doubtless to terrify the victims into 
 easy surrender. The robbery of an express car at- 
 tached to a Missouri and Northern train, near Joplin, 
 created one of the biggest sensations of the day by 
 reason of the speed with which it was accomplished 
 and the lack of bravado which characterized its suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Four men assembled near the railroad station one 
 dark night and boarded the west bound train when it 
 stopped for a minute to take several passengers 
 aboard. 
 
 Four men gathered about the depot a few min- 
 utes before the train was due and, after engaging the 
 
128 JAMES BOYS 
 
 old crossing watchman in conversation, suddenly 
 grabbed him, made him prisoner in his watch box 
 and took away his signal lanterns. Warning him that 
 they would shoot him if he made the least noise or 
 outcry, they departed down the track, after locking 
 him in. When the train had gotten a little way past 
 the station the engineer noted signals ahead and 
 brought his train to a stop. Instantly the engineer 
 and fireman were confronted by an armed man in the 
 engine cab, who drew a pair of pistols and warned 
 them not to move. More armed men had held up the 
 conductor and train crew, while several entered the 
 express car and bade the express messenger open the 
 safe on pain of instant death if he refused. Seeing no 
 way out of it, he obeyed. 
 
 The United States safe contents were speedily trans- 
 ferred to a grain sack without examination. The mes- 
 senger once more found himself in peril, because he 
 had no key to the Adams through safe, but, as his ex- 
 planation was reasonable, the robbers were convinced. 
 One of the robbers then ran out, got the fireman's 
 hammer and began banging at the safe. He was un- 
 able to produce much impression, whereupon a hercu- 
 lean bandit caught the hammer, and .with a few tre- 
 mendous blows broke a hole in the side, into which 
 he vainly attempted to force his hand. The first 
 striker, however, remarked that he "wore a No 7 kid/' 
 and could do better. 
 
 In just two minutes the safe was plundered and 
 the booty bagged. No attempt was made to rob the 
 
DEEi,. >i\ DARINt 129 
 
 passengers. The train boy's box was broken open and 
 peanuts and apples were gobbled up voraciously. Only 
 one or two shots were fired from the train, the rob- 
 bers keeping up a fusilade on both sides and moving 
 from poin to point, so that in the darkness it seemed 
 as though the brush was full of men. 
 
 The train boy had a revolver, and early in the fracas 
 he stepped out on the platform and blazed away at 
 one of the robbers, who gave a loud, croaking laugh 
 
 and called out : "Hear that little bark !" As soon 
 
 as the safes had been emptied the robbers told the 
 trainmen to remove the obstructions before and be- 
 hind and pull out, which was done with alacrity. The 
 train was stopped an hour and ten minutes, and the 
 booty secured amounted to fifteen thousand dollars. 
 
130 JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 JESSE JAMES SHOT BY GEORGE SHEPHERD. 
 
 AFTER THE GLENDALE ROBBERY SHEPHERD UNDERTOOK 
 TO CAPTURE THE DARING ROBBER AND CAME NEAR 
 KILLING HIM IN THE ATTEMPT. 
 
 Perhaps the narrowest escape that Jesse James ever 
 had from death was at the hands of George Shep- 
 herd, a daring law officer, who started out to bring 
 him in dead or alive and came very near doing the 
 former. For once in his life Jesse had met his equal 
 with a revolver, and it did not take him long to find 
 it out. After being severely wounded he managed to 
 escape by the mere "skin of his teeth." It all came 
 about in this way: 
 
 Living in Kansas City at the time of the robbery 
 was George Shepherd, one of the most courageous 
 men that ever faced danger. He was one of Quan- 
 trell's lieutenants, and fought in all the terrible and 
 unmerciful encounters of that chief of the black ban- 
 ner. He was at Lawrence, and rode beside the James 
 boys in that dreadful cyclone of remorseless murder. 
 He had run the gauntte* of a hundred rifles and 
 
132 JAMES BOYS 
 
 fought against odds which it appeared impossible to 
 escape. After the close of the war Jesse James ac- 
 cepted Colonel Shepherd as a leader and followed 
 him into Texas, and would still be following his coun- 
 sels had not circumstances separated them. 
 
 Major Leggitt evolved a scheme out of his hours 
 of study toward the capture of Jesse James. He sent 
 for Shepherd, who was working for Jesse Noland, a 
 leading dry goods merchant of Kansas City, and to 
 the ex-guerilla he proposed his scheme. It was this : 
 Shepherd, being well known to have formerly been a 
 comrade of Jesse James, it was to be reported that un- 
 doubted information had reached the authorities es- 
 tablishing Shepherd's connection with the Glandale 
 robbery. A report of this was to be printed upon a 
 slip of paper having printed matter upon the reverse 
 side, so as to appear like a newspaper clipping. Shep- 
 herd was to take this printed slip, find Jesse James and 
 propose to join him, saying that he was being hound- 
 ed by detectives, and, although innocent, he felt that 
 hi 1 , only safety was in uniting his fortunes with Jesse 
 and his fearless band. This being accomplished, Shep- 
 herd was to find opportunity for killing Jesse James, 
 and the reward for him, dead or alive, was to be di- 
 vided. In addition to this, Shepherd was to be pro- 
 vided with a horse aand to receive $50 per month 
 during the time of his service. 
 
 The conditions and terms were satisfactory to Shep- 
 herd, and the latter part of October, about two we^ks 
 
DEEDS OF DAEIXG 
 
 133 
 
 after the Glendale robbery, he started out in quest of 
 Jesse James. 
 
