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Th© Pinkerton Detective Series. 
 
 IK Issuing these Detective Novels, the publishers have been careful to put out 
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 A PRIVATE DETECTIVE: The Marvelou Career o£ a Note - 
 
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 THE ROBBER KING: Thrilling Episode in a reer of 
 
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THE GREAT f\SEW NOVEL. 
 
 THE LOST WITNESS 
 
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 By LAWRENCE L LYNCH 
 
 HADOWED BY THREE," "DANGEROUS GrOI 
 
 LINE Payne," etc., etc» 
 
 Eamoj 557 pages. i6 full-page illustrations. Printed on fine book papetj 
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 THE ABOVE BOOK FORMS NO. 1 OF 
 
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 FOi 3L£ BY ALL BOOKSELLERS AND NEWSDEALERS, AND 
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 LAIR© & LEE. Pybis^^PS CHICAGO, ILL 
 
JESSE JAMES. 
 
JESSE JAMES 
 
 And His Band ef Notorious Outlaws 
 
 BY 
 
 WELCHE GORDON 
 
 Copyright 1890 by LAIRD & LEE 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 The PINKERTON DETECTIVE SERIES. Issued Monthly 
 - By Subscription §3.00 per annum. No. 44 August 1890. 
 Entered at Chicago Postoffica as second class mattes 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 LAIRD & LEE Publishers 
 1891 
 
Emile Zola's Poweiful Realistic Novels 
 
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 NANA. Translated from the 127th French editioa 
 
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 *L'AssoMMOiR.' I have endeavored to write his history, to 
 discribe his manners, passions and sorrows in the fatal 
 situations and circumstances in which he finds himself. " 
 
 L'ASSOMMOIE. Translated from the 97th French edition. 
 
 MAMA'S BAUeHTEE. A Reply to "Nana." 
 A BEEAII OF LO¥E. 
 
 POT BOUILLE. (Piping Hot !) Translated from the 87ih 
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 THE LADIES' PAKADISE. Translated from the 84th 
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 NAFA^B BROTHER eERMIFAL. Translated from 
 
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 mm MOFRET'S TEANSGRESSIOH.^ Translated 
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 THE JOYS OF LIFE. Translated from the 44th French 
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 A LOVE EPISODE. Translated from the 52d Frendi 
 
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 SFMAH BRUTES. (La B6te Humaine.) Zola's latest 
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 203-20S Jacksoe Sfrsel, (»ilCA60, lU. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE scribblers' S PLEA. 
 
 OUTLAWS, BANDITS AND HIGHWAYMEN ROBIN HOOD 
 
 AND JESSE JAMES THE PREFACE 
 
 Outlaws, bandits, pirates and highwaymen have 
 been favorite subjects of the novelist and story- 
 tellers, since the art of writing and the science of 
 narratory have existed. The subjects were in a 
 lively state of activity ages before the stylus of 
 the Egyptian, and the wax tablets of the Greeks 
 were ever invented. The inspired pen of Moses 
 wrote of Cain, the first outlaw, the original mur- 
 derer. The historians of the ancient Hebrews im- 
 mortalized the Ishmaelites, the wonders of the des- 
 ert, whose hands were against the hands of the rest 
 of mankind. 
 
 St. Paul relates his adventures with pirates and 
 robbers, and Josephus tells of the raids of armed 
 and organized bandits. 
 
 Robin Hood and his merry men have been the 
 inspiration of the minstrels and writers of medi- 
 eval times. Dick Turpin, the gallant, bold king 
 of the road, the dashing highwayman, has furnished 
 material for innumerable tales, and his exploits 
 will live as long as mankind exists. 
 
 Who has not read of "Paul Clifford, " that rom.antic, 
 elegant, dashing gentleman, who would calmly and 
 
8 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 politely rob a coach and four while on his way to 
 pay a surreptitious call upon his fond sweetheart. 
 
 Captain Kidd, the pirate bold, has kept many 
 innocent readers of his adventures awake until the 
 grey dawn peeped between the jealous curtains, 
 and Byron lent his genius in singing of that hand- 
 some buccaneer, Don Juan. And now an humble 
 and impecunious scribbler wets his clumsy pen 
 with thick ink to give a gaping and yawning world 
 the history of one who, disdaining the glamour 
 which envelopes the romantic scoundrels of "ye 
 olden days," stands the superior of all in audacity 
 and rashness, courage and nerve, brutality and 
 hellishness — Jesse James. 
 
 How can one begin the tale of this terrible man? 
 
 What language can furnish the vocabulary which 
 contains enough lurid words, wild synonyms, en- 
 sanguinary adjectives, and murderous verbs, to do 
 justice to this horrible monster; this insatiable 
 vampire who lias drank enough blood to print in 
 red, an entire edition of this narrative? 
 
 Dead though he be, incapable of harming even a 
 child; though he was at last overtaken by a 
 tardy retribution, his memory alone still causes 
 the strong man to look askance as he passes along 
 the lonely Missouri roads which once echoed with 
 the hoofbeats of Jesse James' wild horses, and 
 makes the brave heart tremble at the sudden shadow 
 cast by the v/aving tree limbs which once served 
 to shelter this messenger of death. 
 
THE SCRIBBLER'S 'PLEA 9 
 
 That ancient, and weather beaten truiam, "Facts 
 are stranger than fiction" acquires additional vigor, 
 and renewed youth, when applied to the life and 
 adventures of Jesse James. No novelist in his 
 wildest flights of fancy, no writer urged on by the 
 maddest vagaries of a heated imagination, no pen 
 possessed of inventive genius short of Satanic, 
 could conjure up such a character, trace so wild a 
 life, or create such dramatic tableaux. 
 
 The plain unvarnished facts which will relate to 
 you the career, adventures, escapades, and death of 
 this Jesse James, will seem too strange, and ex- 
 travagant to be true, but the compiler of this 
 history is not gifted with the genius of imagery, 
 and must, forsooth, write facts, facts, facts, hard 
 pitiless, terrible facts, and then, he will have 
 told but a part. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 JESSE AND FRANK JAMES 
 
 THE YOUTHFUL NIMRODS BECOMING CRACK SHOTS 
 
 QUANTRELL'S SAD STORY THE DEATH OATH 
 
 FRANK JAMES BECOMES A GUERILLA A 
 
 CRUEL OUTRAGE JESSE JOINS 
 
 QUANTRELL 
 
 To mention Jesse James, is to speak of his 
 brother, Frank. Kentucky, the "Bloody Ground" of 
 Daniel Boone and early pioneer days, must share 
 with Missouri, the "Bloodier Ground" of later days, 
 the memorable honor of calling the James boys 
 their sons. 
 
 It was in the year of 1845, that Frank James, the 
 elder of the brothers, entered this world in Scott 
 County, Kentucky. His father, by the cruel satire 
 of events, was a Baptist clergyman. 
 
 Four years later Jesse was born into the world 
 in Clay county, Missouri; the family having moved 
 to that locality shortly after the birth of Frank. 
 
 It was a ghastly joke of circumstances that sur- 
 rounded these two lads with the pious atmosphere 
 of a minister's family, for their father was a good, 
 sincere expounder of the divine truths, and labored 
 incessantly in his new vineyard. 
 
 Providence was kind to him ever, for, becoming 
 
JESSE A^D FRANK ii 
 
 enthused with the fever of '49^ the reverend 
 gentleman gave up his pastorate, and set his face 
 to the sun which set over the gold fields of Califor- 
 nia. He left his family in Missouri, traveled 
 over the plains to the Golden State, and never re- 
 turned, for contracting a mortal disease, he died 
 far away from his home and wife, and was thus 
 spared the anguish which v/ould surel}^ have been 
 his had he lived to witness the deeds which rang 
 through the entire country, coupled with his 
 family name. 
 
 The mother, Mrs. James was made of different 
 material than her husband, and, of the two, she v/as 
 certainly the most masculine. Although left alone, 
 comparativel}^ speaking, in the world, she put 
 on the harness, and brought up her family, unaided 
 and alone, until seven years had past, when she 
 again became a bride, and left the church on the 
 arm of her second husband. Dr. Reuben Samuels. 
 
 Frank and Jesse had grown into strong lusty 
 lads, the terrors of their companions. Quick to 
 resent a fancied or real affront, eager to pick up a 
 quarrel upon the slighest provocation, and never 
 hesitating to mete out the fullest punishment their 
 ungracious minds could invent, they were dreaded 
 by the neighbors, and feared by everybody. 
 
 Dr. Samuels seems to have been attached to them 
 for, among other presents, he gave them each a 
 double barreled shot gun. In a short time both 
 lads became veritable Nimrods, and, having already 
 
12 JESSE JzAMES AND HIS BAND 
 
 acquired a knowledge of woodcraft which filled 
 their young minds with a strong desire to know 
 more, they spent all their time with the favorite 
 guns, and kept the family larder supplied with 
 game. 
 
 Before long, each boy was the proud possessor of 
 a revolver, and they became as expert with their 
 pistols as they were with their shot guns. 
 
 Fired with the ambition to excel all others in 
 the use of this universal fire arm, they practised 
 incessantly, thus laying the foundation of that 
 Wonderful accuracy and marksmanship which dis- 
 tinguished them in the stirring events so soon to 
 follow. 
 
 The civil war had begun, and Quantrell the 
 famous guerilla chief was ranging western Missouri 
 with his wild band of devoted followers. This 
 noted bandit was a creature of circumstances. He 
 became what he was through one single cruel 
 wrong. The unexpected events of a single hour 
 turned him from the peaceful pursuits of a law- 
 abiding citizen into a human tiger, a monster of 
 blood and crime. 
 
 The story is a sad one, for it is the tale of a crime 
 which begat a greater crime, of a ruined life, a 
 murderous existence and a damned soul. • 
 
 Charles William Quantrell, a native of Mary- 
 land, and afterwards a good citizen of Cleveland, 
 was a man of education and refined tastes. He was 
 but twenty years of age wh^a the terrible cr0s»«roa4 
 
fESSE AhlD FRANK 13 
 
 of his life was reached. With his elder brother, 
 who was more than a brother to him, and whom he 
 loved and respected as a father, he was en route to 
 the gold fields of California. They had with them 
 a negro servant and had proceeded, in their emi- 
 grant prairie-schooner, as far as Kansas. 
 
 One night, when camped on the banks of the 
 Cottonwood River, enjoying the beautiful cool of 
 the evening air, smoking their pipes and planning 
 for the future, they were suddenly startled by the 
 appearance of thirty men on horse-back, whom they 
 recognized as Jay-hawkers. 
 
 These banditti, captained by a man named Lane, 
 were blood-thirsty rascals, who, under the name of 
 Abolitionists, ranged all Kansas, committing the 
 most atrocious crimes, and blood-thirsty acts, rob- 
 bing and murdering wherever they rode. 
 
 The mounted men came toward the quiet camp 
 with the speed of pursued demons, and, without 
 warning, fired a volley into the two brothers. 
 
 Riddled by the murderous bullets, the elder 
 brother fell a lifeless corpse, and Charles, 
 struck by a number of the leaden missies, fell 
 across his body, apparently a dead man. Plunder 
 followed the murder, and, in a few minutes, the 
 tent, wagon, negro, and horses, with all the gold 
 seeker's paraphanalia was moving across the plain 
 surrounded by the devilish murderers. 
 
 Young Quantrell lay senseless and bleeding until 
 the next morning, and for two days, he prayed for 
 
14 JESSE JAMES AND HIS 'BAND 
 
 death between his delirious ravings. The buzzards 
 and coyotes hovered near him, grim forebodings of 
 death, and the pitiless sun beat upon his bursting 
 head, filling the hot brain with all the disordered 
 fancies of a fevered mind. But his strong con- 
 stitution pulled him through, and he lived, lived 
 to kneel beside the corpse of his dead brother and 
 swear to be avenged. Wept and cursed, prayed 
 and raved, but determined to live, live until every 
 hair on his dead brother's head would be avenged* 
 
 In the morning of the third day after the outrage, 
 an old Shawnee Indian, Golightly Spieback, passed 
 by and found the grief-stricken lad. 
 
 Tenderly his skillful fingers bound up the wounds, 
 deftly and quickly he prepared meat for the weak 
 body, and, when the body was nourished and the 
 wounds bandaged, the old Indian dug a grave and 
 buried the poor slaughtered brother. To his Indian 
 home he carried the bereaved Quantrell,, and nursed 
 him back to complete health. 
 
 Then the active guerilla life of the famous outlaw 
 began. Sworn to be revenged, hating with an im- 
 placable hatred the very name of Jay-hawkers, mer- 
 ciless and cruel to every member of the order who 
 fell into his eager hands, considering no torture 
 too severe, no punishment too barbarous for such 
 men, he soon became the feared and dreaded foe of 
 every band of Jay-hawkers in Kansas and Missouri. 
 
 The war of the Rebellion added new zest and fury 
 to the Border warfare, and Quantrell gathered 
 
JESSE AND FRANK ' t$ 
 
 around him a band of young Missourians who loved 
 him as their captain, and who followed him wherever 
 he rode. Such famous bordermen as Todd, Ander- 
 son, Gregg, and the Younger brothers acknowledged 
 him as chief tan and gloried in the dark folds of his 
 black flag. The tales of their exploits, exaggerat- 
 ed by repetition, reached the hungry ears of Frank 
 James and fired his youthful heart with a great am- 
 bition. He longed to be enrolled under the "black 
 flag." His adventuresome spirit urged him to go, 
 and so, in 1862, mounted on a fleet horse, armed 
 with a rifle and his beloved revolvers, he rode 
 to Quantrell. 
 
 There is no doubt but that both Dr. Samuels and 
 his spouse approved of this act. Their sympathies 
 were all with the south in the conflict, and Quan- 
 trell was borne with a great deal of complacency by 
 the partizansof the Confederates, who made up a 
 large part of the people of Clay county. Whenever 
 the guerilla chieftain captured and shot a roving 
 band of Jayhawkers, or put to flight a company of 
 Missouri militiamen, the deeds were applauded, 
 and the little eccentricities in the shape of a few 
 stolen horses, or a couple of burned barns, were 
 looked on as playful idiosyncrasies of the lively 
 bravos. 
 
 Mrs. Samuels, especially, was loyal to the south. 
 Her voice was fearlessly raised in the cause she 
 espoused, and she openly displayed her hatred to 
 the blue uniforms of the Yankee soldiers. By vari' 
 
i6 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS "BANB 
 
 ous 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 Quantrell. So open and ob- 
 noixous was Mrs. Samuels in her demonstrations 
 of southern love, that the Federal militiamen be- 
 gan to notice it. From mere notice suspicion was 
 aroused. Her house was watched, and it became 
 known that several secret midnight conclaves had 
 been held there. 
 
 For some time the militia did not interfere, but 
 at length patience ceased to be a particular virtue, 
 and it was decided to pay the Samuels a visit. 
 
 It was in June of 1862 that this little bit of cer- 
 emony occurred. A company of Missouri militia 
 marched to Kearney and came to a halt before the 
 Samuels homestead. 
 
 In language which was not veiled in diplomatic 
 courtesy, they told the venerable doctor that he 
 and his family were in league with Quantrell and 
 his gang, that his house was used as a secret coun- 
 cil chamber for the guerrillas, that his son, Jesse 
 James, was the go-between employed by Quantrell, 
 and that his wife was an obnoxious character who 
 had become as stench to the nostrils of the true 
 believers, and that they were going to make an ex- 
 ample of himself and Jesse. 
 
 The latter was plowing in a distant field and 
 Mrs. Samuels was in the house, out of sight, but 
 within hearing. 
 
YOUNG JESSE AS A SCOUT. 
 
i8 fESSE f^MES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 The doctor listened to the tirade, and then pleaded 
 with them to leave him alone, urging that he was 
 a peaceful farmer who did not care to take any part 
 in the quarrel. To this appeal the militia replied 
 by ribald remarks and coarse jests. Then the rope 
 was produced, and, after pinioning his arms se- 
 curely, the noose was adjusted around his neck, and 
 he was drawn into the air. Leaving him hanging 
 there, they left in a body for Jesse. 
 
 Mrs. Samuels had witnessed the outrage, and, as 
 soon as an intervening grove hid the soldiers from 
 sight, flew to the rescue. With almost superhuman 
 strength, she climbed the tree and cut her husband 
 down. He fell like a dead man, but, after work- 
 ing for some time, she revived him and took him 
 to a place of safety. 
 
 In the meantime the gallant troop who counter- 
 feited soldiers, went after Jesse, and found him 
 plowing. Placijig a rope around his neck, they 
 threatened to hang him to the nearest tree unless 
 he told them where they could find Quantrell. 
 
 But, though only sixteen years of age, Jesse 
 James possessed a lion heart, and he remained 
 stolid and indifferent, preserving a contemptuous 
 silence. 
 
 Somewhat awed by the spirit of the boy, they 
 left him alone, after swearing dire vengeance if he 
 undertook any more midnight rides for Quantrell's 
 benefit. 
 
fESSE <^ND F%A^K 19 
 
 Supposing Dr. Samuels to be quite dead by this 
 time, and in good spirits over the day's sport, they 
 left the farm. Learning, howeyer, that the doughty 
 doctor was still very much alive, and that Jesse 
 continued his night rides, they again appeared be- 
 fore the house, and demanded both men, but they 
 found them absent, no one at home but Mrs. Sam- 
 uels and her daughter, Susie. 
 
 Furious at their ill success, and rendered still 
 more angry at the vixen tongue of Mrs. Samuels, 
 who relished nothing better than a war of vindic- 
 tive metaphors and vexful phrases, they arrested 
 both the mother and daughter and carried them to 
 the jail at St. Joseph. 
 
 Here they were incarcerated for weeks, subjected 
 to all the insults which the ingenuity of the vulgar 
 crowd could invent, but, an implacable hater her- 
 sel, Mrs. Samuels gave them as good as they sent, 
 and they were glad to let her go. 
 
 With his brother Frank a member of QuantrelPs 
 band, his mother and sister prisoners, his step- 
 father and himself hunted fugitives, Jesse deter- 
 mined to join Frank. 
 
 He had again and again begged permission to 
 enter the band, but was considered too young. He 
 was barely sixteen years of age with the smooth 
 face of a girl, but the muscles of an athlete. 
 
 Determined however to fight under Quantrell's 
 standard, smarting under the insults he had borne 
 
20 fESSE fAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 and burning for vengeance, he nr.onnted his horse 
 and sped for the guerilla encampment. He was 
 this time received with open arms and from that 
 time on with his brother Frank, was the boldest, 
 most daring, wildest momber of the company. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE RICHFIELD RAID 
 MURDER OF SESSIONS AND GROFFENSTEIN A SUCCESS- 
 FUL RAID ^JESSE AS A SCOUT PLATTSBURG 
 
 RAIDED CAPTAIN RODGERS A CAP- 
 TIVE A STRANGE BANQUET 
 
 TERRIBLE CONDITION OF 
 AFFAIRS 
 
 Shortly after the James boys had become mem- 
 bers of QuantrelPs band the guerilla chief deter- 
 mined to engage more actively in the struggle then 
 going on between the north and south. Clay, Clin- 
 ton and Platte counties were in a large degree sym- 
 pathizers of the sunny south — at least two-thirds of 
 the population were partizans of the rebel forces. 
 
 The war fever raged with growing heat. The 
 fullest bitterness of the conflict was drank to the 
 dregs. Families were divided, brothers antagonized 
 brothers, sons arrayed themselves against their 
 fathers, and the spirit of the times created feuds 
 on all sides. 
 
 Excitement ran high and the slumbering passion 
 of the community burst into a flame when the Fed- 
 eral troops entered that section of Missouri, and 
 took up their quarters in the various towns. 
 
 The town of Richfield stood on the northern banks 
 
 21 
 
22 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "BzAND 
 
 of the Missouri river, and was selected on account 
 of its locality and strategic situation, as a Federal 
 garrison. The company stationed there was but a 
 small one, composed of thirty-five men, commanded 
 by a Captain Sessions. 
 
 Quantrell was too experienced a commander to 
 keep his men in a condition of inactivity, and he 
 selected Richfield as the initial point of a series 
 of assaults. 
 
 Selecting a dozen of his gang, including both 
 Frank and Jesse James, he placed them under the 
 leadership of Captain Scott, with orders to raid 
 the garrison. 
 
 Suddenly appearing, the desperadoes dashed into 
 the town, Frank James leading. A desperate con- 
 flict ensued, but the unerring marksmanship of the 
 guerillas, and their consummate qualities of dash, 
 won the day. Captain Sessions, and his lieutenant 
 Groffenstein, were killed the first volley. Ten of 
 the militiamen bit the dust, but the guerillas lost 
 not a man. The garrison immediately surrendered 
 to Captain Scott, who paroled the survivors. 
 
 The challenge thus thrown out by Quantrell was 
 accepted by the Union forces, who were imme- 
 diately massed together for offense and defense. 
 Reinforcements were hurried forward, and elaborate 
 plans were made to crush the band of outlaws 
 under Quantrell. 
 
 In some manner, Mrs. Samuels became informed 
 of the plans that were being laid by the Feder- 
 
fESSE ^ND FRANK 23 
 
 als, and she waited impatiently for an opportunity 
 to forward the important news to Quantrell. This 
 chance was soon hers, for, one dark night, Jesse 
 James, who had been detailed as a scout by the 
 astute chieftain, after a long wearisome ride through 
 the wild county of Clay, came to his mother's 
 house. 
 
 She received him with open arms, her maternal 
 bosom swelling with pride as her desperado son 
 detailed the particulars of the Richfield raid. 
 
 The information she gave was of such important 
 nature, that before the first streak of dawn appeared, 
 Jesse was in the saddle again, speeding to Scott. 
 
 To him he told the news. The garrison of Platts- 
 burg, in Clinton, was practically deserted, as the 
 soldiers were on a raid after the guerillas. 
 
 Scott speedily outlined a plan of operations, 
 and the sharp quick words of command "To saddle" 
 put the little troop in motion. 
 
 When within a few miles of Plattsburg, they 
 defiled into a dense bit of timber, and sent forward 
 scouts. 
 
 When these returned in the afternoon with their 
 reports, the freebooters again sprang into the sad- 
 dle, and' dashed toward the doomed town. Riding 
 straight for the market square, they found a few 
 militia-men in the court-house. At once all was 
 confusion, for, though taken by surprise, the sol- 
 diers were reluctant to surrender without resist- 
 ance. 
 
24 JESSE JAMES zAND HIS "B^ND 
 
 While the tumult was at its height, the Federal 
 commander, Captain Rodgers, rode unsuspectingly 
 into the square. 
 
 In an instant Frank James captured him, and the 
 gallant soldier was a disarmed prisoner. 
 
 When his men saw their commander a captive, 
 they poured volley after volley into the band of 
 marauders. For a short time affairs assumed a 
 serious aspect for the guerillas, and the issue 
 seemed doubtful. 
 
 Frank James, who had turned his captive over to 
 Captain Scott, appreciated the gravity of affairs and 
 shouted to the Captain — "Captain, shoot that man 
 dead unless the garrison surrenders." 
 
 To this advice, Scott lent a willing ear, and 
 drawing his ready revolver, swore to kill the officer 
 unless he surrendered. 
 
 Captain Rodgers, although a' brave man, saw 
 that the guerillas held the winning hand, and 
 hauled down his colors instanter, and his men and 
 the town were in the hands of Scott's men. 
 
 Pillage and looting followed the victory. Several 
 hundred muskets were part of the spoils, and be- 
 sides a large quantity of clothing, ^12,000 cash 
 was secured. 
 
 Frank James secured ^1,000, as his share of the 
 plunder, and that day received from Scott, the first 
 money from the proceeds of a raid his fingers had 
 ever felt. 
 
 So elated was Scott with his bonanza victory, 
 
THE %ICHFIELD %AID 25 
 
 that he determined to round out the day in a rather 
 peculiar manner. 
 
 Paroling his prisoners, he ordered the principal 
 hotel keeper of the place to prepare a banquet, and 
 invited the Federal commander, his troop and 
 some citizens to join the feast. The affair was a 
 huge success, the foes of the afternoon ate, drank 
 and sang together in the evening, and the "feast 
 of reason and flow of soul" continued until nine 
 o'clock. Then, with a parting song, a farewell 
 yell, and a boisterous chorus, the dare-devils 
 leaped into their saddles, and plunged into the 
 darkness, making their swift way to QuantrelPs 
 camp. 
 
 Although a guerilla chief, commanding men of 
 unbridled passions and brutal license, Quantrell 
 was a strict disciplinarian. He ruled his force 
 with a rod of iron, and exhibited such remarkable 
 qualities of military order, that to his men, his 
 name was but another synonym for success. 
 