 The plan of Shepherd's operations and the manner 
 in which he accomplished his hazardous undertaking 
 is herewith detailed just as he related the story to the 
 writer, but, while the relation is interesting, it is now 
 proved to be untrue in part. 
 
 When Shepherd left Kansas City he was armed 
 with several revolvers and a dagger. He rode direct 
 to the home of Jesse James and, telling a concocted 
 story, managed to arrange a meeting with the gang 
 in the woods near by. He was duly installed as a 
 member of the James gang, and his first assignment 
 was reconnoitering a proposed bank robbery at Em- 
 pire City, to which place he preceded the gang. Upon 
 his arrival he found the bank lighted up and a dozen 
 men inside armed with rifles and shotguns. Shep- 
 herd at once suspected that the news he had imparted 
 to the authorities had been acted upon. 
 
 Finding everything in readiness to meet the in- 
 tended attack, Shepherd went into a restaurant, and, 
 while eating his supper, Tom Cleary, an old acquaint- 
 ance, greeted him. After supper the two went to 
 Geary's house and remained all night, and Shepherd 
 told his friend the part he was acting in the effort to 
 capture Jesse James. Ed Cleary, a brother of Tom, 
 was also informed of the scheme, and Shepherd asked 
 their assistance, or, at least, to follow him the next 
 moming to the camp of the bandits. The understand- 
 
134 JAMES BOYS 
 
 ing was at the time Shepherd left the outlaws that he 
 should return to the camp by 9 o'clock Sunday morn- 
 ing, and, if his report was favorable, the raid on the 
 bank would be made Sunday night. 
 
 Shepherd kept the appointment and returned to 
 the place where the bandits had encamped, but found 
 the camp deserted. He thought this strange, but soon 
 found the old sign of a "turn out" had been made to 
 let him know where they were. It is well known 
 that the James boys and their comrades frequently 
 separated. They had a sign, however, by which it was 
 not difficult for them to find one another, and he soon 
 joined the gang just outside the town to find that they 
 were already aware the bank was guarded. They 
 asked him how about it, but he professed ignorance 
 of who had tipped off the intended raid, and sug- 
 gested they get out of the locality as soon as possible. 
 This was agreed upon, and they rode away. 
 
 When they reached a point twelve miles south of 
 Galena, all parties maintaining their respective posi- 
 tions, Shepherd gave a smart jerk of the bridle rein, 
 which caused his horse to stop, while Jesse rode on. 
 It was the work of an instant, for as Jesse's horse 
 gained two steps forward Shepherd drew one of his 
 large pistols and, without speaking a word, fired, the 
 ball taking effect in Jesse's head one inch behind the 
 left ear. Only the one shot was fired, for Shepherd 
 saw the result of his show, nd Jesse plunged head- 
 long from his horse and lay motionless on the ground, 
 
DEEP? ' DARING 13?, 
 
 as if death had been instantaneous. Shepherd says he 
 viewed the body for nearly a minute beiore either of 
 the outlaws made any demonstration. Ed Miller first 
 started toward him in a walking pace, and then Cum- 
 mings and the unknown drew f.eir pistols aand rode 
 swiftly after him. Shepherd's horse was swift, and 
 he put him to the greatest speed, soon distancing the 
 unknown., lout Cummings was mounted on a superior 
 animal, and the chase for three miles was a hot one. 
 Each of the two kept firing, but the rapid rate at 
 which they were riding made the shots ineffectual. 
 Seeing that he was pursued only by Cummings, who 
 was gaining on him, Shepherd stopped and wheeled 
 his horse, and at that moment a bullet struck him in 
 the left leg just below he knee, producing, however, 
 only a flesh wound. As Cummings dashed up Shep- 
 herd took deliberate aim and fired, and Cummings 
 reeled in the saddle, turned his horse and retreated. 
 Shepherd says he feels confident that he struck Cum- 
 mings hard in the side and that he killed Jesse James. 
 He rode back to Galena, where he remained two 
 weeks under a surgeon's care, aand after recovery re- 
 turned to Kansas City. 
 
 As it afterward proved, the bullet only grazed Jesse 
 James' skull and knocked him senseless from his 
 horse. It did not even penetrate the skull, and he 
 soon recovered from the injury. 
 
JAMES BOYS 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 MYSTERIOUS ROCK ISLAND ROBBERY. 
 
 HOW THE JAMES BOYS RIFLED AN EXPRESS CAR WITH- 
 OUT CREATING MUCH EXCITEMENT UNTIL IT WAS 
 ALL OVER AND HOW THEY GOT AWAY WITH A LOT 
 OF RICH PLUNDER. 
 
 The James brothers and their gang were not 
 alone noted for bold and desperate hold-ups and 
 train robberies, but they have been credited, as 
 well, with a number of robberies that were accom- 
 plished with remarkable stealth and quietude. Like 
 the bold lion in some of their robberies, taking all 
 sorts of chances of being shot or captured, they 
 were like the treacherous leopard in others, took 
 comparatively no chances, and had finished the 
 job almost before anyone, even in the train, real- 
 ized what had happened. They were brazenly 
 bold or almost cowardly stealthy, it seems, as the 
 occasion demanded or their fancy dictated., 
 
 The following ^tory of the robbery on the Rock 
 Island road will give an idea of how quietly and 
 mysteriously some of their robberies were accom- 
 plished. One cold, snowy night in March, 1886, 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 137 
 
 the Kansas express, running over the Rock Island 
 road, started westward from Chicago. The train 
 was heavier than usual that night. 
 
 Coupled on in front of the regular passenger 
 coaches the train carried two express cars, the first 
 one given over entirely to express, mostly through 
 matter, and the other to express and baggage. 
 
 The first car was in charge of Messenger Kellogg 
 Nichols, a man of middle age, who had spent 
 twenty years in the service of the express company. 
 The combined baggage and express car was in charge 
 of Baggageman Newton Watt, who previous to his 
 trip had been head brakeman of the train and who 
 had taken the place of the regular baggageman, 
 who was ill. The rear brakeman, a young fellow 
 named Henry Swartz, became front brakeman for 
 the trip. 
 
 Both the express and combination car had doors 
 on either end, besides the large sliding doors on 
 the sides, but the front part of Messenger Nichols* 
 car was blocked with packages. The second car, 
 besides carrying additional local express fi eight, 
 also contained Messenger Nichols' safe, a small 
 iron trunk with a peculiar lock, the key of which 
 Nichols carried in his pocket attached to a chain, 
 according to regulations. 
 
 The safe was known to contain a considerable 
 *nm of money. The messenger had referred to 
 ihe act in checking- out his run, remarking jok- 
 
13*. JAMES BOYS 
 
 ingly, as he deposited a bulky money package in it: 
 in it: 
 
 "If I had that I wouldn't work tonight. I'd 
 take a day off." 
 
 The duties of the messenger required him to 
 work in both cars, but the heaviest part of his work 
 was in the front car, where he repaired to check 
 up his run as soon as they pulled out of the Chi- 
 cago depot, leaving Baggageman Watt to look 
 after the combination car. 
 
 After passing Blue Island, the next regular stop 
 was at Joliet, about forty miles from Chicago. 
 Here some express matter was put off, and shortly 
 before 1 o'clock on that stormy March morning 
 the train proceeded on toward Morris, a run of 
 about forty-seven minutes. 
 
 Minooka was between Joliet and Morris, but it 
 was not a stopping point for this train. The en- 
 gine merely slowed up on a heavy grade outside the 
 town, whistled for the station, and gathering speed 
 again, thundered onward to Morris. 
 
 Thirty minutes later the snow-covered train 
 rolled into the station. Conductor Wagner dropped 
 off the train and came forward to get his orders 
 with the engineer. S\vartz, the head brakeman, 
 also jumped down, and at the same time an ap- 
 parition in the shape of Watt, the baggageman, 
 disheveled, stammering, staring as if he had seen 
 a ghost, burst upon the astonished conductor. 
 
 "Great God/ he cried w terror, with his eyes 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 139 
 
 almost bulging out of his head. "Look in there. 
 The safe all gone and papers all over the car?" 
 The man was almost insane with fright and sur- 
 prise and could hardly talk, yet he managed to 
 mutter something about Messenger Nichols and 
 swung his lantern into the car, calling him by 
 name and looking for him. By this time the con- 
 ductor and others of the train crew came forward 
 and, entering the car, began a search for the miss- 
 ing messenger. They found his dead body in the 
 forward part of the car, under a great pile of dis- 
 ordered express matter. His head had been bat- 
 tered in as with an iron bar, his left arm was 
 broken at the wrist, probably with the same blud- 
 geon as he fought 'to ward off the blow that killed 
 him, and a bullet hole was found in his shoulder. 
 
 Obviously it was the blows on the head, in- 
 flicted, apparently, with some blunt instrument, 
 that had caused the death of the unfortunate mes- 
 senger. 
 
 There was evidence of a terrible struggle. Up 
 and down the car, on the floor and sides and over 
 the express packages, blood was spattered right 
 and left. Whomsoever the messenger had fought, 
 the conflict must have been desperate in the extreme. 
 
 It seemed incomprehensible that this short, slen- 
 der little man of forty, wounded and battered as 
 he must have been, could have been so tenacious 
 unless it was plain to him that he was fighting for 
 his life. That there must have been more than one 
 
I4O JAMES BOYS 
 
 assailant was shown by the fact that in the clenched 
 hands of the messenger were found locks of different 
 colored hair, stained now with the messenger's 
 blood. 
 
 The messenger's safe had been blown open and 
 looted, all the money and valuables having been taken 
 and the papers thrown all over the car. The loss was 
 about $25,000. When the confusion of the first sur- 
 prise had somewhat abated, the baggageman was asked 
 to tell his story, and related the following remarkable 
 experience, which goes to show the wonderful quick- 
 ness and surprise with which the robbery was accom- 
 plished. The run was new to him and he had been 
 unusually closely engrossed in his work for that 
 reason. 
 
 In the noise of the train and storm he had heard 
 nothing unusual until the engine whistled for Minoo- 
 ka. The moment after the barrel of a revolver was 
 poked over his shoulder against the side of his head. 
 Glancing up with a start, he saw a mafr standing be- 
 hind him, his face covered with a mask. 
 
 "If you move before this train gets to Morris/' the 
 man said, "you'll get your head blown off by thaffcian 
 up there." 
 
 Watt looked up at the ventilator in the roof of the 
 car. A hand holding a big pistol was poked through 
 the vei \tilator, the pistol pointing down at the bag- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 141 
 
 gageman. Then he realized thai there was another 
 robber on the roof of the .1'. 
 