 His standard was a black flag, made by the 
 sweetheart of one of his freebooters, and the dark 
 folds of. the terrible insignia proved a veritable 
 black curse wherever it was unfurled. Brooking 
 no act of disobedience, exacting from his men the 
 strictest fidelity and constant loyalty to himself, 
 terribly swift in his punishments, Quantrell 
 held his wild ungovernable border ruffians in the 
 leash, and made them as plastic clay in the potter's 
 hands. When he said "Do this," it was done; 
 
26 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "B^ND 
 
 "Go" and they went; "Come" and they came. No 
 consideration of the value of life prevented them 
 from obeying his slightest command.. No danger 
 was too great, no privations too hard, for these 
 Quantreli's guerillas. They belonged to him, and 
 him alone, body and soul. 
 
 Banded together in the closest free-masonry, 
 sworn to fealty by the most terrible oath the in- 
 ventive ingenuity of their captain could devise, 
 they stood or fell together, vieing with the followers 
 of Mahomet in fanatical devotion to their leader 
 and each other. 
 
 Quantrell was really a man of rare intellect and 
 masterly mind. He combined the highest type 
 of executive ability with the rashest of bravery, 
 and now fairly enlisted in his self-chosen cause, 
 he threw his whole soul into the work and 
 flashed over the terror stricken land, a flame of de- 
 struction. 
 
 Jesse James thus become imbued with the same 
 characteristics which distinguished his captain. 
 His youthfuiness was no bar to his expansion, on 
 the contrary, his mind was in condition to receive 
 and assimilate the ideas, characteristics and ethics 
 which emenated from and controlled the rough exis- 
 tence he loved so well. The seed fell upon fruit- 
 ful ground, and in the fiery heat of fierce passions 
 it rapidly matured. 
 
 The crack of the revolver, the flash of the keen 
 bowie knife and the intoxicating' dash of his swift 
 
rERRIBLE CONDITION OF <^FFAIRS 27 
 
 steed become the sweetest and most fascinating 
 sensations. 
 
 His unquestionable bravery and reckless fidelity 
 to his comrades, soon won the affections, not only 
 of Quantrell, but of the fierce outlaws as well, and 
 he was often selected to lead forays and plunder- 
 ing expeditions. 
 
 The condition of affairs in Western Missouri at 
 this time were deplorable. The country was over- 
 run by soldiers. Both Federals and Confederates 
 swarmed, and, on all sides, hung the dark bands of 
 the lawless guerillas, gleaning after the destruc- 
 tive harvesters. No man's life was safe, and no 
 woman's honor but what was in jeopardy. Rape, mur- 
 der, robbery and assassination strode through the 
 devoted land, and their hellish foot-prints were 
 used as graves for their victims. 
 
 Quantrell' s band, however, did not, at this time, 
 commit any of the petty crimes perpetrated by the 
 smaller gangs of outlaws. It was better organized 
 and numerically stronger, having some 200 men in 
 it. Although an irregular organization, it made 
 some claim of being regular Confederate troops, 
 enlisted in the cause, and acting under orders as 
 a detached corps. It is safe to admit this as true, 
 but the orders came from Quantrell, and Quantrell 
 alone. This was the condition of affairs in Western 
 Missouri, in August, 1863. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 QUANTRELL*S CAMP 
 
 A DIABOLICAL CONFERENCE "ON TO LAWRENCE" 
 
 THREE HUNDRED DEMONS LOOSED TWO DAYS OF 
 
 BLOOD THE MASSACRE OF LAWRENCE 
 
 JESSE AND FRANK JAMES KILL SIXTY- 
 FIVE PERSONS A CARNIVAL 
 
 OF HELL 
 
 Quantrell now had his force under good discipline, 
 well armed and well mounted. The recruits which 
 flocked to his standard swelled the band to three 
 hundred men ready for the w^ord. 
 
 After his victorious raid on Plattsburg, the sag- 
 acious captain moved his camp further south, 
 and, ever after, constantly changed his head- 
 quarters. 
 
 Success had smiled upon him, and he began to 
 believe himself invincible. The small game he 
 had been hunting lost its blandishments, and his 
 ambitious eyes swept the country in search of lar- 
 ger game more worthy his steel. 
 
 The guerillas were in camp one August evening, 
 sitting around the cheerful camp fires; sentries 
 were posted, videttes on horseback were stationed 
 at remote distances, with keen eyes and alert ears, 
 ready on the instant to speed back and give warn- 
 ing of an approaching foe. Circled around the 
 
 28 
 
QUA^TRELVS CAMP 29 
 
 camp, dimly outlined in the fitful gleam of the 
 fires, ranged the darling horses of the bold raiders, 
 and their owners, stretched upon the green sward, 
 under the hospitable roof of the arching tree limbs, 
 threw the elusive dice, or wagered their wealth 
 upon the fascinating poker hand. 
 
 At a little distance, somewhat apart from the 
 rest, a group of men in consultation could be 
 observed. They were Quantrell, Frank and Jesse 
 James, the Younger and the Shepherd brothers, and 
 two or three other kindred spirits. 
 
 A conference was in progress which was diaboli- 
 cal in its object. Yet the quiet tones, guarded 
 and low, of the speakers, gave no clue to the das- 
 tardly subject of their conversation. 
 
 Quantrell had selected Lawrence, a small but 
 vigorous town in Kansas, situated on the river 
 Kaw, as the objective point for a raid,. 
 
 His men were weary of small affrays, and this 
 would serve a double purpose. It would give 
 vent to the pent-up activity of the men and, at 
 the same time, allow Quantrell to repay an old 
 score, for Lawrence was the home of Gen. Jim 
 Lane, the organizer and leader of the notorious Jay- 
 hawkers. 
 
 Rapidly outlining his plan, Quantrell put the 
 matter to vote, and the result was an enthusiastic, 
 and unanimous affirmative. 
 
 The element of extreme danger which entered 
 into the proposed expedition, made it the more 
 
30 JESSB MMES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 desirous, and the possibility of a glorious revenge 
 on their old and hated foe made the leaders eager 
 to start. 
 
 The question was then put to the men, and a 
 stentorian yell of approval greeted the ears of their 
 leader. 
 
 Accordingly, at day break of the 19th of August, 
 the command, "Mount!" was given, and the cav- 
 alcade, three hundred strong, started on their march 
 for Lawrence. 
 
 The following two days were days of blood. 
 Terrible, fearful agonizing blood. As the frontier 
 man, wending his way through the trackless forests, 
 scars the trees with his ax, so that he will find his 
 path on the return march, so these border ruffians 
 blazed a path through the beautiful Kansas coun- 
 try, marking every turn, halt and digression by a 
 wanton murder or a cruel assassination. 
 
 In the route they took was the little town of 
 Aubrey, nestling on the border line of Kansas. 
 From this hamlet, Quantrell took three men whom 
 he saw sitting before a store, and compelled them 
 to accompany his band as guides. 
 
 Rendering their captor faithful service, the 
 fidelity induced by fear, they brought the whole 
 force, safely and expeditiously to Cole Creek, eight 
 miles from Lawrence, and were amply rewarded by 
 the facetious guerilla. Their reward was death, for 
 Frank and Jesse James, obeying the stern com- 
 
FRANK JAMES. 
 
5 2 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS BAMD 
 
 oiand, led the doomed men to a little grove near 
 ?.t hand, and shot them down like dogs. 
 
 The 2istof August smiled on the beautiful land- 
 3cape. The glorious sun shone down on a scene of 
 quietness and repose. 
 
 The town of Lawrence, proud of its young 
 stiength, awoke to labor and the day's work. 
 
 Blissful ignorance was theirs, ignorance of im- 
 pending disaster. The children played in the quiet 
 streets, and the housekeepers were busy in their 
 domestic pursuits. The men had gone to the shop, 
 store, and farm, and everything reflected content- 
 ment and plenty. 
 
 But yonder, in those woods, eight little miles 
 from the happy town, a long line of mounted men, 
 serpented its vray through the trees. Like a huge 
 and slimy anaconda, it twined and writhed, each 
 second bringing it nearer and nearer its prey. 
 
 Slowly it approached, cruel in its leisure, until 
 it entered the confines of the town, then suddenly 
 a black flag swept past, a piercing yell hurtled 
 through the startled air, there was the swift rush 
 and direful thunder of horses' hoofs, and Lawrence 
 stood before her destroyers. 
 
 The folds of the dreaded flag told the terrified 
 people who the horsemen were, and overpowered by 
 fear, they stood trembling, or rushed blindly, 
 wildly, in every direction. But bullets are swifter 
 than feet, and on all sides the demonical crack of 
 the revolver told of death. Men, women and 
 
C^%NiyAL OF HELL 33 
 
 children were made living targets for these creat- 
 ures of hell. The cry of the wounded was drowned 
 by the coarse oaths of the murderer, and the 
 prayers of the women and pleadings of the men were 
 answered by ribald facetiousness, preliminary to 
 the fatal bullet. 
 
 The guerillas were intoxicated with blood. Their 
 excitement at fever-heat, they lost all semblance to 
 man, and became incarnate devils. 
 
 In this dreadful pandemonium, Jesse James, and 
 his brother Frank, were especially conspicuous. 
 The youngest of the band, they bore themselves 
 like veterans. On every hand their steady aim and 
 ready pistol sought for victims. Sixty five human 
 beings were sent before their maker by these two 
 men. Jesse James shot thirty and Frank thirty- 
 five. 
 
 Quantrell lost no time in killing other people. 
 He left such trifling matters to his subordinates. 
 His heart was set on one object, and that object 
 was Gen. Jim Lane, the leader of the Jay-hawks. 
 
 Every house, barn, nook and corner was searched 
 by the energetic guerillas, but Lane had hid himself, 
 like the dastard and coward that he was, in a safe 
 and secure cornfield. 
 
 Foiled in this, his chief aim, Quantrell became 
 furious. He gave the order to fire the town, "Spare 
 women and children" he cried, "but death to every 
 man, and hell take their houses!" 
 /esse James and his Band 3 
 
34 JESSE JAMES ^^D HIS 'B^^D 
 
 Then was hell indeed let loose, when the men 
 found that Jim Lane had escaped them. The torch 
 was applied, and the little Kansas town was soon 
 in ashes, while the fleeing inhabitants were shot 
 down like rabbits. 
 
 All day long this canrival of hell lasted, all day 
 long murder and rapine stalked through the town, and 
 destruction claimed it for its own. At last night, 
 blessed, merciful night came, and Quantrell with- 
 drew his men, but Lawrence was no more. Where 
 once stood the houses was now smoldering ashes, and 
 the ghastly faces of the murdered ones stared 
 with dead eyes, into the cold night, while the 
 evening breeze bore the sound of wailing, deep 
 bitter weeping, on its wings. 
 
 But Quantrell heard it not. He was fleeing, 
 pursued but escaping to his Missouri fastness. 
 Peril beset him on every side. The Kansas 
 militia and Federal regulars joined forces in the 
 chase, and though seven thousand men were at his 
 heels, Quantrell crossed the line and was soon safe 
 in Clay County. 
 
 But twenty men were lost from the band in this 
 raid: Is it to be wondered that Quantrell should 
 boast that his life was charmed, and that defeat 
 would never be his? 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 quantrell's guerillas reorganized 
 
 mrs. samuels as a spy a fatal ambuscade the 
 
 murder of captain ransome seventy fed- 
 erals slaughtered forty killed 
 
 in kansas a pitched battle 
 
 the guerillas vic- 
 TORIOUS 
 
 For over a month Quantrell kept within his re- 
 treat, but his busy mind was planning new cam- 
 paigns, envolving future combinations. He resolved 
 to re-organize his force, dividing it into small 
 squads of twenty or thirty men, each squad under 
 a capable officer. By so doing he could cover an 
 immense area of country, moving with increased 
 celerity because of the comparatively small number 
 to be moved. Jesse James was appointed comman- 
 der of one of these squads, and twenty five men 
 were detailed under him. 
 
 Shortly after his appointment, he was informed 
 by his mother, Mrs. Samuels, whose sharp eyes 
 and keen ears were ever on the alert to discover 
 the movements of the Federal troops, that a com- 
 pany of soldiers in the blue uniforms, under the 
 command of Captain Ransom, were to set out for 
 Pleasant Hill. So accurately was the informa- 
 
 35 
 
36 JBSSE JAMES Ai^D HIS BA^D 
 
 tion given, that Jesse knew the hour they were to 
 start and the route over which they would march. 
 
 His plans were soon made and speedily put into 
 execution. An ambuscade was made, and when 
 Captain Ransom was well in the confines of a deep 
 wood, Jesse gave the word, and from a score of 
 hidden rifles, the unerring bullets of the bandits 
 were hurled into the ranks of the doomed Federals. 
 
 So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that 
 the Union troops were thrown into confusion, which 
 was increased when a second volley was poured upon 
 them. Then came the wierd guerilla yell, the 
 fierce charge, and impetuous, irresistable rush of 
 horsemen. No mercy was shown by the victorious 
 freebooters, and the remnants of the Union cavalry 
 turned and fled. Out of one hundred men who 
 were marching toward Pleasant Hill, less than 
 thirty returned, while Jesse James lost but one 
 man. 
 
 His brother Frank, who fought under him, boasted 
 of eight men who had fallen from his fire, while 
 Jesse vaunted of seven. 
 
 A week had scarcely passed, and both Frank and 
 Jesse James, at the head of fifty men, scored another 
 victory for the black flag. 
 
 The affray occurred in Bourbon county, Kansas, 
 about five miles from Fort Scott. Captain Blum, 
 a Federal offllcer, commanding a company of seventy- 
 five mounted infantry, was traversing the country 
 road, when suddenly a wild yell broke upon thei/ 
 
<^ "PITCHED BATTLE 37 
 
 ears, and the guerillas were upon them. Again 
 and again the dreaded revolvers spoke, and forty 
 Union men sank from their horses, killed by outlaw 
 bullets. Utterly demoralized, the Federals fled, 
 leaving their dead upon the field, to be despoiled 
 by their inhuman murderers. 
 
 Up to this time QuantrelPs men had things their 
 own way. Their peculiar tactics, sudden appear- 
 ances and unerring revolvers had won them succes- 
 sive victories in the easiest manner, but, the next 
 affray in which tlie James brothers were engaged 
 was more in the nature of a pitched battle. 
 
 George Ford was in command of the guerillas 
 this time, with the James brothers as lieutenants. 
 
 They attacked a strong company of the Second 
 Colorado Cavalry, under a Captain Wagner. Pur- 
 suing their usual tactics, the guerillas first fired 
 from ambush, and then charged, but Captain Wag- 
 ner, rallying his men, reformed them, and met the 
 bandit charge by a counter-charge. The conflict 
 became a hand to hand affair. Sabers were used, 
 and the rebel yell was answered by Union cheers. 
 Again and again Ford hurled his men against the 
 little force in blue, and again and again the plucky 
 Federals resisted the onslaught. Jesse James fought 
 like a demon. Giving his horse free head, with a 
 revolver in one hand and a sword in the other, he 
 was always in the very thickest of the fight. 
 Cleaving his way frantically through the wall of 
 Colorado men, he reached the side of Captaia Wag- 
 
SS JESSE J^MES c^ATO HIS B^N'D 
 
 ner, and, taking advantage of a chance opportunity, 
 he drew on that gallant officer, and sent a bullet 
 through his heart. 
 
 With the loss of their captain, the troops became 
 demoralized, and fled. With brutal ferocity, the 
 guerillas deliberately killed all the Union 
 wounded, either by the bullet or with the sword, 
 leaving their bodies to rot on the open prairie. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FRANK JAMES ON A SCOUT 
 
 HE KILLS TWO MEN THE BATTLE OF HARRISONVILLE— « 
 
 QUANTRELL REPULSED — DEFEATED AGAIN AT 
 
 FLAT ROCK FORD — JESSE WOUNDED 
 
 SAVED BY HIS COMRADES QUAN- 
 TRELL' SUFFERS A DISASTROUS 
 
 DEFEAT A GALLANT 
 
 DEED 
 
 This fresh outrage spurred the Federals to 
 renewed activity, and their forces were massed 
 upon Harrisonville, ready for an offensive and ener- 
 getic campaign against Quantrell. 
 
 The latter sent Frank James to ascertain their 
 position, number and disposition. The perilous 
 task was awarded Frank because of his bravery and 
 craftiness. He rode directly for Harrisonville, 
 until he was within sight of the Union pickets. 
 
 Awaiting until the night set in, he left his horse 
 concealed in a belt of timber and started on his 
 scout. Finding a negro who was well informed, 
 he drew from him all the desired facts and then 
 started back to his horse. Before reaching the 
 animal he was discovered by two of the guards, 
 who challenged him. He answered them with his 
 revolver, killing one and mortally wounding the 
 39 
 
40 JESSE JAMES <^(7^ HIS Bz^^V 
 
 ©ther, then, leisurely mounting, he rode away leav- 
 ing the camp in an uproar. 
 
 Two days after this escapade, August i6th, 1864, 
 Quantrell made an attack upon the Harrisonville 
 garrison, and met with defeat. 
 
 The soldiers, warned fore-hand, were ready, and 
 repulsed the guerillas with great loss. 
 
 Suffering the. throes of humiliation, the chagrined 
 outlaws withdrew, venting their spleen in deep 
 oaths, and -anxious to redeem themselves. 
 
 Hearing that a band of Union volounteers were 
 encamped near Flat Rock Ford, they pushed on 
 in that direction and again inglorious defeat was 
 their rev/ard. Here Jesse James received his first 
 wound, and but for the fidelity of his comrades it 
 would have been his last. 
 
 A musket ball struck him on the breast, passing 
 through and tearing away a portion of his left lung. 
 
 He fell from his horse, apparently lifeless, but, 
 at the risk of their own lives, sacred to their 
 oath, Arch Clement and John Janette rode back in 
 the face of the terrible volleys, and rescued the 
 fallen man. He was carried to the home of a 
 sympathizer and for many days hovered between 
 death and life, but his magnificent constitution 
 pulled him through, and by the first week in Sep- 
 tember, he was able to mount his horse, and fight 
 again 
 
 On the 1 6th day of this month, while on his way 
 to. Kearney he shot and killed three men who 
 
THE GUERILLAS DEFEATED 41 
 
 opposed his way, and the next day rode twenty-nine 
 miles to give Todd tidings of the Federal forces. 
 
 Three days after, the 20th of September, Quan- 
 trell's band met with a disastrous defeat. 
 
 The whole force made an attack on Fayette, Mis- 
 souri. Quantrelland Anderson commanded, with 
 Poole, Clements and Todd in charge of divisions. 
 Every charge of the guerillas was met and repulsed 
 by the Federals, who stood their ground in the face 
 of the most furious onslaughts. Time and again 
 Quantrell hurled his troops against the Union for- 
 ces, and time and again they withdrew, leaving 
 dead and wounded before the victorious blue coats. 
 
 Jesse James redeemed the defeat in part by a 
 noble action, in rescuing Lee McMurtry, one of 
 Anderson's dare-devils, who fell, fearfully wounded, 
 right under the guns of the Federals. 
 
 Despite the terrible risk, Jesse rode back in the 
 face of almost certain death, and dragged his 
 friend into safety. It was a gallant deed, worthy 
 a better eause. 
 
 X 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 "raiding the joint" 
 
 an uprorious debauch stilled ten men deliber 
 
 ately slaughtered a sickening spectacle 
 
 —frank saves a lad a deed of 
 
 mercy a day of blood a 
 
 massacre at central! a 
 
 thirty-five union 
 
 men killed 
 Four miles east of Wellington, in Lafayette 
 County, there stood a road house, filled with 
 courtesans and coarse women of ill-repute. Their 
 patrons, at this time, were the Federal soldiers 
 quartered near the locality, and the place became 
 notorious on account of the shamelessness of the 
 inmates, and the flagrant indecency of their 
 debaucheries. 
 
 One night, Quantrell detailed Frank James, and a 
 squad of five men to "raid the joint." 
 
 Arriving witkin a short distance, Frank halted his 
 men, and dismounting, stealthily crept forward to 
 reconnoitre. Through the chinks of the walls, he 
 peered into the house, and saw the place was full of 
 soldiers. Eleven of them were engaged in carrying 
 on a Bacchanalian carnival, ably assisted by the fair 
 damsels, who threw off their morals as they did 
 their clothing, for they were nearly all naked, 
 
 43 
 
%AIDI^G THE JOINT 43 
 
 The scene presented to the eye peering into the 
 room was one of vulgar voluptuousness in its most 
 shameful degree. Locked in each others embrace, 
 the nude revelers whirled around the low room, 
 shouting and yelling in the very extreme of utter 
 abandon. Lewd songs and ribald choruses were 
 roared, and the fiery whiskey was quaffed like so 
 much water. Faster and more furious grew the 
 fun, and the bagnio became the scene of an 
 uproarious debauch; when suddenly, shrill yells 
 resounded without, and the Bacchanalians were 
 instantly sobered. They knew the meaning of that 
 unearthly yell. 
 
 "The guerillas! The guerillas!" shrieked the 
 women, rushing aimlessly about the house. 
 
 The door was opened with a crash, and, revolver 
 in hand, Frank James appeared to the terrorized 
 debauchees. 
 
 "Come out here, you men," he shouted, "every d — d 
 one of you. You sluts," he said to the women, "dry 
 your yapping, you're too d — d dirty to touch." 
 
 Resistance was useless, and ten of the men passed 
 outside. They had scarcely passed the door when 
 a volley was poured into them, and every man 
 dropped where he stood. 
 
 Frank James, who had counted eleven men and 
 eleven women, at once instituted a search for the 
 eleventh man, but he could not be found. Then 
 Frank noticed there were twelve wom^en, and, search- 
 ing further, found the man. He was but little more 
 
44 ^ JESSE J^MES AND HIS "B^^ND 
 
 tkan a boy, a lad with beardless face and blue eyes. 
 He was the lover of one of the creatures there, who 
 deftly and quickly threw a dress on him at the first 
 alarm, and he would have passed or a woman but or 
 Frank's sharp eyes. 
 
 In vain the women prayed and pleaded. The boy 
 was dragged forward to the redoubtable leader. As 
 he passed by, he could see the forms and faces of 
 his ten comrades, still and stiff in the ghastly 
 moonlight. Such would be his fate, and his heart 
 failed him. As he came to Frank, the poor lad 
 trembled in every limb. 
 
 "Come along," said Frank, "and be shot" 
 
 With a terror-stricken heart, the lad followed the 
 cold blooded murderer to a thicket near at hand. 
 
 "Here's a good place," said James, looking coolly 
 at his revolver. 
 
 "Oh, spare me, spare me!" pleaded the poor fel- 
 low, "I never did you any harm. Let me go for my 
 mother's sake. It would break her heart if I should 
 die this way, and near that house." 
 
 For a second Frank looked at him, the bright 
 moon weaving its way through the leaves fell upon 
 the tear-stained face of the lad. Cocking his re- 
 volver he slowly drew it up, and fired it over the 
 boy's head. 
 
 "Go, boy!" he said, and returned to his com- 
 mand. 
 
 This deed of mercy Frank James kept to himself. 
 It would be difEeiftlt to determine what change 
 
m^SS^CRE ^AT CBNrR<^LM 45 
 
 of heart, acting so suddenly, brought about the 
 merciful deed, but, as he afterwards said: 
 
 "I reckon the old woman was glad to get her kid 
 back safe." 
 
 The 27th of September, 1864, came. One of the 
 darkest days in the history of Missouri, and a day 
 ever to be remembered with tears, curses, and shud- 
 derings by the inhabitants of Centralia. 
 
 Bill Anderson, a human tiger in the guise of a 
 man, was the bravest, most desperate, bloody and 
 atrocious of all QuantrelPs men. He was next in 
 command, and even, at times, ranked equally with 
 the guerilla chief. He resolved, for some fancied 
 wrong, to perpetrate a massacre upon Centralia. 
 
 This little village was in the northwestern part 
 of Boone county, on the line of the St. L. K. & 
 N. R. R. 
 
 Before the Centralians had the first inkling of 
 their approach, the guerillas, one hundred and fifty 
 strong, dashed through their streets. 
 
 It was the repetition of other such scenes; wan- 
 ton slaughter; reckless taking of life; rifled domi- 
 ciles, and outraged women. Every house was 
 pillaged, and the inhabitants driven out. Then 
 Anderson drew his villainous crew up in line before 
 the railway station. A train came along with five 
 coaches well filled with passengers, soldiers and 
 citizens. At once the passengers were ordered from 
 the cars, and made to form a line. 
 
 Separating the soldiers from the civilians, they 
 
46 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "BAND 
 
 were marched a little distance, when, at the sharp 
 command, the ever fatal revolvers spoke, and 
 thirty-five men in the blue uniform of the Union 
 fell dead without a groan. 
 
 The remaining passengers were then robbed, 
 and allowed to go on their way. 
 
 This scene had scarcely been enacted, before 
 another drama took place. The guerillas were 
 suddenly attacked by a body of Iowa volunteers 
 under Major Johnson, who had ridden into town. 
 