 Sitting there under the threatening m'izzle of the 
 big gun, he heard the robber behind him unlock and 
 empty the express safe. 
 
 "I couldn't give the alarm," Watt said. "They 
 swore they would kill me if I moved. They must have 
 gone to the front car and taken the safe key away 
 from Nichols before they came back to me. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the murdered messenger's key 
 with the snapped chain was in the safe-lock. 
 
 Watt sat still under the revolver until the train 
 reached Morris. When the engine whistled for that 
 station he noticed suddenly that the hand and gun 
 had been withdrawn from the ventilator in the roof, 
 and turning cautiously, he found himself alone in the 
 car with the front door closed. 
 
 Then he immeddiately gave the alarn to Conductor 
 Wagner, who was with Swartz, the head brakeman. 
 Of the fight in the express car and the murder of 
 Nicbols he had had no intimation until the train 
 stopped. 
 
 It was one-thirty-five when the train reached Mor- 
 ris. By two o'clock the town was aroused, all the 
 passengers were up, and the stattion was crowded 
 with excited -men, while telegrams and orders were 
 flying back and forth between Morris and Chicago. 
 
 The local police, the railroad detectives and the 
 Pinkerton men were quickly on the trail of the rob- 
 
142 TAMES BOYS 
 
 bers. but they failed to capture them even after the 
 most strenuous efforts, although the evidence clearly 
 Droved it was another "trick" turned by the James 
 buvs. 
 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 THE JAMES BOYS AS GAMBLERS. 
 
 DESPERATE POKER PLAYERS, WHO STAKED THEIR LAST 
 DOLLAR EVERY TIME AND LOST THOUSANDS THIS 
 WAS WHERE MUCH OF THEIR STOLEN PLUNDER WENT. 
 KNOWN TO HAVE LOST $25,OOO IN A SINGLE NIGHT'S 
 PLAYING. 
 
 Like many more criminals, the James boys were in- 
 veterate gamblers. They lost over gaming tables in 
 all parts of the country, nearly all the money they ac- 
 cumulated, and never made a protest when the game 
 was fair. They have been known to part with $25,000 
 in a night without a word, but on other occasions have 
 turned the gambling rooms into a shambles when they 
 suspected the cards had been stacked on them or other 
 unfair advantage taken of them. They would bet on 
 anything, and when no other opportunity for gam- 
 bling offered have been known to place a lump of 
 sugar on the table in front of each person and bet 
 hundreds of dollars as to which one a fly would light 
 on first. They always boasted this game was abso- 
 lutely square, as ther* could be no collusion with the 
 
144 JAMES BOYS 
 
 flies. It was one of their favorite diversions. Tiieir 
 uncle was owner and proprietor of the Paso Robel 
 Hotel, at Hot Springs, Nev, and there they went 
 to gamble and recuperate. They became friendly 
 with everybody, and visitors from all over the country 
 little suspected the two gentlemanly young men were 
 the most desperate and notorious robbers the world 
 had ever known. After a time their health greatly 
 improved, and feeling they might wear their welcome 
 out, or, in other words, that their real character might 
 be discovered, they decided to go further west, with 
 California as their ultimate destination. 
 
 Moreover, just at that time the newspapers of the 
 Pacific Coast were filled with thrilling accounts of 
 daring robberies by "road agents" who infested the 
 mountain passes of California, Nevada and Colorado. 
 These accounts were read with avidity by Frank and 
 Jesse James in their quiet retreat at their uncle's hotel. 
 The old desperado spirit was reawakened within them, 
 and they began to look back upon their three months 
 of indolent rest as just so much of their lives thrown 
 away. The fever of unrest burned on in their veins 
 until it drove them forth into the mountains in search 
 of adventure. Burnishing up their old-time trusty 
 friends their ever- faithful revolvers they buckled 
 on their fighting paraphernalia and sallied forth into 
 the mountain passes, prepared for any sort of adven- 
 ture that might happen to turn up. When we remem- 
 ber that the mining camps of that region were filled 
 with reckless adventurers, cut-throats and gamblers, 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 145 
 
 it is not at all surprising tnat Frank and Jesse James 
 did not have far to go before they found all the ex- 
 citement and adventure they wanted. 
 
 One bright, sunshiny morning Frank and Jesse, 
 with two of their old guerrilla comrades from Mis- 
 souri, whom they chanced to fall in with, took a jour- 
 ney into the region of the Sonoma Mountains, where 
 a small tributary of the Humbolt river cuts the foot 
 hills of the range. There was a new encampment 
 called "Battle Mountain." And, to use the emphatic 
 language of these four Missouri boys, they thought 
 they would break the monotony of life by going to 
 Battle Mountain "just to shake up the encampment." 
 
 These camping to.wns spring up as if by magic, and 
 very often just as readily pass from sight. So that 
 now the traveler in these mountain regions comes 
 often upon the relics of a deserted hamlet which has 
 been simply left to rot, when the gold played out and 
 the gang moved further on. Hard work by day and 
 by night, women, whiskey and cards is the daily rou- 
 tine of these mushroom towns. One of these dugout 
 villages was known as Battle Mountain, and it was 
 well named, for battles with Colt revolvers were the 
 nightly program, and gambling and. every other form 
 of dissipation were the favorite diversions. Into this 
 town. if such it may, by courtesy, be called the 
 James boys stumbled, and, of course, determined to 
 "buck the tiger." They did not drink and were 
 proud of their skill with cards. One fatal night they 
 were playing in the ^"Golden Rule" gambling hall 
 
146 JAMES BOYS 
 
 about the stiffest poker game they had ever engaged 
 in. The table was laden with bags of gold and thou- 
 sands of dollars were passing fo and fro with the 
 varying fortunes of the cards. 
 
 The gambler was about to remark something or 
 other when his opponent cut him short by saying: 
 "I discarded a king; when the cut for your deal was 
 made the bottom card was exposed. It was a king. 
 You got your third king from the bottom. You must 
 not do that again." 
 
 "You lie !" retorted the gambler, with a gleam of 
 murder in his eyes. 
 
 Immediately all was confusion in the room. An 
 ominous calm prevailed for a moment, while all eyes 
 were fixed upon the excited players. Then Jesse rose 
 to the emergency. Cheating had been charged and 
 the lie given direct. This meant death to one or the 
 other of the parties concerned. Jesse's ready revolver 
 decided that it should not be his friend. While the 
 excited gambler was fumbling for his weapen Jesse's 
 trusty pictol craced twice, and the murder-plotting 
 gambler fell dead on the floor. Lightning quick the 
 partner of the slain gambler made a lunge at Jesse 
 with a dirk, but with a quick movement Jesse avoided 
 the knife, swung round his ready revolver, cracked 
 away at the gambler, and literally blew the entire top 
 of his head off. 
 
 Pandemonium reigned at once. With a wild yell 
 the excited gamblers made a rush for Jesse and 
 his companions. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 147 
 
 "Back, you devils, back !" cried Jesse. The wild 
 mob wavered for a moment, the lights went out, and 
 Jesse and his comrade under the cover of darkness 
 made a dash for the door. 
 
 Once outside they turned and fired a volley into the 
 midst of the howling- mob of pursuers. Two men 
 dropped dead and three were mortally wounded. 
 Some one struck a light. The scene that the mob of 
 demoralized gamblers gazed upon made the blood cur- 
 dle in their veins. Three men lay dead upon the floor, 
 and five others, fearfully wounded, were groaning 
 and cursing by their side. Half -drunken women, sob- 
 ered by the ghastly sight, were screaming like bel- 
 dams. For a while those of the gamblers who had es- 
 caped death or wounding at the hands of the Missour- 
 ians were too utterly dazed by the sight of their dead 
 and wounded comrades sweltering in pools of blood 
 to take any action for revenge. Suddeny one of the 
 gambers shouted: 
 
 "Now, boys, for vengeance. Let's follow them to 
 hell if necessary!" and with a yell of revenge ten stal- 
 walt gamblers put off in hot pursuit of the plucky 
 Missourians. 
 
 The moon was shining brightly down upon the path 
 of the fleeing ex-guerillas, and the maddened gam- 
 blers, made desperate by the death of their comrades, 
 followed close and sure upon the heels of the fugitives. 
 
 About a mile away they overtook the four green- 
 horns from Missouri, as they considered the James 
 boys and their two friends to b*, and with a wild yell 
 
4# JAMES BOYS 
 
 of triumph dashed forward aird demanded their sur- 
 render. "Surrender nothing 1 !" cried Jesse, and, turn- 
 ing to his comrades, he said : "Let her go, boys !" and 
 instantly four revolvers flashed in the moonlight and 
 three more Battle Mountain gamblers joined the com- 
 pany of their departed comrades in the happy hunting 
 grounds of disembodied shades. The seven remaining 
 gamblers turned to retreat, but the ready revolvers of 
 the Missourians flashed forth again, and two more of 
 the Battle Mountain desperadoes fell to the earth 
 wounded. The five others were glad to escape with 
 their lives and whole skins. Jesse lost his hat in the 
 encounter and one of the ex-guerillas had a finger 
 shot off. 
 
 With these slight exceptions no damage was done to 
 the brave quartet of Missourians, who had demon- 
 strated their ability to do what they set out to do. 
 
 A man's life was as nothing when it stood in the 
 way of Frank or Jesse Jams. The knowledge of this 
 fact by the people constituted the James boys' most 
 perfect safeguard. 
 
 But on their return trip from California the bandit 
 brothers departed from their usual custom and trav- 
 eled together. They had lived like gentlemen so long 
 at their good old uncle's Hot Sulphur Springs Hotel 
 that they became ?>mewhat socialized and concluded 
 not to abandon their new ir" ''e ~f life completely just 
 yet awhile. 
 
 Frank and Jesse, you may imagine, traveled as first- 
 class passengers. They had not exh~asted their sup- 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 140 
 
 i 
 
 ply of greenbacks and gold obtained by them in their 
 Russellviile raid, and they proposed to experience 
 something of the luxury of trans-continental travel. In 
 this way they were thrown into the society of wealthy 
 people traveling for the benefit of their health, and 
 experienced no difficulty whatever in passing for 
 well-bred gentlemen of the Pacific Coast. 
 
 They stopped over at Denver for a few days, and 
 while there Frank was reconized by an ex-detective 
 from Missouri named Ballintine. Ballintine was not 
 inclined to let Frank James know that he understood 
 who he was, but the latter stepped to the ex-detective 
 on the street and, extending his hand, said: "Shake 
 hands, my friend. Like myself, you seem to be hav- 
 ing a 'lay-off' from your usual occupation. Can't you 
 join Jesse and me in doing Denver for a day or two ?" 
 The result was that Ballentine, who was a little hard 
 up just then, was treated to as jolly a three days' and 
 nights' dissipation as he ever experienced in all his 
 life. All the places of amusement, both reputable and 
 disreputable, were visited by the trio, and, as the soci- 
 ety reporter for a country newspaper sometimes says 
 of a Sunday-school picnic, "A nice time was had." 
 