 A fierce and bloody conflict ensued, and for a 
 time, it looked as if the lowans would win, but 
 George Todd, intrepid and desperate, burst through 
 the lines, followed by Jesse and Frank James, and 
 soon the poor Federals were routed. Jesse, who 
 had marked Major Johnson as his game, drew near 
 him, and sent a bullet through his heart. 
 
 This ended the fray. The remaining Unionists 
 fled in every direction leaving seventy of their 
 number on the field. 
 
 One hundred and fifteen men were killed that 
 day by Anderson and his bandits. Can anyone 
 marvel that the devil takes care of his own? 
 
 But the day of retribution was coming, slowly, 
 ah! so slowly, but it was coming. The tide of 
 fortune turned against the guerillas shorty after 
 the James brothers induced an old man by the 
 name of Banes, to accompany them a short distance 
 from his home; need it be said they ruthlessly 
 butchered him? 
 
JESSE ]VOUNT>E'D 47 
 
 They shot him down like a cur, and left his 
 corpse, with its grey hair outlined against the dark 
 road, for the next passer by to discover. 
 
 The tide was turning. Quantrell's band was 
 gradually breaking up. Too many of the company 
 had fallen to rise no more on earth. Death had 
 been rather busy, and the task of digging graves 
 was laborious. Jesse James was wounded again. 
 George Todd was killed in a skirmish, and before 
 December had closed, Quantrell had followed his 
 trusty lieutenant to that home from which no man 
 returneth. He died in captivity, fighting to the 
 last, pierced by many bullets, at last falling with 
 an empty revolver and a broken sword. Mortally 
 wounded, he was captured by his foes, who, more 
 humane than himself, conveyed him to a hospital, 
 and he breathed his last, beside the falls of the 
 OhiO;i in Louisville. 
 
CHAPTER Vlll 
 
 A DASH INTO INDIAN TERRITORY 
 
 ©REEK MEETS GREEK A PITCHED BATTLE BETWEEN GU- 
 ERILLAS JESSE KILLS CAPTAIN GOSS A DES- 
 PERATE CHANCE THE LEAP FOR LIFE 
 
 MURDER OF HARKNESS THE GUER- 
 ILLAS SURRENDER JESSE AGAIN 
 
 WOUNDED 
 
 Strangely enough, neither of the James boyi 
 were with their chief when he fought his last 
 battle. Jesse had gone with George Shepard and 
 fifty men, for a raid through Texas, and Frank 
 James had left, a few days previous to the affray, 
 for a visit. 
 
 It was late in the Fall of this terrible year of 
 1864, terrible in its results for poor bleeding 
 Missouri, that George Shepard, taking Jesse James 
 and half a hundred of the most desperate of Quan- 
 trelPs band, left Missouri for Texas. 
 
 The trail through the Indian Territory was beset 
 by perils, and eternal vigilance was the order of 
 the day. The Indians were on the warpath against 
 such intruders as the freebooters, and, if the guer- 
 illas were desperate and brave the Indians were 
 crafty and cruel. 
 
 For a time the outlaws pursued the even tenor of 
 
 48 
 
MURTfER OF C^APTAIN GOSS 49 
 
 their ways unmolested. Their large number and 
 perfect discipline, together with their well known 
 courage caused them to be respected. 
 
 This comfortable condition of affairs lasted until 
 the last of November, when they found their path 
 blockaded by a band of Union troops — militia — 
 under Capt. Emmett Goss. The band was a quasi- 
 guerilla organization, celebrated through Texas for 
 its wild daring, and audacious bravery. It was a 
 ■case of "Greek meet Greek", 
 
 Goss was just returning from a wild raid through 
 Arkansas, and had been emminently successful. 
 The consequence of this chance meeting was a wild 
 sanguinary contest. Both commanders, Shepard 
 and Goss were tried veterans in irregular warfare, 
 and their men were desperate and reckless. Like 
 two ferocious dogs about to fight, the two com- 
 panies faced each other, slowly circling around, 
 each trying to get the slight advantage of position. 
 
 Then came a simultanous yell, and with a crash 
 of thunder, the 7ne/ee began. Back and forth the 
 contestants rushed, turned and returned and charged. 
 
 Again and again the demoniac yell of QuantrelPs 
 men was answered by the wild shouts of the 
 Texans. But Shephard won, for Jesse James, who 
 fought like a tigress despoiled of her whelps, 
 forced his furious way towards Capt. Goss, and, in 
 quick succession, put two bullets into him. One 
 through the brain and the other through the heart. 
 hss£ James and his Band 4 
 
50 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 Elated with their victory, Shepherd's command 
 resumed its march over the beautiful prairies of 
 the Indian Territory. It was a perilous journey. 
 The Cherokee Indians were favorable to the Union 
 troops, and Shepherd's command was continually 
 harrassed after his victory over Goss. 
 
 The hawk-eyed red-men surrounded him on 'all 
 sides, and his men continually held their arms for in^ 
 stant service. At any time, a band of their redskin 
 antagonists might appear around a belt of timber, 
 and the fearful war-whoop resound in their ears. 
 To stray from the column was hazardous in the ex- 
 treme, as Jesse James discovered, nearly at the 
 cost of his life. 
 
 Two days after the affray with the Texans, Jesse 
 Was riding alone, skirting the banks of a stream. 
 His horse was tired, and he was looking for a good 
 place to dismount and rest, when, without previous 
 warning, a band of Cherokee Indians came in sight. 
 As soon as he was discovered, they raised their war- 
 whoops, and dashed after him in furious pursuit. 
 They were speedily mounted, and Jesse knew they 
 were sure shots. There was nothing for him to 
 do but to run for it. 
 
 Clapping the cruel spurs into the sides of his 
 exhausted horse, he fled, but soon found the pursu- 
 ing Indians gaining. He was alone on the prairie. 
 No friendly thicket, no cottonwood belt offered pro- 
 tection. No band of comrades was at hand to aid. 
 
 He was alone on a horse already tired out. 
 
<^ LEAP FOR LIFE 51 
 
 There was but one chance, a desperate chance 
 for him. He must leap a precipice which fell 
 down to a stream. Sure death behind, a trifling 
 chance before, and he took it. 
 
 Straight for the rocky ledge he rode, and, with a 
 shout of defiance, both rider and horse leaped into^ 
 awful space. 
 
 But Jesse James bore a charmed life, and his 
 horse fell into a deep pool of water, and was not 
 injured. He regained the land, and making a wide 
 detour, reached camp in safety. 
 
 After spending a quiet winter in Texas, Shepherd 
 broke camp, and set back for Missouri, experienc- 
 ing a great deal of trouble from the Indians on the 
 march. Hardly had the guerillas arrived in their 
 beloved Missouri, when the devoted state knew that 
 its old pests were returned. At once the machinery 
 of murder and assassination was started, and April 
 of '65 placed another cold-blooded deed against Jesse 
 James' record. 
 
 James Harkness, of Benton County, had, all through 
 the war, been a fearless, outspoken Unionist. He 
 displayed his opinions openly and courageously, 
 ever expressing them with reckless disregard for 
 his life. 
 
 He was especially outspoken against the dastardly 
 outrages committed by QuantrelPs men, and was 
 particularly bitter in his denunciations against the 
 James brothers. 
 
 Jesse, aided by twelve of his comrades, captured 
 
S^ JESSE J^MES AND HIS BAND 
 
 Harkness, and, while his two friends held him, 
 Jesse coolly and deliberately drew his keen bowie 
 knife across the Union man's throat, and threw the 
 dead body into the ditch. 
 
 A few days after, another Union man of the same 
 type was ruthlessly slaughtered by Jesse James, 
 in spite of gray hairs and pleading prayers. This 
 occurred near Kingsville, Johnson County. 
 
 In May, 1865, a number of guerillas surrendered 
 to the United States authorities, with certain of 
 the Confederate troops, but Jesse James refused and, 
 with a small number of choice spirits, continued 
 to range the country as of old. On one of these 
 forays, they ran against a body of Federal troops, 
 who immediately charged, and a furious fight com- 
 menced. The bandits suffered an irredeemable 
 defeat. Jesse receiving another severe wound in 
 the lung, and was left in the woods for dead. But 
 again he recovered, and finally joined his brother 
 in Nebraska, where he remained until he had 
 recovered to some degree, when he journeyed back 
 to Missouri, and was secreted in his mother^s 
 house. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 JESSE AND FRANK BRAVE MEN 
 
 YOUNG LADS BUT TRIED VETERANS TIRED OF THEIR WILD 
 
 LIFE FRANK IN BRANDENBURG, KY. ARRESTED 
 
 FOR HORSE STEALING KILLS THREE MEN 
 
 AND ESCAPES TERRIBLY WOUNDED 
 
 A POSSE ATTEMPTS TO ARREST 
 
 JESSE HE KILLS FOUR MEN 
 
 ^JOINS FRANK THE 
 
 BAND ORGAN- 
 IZED 
 
 The narrator of this little sketch has no desire 
 to pose as an apologist for Jesse James or his elder 
 brother, Frank. He has no wish to lessen the 
 approbrium attached to their names. He does not 
 justify any of their deeds. 
 
 He recognizes the undeniable fact that they were 
 bad, cruel, villainous murderers> whose hands were 
 fairly reeking with innocent blood. 
 
 At the same time, justice and candor compels 
 him to bear testimony to their courage and bravery. 
 He cannot help but admire their superb horseman- 
 ship, and their unequaled skill with fire arms. 
 
 They seldom hesitated to meet the greatest odds 
 against them, relying on these latter qualifications 
 to carry them through unscathed, and the wonder 
 inspired by the narration of their wild exploits is 
 
 53 
 
54 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 increased, when it is remembered that both were 
 young men. Frank James was but twenty-four, 
 and Jesse a mere lad of twenty. 
 
 Yet they were already old veterans, tried and 
 experienced campaigners. The voice of the revol- 
 ver, the ping of the rifle ball, the ringing clash 
 of swords, and the wild glare of battle were famil- 
 iar to their ears and eyes. 
 
 For four years they had led roving, desperate 
 and ensanguined lives. They had been hunted and 
 followed through wild morasses, and over vast 
 plains. 
 
 The cold biting winds of winter, and the fierce 
 heat of the summer's sun had bronzed their skins, 
 and hardened their bodies. 
 
 The tumult of battle and the mad excitement 
 of the guerilla charge had kept their blood at a 
 fever heat, and they were tired of it all. In- 
 numerable wounds, and hard privations had had 
 a salutory effect, and the young outlaws wanted 
 rest. 
 
 But how cruelly true it is that "circumstances 
 alter cases," and that a pebble, thrown by a baby 
 hand, may change the current of a mighty river. 
 
 Jesse was home with his mother, recuperating 
 after the damaging results of his last affair, while 
 Frank, who had been paroled at Samuel's Depot, 
 Kentucky, in July, was still in that state. 
 
 Like Jesse, he had grown weary of the passions 
 and strife of war, and, with a firm determination 
 
FRANK ^AT BRANDENBURG 55 
 
 to settle down, gave his parole to the proper au- 
 thorities, and so, was included in the Amnesty Act. 
 
 The termination of the war let loose upon the 
 community, the great mass of camp followers, 
 guerillas, bush whackers, and camp-bummers who 
 had hung on the skirts of the contending armies, as 
 the skulking jackals follow the lion, picking up 
 and fighting over his leavings, preying on all sides, 
 irrespective of partisanship. 
 
 The cessation of hostilities took the regular 
 troops from the field, and the irregulars found their 
 occupation, or rather opportunites gone. 
 
 This being the case, they turned their undivided 
 attention to robbing and pillaging anything from 
 a hen-coop to a bank. Horse-stealing especially 
 flourished and the farms and stock raisers of Ken- 
 tucky suffered from their depredations. 
 
 Brandenburg, a town in Mead County, on the 
 Ohio River, was a sort of rendezvous for the gentry 
 who were so careless with other people's horses, 
 and the surrounding country was up in arms, and 
 indignation rose to a white heat. 
 
 As Frank James, mounted on his splendid charger, 
 entered the town, he was noted. He was a stranger, 
 and was bestride as fine a bit of horse-flesh as ever 
 pleased the tastes of the Kentuckians, and this, to 
 their suspicious eyes, was prima facie evidence 
 that he was a horse-thief. 
 
 He entered the town quietly, ignorant of the pre- 
 
56 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 vailing sentiment, and proceeded to make himseli 
 comfortable at the hotel. 
 
 He was sitting quietly in the office of the cara- 
 vansary, when his peaceful revery was rudely broken 
 by the abrupt entrance of five men, well armed, 
 and determined. 
 
 The leader, — a fine specimen of manly form, 
 stepped up to the unsuspicious ex-guerilla, and 
 placing his hand on his shoulder, remarked: "I 
 arrest you as a horse-thief!" 
 
 At once Frank grasped the situation, but, accus- 
 tomed to such sudden dangers, he betrayed no fear 
 or excitement. There was nothing about him to 
 alarm his would-be captors. He was a young man 
 of twenty five, bronzed by the sun, and attired in 
 ordinary clothing, so, without undue harshness, the 
 leader of the posse, said, almost pleasantly: 
 
 "Will you consider yourself under arrest?" 
 
 "I consider no such proposition." was the 
 rather unexpected reply, and before a movement 
 further could be made, his quick hands sought and 
 found his revolvers, there was a double report, 
 closely followed by a third, and three men were 
 writhing in mortal agony upon the floor. The re- 
 mainder of the posse fled: but one, as he ran, 
 ventured a shot, which well nigh rid the world of 
 Frank James. The shot made a gaping wound in 
 the hip, and Frank reeled in agony. But his 
 blood was up. The old-time spirit was aroused, 
 and he was again the relentless dare-devil of 
 
FRANK A T B%4NDENB URG 5 7 
 
 Quantrell's band. Crawling to a post, he raised 
 himself to an erect posture, and with his terrible 
 eye, and more terrible revolver, held the aroused 
 villagers at bay. 
 
 In the crowd which surrounded him, was a young 
 man, one of the guerilla bands of the war, who 
 recognized the wounded desperado holding the mob 
 in check. With his horse the young fellow dashed 
 forward and swinging Frank behind him, urged the 
 steed to its utmost speed, followed by the impre- 
 cations and bullets of the angry and cheated 
 populace. 
 
 His preserver took him to a safe hiding place, 
 and nursed him back to health, but Frank never 
 recovered from that chance shot, nor will he as 
 long as he lives. 
 
 It was months of severe suffering for the wounded 
 man, but he lived. 
 
 In the meantime the pebble which changed the 
 course of Jesse James' destiny, was cast into his life 
 stream. 
 
 He had but just sought the shelter of his mater- 
 nal home, when the country was electrified by the 
 news that the Commercial Bank of Liberty had 
 been robbed of $70,000. 
 
 People immediately connected the James boys 
 with the crime, but it is due to them to state that 
 neither had any hand in it. 
 
 Frank lay dangerously wounded in Kentucky, and 
 
58 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 Jesse, just out of bed from a severe wound, was to© 
 weak and feeble to think of such an attempt. 
 
 Be it as it may, the people said the James broth- 
 ers had a finger in the pie, and that settled it, and 
 a party of men, who had somehow learned that 
 Jesse James was at his mother's house, determined 
 to pay off some old scores, and deliver him up to 
 the authorities. 
 
 So, on the night of the i8th of February, foun 
 days after the robbery, six well armed men rode upj 
 to the residence of Dr. Samuels. . 
 
 Jesse, who was tossing on a fevered bed, upstairs,^ 
 heard the sounds of hoofs, and his suspicions were 
 aroused. They were confirmed when he heard the, 
 horsemen enter the yard, and knock loudly and 
 emphatically upon the door. 
 
 Dr. Samuels answered the knock, pretending to 
 have trouble with the lock, to gain time. 
 
 By this time Jesse was up and armed, and stand- 
 ing beside his step-father. 
 
 "What shall I do? whispered the old gentleman. 
 
 "Open the door when I tell you," and Jesse 
 cocked both revolvers. 
 
 The knocking was renewed impatiently, and a 
 rough voice shouted: 
 
 "Open this d — d door, or we'll smash in the 
 panel." 
 
 "Have a second's patience," replied the doctor, 
 "there's something the matter with the blamed 
 lock, 
 
<^TTEMPT TO <^RREST JESSE S9 
 
 ^'Kfing out that murdering thief, Jesse James/ 
 )relle6 the knocker, "bring out the d — d scoundrel." 
 
 The answer came, and was disastrous, for, open- 
 ing the door, Jesse fired with unerring precision, 
 and two men fell, their blood trickling upon the 
 white snow. 
 
 Then the other four saw the terrible figure full 
 in the moonlight. His blazing eyes set in the 
 white face, and glancing over the barrels of the 
 trusty revolvers. Again they spoke, and two more 
 of the panic-stricken volunteers were sent to their 
 last accounts. 
 
 The remainder, leaping on their horses, fled as if 
 the imps of hell were at their heels, and riding 
 back to town told their tale, detailing the awful 
 facts with gross exaggerations. 
 
 A solemn determination was taken. The people 
 had grown weary of this reckless blood letting, 
 and it was determined that Jesse James must die. 
 
 Accordingly, fifty men, armed to the teeth, 
 returned to Samuel's house, and demanded of Mrs. 
 Samuels that Jesse be delivered up to them; but 
 Jesse was miles away. Sick, and feeble as he was — 
 trembling with fever, he had mounted his horse, 
 had gone to a safer and more retired locality. 
 Waiting a few days to recover as much strength as 
 possible, he started on a long and painful journey 
 for Kentucky, where he found Frank, still suffering 
 from his wounded hip. But still Jesse did not 
 recover. For months he lay upon a sick bed, suffer- 
 
6o JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS BANB 
 
 \n% untold agonies. At last, he determined to seelj 
 the best medical attention, and In October of 1867, 
 went to Nashville and puthlmself under the care of 
 Dr. Paul F. Eve, a well known surgeon. 
 
 It was not until the spring of '68 that he felt 
 so far recovered that he could be considered con- 
 valescent. He then joined Frank at Chaplin, 
 where the wounded outlaw was In hiding. 
 
 In this — their retreat, the two brothers took 
 council together. 
 
 The affair at Brandenburg, and Jesse's affray at 
 home, decided the course of their future lives. 
 
 Every crime of any magnitude, no matter in what 
 locality the crime was located, was charged to the 
 James brothers. If a bank was robbed in Kansas, 
 and two hours later another was despoiled in 
 Kentucky, the James brothers did it. If a man 
 was found dead, murdered, upon a lonely road in 
 Missouri, and a horse was stolen in Illinois, three 
 hundred miles away, it was the James brothers 
 that did It. 
 
 They had the name, and might as well have the 
 profits. Every door was closed against them. 
 They knew It would be impossible for them to 
 return to Kearney openly, and live there. The die 
 was cast ,and they determined to earn the reputa- 
 tion which had been given them. 
 
 The callwas passed, and Jesse James and his 
 band of notorious outlaws were let loose upon the 
 country. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 JESSE AND HIS BAND 
 
 COLE YOUNGER JIM WHITE GEORGE SHEPHERD OLE 
 
 SHEPHERD — A SECRET SESSION RUSSELLVILLE' S 
 
 BANK RAIDED, MARCH 1 868 ^100,000 
 
 TAKEN A MASTERLY RETREAT 
 
 GEORGE SHEPHERD ARRESTED 
 
 OLE SHEPHERD SURROUNDED 
 AND KILLED 
 
 It has never been accurately learned who composed 
 the first Jesse James band of raiders. The material 
 from which the young outlaw could select was plenti- 
 ful ; for, scattered all over Kentucky, Tennessee 
 and Missouri were members of the guerilla organi- 
 zations which played such an important part in 
 the war of the rebellion. Their well-known qualities 
 were highly appreciated by these irregular soldiers, 
 and if Jesse or Frank James passed the word along 
 the line for men, the responses would be prompt and 
 numerous. 
 
 It is safe to say, however, that Jesse selected 
 his timber with great care and after considerable 
 hard thinking. And, as members of QuantrelPs band, 
 his own tried comrades-at-arms would naturally have 
 the preference, the assumption that Cole Younger, 
 Jim White, George and Ole Shepherd were with 
 6i 
 
62 JESSE J^AMES <^NT> HIS B^N'TD 
 
 him in his first exploit as a bank robber, would 
 not be far out of the way. 
 
 It was early in the year of '68, when the gang 
 finally gathered together at Chaplin, and into a 
 secret session as committee on ways and means, to 
 consult together on plans for the future. The 
 plans were not only elaborated, but speedily put into 
 execution. 
 
 Russellville was a thriving town of some four 
 thousand inhabitants in the southern part of Ken- 
 tucky, nearly adjoining Tennessee, and was the 
 principle town in a large well-to-do district. 
 
 Its bank conducted a large business, and was 
 large in proportion to the size of the town. The 
 former season had been particularly good, the roads 
 were in an excellent condition, business was rush- 
 ing, and in consequence, a large amount of money 
 was locked within its vaults. 
 
 On this bank the longing eyes of Jesse James were 
 turned, and his itching palms were eager to grasp 
 the wealth it held. 
 
 The morning of March 20th, '68 opened clear and 
 beautiful, and the little town had opened its stores 
 and was getting ready for the business of the day. 
 
 The bank was about to open its doors also, when,' 
 dow^n the long straggling main street a dozen horse- 
 men appeared. Each rider was armed with two 
 pairs of revolvers, and as they rushed by, they 
 uttered deep oaths and outrageous imprecations, 
 threatening death to any man who should attempt 
 
TWO AGAINST FORTY. 
 
64 JESSE JAMES ^(J^ HIS B^A^T) 
 
 to hinder them in any way, ordering those on the 
 street to go into their houses, under penalty of in- 
 stant death. 
 
 Without halt or slacking of reins, the brigands 
 rode straight to the bank, and two men, Jesse 
 James and Cole Younger, leaped to the ground, and 
 disappeared through the bank door. 
 
 The cashier had just opened the safe, and was 
 arranging his papers, preparatory to the day's busi- 
 ness, when he was suddenly confronted by two 
 armed men, strangers to him. 
 
 Instantly the situation was appreciated, and he 
 turned quickly to shut the safe, but a stern com- 
 mand accompanied by an eloquent gesture from 
 Jesse James' revolver, halted him. 
 
 "Leave that alone and be quiet, or PU blow 
 your brains out! " was the peremptory command. 
 
 The cashier was a wise man. His life was more 
 valuable to him and the . community than the gold 
 in the safe, and the shining barrels of the threat- 
 ening revolvers rendered him powerless to do aught 
 but comply with their gentle urgings. 
 
 In a jiffy both desperadoes were over the counter 
 and the safe was rifled. Cole Younger swept up the 
 loose change on the counter, and everything but 
 some postage stamps were soon in the possession of 
 the robbers. 
 
 The stamps were left, Jesse James facetiously 
 remarking, "that he would leave them as the cashier 
 might want to mail some letters later in the day." 
 
%USSELLyiLLE'S "BANK %AIDED 65 
 
 With the booty fn their possession, the two out- 
 laws left the bank (which was about all they left), 
 and mounting their horses, swept back again over 
 the road, shouting dire threats to any one who 
 would dare follow. $100,000, was securred in this 
 simple manner. It was done in ten short minutes, 
 and the stunned citizens of Russellville could 
 hardly comprehend the fact that ten men had 
 boldly entered their tight, tidy town, robbed their 
 bank in open day, and departed without meeting 
 the slightest opposition. 
 
 The impudence and audacity of the raid was 
 almost inconceivable, and the celerity with which 
 the gang operated, suggested an intimate acquain- 
 tance with the locality and habits of the place, only 
 acquired by good preliminary work. It was a well 
 planned, ably-executed transaction; the bloodless 
 feature of the affair was due to the paralysis which 
 struck every able-bodied man in the town, when 
 they saw the ten dare-devils sweep so suddenly 
 down the street. 
 
 This paralysis was temporary however, for, hardly 
 had the robbers gained the outskirts of the town, 
 when the hue and cry was raised. At once a posse 
 was organized for the pursuit. The Kentucky blood 
 was at fever heat, and it was a well-armed, well- 
 mounted party of resolute, determined men who 
 struck the hot trail, and set off in keen and eager 
 pursuit of the saucy bandits. 
 fesse James and his Band j 
 
66 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "B^ND 
 
 But the latter were also well-armed and well- 
 mounted. They, too, were resolute, determined 
 men, and had for their leader, a young fellow, with 
 a lion heart, an eagle's eye, an Indian's sagacious 
 patience and the powerful aid of the devil himself. 
 
 For days the pursuing party followed the fleet 
 desperadoes. Over the mountains, through the 
 valleys, plunging into deep waters, tramping over 
 unbroken fields, threading the dark forests and 
 skirting broad rivers, until the Father of Waters, 
 the wide, deep rolling Mississippi was reached, and 
 stretched between the pursuers and pursued, for the 
 robbers had crossed and plunged into the pastures 
 of their own Missouri. 
 