 It is said by some who pretend to know what they 
 are talking about that Jesse even went so far in his 
 good natured bantering as to make a visit to the de- 
 tectives' headquarters and ask for a job, but thia seems 
 hardly probable, for a chance recognition by any of 
 the Pinkerton force would certainly have resulted ki 
 Je^e's arrest. Jesse, of course, knew this, and as he 
 
550 JAMES BOYS 
 
 was no fool, it is not likely that he took any sucn 
 reckless chances. 
 
 After enjoying themselves to their hearts' content in 
 Chicago, the James boys went to Missouri to visit 
 their mother. Of course, their conduct in the neigh- 
 borhood of their old crimes was not so open and 
 above board as while on their travels, but they felt 
 perfectly safe at home, where their faithful and af- 
 fectionate mother was ever on the alert against sur- 
 prise. 
 
 The James boys were not altogether idle while at 
 home, for they were thinking of new ways and means 
 for replenishing their pretty well exhausted treasury. 
 After a few days' rest they retired to their Jackson 
 county cave, where with the advice and consent of a 
 number of their old fellow-bandits, they speedily ar- 
 ranged a plan of campaign for another bank robbery. 
 
DF^DS C DARING 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ONE OF THE FEW GOOD ACTS OF THEIR BLACK CAREERS. 
 THEY BOLDLY ATTACK A BAND OF INDIANS, AND AT 
 THE RISK OF THEIR OWN LIVES SAVE AN IMMIGRANT 
 PARTY CROSSING THE PLAINS. 
 
 Black as was their career the James boys are enti- 
 tled to the credit for at least one good deed, on the 
 theory that the devil is entitled to his due. This not- 
 able instance of the fact that, despite their badness, 
 some good still existed in their make-up occurred in 
 Colorado. They were trailing slowly along one day 
 when news came that the Indians were on the war- 
 path and they had best keep a sharp lookout. A few 
 hours later they discovered traces of Indians ahead of 
 them, which, together with the presence of wagon 
 tracks, plainly showed them that the murderous red- 
 skins were trailing the immigrant party to murder 
 them all and steal their "outfit. 
 
 "Can we make it?" asked Frank. 
 
 "We've got to make it," replied Jesse, with more 
 than usual feeling. "Think of them poor women and 
 kids." 
 
 They dug their spurs into cheir horses and rode like 
 demons. On the way they picked up several other 
 
153 Jesse James Saves Women from Indians. 
 
DEEDS OF DA 
 
 153 
 
 plainsmen, who joined them. Ere long they came in 
 sight of the distant band of pursuing Indians. It :on- 
 sisted of fourteen warriors, and they were slowly but 
 surely closing in on the single wagon of the prairie 
 schooner type. Rounding a point in the trail they saw 
 the Indians preparing to attack the settlers. 
 
 Throwing themselves out of the saddles and grasp- 
 ing their revolvers, they started on a run with a yell 
 as fearful as any red devil of them ; they threw them- 
 selves among the yelling fiends. Panic-stricken and 
 confused, as one after another bit the dust at the 
 crack of the ready revolvers, the terrified savages 
 scattered in all directions. A covered wagon stood in 
 their way and the James boys could not see what was 
 going on in the camp, but hearing a child scream out 
 as if in its death agony, Jesse, with a six-shooter in 
 either hand, sprang under the wagon and crawled out 
 on the other side. 
 
 Two big Indians were doing deadly work. Jes?e 
 fired both revolvers in quick succession, emptying 
 every chamber into the two Apache devils, and then 
 rushed in to club the life out of them with the butts 
 of his revolvers, if any yet remained in their infernal 
 red skins. 
 
 Three minutes after the music began not a live In- 
 dian was in sight, and eight dead ones lay spread out 
 on the ground. 
 
 After a breathing .spell Frank and Jesse began to 
 lock about them. The little girl that screamed was 
 
154 JAMES BOYS 
 
 only slightly hurt, having been dropped to the ground 
 by the stalwart Indian when Jesse shot him full of 
 holes. Two other little children escaped unhurt, as 
 did also three women of the party. The three men 
 were all seriously wounded. Frank and Jesse escaped 
 without a scratch. 
 
 Early in December the seven bandits returned to 
 Missouri, thinking that, as had been usual, the ex- 
 citement over their crimes had so far subsided as to 
 permit them to visit their old homes and haunts. 
 Their appearance in Clay county, at least the James 
 boys, was noted on the 2oth of January, 1875, and re- 
 port of their return was at once made to Allen Pinker- 
 ton, who, after some correspondence with county offi- 
 cials and others, formed a plan for capturing the 
 bandit* 
 
DEEDS OF DARIN-S 1 55 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 THE RAID AND TRAGEDY AT NORTHFIELD. 
 
 THE % JAMES AND YOUNGER BROTHERS FORM A FOUR 
 HANDED ALLIANCE AND SACK THE BANK OF NORTH- 
 FIELD, MINN., WITH DISASTROUS RESULTS. 
 