 Still the Kentuckians kept the trail, but it became 
 blinder and blinder, less and less distinct, until it 
 was lost to view. Then, and only then, they gave it 
 up, and returned, sadder and wiser men, to their 
 native town. 
 
 Shortly after, however, George Shepherd was 
 caught, and sent to the penitentiary for a long term of 
 years. Susequently, Ole Sheperd was located in 
 Jackson County, Missouri. The necessary papers 
 were made out, and a posse of thirty men sent after 
 him. They discovered his hiding place, and sur- 
 rounding it, called on him to surrender, under pain 
 of instant death. 
 
 "Surrender be d — d." was the oM guerilla's 
 reply. "Do your worst." and he fired the first 
 shot- 
 
OLE SHEPHERD KILLED 67 
 
 The firing became general. There could be but 
 one result, and the desperate bandit, fighting until 
 every chamber of his revolvers was emptied, fell 
 with seven bullets in his body. 
 
 He died defiant to the last, cursing his slayers 
 with his last breath. The rest escaped for the time. 
 
 They lost little time in mourning for their impris- 
 oned comrade, nor did they shed many tears for their 
 fallen brother. It was a chance they took, and if 
 the law claimed one victim, and relentess death 
 another, what was it to them. They had secured 
 over $10,000 each, as their share of the booty, and 
 it paid to take such risks, as the compensation, if 
 successful, was so great. 
 
 But the escape of the robbers, their long, weari- 
 some retreat, the forced marches under the darkness of 
 night, the thousand-and-one perils which sprang up 
 to drag them down to the grave, the stealthy ride 
 through sleeping villages, the sudden dashes across 
 moonlit roads; sallies, skirmishes, hunger, thirst, 
 and numberless hardships which beset them, speak 
 volumes for their endurance and bravery. 
 
 No romantic robber-hero of olden times could 
 compare with these modern bandits, and no roman- 
 cer could depict, with the sorcery of his imagina- 
 tion, such a tale of almost incredible wonder. Yet, 
 it is true, and it is here written, a plain unvarnish- 
 ed tale almost beyond belief. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 JESSE AN INVALID 
 
 HE TAKES A SEA VOYAGE — PANAMA AND SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 FRANK JOINS HIM — LUXURIATING AT PASO ROBEL 
 
 IN THE MINING CAMPS ARISTOCRATIC GAM- 
 BLERS — BATTLE MOUNTAIN A STIFF 
 
 GAME A FATAL JACK-POT THE 
 
 DEVIL LOOSED FOURTEEN 
 
 SOUVENIRS BATTLE 
 
 MOUNTAIN SHAK- 
 EN UP 
 
 After the Russellville bank robbery, Jesse James 
 stole back to Kearney and was secreted in the 
 Samuels homestead. The privations of the fearful 
 ride from Russellville to Missouri told upon him. 
 
 There seemed to be no limit to his endurance, 
 but this last affair reacted upon his health, and he 
 was again an invalid. 
 
 Acting under the advice of some friends, he went 
 to Kansas City, and consulted Dr. Joseph Wood of 
 that place, an eminent and skillful practitioner. 
 
 The surgeon at once recommended a change of 
 scene and air, and suggested a sea voyage, telling 
 him to seek a warmer and more genial clime, where 
 the shattered lung and debilitated system could 
 recuperate. 
 
 6S 
 
LUXUklATKKO Al T^ASO RCBEL 69 
 
 Accordingly, Jesse James bade farewell to his 
 family, and journeyed to New York. After spending 
 a few days with friends, he set sail, June gth, 1869 
 for Panama, and thence to San Francisco. 
 
 During this time, Frank James, still suffering 
 from his wounded hip, which had not been helped 
 to any great extent by his Russell ville experience, 
 was hiding in the house of a friend in Nelson 
 County, Kentucky. Waiting until the excitement had 
 blown over, he went to Louisville, and from there 
 to Kansas City, where his mother was visiting. He 
 then traveled overland to San Francisco, reaching 
 that city in advance of Jesse. 
 
 The two brothers met at the home of their uncle, 
 a Mr. D. W. James, who was proprietor of a hotel 
 at Paso Robel. 
 
 For several months the young men lived there 
 quietly and peacefully, conducting themselves with 
 such circumspection, that no one dreamed the two 
 quiet, gentlemanly young fellows were the twin 
 devils of murder and pillage who had caused four 
 states to tremble and quiver with horror at their 
 very name. 
 
 It is said that se successful were the young 
 bandits in thus disguising themselves, and so 
 rapidly did they acquire the manners and polite 
 modes of the fashionable watering place, that more 
 than one susceptible maiden fell victims to their 
 fascinations, and they became the leading beaux of 
 the place. 
 
70 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS "B^ND 
 
 How true this may be, can only be conjectured, 
 but there they remained all summer, gathering 
 health and strength, until they were completly re- 
 stored. By the time this was fully accomplished, 
 they had become restless, and it required but a 
 slight incentive to start them on their travels. 
 This came in the shape of several of their old com- 
 rades, whom they met. 
 
 With these they set out for the mining camps, 
 and the slumbering fire of their old guerilla spirit 
 was soon fanned into a flame, which needed but 
 slight encouragement to develop into a fierce fire 
 with a consuming heat. 
 
 There were many mining towns near Paso Robel, 
 and further up the mountains, in the neighborhood 
 of the new diggings, such towns sprang up, almost 
 in a day — mushroom villages of uncertain life. 
 
 The discovery of a new find, or a rich formation 
 caused the migratory miners — birds of impulse and 
 passage, to flock to the locality. 
 
 Every nugget picked from some pocket was to bei 
 the key to some new El Dorado. The news would 
 spread, and from all sides the eager diggers would 
 rush to the golden portal, anxious to obtain fabu- 
 lous wealth. 
 
 First the hasty shacks of the prospectors would 
 spring up on some level plateau, or cling to the 
 steep sides of a rugged bluff, then would follow the 
 tents and canvas houses, then the inevitable saloon 
 and dance hall would blossom forth in all their cheap 
 
IN THE {MINING C<^MPS 71 
 
 tawdery,a store would follow, another saloon, a black- 
 smith shop, then two more saloons, more dance 
 halls, and then the incongruous jumble of tents, 
 shanties, hastily thrown together frame houses, 
 saloons, dance halls, and shops would be dignified 
 with a name, and the new town, built in three days, 
 was a reality. The class of people who flocked to 
 such effervescent hamlets partook of the nature of 
 the place. 
 
 They were of all kinds and conditions. The 
 honest and dishonest, steady and unsteady, noble 
 and debased; a boiling, changing mass of excited 
 humanity, careless of themselves, their money, 
 their morals and their lives. 
 
 The gamblers and the liquor dealers assumed 
 aristocratic airs to themselves and were usually the 
 chief men of the town. They thrived and flourished 
 whether "pay dirt" was struck or not. They toiled 
 not, and neither did they spin, and yet "I say unto 
 you, that Solomon in all his glory" did not acquire 
 his wealth with less effort than did the sporting 
 gentlemen of the mining camp, or the dexterous 
 dispenser of the intoxicating enchanter that passed 
 under the multifarious name of "drinks". 
 
 It was to just such a town that Jesse and Frank 
 James, with two Missouri gentlemen of their ilk, 
 and congenial tastes honored with a visit. The 
 young metropolis bore the euphonious name of 
 Battle Mountain, and was accounted one of . the 
 "swiftest" towns on the range. They went purely 
 
72 JESSE J^MES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 and simply to see the place. They saw the place 
 with the most innocent intentions in the world, 
 mere curiosity. 
 
 For a few days they roamed around, and took in 
 the diggings; a party of gamblers noticed the quart- 
 tette, and not having that acquaintance with them 
 which might have deterred them from their purpose, 
 laid a plan to skin them of some of their wealth. 
 The James boys were proud of their abilities as 
 poker players. The fascinations of the draw were 
 sufficient for them to accept the tender of a friendly 
 game which the accomodating and friendly gam- 
 blers made them, and, one evening found them 
 seated around the table, with the pile of chips and 
 elusive pasteboards before them. 
 
 For some time the game progressed without ex- 
 citement, the Missouri men sitting together, and 
 their quandom friends occupying the other sides of 
 the table, while in the room were thirty others 
 who were in the deep-laid scheme which was to 
 despoil the ex-guerillas of their pile. 
 
 A jack-pot was on, cards had been draVn, one by 
 one the players laid down their cards, until the 
 game was reduced to two, a gambler of the town 
 and one of Jesse James* party. 
 
 The gambler was in the plot, so when the 
 Missourian called him, he cheerfully remarked, 
 with a satisfied glance at the swollen and luscious 
 pot. 
 
 "Three Kings. ' 
 
<^ FAr<^L JdiCK-POT 73 
 
 "Three Aces," was the cool response, as the man 
 from the States showed down his thre§ single spots 
 and calmly raked in the pot. 
 
 "I discarded a king," he continued, "when the cut 
 was made for your deal, the bottom card was ex- 
 posed. It was a king, so you got your three kings 
 from the bottom. You mustn't do that again." 
 
 "You lie ! "was the angry retort, and the gambler's 
 hand sought his revolver, as his eyes flashed the 
 mischief he was contemplating. 
 
 There was an ominous movement throughout the 
 room. A sudden calm fell upon the place. A man 
 had been accused of cheating, and the lie had been 
 passed, and death was the penalty, according to the 
 gambler's code of honor. 
 
 Jesse James, with his usual promptitude, grasped 
 the idea instantly. He saw the nervous haste 
 with which the gambler felt for his shooting iron, 
 but, the hand of Jesse James was quicker, his aim 
 was surer and when his ready revolver belched 
 forth its death dealing flame, the gambler fell 
 back, dead. 
 
 Quick as a flash, the other gambler sprang for- 
 ward with a knife, and made a quick slash at Jesse, 
 but quicker than a flash, the revolver swung round, 
 and, with his brains spattering the wall, and the 
 entire top of his head blown off, the card-playing 
 sharp stretched his length upon the floor, a quiver- 
 ing corpse. 
 
 Then the slumbering hell awoke, and pandemon- 
 
74 JESSE JAMES A€^D HIS BAVfD 
 
 ium began; with a shout and a yell, the entire 
 crowd charged the four friends. Forty men against 
 four. 
 
 Ranged shoulder against shoulder, fearless as a 
 tiger, cool as an iceberg, and calm as a mill-pond 
 the quartette faced their raging opponents. 
 
 Suddenly the lights were put out, and Jesse, be- 
 tween the cruel workings of his pistols, shouted: 
 
 "Stand aside ! Be ready. " 
 
 Frank and the other two understood; with a rush, 
 they made for the door, Jesse covering the retreat 
 with his revolvers. As soon as they had escaped, 
 they began firing into the howling, maddened 
 crowd, allowing Jesse to reach the door. Two 
 brawny gamblers sprang upon him. One sank with 
 a bullet in his brain, and the other, struck sense 
 less with the stock of the empty pistol, fell across 
 his comrade's body. Leaping over this ghastly bar- 
 ricade, Jesse joined his friends outside, safe and 
 unscratched. 
 
 It was a murderous affair, and the men who thus 
 awoke the sleeping tiger were horror-struck when 
 they contemplated the awful scene after the 
 lights had been re-lit. On the rough floor lay the 
 bodies of three dead men, and writhing in mortal 
 agony, five others were scattered about. The floors 
 and walls were spattered with blood, and a huge 
 blotch near the door was the remains of the dead 
 gambler's brains. 
 
 Obeying a sudden impulse, one of those unex- 
 
BATTLE MOUNTAIN SHAKEN UP 75 
 
 plainable sensations which seems to animate and 
 move a great crowd, making each individual do the 
 same thing at the same time, like a company of 
 soldiers drilling, the wild mob of gamblers, hang- 
 ers on, and miners rushed after the daring Missou- 
 ri ans. 
 
 Scarcely had they run a mile, when they came 
 within sight of the four men, leisurely moving out 
 of the town. The self-appointed leaders of the 
 pursuing crowd rushed forward, yelling, and crying 
 for the James boys and their companions to stop. 
 
 "Fall back ! " cried Jesse. "Fall back, we fought 
 once for self-defence, and we will do it again." 
 
 But the yelling, cursing pack continued their 
 headlong course. Again Jesse warned them. 
 
 "Back, you d— d fools! Stand back! " 
 
 This did not deter them, and they still made for 
 the objects of their vengeance. 
 
 Then Jesse turned to his comrades. 
 
 "We are in for it again, boys, give it to them." 
 Turning to the oncoming mab, he cried: 
 
 "Come on, d — d you. Come on, and get shot!" 
 
 Suiting his actions to the words, he pulled the 
 trigger and a man plunged forward, headforemost to 
 the earth. Three other shots rang out, almost sim- 
 multaneously with Jesse's, and three dead men 
 dropped. Again the Missourians fired, and two 
 more of their pursuers fell. Then the mob halted, 
 wavered and turned. Jesse James and his compan- 
 
76 JESSE JAMES <^^D HIS 'B<^ir^D 
 
 ions were safe, and resumed their journey, but, they 
 left behind fourteen dead and dying men as souve- 
 nirs of their visit. They had shaken up Battle 
 Mountain as the town had never before, or after 
 experienced. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 BACK IN MISSOURI 
 
 THE GALLATIN BANK RAIDED THE CASHIER, JOHN W. 
 
 SHEETS, MURDERED COLUMBIA (KY.) BANK OF 
 
 DEPOSIT ROBBED A BRAVE CASHIER BRU- 
 TALLY BUTCHERED BILL LONGLY SHOT 
 
 CORYDON (lA.) BANK MULCTED 
 
 OF ^40,000 
 
 The James brothers concluded that the Sierras 
 gold country was not a very salubrious and healthy 
 climate for them, after their little escapade at 
 Battle Mountain. The notoriety they acquired on 
 account of this trifling eccentricity was not compa- 
 tible with their best interests; and the publicity, 
 which is the penalty imposed on all noted men, 
 was inflicted on them, and grated on their modest 
 and retiring dispositions. For these reasons they 
 concluded that the finger of wisdom pointed to 
 their Missouri home, and after remaining in seclu- 
 sion a few days to allow the Battle Mountain 
 hurricane time to calm down, they started overland, 
 and, in due time, arrived in Missouri. 
 
 Reaching their old stamping grounds, they at 
 once — like the honest, hard working men they were — 
 looked around for employment. Money was no 
 object, it was employment they were after. It did 
 
 77 
 
78 JESSE J<^MES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 not take them a great length of time to find it, 
 and, letting their inclinations lead as they 
 wished, they determined to embark in the banking 
 business. Their last financial venture in that line, 
 at Russellville, had been eminently successful, and 
 with buoyant hopes, and sanguine dreams of again 
 filling their coffers, they surveyed the country for 
 a likely opening. 
 
 Organizing their company without any ostenta- 
 tious display or blowing of trumpets, they proceed- 
 ed to put the machinery in operation. The place 
 was Gallatin, a thriving little burgh of Daviess Co. 
 Missouri. It was Russellville all over again, Uut 
 with the difference, that Russellville was a "clean 
 job"; the Gallatin affair was a "dirty" one, for inno- 
 cent blood was shed with the recklessness of brutish 
 and depraved men. 
 
 On the 15th of December, 1869, a band of armed 
 horsemen entered the town of Gallatin, and urging 
 their animals down the main street with the veloc- 
 ity of the wind, flourished their revolvers, and 
 uttering curses and oaths, ordered the people to 
 stay in their houses. When the bank was reached, 
 two of the raiders sprang from their horses and 
 rushed into the bank. They were Jesse James and 
 Cole Younger. 
 
 The vault door was wide open, and one of the 
 men, pressing his revolver against the head of 
 the cashier, Capt. John W. Sheets, ordered him to 
 remain quiet. The other hastily secured the money 
 
{MURDER OF CAPTAIN SHEETS 79 
 
 — a mere paltry amount — $700 or so — and placed 
 it in a bag. 
 
 Captain Sheets, powerless and helpless, had re- 
 mained a passive spectator of the outrage, but. this 
 did not save him, for, just as they were leaving, 
 one of the outlaws (whether Jesse James or Cole 
 Younger is not definitely known) deliberately 
 leveled his revolver, and shot the cashier dead. 
 
 The ruffians left as they came, and vanished from 
 sight leaving a rifled bank, and the rigid body of 
 the murdered cashier prone upon the bank floor. 
 
 The unprovoked, cowardly assassination of Cap- 
 tain Sheets aroused the entire country, and the full 
 force of the law was put into operation. The 
 region round about was scoured and searched, pur- 
 suing parties found the trail, and chased the 
 robbers to the borders of Clay County. There the 
 marauders disappeared. They were on their native 
 heath, and were safe. 
 
 The friends of the James brothers did all in 
 their power to discredit the statement that they 
 were implicated in this horrible affair. Jesse 
 James had the supreme affrontery to write a per- 
 sonal letter to Gov. McClury denying that either 
 he or Frank had any connection whatever with the 
 Gallatin bank robbery and murder. But, as time 
 brought forth new developments, the facts were 
 well substantiated, that it was either Jesse James 
 or Cole Younger who shot Captain Sheets. 
 
 Whether they were engaged in this robbery or 
 
8o JESSE J<^MES ^ND HIS "BAND 
 
 not, it is absolutely certain that they were active 
 participants — the planners and leaders of the nftxt 
 one. 
 
 This time the scene of operations was transfer- 
 red again to Kentucky, the scene of their first 
 attempt at bank raiding. 
 
 Columbia, is the county seat of Adair County, 
 Kentucky, and its bank was known to be a partic- 
 ularly thriving institution, doing considerable busi- 
 ness, and handling a large quantity of money. It 
 was about two o'clock in the afternoon of April 
 29th, 1872, that the President of the Bank of 
 Deposit (for such was the name of the institution) 
 was conversing with the cashier, Mr. R. A. C. 
 Martin, and a citizen, Mr. Garnett, by name. An 
 unusual commotion attracted their attention, and 
 glancing out upon the street, they saw five horse- 
 men riding furiously down the street. Before they 
 could realize that anything out of the common 
 was occuring, the door flew back, and the gentle- 
 men were gazing into the barrels of four revolvers, 
 held by the steady hands of Frank James and Cole 
 Younger. Without a word, the two intruders 
 passed around the counter, and presenting a pistol 
 to the head of the cashier, one of them cried in a 
 peremptory tone: 
 
 "Will you give up the safe keys, d — n you? 
 
 "I will not!" replied the plucky cashier. 
 
 "Then, G — ^d d — n you, will you open the safe? 
 
BILL LONGLEY SHOT 8i 
 
 Come, quick. I*ve no time to waste. Come now, 
 ni blow your d — d brains out. Will you?" 
 
 "I will not. I will d— " 
 
 The defiant words were never finished, for a 
 bullet crushed his temple and his blood and brain 
 spurted over the desk and the horrified President. 
 
 The two robbers saw the game was up. The 
 cashier had the combination, and time was more 
 precious than all the money in the bank. A mur- 
 der had been committed, and they must flee. 
 Hastily sweeping up the loose money on the coun- 
 ter, $300.00, they darted to the street, mounted, and 
 the cavalcade of robbers and murderers swept from 
 sight. 
 
 Pursuit was instituted at once, and excepting 
 that one raider, Bill Longly, a new recruit from 
 Texas, was shot in Fentress County, the gang 
 again escaped. 
 
 Before twelve months had passed, the Jesse 
 James gang again raided a bank. It was the bank 
 in Corydon, Iowa. The day was the 28th, of June, 
 1873. It was the regular procedure. Twelve 
 armed and mounted men suddenly dashed into town, 
 terrorized the .inhabitants, and held them away 
 from the bank. 
 
 Three of the robbers entered the bank and, bring- 
 ing six revolvers to bear on the officials, compelled 
 them to pass out all the money. Then the rapid 
 remount, the quick order, the hurry of flying hoofs,, 
 
 and then — . 
 6 
 
82 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 $40,000, was the product of this last robbery, and 
 not a cent was ever recovered, and not a man 
 caught in the search instantly set in motion. 
 
 Russellville! Gallatin! Columbia! Corydon! 
 $141,000! Two murders. What a record. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 KANSAS CITY FAIR 
 
 |llO,000 SCOOPED BY JESSE JAMES A BOLD, RECKLESS 
 
 AFFAIR A CLEAN JOB A BANK AT STE. GENE- 
 VIEVE ROBBED A BOLD LEAP. A SLIGHT 
 
 MISHAP A COWARDLY DOZEN 
 
 The two events to be recorded in this chapter, 
 are placed here because it is popularly supposed 
 that Jesse James and his dashing free-booters were 
 the audacious gentlemen who participated in the' 
 affair; although, it is a mere matter of conjecture. 
 
 But the ear marks pointed to Jesse James; the 
 characteristics of Russellville, Gallatin and Cory- 
 don, were present in both the Kansas City and 
 Genevieve raids, and it is a fair presumption to 
 make that Jesse and Frank James were the leaders. 
 
 The robbery of the Kansas City Fair, was the 
 most audacious, bold and reckless affair that ever 
 startled the world. Sheer impudence, and une- 
 qualed boldness carried the day, and seven men, 
 surrounded by the throngs of peqpte visiting the 
 fair, in the wide-open day, swooped down, picked up 
 ]pio,ooo, and dashed away, unharmed and without 
 hindrance. 
 
 There was a big crowd at the Fair-grounds that 
 day, September 20th, 1872. Ethan Allen, the 
 
84 JESSE JAMES AND HIS 'B^MD 
 
 famous race horse, was to trot, and the event drew 
 a large number of the race track devotees to th« 
 fair grounds. 
 
 Great masses of people were crowding through 
 the gates and filling the -grand stand and enclosure. 
 
 The fair was doing a howling business, nearly 
 J5io,ooo, being taken in as gate receipts. 
 
 Although it was after banking hours, Mr. Hall, 
 treasurer of the Association, had made arrange- 
 ments to deposit the sum, and, placing the money 
 in a tin box, gave it to a trusted employe to 
 carry to the bank. The idea that any sane person 
 male or female, would attempt to steal this box 
 in broad daylight in the midst of so many thou- 
 sand people, was preposterous, and Mr. Hall never 
 dreamed of such a contingency. 
 
 The young man left the office with his valuable 
 bundle, and proceeded down the street. 
 
 As he did so, seven men, well armed, trotted 
 leisurely down the street. They attracted attention 
 to be sure, but it was mere curiosity. The magni- 
 ficent horses they rode were admired, and the ma- 
 jority of the spectators thought the cavalcade part 
 of the show. 
 
 So it was, but it was not down on the pro- 
 gramme. 
 
 Suddenly, at a command, the seven men put 
 spurs to their horses, and dashed recklessly 
 through the crowd, which opened right and left ill 
 hurried attempts to escape being trampled to death. 
 
jnSSSE'S LEAP FOB LIt£. 
 
86 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 When the men were opposite the messenger car- 
 rying the tin box, they halted, and, drawing their 
 revolvers swore to instantly kill any one making 
 the slightest attempt to hinder them. 
 
 One tall, athletic man (supposed to be Jesse 
 James) sprang from his horse, and thrusting his re- 
 volver in the face of the astonished and paralyzed 
 messenger, snatched the box from his nerveless 
 hands, vaulted lightly into the saddle, wheeled his 
 horse and with a shrill whistle, dashed down the 
 street at full speed, followed by the remainder of 
 the raiders. 
 
 Ten thousand dollars in clean hard cash. Not 
 a shot was fired, not a person was injured. It was 
 a "clean job". 
 
 Of course they were pursued, but all the pursuers 
 found was the empty tin box, hanging to a tree 
 five miles away. The raiders had escaped. 
 
 For some time the gang lived on the proceeds of 
 the Kansas City raid, but money "easy come easy 
 goes", and their flattened purses was an incent- 
 ive to urge them on to renewed efforts in their 
 peculiar line, and Ste. Geneveive, the old Catholic 
 town of Missouri, was selected as the victim. 
 
 It was in the spring of '73, and the cashier of the 
 savings bank, together with a young man, his as- 
 sistant, named F. A. Rogers, had just entered the 
 bank, ready to open up for the day, when they 
 were suddenly confronted by four armed men, who 
 spoke to them thus: 
 
<^ BOLD LE^P 87 
 
 "We have -come to help you open the bank. 
 Open the safe instantly, d — m you, we have no 
 time to lose." 
 
 "I am helpless and can not resist you," replied 
 Mr. Harris, the cashier, and he turned to the safe. 
 
 Meanwhile the young clerk, Rogers, who had 
 shown signs of creating an alarm, was sternly com- 
 manded to keep still. 
 
 "I? What for?" he inquired. 
 
 "Not another word, you young devil. Keep still, 
 if you don't want your brain blown out of your 
 d— d head." 
 
 But young Rogers was plucky, and taking advan- 
 tage of the moment, made a bold leap and sprang 
 down stairs to the street. 
 
 As he fled, the man watching him fired, the 
 bullet tearing the shoulder of his coat and graz- 
 ing his chin. 
 
 By this time the safe was opened, and the booty 
 secured. To the intense disappointment of the 
 James gang, they found but 1^8.500, where they had 
 fondly dreamed of ^80.000 or even ;^ 100. 000 After 
 relieving Mr. Harris of his watch, they left the 
 bank, mounted their horses, and fled. 
 
 A slight mishap, which well nigh proved disas- 
 terous, happened to them just as they were leaving 
 the city. 
 
 One of their horses ran away, and the bag con- 
 taining their booty, broke, spilling the gold in the 
 streets 
 
SB JESSE JAMES <t/^ND HIS B^ND 
 
 A German farmer passing with his team was 
 compelled to chase and capture the horse, while 
 the robbers, with their drawn pistols stood guard 
 over the gold. 
 
 A dozen men had hastily secured arms, and now 
 appeared in pursuit, but the bold, determined front 
 presented by the bank raiders cooled their ardor, 
 and they returned, leaving Jesse James and his 
 companions to escape with their ill-gotten wealth. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A CHANGE OF OPERATIONS 
 
 BANKING TO RAILROADING THE COUNCIL OF WAR 
 
 WATCHING THROUGH THE NIGHT ^WRECKING THE 
 
 ROCK ISLAND EXPRESS. "mY GOD ! THE 
 RAILS move"— DEATH OF A BRAVE EN- 
 GINEER A HELLISH CRIME 
 
 |)25,000 SECURED ^50, GOO 
 
 REWARD A VAIN OFFER 
 
 For some time previous to the Ste. Genevieve 
 bank robbery, the James brothers haid seriously con- 
 sidered the question of enlarging their field of 
 operations. Bank plundering was all well enough 
 in its way. It was an easy, pleasant mode of giv- 
 ing them pocket money, but their aspirations 
 yearned for nobler deeds. The excitement of rob- 
 bing banks was beginning to lose its pungency and 
 flavor. Their ambitions soared to greater latitudes, 
 and they had their hearts set on greater deeds. 
 
 To this end, Frank James and Bill Younger had 
 made a preliminary trip into Nebraska. A journey 
 of observation as it were, and, when they returned 
 and the conclave of marauders were once more in 
 session, they made their report. It was then deter- 
 mined to embark in the new enterprise. The 
 bankers had voted to change their business and 
 
 89 
 
90 JESSE J^AMES o^ND HIS BAND 
 
 enter the wider field of railroading. In short, to 
 rob express trains. 
 
 Two new men had been added to the gang. Rob- 
 ert Moore, and a Texas desperado who had flour- 
 ished under the euphoneous cognomen of Comanche 
 Toney. The conference was held in Jackson 
 County, and with maps of the country, time tables 
 and other printed and illustrated material, the 
 question was viewed in all its possible and im- 
 possible phases. 
 
 There is considerable difference between holding 
 up an express train, thundering along at forty 
 miles an hour, and mulcting the bank in some 
 sleepy little town of a few thousand frightened 
 people. Besides, the idea was a new one. They 
 were about to tread upon unknown ground, and they 
 felt their way carefully. Various were the schemes 
 proposed and rejected, and the discussion waxed 
 warm. At length a decision was made, and, on the 
 night of Saturday, July 20th, 1873, the James boys 
 Jesse and Frank, Cole and Bill Younger, Bob 
 Moore and Comanche Toney met at the rendezvous, 
 a point on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 
 some fourteen miles from Council Bluffs. 
 
 The place had been selected with admirable 
 forethought. A wild lonely country, half way be- 
 tween Adair and Des Moines, with not a single 
 house for miles around. The east bound express 
 was due there at about three o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, and it was this train they were to rob. 
 
"DEATH OF <^ "BRAVE ENGINEER 91 
 
 With commendable energy, the train robbers set 
 to work. Spikes and fishplates were loosened, 
 several ties were brought close at hand, ready for in- 
 stant services, and then the men crept back to the 
 bushes and waited: waited through the long night. 
 
 They waited and watched freight trains lumber 
 safely over the loosened rails, which were still held 
 by just enough spikes to keep them in place. They 
 watched and waited until the East began to show 
 signs of breaking of the Sabbath morn. At length the 
 time for action drew near. Far down the track, the 
 faint rumble of the approaching express was heard. 
 Then the faint flash of the head light. Quickly 
 the remaining spikes were drawn, and the rails 
 thrust aside. The ties were thrown across the road 
 bed just as the train, flying to make up time, 
 crossed the Turkey Creek bridge. With bated breath, 
 the hell inspired robbers watched the doomed 
 express rushing to its destruction. 
 
 In the cab, poor John Rafferty, the engineer, 
 peered ahead, his hand on the throttle. He saw 
 the danger, but with a leap the engine struck the 
 obstruction. 
 
 "My God, the rails move" cried Rafferty to his 
 fireman. 
 
 It was his death cry, but even in the face of his 
 awful peril, he thought of the passengers behind, 
 and applying the air brake, he thrust back his lever. 
 
 With a hiss of steam, and a roar almost human 
 in its agony, the engine sprang from the rails, and 
 
93 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS 'BAND 
 
 plunging to one side, fell over, crushing the life from 
 the body of John Rafferty. 
 
 A cry of horror arose from the terrified passen- 
 gers, and the cry was echoed by the wild yells of 
 the damnable gang that had committed this hellish 
 crime. 
 
 With curses and yells, the desperadoes ran 
 through the cars, firing their revolvers, and com- 
 manding abject submission. 
 
 The express car was broken into and the messen- 
 ger, with his arm broken by the bloodthirsty 
 demons, was compelled to open the safe. The mail 
 clerks were robbed, and then the ruthless villains 
 passed through the cars, making every man, woman 
 and child deliver their -valuables. When the last 
 passenger had been despoiled, the masked robbers 
 disappeared in the bushes, mounted their horses, 
 and rode gaily away, ^^25,000 richer, leaving the 
 crushed and mangled body of the heroic John Raff- 
 erty, stretched out stiff in death, the rifled express 
 car and the terror stricken passengers behind. 
 
 A reward of $50,000, was offered for the arrest of 
 the robbers, but it was offered in vain. The 
 villains escaped to Clay County and for a time dis- 
 appeared. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A LITTLE DIVERSION THE HOT SPRINGS STAGE ROBBED 
 
 ROUNDED UP ;?3,020 IN ONE HAUL A GRIM 
 
 JOKE THE HUMAN TARGET — CONFED- 
 ERATES EXEMPT. GOV. BUR- 
 BANK IN A TIGHT PLACE 
 
 The Jesse James gang had never been afflicted 
 with any great amount of modesty or bashfulness.' 
 
 The contrary was nearer the truth, and the suc- 
 cess of their first venture in railroad robbery, 
 emboldened them to even greater audacity. The 
 money they secured from the Rock Island Express 
 raid, enabled them to live without resort to any 
 plundering expedition for a time, but one day, it 
 was the middle of January, of 1884, five of the 
 gang, Jesse and Frank James, Cole and Jim Younger 
 and Cove Miller, by way of diversion, and to keep 
 their hand in training, concluded to .indulge in the 
 pleasant task of robbing a stage. 
 
 Hot Springs was a great resort for invalids, 
 troubled with rheumatism, paralysis and other 
 ailments of that order, and, as the cost of living 
 in Hot Springs was rather more than common, only 
 the wealthy could patronize the place. A stage ran) 
 from Malvern, on the St. L. I. M. & S. R. R. to' 
 Hot Springs. j 
 
94 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS "B^ND 
 
 This morning, the stage was well filled, and had 
 reached a point within five miles of the Springs, 
 near the old Gaines mansion. The company in the 
 stage were feeling in the best of good spirits, and 
 were thoroughly enjoying the ride, when suddenly, 
 five men, dressed in the uniform of Union soldiers, 
 sprang from the bushes beside the road, each man 
 carrying two revolvers. 
 
 "Stop, Stop !" cried one of the men, calling to the 
 driver; "Stop, or Pll blow your head off." 
 
 The driver stopped. He didn't care to have his 
 thatch blown skyward, and instantly reined in his 
 horses. 
 
 "Come now, tumble out of here," was the 
 next command, emphasized by a comprehensive 
 movement of the pistols. 
 
 "Oh, certainly," responded one of the passengers 
 a Mr. Charles Morse. "We can do nothing else." 
 
 The stage was soon vacant, save one old gentle- 
 man, who exclaimed piteously: 
 
 "I am paralyzed in my legs, and cannot walk." 
 
 "Never mind, then, " said Jesse James, "stay 
 where you are." 
 
 The other passengers, intimidated by the appear- 
 ance of the dangerous looking revolvers of the men, 
 did as they were told, and were formed in a circle, 
 with their hands extended full arms length above 
 their heads. 
 
 The robbers then began, systematically, to rob 
 every man of the party. From Ex-Gov. Burbank 
 
THE HU£KfAN TARGET 95 
 
 they took $800.00 in cash, a diamond pin worth 
 ;g35o.oo, and a gold watch valued at I250.00. 
 John Dietrich, of Little Rock, yielded up $200.00. 
 William Taylor, of Lowell, Mass., handed over 
 $650,00. Chas. Morse presented them with $70.00, 
 from E. A. Peebles of Hot Springs they took $200.00, 
 and Geo. E. Crump, of Memphis, turned over 
 $45.00. Other passengers gave $205.00, and the 
 Southern Express Company was robbed of $450.00. 
 A total of $3020.00, was secured by the five 
 robbers. 
 
 Somewhat jubilant over their success, and 
 secure in the knowledge that none of the passen- 
 gers were armed, the brigands, in a facetious mood, 
 began to make coarse remarks, and indulge in a 
 species of grim humor, which they were pleased to 
 call pleasantries. The passengers, already badly 
 frightened, were thrown into a condition of actual 
 terror, by the outrageous actions of the robbers. 
 
 "I will bet you the pile," said Frank James to 
 Cole Younger, "that I can pink that chap on the 
 ear at fifty paces, nine times out of ten." 
 
 "Done." cried Younger.' "but I can beat that." 
 
 "I must shoot first, though." continued Frank. 
 
 "D — d if you do." expostulated Younger. "I don't 
 want a dead man for a target." 
 
 The object of this wrangle, pale from frightj^and 
 trembling with terror, begged his captors not to 
 use him as a target to test their skill at arms, and 
 begged that they would spare his life. 
 
9^ JESSE J^MES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 One of the passengers, Geo. W. Crump of Mem- 
 phis, in answer to a question from Jesse, said he 
 had been a soldier, and fought all through the war. 
 
 "On which side?" inquired the inquisitive Jesse. 
 
 •'Confederate, of course." was the cunning reply. 
 
 "Well, d — n it all, your the right sort. We 
 don't rob Confederate soldiers. Here's your wad. 
 You're a brick. 
 
 Gov. Burbank, who had some valuable private 
 papers in the pocket book stolen from him, begged 
 that they would be returned to him on the ground 
 that they were worthless to the robbers, but invalu- 
 able to him. Examining the papers, Jesse James 
 thought they indicated that the Governor was a 
 detective in disguise, and it would have gone hard 
 with that gentleman, had he not succeeded in con- 
 vincing the suspicious outlaws that he was no de- 
 tective. The papers were returned and he was 
 permitted to go. 
 
 For some time this cruel banter was kept up, 
 until at last, wearied with their sport, the robbers 
 prepared to depart. Frank James saluting the 
 robbed passengers with mock politeness, and wish- 
 ing them all a very good day, and another meeting, 
 disappeared with his companions. 
 
 The plundered party reached Hot Springs with- 
 out a cent on their persons, and although they re- 
 ceived substantial aid from people in the hotel, and 
 a plentiful supply of sympathy, the robbers were 
 not pursued, and escaped scot free. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE GADSHILL TRAIN RAID — STOPPED BY THE DANGER 
 SIGNAL. ^12,000 TAKEN FROM THE ST. LOUIS AND 
 
 TEXAS EXPRESS A SIXTV-MILE RIDE THE 
 
 BOOTLESS PURSUIT ESCAPED AGAIN 
 
 A month had not passed and Jesse James was at 
 work again. But two short weeks after the Hot 
 Springs stage-coach robbery, and a train was held 
 up and plundered. The scene of operations selec- 
 ted by the train robbers, was the lonely station of 
 Gadshill, on the Iron Mountain road, seven or eight 
 miles from Piedmont. It was a cold, wintry day, 
 the last day of January, about three o'clock in the 
 afternoon, that a company of seven well mounted, 
 heavily armed men, rode up to the flag station. 
 
 The town consisted of the station, a blacksmith 
 shop, and a small store. The inhabitants were 
 soon corralled, and stowed away in the station 
 with strict injunctions to remain quiet. The 
 train to be robbed was the St. Louis and Texas 
 Express, which was due at 5.40 P. M. It was in 
 charge of C. A. Alford, the conductor, and there 
 were on board a large number of passengers and 
 some valuable express freight. 
 
 As the train drew near Gadshill, the engineer saw 
 the danger-signal displayed, and immediately 
 brought the train to a standstill. No one was seen 
 
 Jesse James and his Band 7 
 
9^ JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^AND 
 
 upon the platform, but no sooner was the engine 
 at rest, than Cole Younger climbed aboard, and, at 
 the point of the pistol, drove the engineer and 
 fireman to the ground, where he kept them during 
 the entire period occupied in robbing the train. 
 
 Mr. Alford, the conductor, stepped from the car 
 to the platform to see wJiat passengers were coming 
 aboard, and was met with the courteous request to 
 give up his money and watch and be "d — d quick 
 about it." 
 
 After giving up ^50.00 and his watch, he was 
 put in the little station house. 
 
 With the train entirely in their own hands, the 
 robbers went through the cars in their usual man- 
 ner, terrorizing and robbing the passengers. 
 
 It seemed incredible that a few men could 
 successfully hold an entire train load of people in 
 abject fear and trembling for any length of time, 
 and plunder them of their money and valuables 
 without meeting with some resistance, but, it is 
 one thing to talk of bravery and fight, hundreds of 
 miles away from the danger, and another thing to 
 be brave and fight in the presence of the same 
 dangers. 
 
 Imagine yourself curled up comfortably in your 
 seat, reading, or gazing dreamily from the car 
 window. You have been traveling some hundreds 
 of miles, and have settled into that lazy passiveness 
 which comes over one after listening for hours to 
 the monotonous singing of the rails, and whirr of 
 
fVHAT IV0ULT> YOU DO? 99 
 
 the wheels. The train slacks up, then stops. 
 Nothing unusual in that you think, it is merely 
 making its customary stop at some station; but, 
 suddenly the doors at each end of the car are thrown 
 open, and instead of the familiar form of the brake- 
 man, you see a burly figure, roughly dressed, with 
 a mask of some material over his face and two ugly 
 revolvers stretched out before him. You suddenly 
 awaken to the fact that it is business. You hear 
 the rough, coarse tones of threatenings and oaths, 
 as the figure advances into the. car, and the stern 
 voice commanding you, under pain of instant death, 
 to hold up your hands, keep still, and keep your 
 mouth shut. What will you do? You know there is 
 another such man behind you, coming through the 
 other door, you can hear his voice repeating the 
 same terrible threatenings. Suppose you are a 
 brave man, with a revolver in your pocket. Will 
 you draw it? Will you make a single motion in 
 that direction? Will you jeapordize the lives of 
 yourself and fellow passengers, by any attempt? 
 How do you know but what the keen, eager eyes 
 of that strange figure, are upon you? 
 
 Indeed, you will do what is always done, you will 
 keep still, with your two hands up in the air above 
 your head, and you will shell out every cent you 
 have and be thankful you escaped so easily. Be- 
 sides you don' t know but what there are a dozen such 
 men behind you. You dare not turn your head to 
 investigate. Curiosity is at a very low discount, 
 
"loo JESSE JAMES AND HIS 'B^ND 
 
 when your life is to pay for it. It is the dread of 
 the unknown that keeps you in your seat, pass- 
 ive and quiet. 
 
 It was just such sentiments and impulses that 
 actuated every person on this particular train, and 
 the James gang met no resistance, no hindrance in 
 their collecting toll. The express and mail cars 
 were plundered, and, with the booty obtained from 
 the passengers, the robbers secured about ^12.000 
 
 When their work was fully completed, the engin- 
 eer and fireman were released, Mr. Alford, the 
 conductor set at liberty and the train proceeded on its 
 way. 
 
 The train-robbers mounted their horses, nor did 
 they draw rein or stop, until sixty, good, long miles 
 stretched between them and the scene of their ex- 
 ploit. 
 
 Armed men were at once sent in pursuit, and the 
 telegraph was utilized in all directions, but, it 
 was like chasing the north wind. So rapidly did 
 the bandits ride, and so thorough was their geo- 
 graphical knowledge of the country, that pursuit 
 was always a vain and bootless attempt. 
 
 Besides, it took brave men to hunt these desper- 
 adoes, and the paltry rewards offered for their appre- 
 hension was no inducement for a man to take his 
 life in his hand, and proceed against such desperate 
 men and unerring shots as Jesse James, or Cole 
 Younger. 
 
 Thus they escaped again, and the world at large 
 
ESCAPED <^G^IN loi 
 
 laughed the officials to scorn, and held the state of 
 Missouri up to ridicule for the lack of energy dis- 
 played by the police department. 
 
 But the world at large, was not personally 
 acquainted with Jesse James, or the laugh would 
 have been on the other side of the mouth. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A COTERIE OF PLUNDERERS. JESSE JAMES' CONFEDERA- 
 TION OF BRIGANDS WHO COMPOSED IT?~A FRATER- 
 NITY OF CUT-THROATS RECKLESS DARE-DEVILS 
 
 ORGANIZED RAID AGAINST THE FREE- 
 BOOTERS A DUEL TO DEATH ^JOHN 
 
 YOUNGER CAPT. LULL AND DE- 
 TECTIVE DANIELS KILLED 
 
 By this time, it had become clear to the most 
 obtuse observer of events, that there was a well- 
 organized coterie of lawless men w^ho were banded 
 together for the single purpose of plunder. The 
 succession of bank robberies, stage plunderings and 
 train raidings were all executed by the same 
 persons. The success which formed such an im- 
 portant factor in the affairs, was due to deep laid 
 plans, exhaustive investigations, and splendid 
 executive ability. 
 
 The same characteristics were exhibited in every 
 crime and the modus operandi was uniform in all 
 events. In fact, the coterie, which was responsi- 
 ble f©r Russellville, Gallatin and Corydon, was re- 
 sponsible for the Gadshill raid, and the Gaines 
 Place stage robbery. It was Jesse James and his. 
 band of notorious outlaws. 
 
 Such a confederacy of men had never before 
 existed. Crimes of such magnitude, perpetrated 
 
CONFEDER^ATION OF "BRIGANDS 103 
 
 with such unheard of impudence and audacity, 
 had never before been conceived of. It was a 
 unique organization, and commanded by a wonder- 
 ful person, who stamped his individuality upon 
 every raid, and left his trade-mark on every 
 exploit. 
 
 Jesse James had plenty of material which he 
 could utilize at any time. He had but to issue 
 the word, and men came. Daring, bold, unscrupu- 
 lous, heartless, coldblooded cut throats, who, with 
 reckless disregard for their lives, would obey his 
 slightest behest. 
 
 He was the leader, the executive head, but his 
 brother Frank, crafty and shrewd, was the brainy 
 man of the gang. It was he that did the planning, 
 laid out the details, and did the scheming, but Jesse 
 was the hand that executed. Then there was Cole 
 and Jim Younger, second only to the James broth- 
 ers in their particular line of work. George 
 Sheperd was a desperado of the boldest type, 
 and Sid Wallace, another wild freebooter, was often 
 with the gang, Brad Collins and Jack Chunk were 
 two Texans whose names were synonyms for blood- 
 thirsty crimes throughout Texas and the West, and, 
 with these were Tom Taylor, Clell Miller, Jim 
 Cummings, Jim Anderson, Sam Bass, Bill Longley 
 — a desperate character, Cal Carter, Jim Reed, and 
 others of like stripe, who were always proud and 
 anxious to get on a raid, or rob a bank with the^ 
 James boys. 
 
I04 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 It was a fraternity of cut-throats, who hesitated 
 at nothing — absolutely nothing, when engaged in 
 any criminal adventure. 
 
 With this confederacy of crime existing, this 
 band of bandits ranging Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, 
 Kansas, Arkansas and Texas, dashing here and 
 there, pillaging, murdering, wrecking trains, rob- 
 bing banks, carrying destruction wherever they 
 went, the entire West was constantly in a state of 
 apprehension. No man felt safe, no home was 
 secure, no laws strong enough, no towns had suffi- 
 cient protection from these reckless dare-devils. 
 
 The entire community became at last thoroughly 
 aroused, and the Governors of Missouri and Arkan- 
 sas offered large rewards, and the Express companies, 
 who had suffered, together with the railroads, augi 
 mented these rewards for the arrest or death of any 
 or all of the Jesse James band. Even the United 
 States authorities, through the Post Office depart- 
 ment, took a hand in the agitation, and determin- 
 ed, concerted action was agreed upon. 
 
 Allan Pinkerton, the noted detective, was 
 brought into requisiton, and the Secret Service of 
 the United States was ordered to co-operate with 
 him. 
 
 With this vast machinery set in motion, all 
 aiming for the destruction of the marauders, success 
 seemed certain. 
 
 After several consultations, it was concluded 
 best to send out several parties of men after the 
 
%4ID <^GAINST FREEBOOTERS 105 
 
 outlaws. Each party or posse, working individu- 
 ally, but all combining in the good work of exter- 
 minating these murderous robber-pests. It was 
 hoped by a simultaneous movement of several 
 squads, that the bandits would become demoralized, 
 and, fleeing from one set of searchers, run into the 
 arms of another. 
 
 It was known . too, that the gang had separated 
 after the Gadshill affair, although probably in 
 communication with each other. 
 
 The company that set out in search of the Younger 
 brothers, consisted of the entire detective force of 
 St. Clair County, commanded by one of Pinkerton's 
 best men; Capt. W. J. Allen, whose real name, 
 however was Lull. They had ior their guides, Ed. 
 Daniels, of Osceola, and a _ St. Louis detective, 
 named Wright. 
 
 On the morning of March i6th, 1874, these three 
 men were out on a little expedition in advance of 
 the main body, and their journey brought them 
 near the home of a man named Theodoric Snuffer, 
 a great friend of the Younger brothers. At the 
 time, both John and James Younger were concealed 
 in the house, and observing the approaching trio of 
 horsemen, immediately comprehended their object. 
 Arming themselves with shot-guns, the desperadoes 
 slipped from the house, and making a slight detour, 
 suddenly appeared behind the men. Wright had 
 ridden some distance ahead, so it was two against 
 two. 
 
io6 JESSE J^MES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 Approaching from the rear, John Younger shouted. 
 
 "Halt, you d — d detectives. Hold up your hands! " 
 at the same time both brothers leveled their guns. 
 "Now, d — n you" continued Younger, "drop your 
 guns, or we'll kill you." 
 
 The bandits had the drop on them, so the detec- 
 tives flung their pistol belts in the road. 
 
 Jim Younger picked up the pistols, while his 
 brother kept his gun on the detectives; but by a 
 fatal carelessness, lowered the barrel a second. 
 Quick as flash. Captain Lull shot from a revolver 
 he had concealed in his pocket, and John Younger 
 fell, with a ball through his throat; and the 
 carotid artery severed. In an instant, however, he 
 was up again, and fired the full charge of his gun 
 into Captain Lull,- and both the desperado and 
 detective fell dead the same second. 
 
 Daniels, whaalso had a concealed revolver, fired 
 upon Jim Younger, wounding him slightly. The 
 latter, thrown into the wildest rage by the death of 
 his brother, rushed upon Daniels with the ferocity 
 of a maniac, but the detective fled to the woods. 
 Before he had reached the timber, Younger had 
 drawn on him, and sent him headlong from his 
 horse, with a bullet through the heart. Wright 
 saved himself by flight. 
 
 Thi? tragic affair terminated the search for the 
 Younger brothers, for Jim fled from that section of 
 the country, swearing vengeance upon the entire 
 detective force of the country. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE SEARCH FOR THE JAMES BROTHERS DETECTIVES 
 
 AGAINST THE OUTLAWS JOHN WICHER OF CHICAGO 
 
 A FATAL ERROR THE DETECTIVE SPOTTED 
 
 JESSE JAMES WARNED WICHER CAPTURED 
 
 BY THE BANDITS THE DEATH PRO- 
 CESSION TORTURED MUTIL- 
 ATED MURDERED 
 
 Contemporaneous with the event which terminated 
 SO tragically with the death of John Younger, 
 Captain Lull and Daniels, another drama wag 
 enacted in Clay County. 
 