 After the long chain of train and bank robberies the 
 James boys formed a : n alliance with the Younger 
 brothers Cole arid James and arranged for a raid 
 in the town of Northfield, Minn., which seemed to of- 
 fer an easy mark for a bank robbery and which place 
 they had long been considering as a place for some 
 daring work in the bandit line. The town consisted of 
 some 2,000 inhabitants and is located on the Milwau- 
 kee and St. Paul railroad. A small stream runs 
 through the town, known as the Cannon river, over 
 which is a neat iron bridge and beside which are the 
 big Ames flour mills. 
 
 The town is chiefly noted for the location of Carl- 
 ton College, one of the finest educational institutions 
 in the State. 
 
 Just before noon, on the day of the raid, three of 
 the bandits dined at Jeft's restaurant,, on the west side 
 y of Cannon river. After eating they talked politics, 
 
156 JAMES BOYS 
 
 and one of them offered to bet the restaurant man one 
 hundred dollars that the State would go Democratic. 
 The bet was not taken, and they rode across the bridge 
 into the business part of the town, hitching- their 
 horses nearly in front of the First National Bank. 
 They stood for some time talking leisurely near the 
 corner. Suddenly there came like a whirlwind a rush 
 of horsemen over the bridge. There were only three 
 of them, but they made racket enough for a regi- 
 ment. Riding into the square with whoops and oaths, 
 they began firing revolvers and ordering everybody 
 off the streets. Almost at the same moment two 
 others rode down from the west, carrying out a simi- 
 lar progarm. It was a new experience for Northfield, 
 and for a few minutes the slamming of front doors 
 almost drowned the noise of the firing. 
 
 At the first sound of the onset the three m** w ho 
 first entered town Jesse James, Charley Pitts and 
 Bob Younger* had walked quickly into the bank and 
 leaped nimbly over the counter. The cashier, J. L. 
 Haywood, was at his place, and Frank Wilcox and A. 
 E. Bunker, clerks, were at their desks. All were cov- 
 ered by the revolvers before they apprehended dag- 
 ger. The robbers stated that they intended to rob th? 
 bank. The cashier was commanded to open the safe, 
 and bravely refused. The outer door of the vault was 
 standing 1 ajar, and the leader stepped in to try the 
 inner door. As he did so Haywood jumped forwaifc 
 and tried tc shirt him in. 
 
 One of the others, afterwards found to be Charlie 
 
t>EEDS OF DARING 157 
 
 r 
 
 Pitts, promptly arrested the movement. At this mo- 
 ment Bunker thought he saw a chance, and so he 
 broke for the back door. The third robber, Bob 
 Younger, followed and fired two shots, one of which 
 took effect in the fugitive's shoulder. The others then 
 insisted that Haywood should open the safe, and, put- 
 ting a knife to his throat, said, "Open up, d you, 
 
 or we'll slit you from ear to ear!" A slight cut was 
 made to enforce the demand. Haywood still refused. 
 Meantime the firing outside had commenced, and the 
 men then began to cry out, "Hurry up! It's getting 
 too hot here!" The three hastily ransacked the draw- 
 ers, and finding only a lot of small change, jumped 
 over the railing and r*n out. Jesse James was the 
 last to go, and as he was !n the act of leaping from 
 the counter he saw Haywood turn quickly to a drawer 
 as if in the act of securing a weapon. Instantly the 
 outlaw presented his pistol and shot the brave cashier 
 dead. 
 
 The bullet penetrated the right temple and, ranging 
 downward, lodged near the base of the brain. Hay- 
 *rood fell over without a groan, a quantity of his 
 blood and brains staining the desk as he reeled in the 
 death fall. The shot which struck Bunker entered his 
 right shoulder at the point of the shoulder blade and 
 passed through obliquely, producing only a flesh 
 wound. 
 
 As the bandits rushed into the street they met a 
 sight and reception quite unexpected. Recovering 
 from their first surprise, the citizens began to exhibit 
 
158 JAMES BOYS 
 
 their pluck, and were ready to meet the outlaws half 
 way in a deadly fight. A search for firearms was the 
 first important step, and Dr. Wheeler, j . B. Hyde, L. 
 Stacey, Mr. Manning and Mr. Bates each succeeded 
 in procuring a weapon, which they expeditiously put 
 into service. Dr. Wheeler, from a corner room (No. 
 8) in the Dampier House, with a breech-loading car- 
 bine, took deliberate aim at one of the bandits as he 
 was mounting and sent a big slug through the outlaw's 
 body. The dying man fell outwards into the street. An 
 unknown Norwegian who came along the street was 
 ordered to get out quick, but failing to understand the 
 order was shot dead in the street. 
 
 Frank James had a cloth around his arm and was 
 holding one hand in the other, the . blood dripping 
 from his fingers, while his horse was led by a com- 
 rade. This, of course, explains how it happened that 
 they got mway no faster. Had they abandoned the 
 worst wounded ones to their fate, there is little doubt 
 but that the others would have gotten away easily 
 enough. As it was, the story of the chase abounds in 
 incidents almost too marvelous for belief. 
 
 Every point, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, 
 was immediately notified of the robbery by telegraph, 
 and police officers, detectives and sheriffs' posses were 
 sent out after the fleeing bandits in such numbers that 
 it was thought impossible for any of the outlaws to 
 escape. 
 
 Very soon rewards were offered for the apprehen. 
 sion of the desperadoes, which stimulated the already 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 159 
 
 active hunt. The State offered $i } ooo for the arrest 
 of the six bandits, which offer was changed to $1,000 
 for each of the gang, dead or alive; $700 was ofT?:- ^ 
 by the North field bank and $500 by the Winona and 
 St. Peter Railroad. 
 