 It was suspected that not only the James brothers, 
 but others of the gang, were secreted in the vicinity* 
 of Kearney. In fact, certain and reliable infor- 
 mation came to the authorities, that Jesse and 
 Frank James were hid in the Samuels homestead. 
 
 When the news reached the Pinkertons in 
 Chicago, it was deemed best to send some man to 
 Kearney and endeavor to corral the entire lot of 
 bush-rangers. Pinkerton had come to the conclusion 
 that open, cross-country hunting would fail when 
 such dashing, speedy game as the James brothers 
 was to be chased. The mere fact that a posse of 
 men were on horseback, would be of enough impor- 
 tance for some friend of the bandits to send warning. 
 
 107 
 
io8 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS B^ND 
 
 Clay county was full of men who stood in with 
 the audacious freebooters, either from motives of 
 policy, sympathy, or friendship; and, with all the 
 speed of the fastest horses, information and warning 
 of impending danger would be sent to Jesse or 
 Frank James in time for them to take the necessary 
 measure for defence or flight. 
 
 With such overwhelming odds against them, the 
 authorities were practically helpless. 
 
 Hence, Mr. Pinkerton determined to put his 
 detective skill and cunning against the bold fear- 
 lessness of the outlaws, and the ready aid of their 
 adherents. 
 
 John W. Wicher, a Chicago detective, one of 
 Pinkerton's best men, volunteered for this hazard- 
 ous duty. Although a young man, he was possess- 
 ed of all the attriubtes which go to make up a first 
 class detective. He was cool, collected, alert, 
 flexible and brave. Over all, he was ambitious, 
 and success, in such a proceeding as he contempla- 
 ted, meant renown, money, and assured future 
 prosperity. 
 
 Yet so perilous and dangerous was this projected 
 movement, that Mr. Pinkerton deliberated some 
 time before he finally allowed Wicher to depart. 
 
 The young detective had some plan of his own, 
 and he was sill ©wed to follow it, if he saw it was 
 expedient. 
 
 Leaving Chicago early in March, he went directly 
 to Liberty, the county seat of Clay County, and, 
 
e// F<^T^L ERROR 109 
 
 while there, called on Mr. Adkins, the president 
 of the Commercial Savings Bank. 
 
 This was a fatal error on his part, for Liberty 
 was but a small place, and a stranger was a con- 
 spicuous object. Wicher was spotted at once by 
 Jim Latche, who deemed it of enough importance 
 to keep a wary eye on the young man. He saw 
 Wicher leave the bank, and go to the home of ex- 
 Sheriff Moss. 
 
 The detective had called on Col, Moss for infor- 
 mation. He received it, but it was accompanied 
 by an earnest plea from the ex-sheriff to abandon 
 the hunt at once. The Colonel told the Chicago 
 sleuth some terrible tales of Jesse James, pointed 
 out to the daring detective the fearful risks he 
 was taking in thus daring to beard the lion in his 
 den, but, to all these friendly pleadings, Wicher 
 turned a deaf ear. He had put his hand to the 
 plow and would not turn back now. It was do or 
 die. He did and died. Leaving the apprehensive 
 Colonel, Wicher went to a convenient place and 
 assumed the disguise of a tramp. Jim Latche saw 
 him doing this, and the detective was a doomed 
 man. 
 
 Mounting his horse, the outlaw sped to Kearney 
 and before Wicher had scarcely left Liberty, Jesse 
 James knew he was coming. 
 
 With Jesse James, v/ere Jim Anderson and Brad 
 Collins. Resolving on their plan of action, they 
 moved toward Kearney, until removed a half mil« 
 
1 10 JESSE JcAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 from the Samuels homestead, and here thej 
 awaited the young detective. 
 
 Wicher reached Kearney in the afternoon, and, 
 without a moment's hesitation, proceeded directly 
 for the house of Dr. Samuels. 
 
 He was passing up the road, when suddenly he 
 was confronted by the three waiting outlaws. 
 Somewhat astonished, but perfectly cool, Wicher 
 said: 
 
 "Good evening." 
 
 "Where in hell are you going?" was the brutal 
 answer. 
 
 "I'm hunting for a job. Can you tell me where 
 I can get one?" 
 
 "Not by a d — d sight. Old Pinkerton has given 
 you a job that will last you as long as you care to 
 live, I reckon." 
 
 This crushing reply told Wicher that it was all 
 up with him, and he knew his hours were num- 
 bered, when Jesse James drew his revolver and 
 waved it maliciously before him. But Wicher 
 was plucky and he made one more attempt. 
 
 "What do you mean?" he said, "I tell you I'm 
 hunting for a job. I don't know Pinkerton, or any 
 of his crowd, and I haven't time to fool with you 
 for I've got to get a place to sleep tonight." 
 
 At this, Jesse James laughed outright. 
 
 "You won't want to sleep anywhere tonight, 
 young man, your little game is known. What did 
 you deposit money at Liberty for? What do you 
 
THE IDETECTIFE GzA^P TURED 1 1 1 
 
 want with Adkins and Moss? Where are your own 
 clothes? You d — ^d fool, do you think you are 
 smart enough to come around here and play some 
 of your smart Pinkerton tricks; you can just say 
 you killed yourself, for you're going to be killed. 
 Come, move on ! " 
 
 The detective was immediately disarmed, bound 
 with a cord, and a gag put in his mouth. 
 
 "Damned fine hands for a laboring man," said 
 one of the outlaws, pointing to Wicher's soft 
 palms. 
 
 "The dirty liar ought to die." 
 
 When evening had fairly set in, Wicher was 
 placed on a horse, and guarded by Jesse James, 
 Jim Anderson and Brad Collins, was taken from 
 the place where they had concealed him, and the 
 terrible procession moved toward the Blue Hills. 
 For hours they rode. 
 
 The mental agony which racked the brain of the 
 young detective, can only be imagined. He was a 
 young husband. He had but kissed his wife fare- 
 well a few days before, full of hope, life and ambi- 
 tion. Tonight, he was a doomed man, led to his 
 execution. Through the country he was taken, 
 'every step, every second bringing him nearer his 
 death. Death, far from his loved ones, death by 
 violence, death as a reward for doing his duty. 
 
 The stern, gloomy, pitiless faces of his self-ap- 
 pointed executioners, peered at him through the 
 dusk, and the hoofs of their shadowy horses beat 
 
112 JESSE J^AMES <^ND HIS "BAND 
 
 the cadence of the death march; terrible, agoniz- 
 ing music for the man who was to die. 
 
 At last the appointed spot was reached, and poor 
 Wicher, pulled roughly from the horse, was tied to 
 a tree. 
 
 He was relieved of the gag, and then the hellish 
 brutes began a torture which would have shamed 
 the wild Indian of Arizona. Refusing to divulge 
 any information concerning Pinkerton, he was 
 slashed with their keen knives until his body was 
 covered with cuts. His head was twisted until the 
 neck was nearly broken. He was subjected to indig- 
 nities which must have been invented by a fiend 
 from hell j and then, when the brutal monsters had 
 grown weary, two bullets, merciful missiles, sped 
 through his heart and brain, and the young detec- 
 tive was dead! With a jest and a curse, the three 
 murderers leaped to their horses, and rode home to 
 breakfast. 
 
 A young wife in Chicago, that morning wrote a 
 letter to her dear husband. She knew he would 
 love to read a word from her. But the husband 
 was a mutilated corpse; ghastly and horrid in its 
 disfigurement, stark and stiff in death, and thrown 
 across a country road, far down in Jackson County; 
 left there by Jesse James as a warning; and the 
 young wife, singing, that lovely March morning, 
 busy with her household cares, was a widow. 
 
 And thus ended the tragedy of Wicher the detec- 
 tive. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 pinkertOn's stern resolve — "exterminate the en- 
 tire BROOD "-SAMUELS' HOUSE UNDER WATCH AND 
 WARD. THE ASSAULT ON CASTLE JAMES. A 
 
 DASTARDLY DEED CHILDREN SLAUGHTERED 
 
 BY HAND-GRENADES MRS. SAMUELS 
 
 SERIOUSLY WOUNDED MISERABLE 
 
 FAILURE OF THE ATTACK 
 
 When the news came to Pinkerton that Wichei 
 had been murdered, and that Lull and Daniels had 
 been sacrificed in ridding the world of John 
 Younger, the department was agitated by conflicting 
 emotions of the most poignant nature. Sorrow and 
 grief for the untimely death of the detectives, in- 
 dignation and anger against the murderers for the 
 inhuman butchery of Wicher, chagrin and mortifi- 
 cation for the failures. The skill and finesse of 
 the detective association had been absolutely with- 
 out virtue. Cunning had been overcome by brute 
 force; craftiness by murder, and the inhuman world 
 laughed and held Pinkerton up to undeserved 
 scorn. 
 
 All of this spurred him to renewed efforts, and it 
 was determined to commence a campaign against 
 the Jesse James gang, which would either extermi- 
 nate it, or drive it from the country. No half way 
 measures were to be tolerated, no mercy was to be 
 
 Jesss James and his Band 8 
 
114 JESSE JAMES <^^D HIS "B^i^C^ 
 
 shown. The entire brood was to be swept from 
 Missouri. 
 
 William Pinkerton, with five of his best men, 
 located in Kansas City, and at once sent for the 
 sheriff of Clay county. When that gentleman 
 came, the plans for the campaign were thoroughly 
 settled, and every bit of detail in the matter of 
 exigencies was provided for. Nothing was to be 
 left for chance. 
 
 A strict and sleepless watch was put upon the 
 Samuels' home, and trusty citizens, who were will- 
 ingto risk their lives in ridding Clay County of 
 the outlaws, and cleansing the community from 
 the approbrium that rested upon it, were em- 
 ployed to keep watch and ward in all sections of 
 the country. 
 
 One afternoon, both Frank and Jesse James were 
 seen in the yard before Dr. Samuels' house. A 
 report to that effect was forwarded to Kearney, and 
 thence to Kansas City. 
 
 The time had come to strike the decisive blow, 
 and Mr. Pinkerton gave the order to move on to the 
 enemy's works. The day was January, 25th, 1875, 
 and at midnight, a strong posse of citizens, detec 
 tives, and police officers quietly surrounded the 
 house. They were well armed and provided with 
 fire balls made of tow, saturated with kerosene oil, 
 and two hand-grenades of the most explosive pattern. 
 
 Just at midnight, nine of Pinkerton's best men, 
 stepped forward to make the first assault on "Castle 
 
^ DASTA%DL Y "DEED 1 15 
 
 James." Two of them approached a side window 
 to investigate, and in so doing, awoke a colored 
 woman, who immediately gave the alarm. Hastily 
 breaking the window, the flaming fire balls were 
 tossed into the room, and the attacking cordon of 
 men, their guns and revolvers ready, waited in 
 breathless suspense for the appearance of the two 
 desperadoes, ready to shoot them down without 
 mercy, should they come out. But, though the fire 
 and smoke drove Dr. Samuels and his wife, Susie 
 Samuels, and the childern to the rooms below, no 
 Jesse or Frank James appeared. 
 
 Then occurred a dastardly piece of business. 
 Overcome by the excitement, one of the detectives 
 hurled a hand-grenade into the midst of the 
 women and children, who were huddled together, 
 filled with consternation and terror. An explosion 
 followed, and from the smoke of the bursted shell, 
 came screams of anguish, and shrieks of pain. But, 
 the brigands, the outlaws, the James brothers, made 
 no sign. They were fifty miles away, securely 
 housed in the home of a friend, safe from harm. 
 
 It was a cowardly act, this throwing of the hand 
 grenade. It was entirely inexcusable, and can 
 never be justified. When the smoke had cleared 
 away, the little eight-year-old son of Mrs. Samuels 
 was writhing in the agonies of death, his entire 
 side torn away by the explosive. Mrs. Samuels 
 lay on the floor, her left arm shattered, and hang- 
 ing at her side. Susie and an old servant, were 
 
1 16 /ESSE JAMBS A^D HIS BAVfD 
 
 covered with blood and wounds, and blood wa3 
 spattered everywhere. 
 
 The assaulting party were paralyzed at the sight, 
 and silently left the scene, just as the little boy, 
 with a scream of anguish, turned on his side and 
 expired. 
 
 If Jesse or Frank James had been present, the 
 results would have been different. The assaulters 
 would have left some of their number dead on 
 the ground, but, the carefully planned attack ended 
 in the wanton slaughter of an innocent, and the 
 James brothers were still alive and free. 
 
 Several years after, Mrs. Samuels was asked if 
 Jesse or Frank were home that night. 
 
 With a stern, contemptuous gaze, the old woman 
 answered: "Home? And do you think that if 
 either of my boys had been home, that those men 
 would have escaped. There would have been a 
 dozen dead detectives if my sons had been present.** 
 And she probably told the truth. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 PUBLIC OPINION CHANGES SYMPATHY FOR THE JAMFS 
 
 BOYS THE DETECTIVES CONDEMNED — A REMARKA- 
 BLE MEASURE THE JAMES BOYS BEFORE THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE THE OUTLAW AMNESTY 
 
 BILL— IT FAILS TO PASS. 
 
 The terrible tragedy at Kearney, that 25th of 
 January, was followed by the funeral of the boy 
 that was killed. It was attended by the entire 
 country. The tide of sympathy, by one of those 
 curious incongruities of life, had turned in favor of 
 the James boys. No matter what people thought 
 of them, no matter how guilty they were, the wan. 
 ton slaughter of the innocent, the detestable, 
 cowardice exhibited in casting an explosive bomb 
 into a crowd of women and children, created a 
 revulsion of feeling, and the detectives were bit- 
 terly condemned and denounced. 
 
 Indeed, the matter was taken up by the State 
 Legislature of Missouri, and Gen. Jeff Jones, a 
 member from Callaway County, introduced the 
 following remarkable measure, and championed it 
 by a most eloquent speech. 
 
 The following quotations will serve to indicate 
 
 the purport and intent of the "Outlaw Amnesty 
 
 Bill:" 
 
 "7 
 
ii8 JESSE JAMES <^^7^ HIS B^O^D 
 
 Whereas, By the 4th section of the 
 nth Article of the Constitution of Mis- 
 souri, all persons in the military service 
 of the United States, or who acted under 
 the authority thereof in this state, are re- 
 lieved from all civil liability and all 
 criminal punishment for all acts done by 
 them since the ist day of January, A. D. 
 1861: and. 
 
 Whereas, By the 12th section of the said 
 nth Article of said Constitution provision 
 is made by which, under certain circum- 
 stances, may be seized, transported to, 
 indicted, tried and punished in distant 
 counties, any Confederate under ban of 
 despotic displeasure, thereby contravening 
 the Constitution of the United States and 
 every principle of enlightened humanity; 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, Such discrimination evinces 
 a want of manly generosity and statesman- 
 ship on the part of the party imposing, 
 and of courage and manhood on the part of 
 the party submitting tamely thereto; and, 
 
 Whereas, Under the outlawry pro- 
 nounced against Jesse W. James, Frank 
 James, Coleman Younger, Robert Younger 
 and others, who gallantly periled their 
 lives and their all in defense of their 
 principles^ they are of necessity made 
 
THE OUTLAW ^iMNESTY "BILL 119 
 
 desperate, driven as they are from the fields 
 of honest industry, from their friends, 
 their families, their homes and their 
 country, they can know no law but the 
 law of self-preservation, nor can have no 
 respect for and feel no allegiance to a 
 government which forces them to the very 
 acts it professes to deprecate, and then 
 offers a bounty for their apprehension, and 
 arms foreign mercenaries with power to 
 capture and kill them; and. 
 
 Whereas, Believing these men too brave 
 to be mean, too generous to be revengeful, 
 and to gallant and honorable to betray a 
 friend or break a promise; and believing 
 further that most, if not all of the 
 offences with which they are charged have 
 been committed by others, and perhaps by 
 those pretending to hunt them, or by their 
 confederates; that their names are and 
 have been used to divert suspicion from 
 and thereby relieve the actual perpetra- 
 tors; that the return of these men to their 
 homes and friends would have the effect 
 of greatly lessening crime in our state by 
 turning public attention to real criminals, 
 and that common justice, sound policy and 
 true statesmanship, alike demand that 
 amnesty should be extended to all alike of 
 both parties for all acts done or charged 
 
1 20 JESSE J^MES <^NT) HIS B^N^D 
 
 to have beepx done during the war; there- 
 fore^ be it 
 
 Resolved, By the House of Representatives, 
 the Senate concurring therein: 
 That the Govenor of the State be, and he 
 is hereby requested to issue his proclama- 
 tion notifying the said Jesse W. James, 
 Frank James, Coleman Younger, Robert 
 Younger, and James Younger, and others, 
 that full and complete amnesty and pardon 
 will be granted them for all acts charged 
 or committed by them during the late civil 
 war, and inviting them peacefully to 
 return to their respective homes in this 
 state and there quietly remain, submitting 
 themselves to such proceedings as may be 
 instituted against them by the courts for 
 all offences charged to have been commit- 
 ted since said v/ar, promising and guaran- 
 teeing to them and each of them full pro- 
 tection and a fair trial therein, and that 
 full protection shall be given them from 
 the time of their entrance into the State and 
 his notice thereof under said proclamation 
 and invitation. 
 The bill v/as introduced in March of 1875, and 
 although ably supported, was defeated. 
 
 It is doubtful if the James brothers would have 
 accepted the conditions of this act. To have sur- 
 rendered to the authorities, meant either im.prison- 
 
NORTHFIELP BANK RAID. 
 
122 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "BzAND 
 
 ment for life or death by hanging, and neither were 
 anxious to end their liberty or existence. They 
 had been outlawed with all due formality by Gov. 
 Silas Wordson, and this act of the Legislature 
 ratified the decree against them. 
 
 They were doubly outlawed. For them, there 
 was no mercy. Any man could shoot them down, 
 and receive a full pardon for the act. 
 
 They reorganized after this and, incited to further 
 acts of retaliation and revenge on account of the 
 tragedy at their home, they entered more com- 
 pletely than ever into the dark life they had been 
 leading, and resolved to do greater deeds and in- 
 spire greater fear. 
 
 When Jesse James learned of the fatal conse- 
 quences which attended the midnight attack on his 
 home, his rage and fury knew no bounds. Villain- 
 ous and reckless as he was, his filial affection was 
 well known, and his family ties were strong. It 
 was this affection which induced himself and 
 brother Frank to take such risks in visiting his 
 mother's habitation, and the news of the little 
 brother's death was a great shock to this outlawed 
 murderer. At once he began investigating. 
 Searching for the men who were engaged in that 
 lamentable affair. Suspicion fell upon many, but 
 it pointed to none so strongly as it did to a Daniel 
 Askew, a flourishing farmer, whose land lay near 
 the Samuels house. 
 
 The utmost secrecy had been carefully main- 
 
mURDER OF (MR. zASKElV 123 
 
 tained by the posse who threw the fire balls and 
 hand-grenade into the house that 25th, of January, 
 and the members of the party, moved by sentiments 
 of personal safety, took every precaution to keep 
 their share in the exploit from becoming known. 
 
 This Mr. Askew even disclaimed any connection 
 with the assaulting party. He reiterated again and 
 again, that he had done nothing whatever, and 
 knew absolutely nothing concerning the tragedy. 
 
 However, he fell under suspicion, and Jesse 
 James felt certain that Mr. Askew was not only one 
 of the party, but was a leader in the attack. 
 
 On the night of April 12th, following the attack 
 on Dr. Samuels' home; Mr. Askew, after his supper, 
 sauntered to a spring about two hundred feet from 
 his home to get a bucket of water. 
 
 The moon was full, and made the night bright 
 as day. He secured the water and had returned, 
 setting the bucket on the porch, when three shots 
 rang out, and the farmer fell dead, pierced with 
 three rifle-balls. 
 
 The wife and daughter, startled by the shots, 
 rushed from the kitchen in time to see three men 
 dart from a woodpile, mount their horses and ride 
 rapidly away, leaving the murdered farmer stretch- 
 ed out upon his own porch. 
 
 The three men whom Mrs. Askew saw riding 
 away were Jesse and Frank James, and their boon 
 friend, Clell Miller. 
 
 This murder again gave the fickle public an 
 
124 JESSE fAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 opportunity to change its mind. Mr. Askew 
 was a prominent man in the community, and his 
 atrocious death filled the public mind with a sin- 
 cere desire to rid the country of the James brothers 
 and their lawless comrades. 
 
 It became too warm for the bandits, and they 
 pulled up stakes, and sought fresh stamping 
 grounds. 
 
 The members of the party were Jesse and Frank 
 James, Clell Miller, Jim Reed, Cole and Jim 
 Younger. Decamping from Missouri, they went to 
 Indian Territory, and turned horse- thieves. Tiring 
 of this innocent amusement, they set their faces 
 southward and invaded Texas. The stage coach 
 which ran between San Antonia and Austin tempted 
 them, and they resolved to hold it up. Accordingly 
 they laid their plans, and March 12th, 1875, found 
 them in ambuscade on the stage road, twenty-five 
 miles from Austin. 
 
 The passenger list on that eventful after- 
 noon comprised eleven ladies and gentlemen, 
 among whom were Bishop Gregg of the Epis- 
 copal Church, bishop in charge of the Diocese 
 of Texas, and Mr. Breckenridgc, President of the 
 First National Bank of San Antonio. 
 
 The passengers had eaten their supper at a way- 
 Bide station, and were bowling along rapidly 
 toward their destination. In the midst of the 
 genial flow of conversation, the driver discerned the 
 figures of six mounted men, some little distance 
 
5^A^ ANTONIA STAGE %OBBED 125 
 
 ahead of the coach, and took them to be rancheros. 
 As they approached, however, he noticed that their 
 horses were not the ungainly cow-ponies of the 
 region, but fine animals of a thoroughbred air. 
 
 Apprehension filled his breast, and his fears were 
 excited. His suspicions were soon realized, for, as 
 he drew near them, the foremost horseman turned, 
 and presenting a huge revolver, called out in 
 tones of no uncertain sound: 
 
 "Halt d — n your soul, or Pll fill you so full of 
 lead that some tenderfoot will locate you for a 
 mineral claim." 
 
 The driver, with the discretion bred of experi- 
 ence, and the promptitude inspired by the business- 
 like aspect of the threatening revolver, pulled in 
 his horses, and brought the stage to an abrupt 
 stand-still. 
 
 Immediately, the six brigands surrounded the 
 vehicle, and a rough voice shouted out: 
 
 "Tumble out here now, lively. Come be quick, 
 if you don't want to die where you sit." 
 
 Confusion reigned. The women threw themselves 
 in the arms of the gentlemen, begging to be pro- 
 tected, and a fleshy female, whose avoirdupois was at 
 an inverse ratio to her spirit, clung to the reverend 
 bishop, beseeching him in the most heart-rending 
 terms, to preserve her from harm; but the bishop 
 was helpless in the matter. He had been ordered, 
 in ungentle accents, by a rough highwayman be- 
 hind a monster of a pistol, to "tumble out"; hence 
 
1:26 JBSSB JAMES ^ND HIS BAND 
 
 he tumbled. Likewise the other gentlemen of the 
 party, and they were ranged in two lines and guard- 
 ed by a couple of the robbers, whilst the remainder 
 of the outlaws broke open boxes, pried apart the 
 baggage, and ransacked the stage. 
 
 The ladies were told that no harm was intended. 
 They would not be molested, all they had to do 
 was to keep quiet. 
 
 After pillaging the stage the robbers turned their 
 attention to the personal belongings of the 
 passengers. 
 
 The Bishop endeavored to escape the contribution 
 box by pleading that he was a clergyman, but his 
 auditors were not in a repentant mood, nor were 
 they inclined to respect the cloth. They took 
 what he had and wanted more; twitting him by 
 making facetious remarks concerning his calling, 
 and even venturing to suggest sage advice for his 
 future actions. Mr. Breckenridge proved a 
 bonanza, for from him, Jesse James took over 
 ;^i,ooo. The ladies surrendered their money and 
 jewels, and in all they secured about ^3,500. 
 
 After taking the head span of horses, they signi- 
 fied that they were through, and permitted the 
 coach to proceed. 
 
 With this money the gang was able to live quite 
 comfortably for a time, but "easy come — easy go," 
 the gang became strapped again, and were ready for 
 another stroke of business. They decided to try 
 railroading again, and soon had their plans laid 
 for another raid. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE COUNCIL OF BANDITS — A CHRISTMAS RENDEZVOUS — 
 
 JESSE JAMES ROBS THE KANSAS PACIFIC FIFTEEN 
 
 MINUTES OF FORTUNE GETTING $55, COO SE- 
 CURED A CLEAN, QUICK JOB BILL MC- 
 
 DANIELS ARRESTED — KILLED IN ESCAP- 
 ING ^WEST VIRGINIA INVADED 
 
 HUNTINGTON BANK ROBBED OF 
 ^10,000 TOM MC' DAN- 
 IELS SHOT ^JACK 
 
 KEEN CAP- 
 TURED 
 
 Some time in December following the San Antonio 
 stage robbery, Jesse James obtained information 
 that the Government intended shipping a large 
 quanity of gold dust from Denver, via the Kansas 
 Pacific. Just how the wily bandits ascertained 
 this fact, is not known, but the presumption is that 
 he had a friend in "court" who kept him posted in 
 such financial transactions. 
 
 When he learned of the projected shipment, he 
 immediately called his band together, and the 
 council was held in Texas. As a result of their 
 deliberations, the coterie of train robbers moved 
 northward to Kansas. Just outside of Kansas City, 
 some six miles or so, is the little town of Muncie. 
 It is hardly more than a water tank on the Kansas 
 127 
 
T 28 JESSE MMES AND HIS BAND 
 
 Pacific road, and is quite remote from any habita- 
 tions. 
 
 This little, insignificant station was the objective 
 point of the outlaws' journey, and here they rendez- 
 voused Christmas day. 
 
 It was quite dark when the Express drew up to 
 Muncie, and the fireman was about to spring up on 
 top ot the tender to fix the water pipe, v^hen a 
 shrill whistle was heard, and a dark figure sprang 
 from behind the tank, and into the cab. 
 
 Before the engineer could fairly comprehend 
 what was up. Bill McDaniels, one of the James 
 band, had leveled his revolver, and swore that he 
 would shoot to kill, if either the engineer or fire- 
 man made a move. While McDaniels was thus 
 intimidating the two men on the engine, the raiders 
 were busy behind, in the cars. 
 
 Rushing through the train, they commanded in- 
 stant surender and absolute quiet. This command 
 backed up by pistols, was obeyed to the letter. 
 Two men stood on each platform, guarding the 
 train, while three of them rushed into the express 
 car. 
 
 The messenger in charge was quickly overcome, 
 and in fifteen minutes they had looted the car of 
 $30,000 worth of gold dust, and $25,000 of silver 
 and other valuables. Fifteen short, fleeting minutes 
 was all the time required to rob the train of this 
 enormous amount. Not a finger was raised to hin- 
 der them, not a word of protest was spoken. 
 
IVEST yiRGINM INJ^<^T>ED 129 
 
 After the car had been thoroughly ransacked, a 
 shrill whistle again gave the command, and the 
 robbers disappeared in the darkness. 
 
 ^55,000! A clean, quick job. It was, to express 
 the sentiments of a disgusted railroad official, a 
 beautiful bit of work, but d — d expensive. 
 
 Some days after the robbery, BiH McDaniels, 
 unable to stand prosperity, undertook to give 
 Kansas City a strong coat of paint, of a rich cardinal 
 hue, and, in course of events, was arrested for being 
 drunk. On him was found a leather bag and a 
 large sum of money, which he swore — when he 
 finally sobered up — was honestly earned in Colorado 
 
 But suspicion was aroused, and the redoubtabU 
 William was removed to Lawrence, Kansas. To 
 Lawrence, the unhappy town which once suffered by 
 the hands of Quantrell. To Lawrence, which once 
 trembled and bled when the "black flag" swept her 
 streets, and now— poetic justice. Bill McDaniels, 
 one of the guerillas that aided in striking the fair 
 town so foul a blow, was sent there in chains. 
 
 A detective, a certain O'Hara, was detailed to 
 pump McDaniels, but he did not possess enough 
 suction ability, for the oyster-mouthed Bill refused 
 to talk. 
 
 As the constables were taking him from the 
 caboose for trial, the wily outlaw gave them the 
 slip, and escaped to the woods. For a week he 
 escaped capture, but succumbed to the fatal bullet 
 from the rifle of a man named Bauerman, and fell, 
 
i3o JESSE fAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 a dying man. But even in death, he remained 
 faithful to the gang, and died without divulging 
 the slightest hint. 
 
 Rough, uncouth, treacherous villains were these 
 marauders, but faithful to their pals, and it was 
 their boast and wish, that they could die with their 
 boots on, and die game. 
 
 It was probably this sentiment that enabled the 
 dying bandit to keep sacred the oath he took; 
 although he was subjected to a skillful sweating 
 process in the vain hopes that . some information 
 could be squeezed from him which would be of some 
 value as throwing light on the Muncie train 
 robbery. 
 
 The following April, West Virginia felt the 
 hand of the James band. It is a long jump from 
 Kansas City, Missouri, to Huntington, West Vir- 
 ginia, but, business is business, and such enter- 
 prising business men as the James brothers do not 
 hesitate to take long business trips. Ah! no, it is 
 a mere jaunt, and the bank of Huntington was 
 doing such a neat, tidy little business, that it 
 looked like a good investment. So the corporation 
 of James Brothers sent Frank James, Cole Younger, 
 Tom McDaniels — brother of Bill, heroic Bill, who 
 kept his mouth shut, and earned everlasting fame 
 in Missouri; and a gentleman of sporting proclivi- 
 ties, and keen insight into the peculiarities of 
 carrying balances, not in, but from banks, who 
 
HUmiNGfON BANK %OBBED 1 3 1 
 
 came from Texas, by the name of Jack Keen, as a 
 committee of four to investigate. This committee 
 of distinguished citizens from Missouri, paid 
 Huntington a visit, and Huntington, hospitable 
 to a degree, felt that such visits were expensive, 
 and hereafter, would rather be excused. Hunting- 
 ton considers $10,000 a visit somewhat luxurious 
 in the matter of living. 
 
 Huntington is a cosy little town on the C. & O. 
 R.. R., and is situated on the Ohio river. 
 
 About two o'clock in the afternoon of this April 
 day, the cashier of the bank received a call from 
 the Missourians, who had meandered down the 
 quiet street on horseback. 
 
 In the insinuating terms which have such persua- 
 sive eloquence when accompanied by a life like 
 copy of a business-like revolver, Mr. James inti- 
 mated that a loan of what ready cash the bank had 
 on hand, would relieve him of a temporary embar- 
 rassment which was causing him much anxiety. 
 
 The cashier, Mr. Olney, only too glad to accomo- 
 date such distinguished gentlemen, threw the 
 vault doors open, and allowed them to help them- 
 selves. They did — $10,000. 
 
 In an hour, the sheriff and twenty five citizens 
 were after them, and the Missourians, feeling that 
 they had been somewhat precipitate in their deal- 
 ings with the bank, clapped spurs to their horses 
 and fled. 
 
132 JESSE f<^MES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 They fled just four weeks. Twenty-eight days 
 did those citizens of Huntington follow them. 
 
 Tom McDaniels intercepted a stray bullet, and 
 was buried where he fell. Jack Keen was captured 
 in Fentress County, Tennessee, and sent to 
 the penitentiary for eight years, but Frank James 
 and Cole Younger rode gaily on, and stopped not 
 until they were in Indian Territory. They divided 
 the $10,000 between themselves, $5,000 each; not 
 so bad. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 JESSE AND FRANK IN INDIAN TERRITORY THE REORGAN- 
 IZED GANG ANOTHER TRAIN ROBBERY PLANNED 
 
 THE LAMINE RIVER BRIDGE-SECURING THE RED 
 LANTERN ^17, GOO TAKEN FROM THE MIS- 
 SOURI PACIFIC CUB KERRY ON A SPREE 
 
 HE IS ARRESTED — SQUEALING NOT 
 
 WISELY, BUT TOO WELL 
 
 HUNTING FOR THE 
 ROBBERS 
 
 Jesse James was not engaged in the Huntington 
 raid in person, although he was present in spirit. 
 
 He met Frank, after the latter had at last eluded 
 his persevering pursuers, in the Indian Territory. 
 
 Hardly had the brothers joined each other, when 
 their active minds began to plan another raid upon 
 the railroad companies, and they soon had a care- 
 fully prepared plot to rob an express train. 
 
 The James boys were now at the head of a large 
 gang of desperadoes, desperate villains, in for. any 
 crime, and anxious to assume any risk, so the re- 
 ward was ample enough. The McDaniels brothers, 
 the Shepherd brothers, Bill Longley, and some of 
 the old gang, had shufHed off their mortal coils, 
 but there was still the Younger boys, Clell Miller, 
 Sam Bass, Haskins and Moore, of Indian 
 Territory, Hobbs Kerry, a Texas man, full of blow, 
 133 
 
134 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "BAND 
 
 brag, and buck courage, Bill Chadwell and Charlie 
 Pitts. These men comprised Jesse James' gang at 
 this time. 
 
 The train selected was one on the Missouri 
 Pacific, and the place was Rocky Cut, just where 
 the huge bridge spans the Lamine River. A watch- 
 man was constantly employed on this bridge, and 
 his shanty was located at one of the terminals. 
 
 The plan to be carried into execution, was 
 siinple. First, overpower the watchman, secure 
 his red lantern, stop the train, rob it and ride 
 away. The date selected was July 8th, 1876. 
 
 By sun-down of this day, the entire party of 
 train-robbers, had gathered at the bridge. 
 
 Stealthily approaching, they dismounted in a 
 thick bed of foliage near the watchman's house, 
 and, leaving Bill Chadwell and Hobbs Kerry to 
 look after the nags, the rest of the band descended 
 in force on the watchman. *• 
 
 Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts and Bob Younger 
 easily induced the frightened man to give in, and 
 secured the coveted red lantern. 
 
 In order to make assurance doubly sure, a few 
 rails were l®©sened, ready to be torn fr©m the ties, 
 and some ties and rocks were heaped upon the road 
 bed. But fortunately, the obstructions were not 
 required. The train came along, the red light was 
 waved, and soon the puffing engine stood at rest, 
 and was immediately boarded by two of the rob- 
 bers, who held their revolvers against the heads of 
 
CUB KERRY ON ^ SPREE 135 
 
 the engineer and fireman. At the same time, the 
 masked raiders swarmed on the cars and the 
 passengers were apprised of the fact that the train 
 was in the hands of professional robbers. 
 
 The leaders, Je^se and Frank James, Clell Miller 
 and Bob Younger, at the points of their revolvers, 
 compelled the express messenger to open the door 
 of his car, and open the safe. 
 
 The booty, about $17,000, was tumbled into the 
 leather sack, a shrill whistle warned the guards 
 that the task was done, and the surrounding dark- 
 ness swallowed up the entire band of marauders. 
 
 Mounting their horses, the robbers rode rap- 
 idly from the scene, and, as usual, after divid- 
 ing the spoils, separated, subject to call. 
 
 Hobbs Kerry, or Cub Kerry, as he was called by 
 his familiars, gravitated to Fort Worth, Texas, and 
 proceeded to blow himself out. 
 
 His flush appearance, and reckless expenditure 
 of the ready cash, aroused suspicions, and the Cuh 
 was jailed. After lying in durance vile for a long 
 time, he squealed, but he squealed too loudly. He 
 squealed too long, and squealed too much. The 
 consequence was, that he was not believed, and 
 although he told all he knew about the Lamine 
 Bridge affair, he told a great deal more than was 
 necessary, and so the Cub's squ&aling did him no 
 good nor the James brothers any harm. 
 
 Large rewards were offered for the train robbers, 
 but then, this was always done after the train had 
 
136 JESSE JAMES AU^D HIS BA[^D 
 
 been relieved of several thousand dollars. It is 
 very easy to offer rewards, but another thing to earn 
 them. 
 
 What though the entire detective and constabu- 
 lary force of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and the 
 Indian Territory was out and scouring the entire 
 country, it was worse than hunting the proverbial 
 needle in the proverbial hay stack. Then again, 
 it was all very pleasant to hunt these men. It 
 was like hunting the tiger. So long as you are 
 hunting the tiger, it is all pleasant, agreeable sport, 
 but when the tiger turns round and begins to hunt 
 you, well — " 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 BILL CHADWELL JESSE JAMES CONCLUDES TO TRY MIN- 
 NESOTA—A CHOICE PARTY SELECTED THE COUNCIL 
 
 OF WAR NORTHFIELD, MINN., SELECTED-MEET- 
 ING AT MANKATO STUDYING GEOGRAPHY 
 
 SANGUINE HOPES OF THE RAIDERS 
 
 COLE younger' S DARK 
 
 PRESENTIMENT. 
 
 Bill Chadwell, who had joined the Jesse James 
 gang just before the Lamine Bridge affair, was a 
 Minnesota horse-thlef. In that country he was 
 dreaded and feared as was Jesse James and Clell 
 Miller in Missouri and Texas. He was a wild, 
 dashing blade, cut on the same lines as the Mis- 
 souri outlaws, and was wanted in Minnesota for 
 numerous little horse-stealing affairs. He told 
 Jesse and Frank James all about Minnesota, and 
 pointed out to them the peculiar advantages that 
 State offered for such business enterprises as the 
 James brothers affected. Minnesota had been com- 
 paratively free from ftny such affairs, and Chadwell 
 urged that an expedition into the wheat belt would 
 be productive of great profits. 
 
 Jesse James was favorably disposed to make the 
 attempt, and he made up a choice and select party 
 for the occasion. He had another object in trying 
 his luck in the Northern State. The police were 
 
 137 
 
13^ JESSE JAMES <^i^(Tf HIS B^i/^D 
 
 getting altogether too lively for comfort. The ea- 
 tire country of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and the 
 Indian Territory was under close surveilance, and 
 detectives were scouring and swarming everywhere. 
 
 By making a sudden dash to the North, the 
 police would be thrown off the track, and com- 
 pletely baffled. 
 
 A council was held, and the Minnesota man*s 
 plans laid before the select party. This gang con- 
 sisted of Jesse and Frank James, Cole, Jim and 
 Bob Younger, Charlie Pitts, Clell Miller and Bill 
 Chadwell. It was decided to move on to North- 
 field, a town in Rice County, on the C. M. & St. 
 P. R. R. 
 
 The Northfield bank was reputed to be a very 
 wealthy institution and offered great inducements to 
 the avaricious outlaws. 
 
 When all was arranged, the eight men separated, 
 and made their various ways to Mankato, where 
 the entire ground was gone over. The great fac- 
 tor, which had so much to do with the successful 
 issue of their various raids and robberies, was the 
 intimate acquaintance with the country which the 
 James brothers possessed. Every road, cross-road, 
 short-cut, lane, ford, creek, bridge, hill and gully in 
 Missouri were familiar objects to them. They 
 knew where they were and where they could go. 
 In the darkest nights, their swift horses would 
 bear them over rough countries which would 
 appall aa ordinary horseman in broad daylight. 
 
THE COUNCIL OF IVA% 139 
 
 They made it a practice, never to make a move 
 until the geography of the adjacent and surrounding 
 country was mastered. 
 
 In this case, they were dependent on Bill Chad- 
 well for guidance, but he knew Minnesota and Iowa 
 as well as the James brothers knew Clay County, 
 Missouri, or Charlie Pitts the Pan Handle of 
 Texas. 
 
 Everything pointed to a successful raid. It was. 
 to be done as it had always been done. The same 
 tactics were to be pursued, hence, the same results, 
 hence, success. 
 
 With these sanguine hopes, the bank-raiders 
 perfected their plans for robbing the Northfield 
 bank. They were domiciled at the house of a 
 friend of Chadwells, in Mankato, and made several 
 trips to Northfield for the purpose of getting 
 acquainted with the country, and familiar with the 
 immediate surroundings. Cole Younger did not 
 approve of this raid. Some premonition of dis- 
 aster impelled him to urge another place. He said 
 he would rather try Canada, Quebec or Toronto in 
 preference to Northfield. But the matter was 
 put to a final vote, and N©rthfield won. It was 
 September 3rd, 1S76, when the decision was made, 
 and it was determined to make the attempt th© 
 following Thursday, September 6th. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 NORTHFIELD, MINN. THE FATAL SIXTH OF SEPTEMBER — ■ 
 
 THREE STRANGE HORSEMEN FIVE DEMONS TERRIFY 
 
 NORTHFIELD. "i'LL DO MY DUTY IF I DIE FOR 
 IT." T. L. HAYWOOD, CASHIER, MURDERED 
 
 PANDEMONIUM REIGNS SUPREME — A 
 
 MEDICAL NIMROD CHARLIE PITTS 
 
 KILLED BILL CHADWELL SHOT 
 
 JIM YOUNGER WOUNDED 
 —A DISASTROUS FAIL- 
 URE THE RIDE FOR 
 
 LIFE RETRIBU- 
 TION PUR- 
 SUES 
 
 Northfield, itself, has a population of twenty-five 
 hundred people. It is located in the north-eastern 
 section of Rice County, on the line of Dakota 
 County, and is, next to Faribault, one of the 
 chief towns of Rice County. Surrounded on all 
 sides by the rich wheat belt of Minnesota it was a 
 thriving, prosperous city. 
 
 The farming community dependent on Northfield 
 for supplies, was of that intelligent, progressive, 
 sturdy stock that has placed Minnesota in the 
 front ranks of statehood, and created an enlightened 
 civilization that is the admiration of the country. 
 
 The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway 
 passed through Northfield, and was an important 
 factor in its progress and active condition. 
 
 140 
 
TH%EE ST%A^GE HO%SE{ME^ 141 
 
 About noon, on this fatal sixth of September, 
 three strange men on horse-back, came into North- 
 field,, from the north, and ate their dinner in a 
 hotel on the other side of the river. They entered 
 freely into conversation, even wagering money on 
 the coming election. No one knew who they were 
 nor suspected them of any evil intentions, yet 
 these cool horsemen were Jesse James, Frank James 
 and Cole Younger. After a hearty dinner, the trio 
 mounted their horses, and rode leisurely toward 
 the bank, which was located in the prominent busi- 
 ness block in the public square. 
 
 Dismounting, they tied their horses in front of 
 the bank, and remained on the sidewalk, convers- 
 ing in a most ordinary manner for a few minutes, 
 then turned and entered the bank. As they did this, 
 three horsemen dashed across the bridge at full 
 speed, carrying revolvers in their hands. As soon 
 as they had entered the town, they commenced 
 shooting indiscriminately to the right and left, 
 shouting and yelling all manner of threats. At the 
 same moment two other mounted men appeared 
 from the west, yelling like demons and firing 
 their pistols, commanding the people to remain 
 in their houses. When the five men met before the 
 bank, they faced in different directions and flour- 
 ishing their revolvers, swore to kill instantly, any 
 man who dared approach them. 
 
 Meantime, the three outlaws who had entered the 
 bank were engaged in committing. a most dastardly 
 
t42 JESSE JAMES <^^D HIS "B^O^D 
 
 murder. The cashier, Mr. J. L. Haywood, glanced 
 up as the men passed through the door, and was 
 confronted by a large revolver. Without a moment's 
 hesitation the three robbers sprang over the counter 
 and Frank James, drawing his knife, held it at the 
 cashier's throat, and ordered him to open the safe. 
 
 Nothing daunted by his perilous position, the 
 courageous man said: 
 
 "I will do no such thing." 
 
 "Quick now. " commanded Jesse James, placing 
 his revolver at Mr. Haywood's head, "or you die 
 like a dog." 
 
 "I can't help that!" was the brave reply. "I'll 
 do my duty if I die for it." 
 
 "Then G — d d — n you, die!" said Jesse and he 
 pulled the trigger. 
 
 Poor Haywood dropped dead at his murderer's 
 feet. 
 
 Cole Younger then turned to the assistant cashier, 
 Mr. A. E. Bunker. 
 
 "Come here, d — n you, and open this'safe!" 
 
 Bunker disclaimed all knowledge of the combi- 
 nation, and with a wild dash, gained the back door. 
 As he was escaping. Younger fired, and Mr. Bunker 
 received the bullet in his shoulder. He escaped 
 without further damage. The junior clerk, Frank 
 Wilcox, slipped away without molestation. 
 
 While the baffled murderers were making a vain 
 search for the money-box, retribution had over- 
 taken their comrades outside. 
 
^ MB'DICAL V^tO^Cfi 143 
 
 Dr. Wheeler, a plucky physician, who occupied 
 rooms opposite the bank, heard the commotion, 
 and, looking through the windows, saw the entire 
 proceedings. Picking up a shot gun, he took de- 
 liberate aim, and sent the entire charge of shot into 
 the heart of Charlie Pitts, who gave one wild yell, 
 crying as he threw up his arms, and fell from his 
 plunging horse: 
 
 "My God! Boys, Pm done for!" 
 
 Again the Doctor fired, and Bill Chadwell, the 
 notorious and dreaded horse-thief of Minnesota, 
 fell in mortal agony upon the ground. 
 
 By this time, others had joined in the fray. A. 
 K. Manning, Joseph Hyde, and George Betts ob- 
 tained guns, and began firing. Another outlaw 
 dropped and his horse ran away, but Clell Miller, 
 dashing forward, threw the wounded man across the 
 saddle — it was Jim Younger --and fled for his life. 
 
 In the midst of the melee, Jesse and Frank 
 James, and Cole Younger ran from the bank. They 
 did not find the money, and now it was a matter of 
 life or death. 
 
 Quickly mounting their horses, they fled, firing 
 right and left. 
 
 Bill Chadwell and Charlie Pitts lay dead before 
 the bank doors. Jim Younger, fearfully wounded, 
 was carried by Clell Miller; and Jesse James, 
 Frank James, Cole Younger and Bob Younger were 
 fleeing for their very lives, before the furious 
 citizens of Northfield, who, mad with excitement, 
 
144 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS B^ND 
 
 and at a white heat for vengeance, had instantly set 
 out in pursuit of the blood-thirsty villians who had 
 so wantonly murdered Mr. Haywood. 
 
 The telegraph sped the news on all sides, and 
 pursuing parties sprang up in every direction. 
 Retribution was swiftly following the flying brig- 
 ands. The avenger of blood was hot on their trail. 
 Disaster, like a dark cloud hovered over them, 
 threatening every instant to engulf them in its 
 deadly folds. 
 
 On and on they sped. Faster and faster they 
 flew, but swifter than their fleet steeds, Justice 
 followed, and the bank-robbers could almost see 
 the flash of her terrible sv/ord. It was a fatal, 
 dreadful day for them. Defeat and disaster, death 
 and wounds, flight and capture were theirs instead 
 of booty. Truly the ways of the transgressor is hard. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 FOUR HUNDRED AFTER SIX MINNESOTA UP IN ARMS— 
 
 ^6,000 REWARD OFFERED A HUNT TO THE DEATH 
 
 FLEEING FROM JUSTICE A FEARFUL JOURNEY 
 
 THE BLOOD-MARKED TRAIL — SIX DAYS OF TER- 
 RIBLE SUFFERING THE OUTLAWS SEPA- 
 RATE — CLELL MILLER KILLED — THE 
 YOUNGER BROTHERS SURRENDER 
 
 — IMPRISONED FOR LIFE 
 
 JESSE AND FRANK ESCAPE 
 
 THE GANG DIS- 
 
 MEMBERED 
 
 Before Jesse James and his comrades had fairly- 
 got out of town, fifty men, earnest, determined 
 citizens of Northfield, were in the saddle and in 
 furious pursuit of the bandits. 
 
 The news of the murder had been telegraphed 
 far and near. Every town in Minnesota, Iowa and 
 Dakota had complete descriptions of the murderers, 
 of their horses and clothing, and before twenty- 
 four hours had elapsed, four hundred men were 
 searching for six. 
 
 Sentinels and guards were posted at every bridge 
 and ford, every road had its vigilant watchers, 
 waiting for these terrible six men to come along. 
 Every town was on the qui vive, and every man in 
 Minnesota, constituted himself a posse of one to 
 Jesse James and His Band jo 
 
146 JESSE J^MES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 help hunt down the dastards and scoundrels who 
 had killed a brave man. 
 
 The news reached St. Paul, and Gov. Pillsbury 
 at once offered a reward of ;^ 1,000 for each robber 
 or $6,000 for the gang. Then began a hunt to the 
 death. 
 
 Four hundred hunters against six hunted. 
 
 Beset on all sides, hemmed in from every quar- 
 ter, the outlaws left the roads and took to the 
 fields and woods. They were in sore straits. With- 
 out a guide, for Bill Chadwell, who was to bring 
 them safely out of the country, was lying dead in 
 Northfield; the little band of fugitives knew not 
 which way to turn. The country was strange, the 
 route unknown. Still they sped onward, turning 
 and twisting, doubling on their trail, hiding in 
 thick bushes, making wide detours to avoid their 
 pursuers, skirting cultivated fields and stealing 
 past towns and villages, but always pushing on. 
 
 Jim Younger, suffering from a terrible wound, 
 was enduring untold agonies. His blood many 
 times served as a trail for his hunters. 
 
 They left Rice County, and passed into Le Seur 
 County, and finally, after six days of terrible suff- 
 ering, reached the vicinity of Mankato. For six 
 days they had lived on green corn, and famished 
 with hunger, they came to a farm house and begged 
 for a chicken. But their pursuers were close at 
 hand. They were seen and fired upon, and both the 
 James brothers received serious wounds. 
 