 A posse of fourteen men overtook the bandits on 
 the night of the nth in a ravine near Shieldsville, and 
 fell back "after a fight in which one of the robbers' 
 horses was killed. The dismounted rider was imme- 
 diately taken up behind one of the others and the 
 band took to the woods. 
 
 More than 400 men turned out to cut them off. 
 They got into a patch of timber at Lake Elysian and 
 were run out of it the next day, and, though the scout- 
 ing parties increased to a thousand, two days later 
 the robbers had been completely lost. 
 
 The robbers got into a belt of timber, and, going 
 through to the other side, saw a hunting party in a 
 wagon, which they made a rush to capture. The men 
 in the wagon instantly presented their shotguns, and 
 the robbers, taking them for pursuers, went back into 
 the brush. It so happened that the patch of timber 
 they had struck was only about five acres in extent, 
 and had bare, open ground all around it. Before they 
 had discovered the disadvantage of their position the 
 people began to flock in from all directions, in wagons, 
 on foot, on horseback, equipped with shotguns and ri- 
 fles. They soon established a cordon of one hundred 
 and fifty men around the patch and began shooting 
 into it to drive the game out. As the robbers paid no 
 
l6o JAMES BOYS 
 
 attention to this, Sheriff Glispen called for volunteers 
 tc go in and stir them up. 
 
 He quickly secured a posse of determined men, 
 and the battle was on. They raided the patch of 
 woods, and a desperate fight ensued. Several of the 
 robber band fell badly wounded, and two of the sher- 
 iff's posse were also laid low. Frank James was shot 
 in the shoulder and Cole Younger got a bullet through 
 the leg. His horse was also killed. After several 
 days' fighting, however, the posse drew off and the 
 lobbers once more escaped and made their way to 
 iheii respective homes. 
 
DEEDS OF DARING IO1 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 THE FAMOUS "BLUE-CUT" TRAIN HOLD-UI 
 
 HOW THE JAMES BOYS COMMITTED A DARING ROBBERY 
 AND GOT AWAY WITH A BIG BOODLE IN QUICK ORDER. 
 
 One of the James boys most daring exploits which 
 aroused the whole country and caused more news- 
 paper publicity than any of their previous achieve- 
 ments was the famous "Blue Cut" train robbery on 
 the Chicago & Alton Railroad. 
 
 The James boys and their band of robbers had be- 
 come utterly reckless of consequences, both to them- 
 selves and their victims, and seemed bent on deeds 
 of desperation and outrage that would throw all 
 former acts of highwaymen and bandits completely 
 in the shade. The murder of Westfall and McMil- 
 lan seemed to whet their appetitees for new deeds of 
 murder and outrage, and they lost no time in tack- 
 ling another train, this time going through the pas- 
 sengers as well as plundering the express cars. 
 
 About four miles east of Independence, Mo., where 
 the Missouri Pacific Railroad crosses over a deep cut 
 of the Chicago and Alton, is a point known as Blue 
 Cut. At this point, on the night of September 7, 
 r88i, the James boys and ten other bandks 
 
l62 JAMES BOYS 
 
 themselves .and waited for the night express of the 
 Chicago and Alton road to loom in sight. 
 
 About 9 o'clock the express train from Chicago, in 
 charge of conductor Hazelbaker, came tearing along. 
 Just before plunging into the ; deepest part of the cut 
 the engineer descried on the track just ahead of him 
 a pile of stones some five or six feet high, and of 
 course at once reversed his engine. 
 
 As soon as the engine slowed down Jesse Jamees 
 and four &i his masked robbers confronted the engi- 
 neer with drawn revolvers, and Jesse said : "Step 
 down off that engine or I will kill you." The engi- 
 neer lost no time in complying with the peremptory 
 request, and was then commanded to get up again 
 and get the coal pick, which he did, and was then, 
 together wtih his fireman, marched off to the express 
 car and ordered to break down the door. This re- 
 quest was also complied with under the persuasive in- 
 fluence of ready cocked revolvers. 
 
 The express messenger had climbed down out of 
 his car at the first alarm and hid in the grass by the 
 side of the road, but the bandits swore they would 
 kill the engineer and fireman if the messenger failed 
 to show up. The engineer called the express mes- 
 senger to come forth, which he did, and entered the 
 car with two of the robbers, who forced him to open 
 the safe and pour the contents into a sack. 
 
 The robbers were disappointed in not gettirtg raorfi 
 booty, and knocked the messenger down twice with 
 the butt end of their revolvers, cutting his head in a 
 
DEEDS OF DARING 163 
 
 fearful manner. They then marched the engineer 
 and messenger to the coaches, where they kept them 
 Severed with revolvers while they robbed the pas- 
 sengers. 
 
 They^. began business on the coaches by firing off a 
 volley of revolver shots into the rcof and sides of the 
 car and savagely shouting : "Hokh up your hands, 
 and be prettty damned quick about it; we're going 
 through the entire outfit." 
 
 They held up every passenger and robbed men and 
 women alike, including those in the sleepers, and de- 
 camped with a two-bushel sack full of money and 
 valuables. Before leaving Jesse James stepped up to 
 the engineer, handed him a ten dollar bill and told 
 lim to "buy himself a drink in the morning," at the 
 same time telling him he was a gocd fellow, but ad- 
 vising- him to change his job to some eastern road if 
 he vamea his hie. 
 
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