MURDER OF WESTFALL. 
 
14^ JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 They had long ago turned their horses loose, and 
 were making this dreadful retreat on foot. Escap- 
 ing from the men who had seen them at the farm 
 house, they slunk into the woods and the next day 
 agreed to separate. Jesse and Frank James sought 
 the bottoms of the Blue Earth river, and Clell 
 Miller, with the three Younger brothers, took 
 another route. 
 
 The latter party passed through Blue Earth 
 County, and entered Watonwan County. Here they 
 were seen, and Sheriff McDonald tracked them to a 
 swamp near Madelin, and the four bandits were 
 surrounded. Hundreds of men flocked to the 
 scene, closer and closer was the human coil 
 tightened around the doomed four. 
 
 Hungry and starving, covered with wounds, their 
 clothing torn to shreds, their shoes worn away to 
 the bare soles, the pitiful four, back to back, 
 fought four hundred. They saw there was no escape, 
 and with the desperation of despair, they grit 
 their teeth and fought. A rifle ball tore away the 
 lower jaw of Jim Younger, and his shriek of agony 
 chilled the blood of all who heard it. Yet, he 
 fought on. 
 
 Again an agonizing yell - penetrated the dismal 
 recesses of the swamp, and Clell Miller sank to the 
 ground, and died. But still the three brothers 
 fought. Fought while the cordon of men drew 
 nearer, fought while the rifles of their pursuers 
 were almost touching them, fought until with a 
 
JESSE AND FRANK ESCAPE 149 
 
 sudden rush of many men, they were held by strong 
 arms, and bound by stronger cords. 
 
 They were taken to Madelia, and there they lay 
 for months, suffering from wounds which would have 
 killed ordinary men. At last they were brought to 
 trial before the Rice County Court, in Faribault, 
 and, pleading "guilty", were taken to Stillwater, 
 and the penitentiary gates closed upon them for 
 the rest of their lives. They were doomed to a 
 living death. 
 
 Jesse and Frank James escaped. After leaving 
 the Younger brothers, they plunged into a wild 
 unbroken wilderness, with no guide but the sun by 
 day and the stars by night. Surrounded on all 
 sides by determined foes, they were constantly in 
 peril of detection. So closely were they pursued, 
 that for ten days they lived on green corn and raw 
 potatoes, not daring to make a fire. They swam 
 rivers and waded streams, climbed hills and dove 
 into dark gullies. But, through it all they passed 
 safely, until the open country was reached, and here 
 they bought horses, and secured a warm meal. All 
 night they rode, and were congratulating them- 
 selves on their escape, when they were met by 
 seven armed and mounted men, who attempted to 
 arrest them. But the James boys were on horses, 
 and armed, and when they left the attacking party, 
 two of them were killed, and three wounded. 
 
 Through Iowa they rode and into Missouri, and 
 it was not until they had reached Clay County, 
 
I50 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 that they breathed freely, for then they were safe. 
 But their gang was broken up. Bill Chadwell 
 Charlie Pitts and Clell Miller were dead. Jim, 
 Bob, and Cole Younger were in the Stillwater 
 prison. But the James brothers were left. The 
 two were alone to tell the tale of that disastrous 
 raid on the Northfield bank. Cole Younger' s pre- 
 sentiment had been realized. It was a fatal error, 
 an irretrievable mistake. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 A ROMANTIC CHAPTER — ^JESSIE AND FRANK IN MEXICO 
 
 SILVER-LADEN MULES THE JAMES BROTHERS 
 
 SUSPECTED LIVING IN OBSCURITY DANCING 
 
 THE FANDANGO — ^PRETTY TALES TOLD OF THE 
 OUTLAWS — THE JAMES BOYS AS HEROES 
 RESCUING FAIR MAIDENS RO- 
 MANTIC BUT SCARCELY 
 
 For the next three years, Missouri was freed from 
 the James brothers. They found that even Clay 
 County would not shield them from the pursuing 
 fury of the Northfieldians, and making discretion 
 the better part of valor, the two outlaws bade 
 their mother a fond farewell, and journeyed to the 
 land of the Montezumas. It is said that they 
 settled in the northern part of the State of Chihua- 
 hua, Mexico, and in the course of several months, 
 secured some well filled purses from traveling 
 tourists and merchants. 
 
 While they were living in that country, a caravan 
 of six pack mules, each carrying 150 pounds of 
 silver, and guarded by eighteen men, was captured 
 by five men, the guards killed and dispersed, and 
 the treasure taken by the robbers. The leaders in 
 this little episode were said to have been Jesse 
 and Frank James. But this is scarcely true. 
 Silver bullion, such as was carried by pack mules, 
 
 151 
 
152 JESSE JzAMES <^ND HIS "BAND 
 
 v/as not so easily converted into coin of the 
 realm. 
 
 Too many inquisitive questions were asked, and 
 one could hardly sell it as one could old clothing 
 or ancient shoes. It is hardly possible that all 
 the highv/ay robberies committed at this time, 
 could have been done by the James brothers. It 
 became quite the habit, when any crime of more 
 than ordinary atrocity was heard of, to at once lay 
 it to either Jesse or Frank James, or both. 
 
 Doubtless both the young brigands robbed, plun- 
 dered and murdered, during these three years of 
 exile, but this period of their lives is shrouded 
 in obscurity, and romancers have taken advantage 
 of this indefiniteness to weave all manner of roman- 
 tic tales which have the James brothers as heroes. 
 
 They have been pictured as attending fandangoes, 
 and, in a spirit of mere mischief inciting a row 
 which would enable them to display their superior 
 marksmanship, or their dashing qualities of 
 bravery, always, of course, killing something less 
 than a baker's dozen of Greasers, and carrying off 
 the most beautiful maidens present at the dance. 
 
 But the origin of these tales is clouded in mys- 
 tery. They only existed in the fertile brain of 
 some romancer. 
 
 . The fact is, that it would have been positively un- 
 safe for the tv/o James brothers to court any sort of 
 publicity. There were laws of extradition in exist- 
 ericQ v/hich vvould land them into the hands of the 
 
JESSE ANT> FR^NK IihC MEXICO 153 
 
 United States authorities, and bring a sudden ter- 
 mination to their career. 
 
 But writers must live and Jesse James has been 
 the means of paying many a board bill for some 
 moneyless ink-slinger. 
 
 The limit was reached though, the limit of 
 credulity, when the blood stained villian is cred- 
 ited with rescuing a fair young maiden from the 
 hands of a band of Greasers who had abducted the 
 beauteous damsel from her father's home. The 
 story goes that the brothers, hearing of the outrage, 
 shed manly tears of pity over the sad fate of the 
 unfortunate lady, and then, swearing the customary 
 oath — it is absolutely essential, in affairs of this 
 kind, that the gallant would-be rescuers s^iould 
 grasp each others hand and swear deep and loud, 
 that they will not return until they bring the 
 abducted maiden, safe and secure, to her gray- 
 haired sire, they mounted their fleet chargers and 
 sallied forth on their noble errand of rescue. 
 
 After a forced march of many miles, they came 
 upon the band of woman stealers. As usual, the 
 band was eating and drinking, and making merry 
 over their exploits, and, as is also usual, the unfortu- 
 nate damsel was seated apart from them, wearied, 
 sad, and heart-broken, attended by the ever-faithful 
 colored boy who always dies before he leaves his 
 mistress. 
 
 Then came the charge, the terrible volley, and 
 at once, half the Greasers were killed, and the 
 
154 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS "B^ND 
 
 other half sent flying over the plains while the 
 fair lady fainted, and was only brought around by 
 the devoted attentions of Jesse James, and an un- 
 stinted supply of brandy. 
 
 It was all very pretty, but somewhat shopworn. 
 
 If Jesse James did do this, is was because the 
 father of the girl offered a good sized bonus to any 
 one that would rescue his daughter. A man who 
 would heartlessly and without any compunctions 
 of conscience, shoot down an unarmed man simply 
 because he refused to give up the combination of a 
 bank-vault, or who would deliberately cut the throat 
 of an old, gray-haired man, merely to avenge a 
 fancied insult, is not in the habit of going around 
 the country rescuing maidens, unless there is 
 something in it. Scarcely. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THREE BLISSFUL YEARS — MISSOURI'S RUDE AWAKENING 
 THE GLENDALE RAID CHICAGO AND ALTON RAIL- 
 ROAD HELD UP — PLUCKY WILL GRIMES — ^JESSE 
 JAMES' TELEGRAM— A THIEF TO CATCH A 
 
 THIEF JIM ANDERSON MURDERED 
 
 GEORGE SHEPHERD SHOOTS JESSE 
 
 JAMES PREMATURE 
 
 JUBILATION 
 
 For three blissful years, Missouri had lived in 
 happy security. For three years no sensational 
 reports of another flagrant crime had been flashed 
 over the wires, giving the outside world further 
 opportunities of jeering and jibing or make sar- 
 castic paragraphs in sneering journals regarding 
 the law and order of the scourged State. 
 
 And Missouri had really begun to think that she 
 was at last effectually and permanently rid of her 
 "thorn in the flesh." She felt that "she could 
 occasionally take a cat-nap once in a while," with- 
 out having a robbery or murder committed. 
 
 She even dared imagine that she could now safely 
 indulge in a good night's sleep. 
 
 But Missouri was too sanguine. Her pests were 
 not dead, but merely sleeping, and one day, Mis- 
 souri awoke herself from her sweet dream of 
 security, with a great gasp of terror, for Jesse 
 
 155 
 
1 56 JESSE J^AMES ^/iNT> HIS B^N^D 
 
 James had once more shaken the land with his 
 heavy tread. 
 
 Glendale, a station on the Kansas City branch 
 of the Chicago and Alton R. R. is located in 
 Lafayette County, Missouri. It is nothing but a 
 flag-station, situated in a lonely country, rough and 
 rugged in character, full of ravines and gullies, 
 and surrounded by large hills. Besides the station, 
 there was little else to the place. A general store, 
 similar in character to most country stores, connect- 
 ed with the post office, and a few frame buildings, 
 constituted the tangible part of Glendale. 
 
 On the evening of October 7th, 1879, the post 
 master and the rest of Glendale, with the excep- 
 tion of the station agent, were loafing before the 
 door of the post office when a body of rough looking 
 men, masked and armed with revolvers and knives 
 suddenly appeared. 
 
 Without losing any time, the citizens of Glen- 
 dale were marched to the railway station, with 
 strict orders to keep quiet tongues in their heads. 
 
 Arriving at the station, the leader stepped in- 
 side, and approaching the agent, Mr. Mclntyre, 
 remarked casually that he wanted to send a 
 message. 
 
 "All right," said Mr. Mclntyre, coming forward 
 "what is it?" 
 
 In a jiffy he was seized, the telegraph instrument 
 torn from the wires and demolished, and he was 
 told that he was a prisoner. 
 
CHICAGO &- <^LrON %0'BBED isi 
 
 "Now lower that green light! " was the next com- 
 mand. 
 
 "But the train will stop if Ido. " 
 
 "Just so. That is what we want it to do. Come, 
 lower that green light, or — " and the sentence was 
 completed by a significant movement of the revol- 
 ver. Helpless to do aught else, the agent lowered 
 the green light, as he had been ordered. 
 
 "Is there any one up stairs?" inquired the leader. 
 
 "Yes, my mother and Mr. W. E. Bridges, traveling 
 auditor of the road." said Mclntyre, telling the 
 truth, for he could do nothing else. 
 
 One of the men assended the stairs, and before 
 Mrs. Mclntyre or Mr. Bridges was aware that any- 
 thing out of the common was on the tapis, the 
 auditor was robbed of his watch and money, and 
 sent down stairs, 
 
 When these preliminary arrangements had been 
 completed, the masked men concealed themselves 
 and waited for the train. 
 
 It drevvT up, and stopped. As it did so, two of 
 the robbers sprang into the engine cab, and de- 
 manded the coal hammer. 
 
 "What do you want with it?" asked the engineer. 
 
 "Nevermind! Hand it here quick or you'll never 
 use it again." 
 
 The engineer reluctantly handed over the hammer 
 to the determined borrower, who immediately ap- 
 plied it vigorously to the sturdy doors of the ex- 
 press car, which had been bolted at the first alarm^ 
 
is8 JESSE JAMES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 by the messenger, William Grimes. This plucky 
 fellow made a bold attempt to save the treasure 
 intrusted to his charge, and hastily taking the 
 money from the safe, crammed it into a valise, and 
 made a break for the rear door, but he was too late; 
 the raiders had entered the car and their revolvers 
 were leveled at his head. 
 
 "Here, you," demanded one of them, "give me the 
 key of the safe, and be quick about it, too!" 
 
 "You will have to take it if you want it," was 
 the stout-hearted answer. 
 
 A savage blow from the butt of a revolver 
 stretched him senseless upon the floor. 
 
 In ten minutes the safe was emptied, the money 
 taken from the bag, the valuable express packages 
 secured, and the robbers were on their horses, fly- 
 ing from the scene, with ^^40,000 of stolen plunder. 
 
 Before leaving, however, one of the gang wrote 
 a bravado message and told Mr. Bridges to send it 
 to the Kansas City Journal from the next station. 
 
 The dispatch was dated from Blue Springs, and 
 read as follows. 
 
 "We are the boys who are hard to handle, and 
 we will make it hot for the boys who will try to 
 take us." and was signed with the names of Jesse 
 James, Frank James, Jack Bishop, Jim Cummings 
 and Cool Carter. 
 
 For some time there were doubts in the minds of 
 many, that either of the James boys were impli- 
 cated in this robbery. Attempts were made by 
 
«// THIEF TO CATCH ^ THIEF 159 
 
 their friends to prove that neither Jesse nor Frank 
 were within five-hundred miles of the place at the 
 time, but subsequent developments dispelled any 
 doubts and established beyond any arguments, 
 that Frank James planned the raid and was present, 
 and that Jesse James was the active leader. 
 
 Major James Liggett, of Kansas City, began 
 active operations to run the robbers to earth. 
 Other schemes and plans had failed, but the 
 Major concluded that he would try again. 
 
 George Shepherd, who had been captured and 
 sent to penitentiary for participating in the 
 Huntington bank robbery, had served his time 
 and come out. Before long, he was again at his 
 old tricks, and was a member of the James gang. 
 
 It seems that Shepherd had a grievance against 
 not only Jesse James, but Jim Anderson. A 
 nephew of Shepherd's was found murdered and 
 robbed of $1,000 and he accused Jesse and Jim of 
 "doing the job." 
 
 It was through this Shepherd that Major 
 Liggett hoped to secure Jesse and Frank James. 
 
 Getting hold of Shepherd, he so worked upon his 
 feelings, that the ex-convict readily promised to 
 betray the boys into the Major's hand, but Shep- 
 herd determined to take matters in his own hands. 
 
 Revenge was sweet, and he wished to taste the 
 toothsome article. 
 
 Decoying Anderson to a lonely place, he accused 
 him of murdering his nephew. Gaining a half 
 
i6o JESSE J^MES ^ND HIS BAND 
 
 admission from the outlaw, Shepherd suddenly 
 drew his bowie knife and cut the throat of the 
 self-convicted wretch. 
 
 Soon after, riding alone with Jesse James, the 
 latter unsuspecting of any danger. Shepherd sud- 
 denly fired at him, and, as he believed, killed 
 him. 
 
 Great was the excitement v/hen the news came 
 that the redoubtable outlaw, the famous bandit, 
 was dead. 
 
 Great was the rejoicing over the demise of this 
 wonderful marauder, this audacious train robber, 
 this blood-stained murderer. His own mother 
 believed — or claimed she did — that he was killed, 
 and the entire state of Missouri congratulated 
 itself that at last, her dread foe was dead — but he 
 wasn't. The wound received from Shepherd was 
 not mortal, although so serious he well-nigh died, 
 but he lived; Reserved for more dark deeds; 
 Kept for a longer career of blood and crime. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 EMULATING DICK TURPIN — THE CONCORD-CAVE COACH 
 ROBBED — TWO DASHING HIGHWAYMEN, FRANK 
 
 JAMES AND JIM CUMMINGS MOONSHINERS, 
 
 NOT ROBBERS FRANK JAMES AS AN 
 
 APOLOGIST — GALLANT STAGE ROB- 
 BERS A PROFITABLE 
 
 ADVENTURE 
 
 A daring adventure of the Dick Turpin order, 
 an episode of highwaymanship which ranks with 
 the most artistic exploits of Paul Clifford, was 
 the robbing of the Cave Coach, in September of 
 1880. 
 
 The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, that wonderful 
 catacomb of nature, is a favorite objective point 
 for the tourists. To reach it, the majority of the 
 curious disembarked at Cave City on the L. & N. 
 R. R., and taking the Concord coach, journeyed to 
 the Cave, which is some ten miles distant. The 
 road runs through a diversified country, threading 
 some dense patches of timber. On the evening of 
 September 6th, 1880, seven gentlemen and one 
 lady were passengers in the coach, which had 
 reached a point midway between Cave City and 
 Mammoth Cave; the party, entirely free from all 
 apprehensions of danger, was enjoying the cool air 
 of the September evening, and beguiling the 
 Jesse James and his Band li 
 
i62 JESSE J^JvwS <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 journey by relating all the anecdotes and legends 
 associated with that romantic region. 
 
 The coach had fairly entered a dense timber, 
 when the security of the tourists was rudely shocked 
 by the sudden appearance of two masked horsemen, 
 who drove up before the coach team, and with 
 leveled revolvers, cried: 
 
 "Halt!" 
 
 The driver, who recognized in one of the saucy 
 strangers, the redoubtable Frank James, pulled in 
 his horses, and warned the passengers to submit 
 without a struggle if they valued their lives. 
 
 The coach at a stand-still, one of the horsemen 
 rode alongside, and, in a pleasant, affable tone, 
 remarked: 
 
 "Will you please come out of the stage?" 
 
 Without delay, the men quitted their seats, and 
 stood before the polite and urbane outlaw. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen," continued the road agent, 
 still preserving his civil tone, "You will greatly 
 oblige a pair of persecuted moonshiners, who are 
 suffering because of the unjust impositions of a 
 greedy government, by contributing a small por- 
 tion of your wealth for their benefit." 
 
 Touched by this appeal, which was rendered all 
 the more pathetic by a careless gesture with a 
 revolver, the gentlemen went down in their 
 pockets, and made up a very handsome purse. 
 
 The combined efforts of the generous passengers 
 
GALLANT ST^GE %OBBERS 163 
 
 amounted to ^950 in cash, and about ^200 worth 
 of jewelry. 
 
 After this exhibition of charity Frank James 
 introduced himself to Miss Roundtree, the lady 
 passenger, and in the most polite terms, begged 
 her to convey to a certain young lady of Lebanon, 
 the sincere expressions of his most grateful con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Then turning to the amazed gentlemen, he ex- 
 plained to them that this was no robbery, 
 not at all. It was simply a justifiable act on their 
 part. They were moonshiners, engaged in a busi- 
 ness which the harsh mandates of a discriminating 
 government had branded as illegal. They were 
 honest, hard-working menj but so severe had been 
 the persecutions by the minions of the Revenue 
 Service, that they had been forced to adopt the 
 same business. 
 
 They were merely exacting revenue, it was a 
 tariff for revenue only. 
 
 With this explanation, they courteously request- 
 ed the passengers to resume their places in the 
 coach, and after a cordial farewell, permitted the 
 tourists to proceed. 
 
 Misery loves company and the depressed travelers 
 felt better when they learned afterwards that Mr. 
 George Croghow, one of the proprietors of Mam- 
 moth Cave, had been held up by the gentlemanly 
 scamps, and relieved of ^700. 
 
 But Frank James and Jim Cummings rode 
 
i64 JESSE J^MES AND HIS BAND 
 
 merrily away, free of heart and full in purse, happy 
 in the consciousness that they had performed their 
 duty in a highly exemplary manner, in a way 
 which was entirely above reproach; a pair of jolly 
 slashing, saucy blades were Frank James and Jim 
 Cummings. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 AN ATROCIOUS CRIME ROBBERY AND MURDER ^WILLIAM 
 
 WESTFALL SHOT DOWN MC* MILLAN SLAUGH- 
 TERED PANIC-STRICKEN PASSENGERS A 
 
 BRAVE MESSENGER THE JAMES 
 
 BROTHERS BRUTAL 
 MURDERERS 
 
 From September of 1880, until July of the next 
 year, nothing was heard of the Jesse James brig- 
 ands. The outlaws, secure in their retreats, re- 
 mained unmolested and unheard. The excitement 
 of the Presidential election, had taken the atten- 
 tion of the country, and the temporary ripple caused 
 by the Mammoth Cave affair had calmed down. 
 Then came Guiteau's pistol shot, which laid low 
 the beloved President of the United States, Gen. 
 James Garfield, and the entire Republic held its 
 breath in heart-chilling horror. For days the 
 bulletins were watched with feverish anxiety by 
 the excited community. For days the Chief Execu- 
 tive lingered between death and life. 
 
 Then came the joyful news that he was gaining 
 strength, and comforted by the false news, the 
 people breathed more freely when the telegraph 
 wires bore to all parts, of the country, the tale of 
 another outrage, and the slumbering passions of 
 165 
 
1 66 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS BAND 
 
 a great people leaped into a flame when they 
 read the lurid headlines of their daily papers, 
 which told that two more innocent lives had been 
 sacrificed to the rapacious greed of the insatiable 
 Jesse James and his villainous adherents. 
 
 It was on Friday evening, July 15th, 1881, that 
 the long train on the Chicago, Rock Island & 
 Pacific road left Kansas City. There was the usual 
 number of passengers, but the express freight, in 
 charge of C. H. Murray, the agent, was unusually 
 light. There was about ^2,000 in money and valu- 
 ables, and a few silver bricks. 
 
 William Westfall, the ill-fated conductor, was 
 in charge of the train. Nothing unusual occurred 
 until Cameron was reached, where a number of men 
 boarded the train, and again at Winston another 
 consignment of rough fellows was taken aboard. 
 
 They had proceeded scarcely a mile from Winston 
 when the bell cord was hastily jerked, but the fire- 
 man suspecting something was wrong shouted to 
 the engineer not to stop, but to "give her hell." 
 Turning his head, the engineer was terrified to find 
 two masked men with extended revolvers, scram- 
 bling down the coal heap in the tender. With a 
 shout of warning to his fireman, he threw the 
 throttle forward, shutting off steam, and plunging 
 through the window in front of his seat, ran along 
 the foot boards amid a hail of pistol shots. With 
 his fireman he clung to the pilot until the engine 
 slowed down, and then escaped to the woods. 
 
WILLMM WESTFALL SHOT TfOWN 167 
 
 In the meantime, murder was done in the train. 
 
 Westfall, the conductor, was collecting tickets, 
 when a masked man, dressed in a long linen duster 
 followed by other men similarly attired, entered the 
 car. Rushing up to the conductor, one of the ruffians 
 mumbled something to the effect that he was the 
 man he wanted, and immediately leveling the 
 pistol, shot the conductor through the head. Not 
 satisfied, he fired again and again at the fallen 
 man, who was flooding the floor of the car with his 
 life-blood. 
 
 A stone-mason, employed by the railroad com- 
 pany, McMillan by name, entered the car at the 
 same time and was immediately shot dead by one 
 of the masked murderers. Then arose a scene of 
 tumult and confusion. The panic-stricken passen- 
 gers were beside themselves with fear. Crawling 
 under the seats, slinking into the corners of their 
 berths, sinking to the floor, they huddled together 
 in abject terror, trembling with fear. 
 
 But the marauders made no attempt to rob the 
 passengers, although many of them, in pitiful 
 dread of their life, voluntarily offered their money 
 and watches. The robbers seemed bent on doing 
 but one thing. That is, terrorizing the passengers. 
 
 The real work was going on in the baggage car. 
 
 The express messenger C. H. Murray, and the 
 baggage man, Stampe, were together in the car, 
 the door partly open for ventilating purposes, a? 
 the night was warm, 
 
i68 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 The sudden stoppage of the train, brought 
 Stampe to the door to see what was the matter. 
 
 He was suddenly grasped by four masked men, 
 who cried, in threatening tones: 
 
 "Come out, you — of a — ! Come out." 
 
 The baggage man was hauled out of the car, and 
 was threatened with instant death if he stirred a 
 muscle. 
 
 Murray, alarmed by these movements, slammed 
 and locked the door, and hastily constructed a 
 barricade of trunks, behind which he crouched. 
 
 Finding the door locked, the bandits began fire- 
 ing through it, one of the bullets grazing Murray's 
 shoulder. Enraged and furious, at being thus 
 balked, the robbers proceeded to smash in the door 
 with an ax and finally bursting it, rushed into the 
 car. 
 
 "Where is that — ?" yelled one. 
 
 "Here I am." replied Murray rising from his 
 hiding place. "What do you want?" 
 
 In an instant he was grasped, and flung to the 
 ground and the key of the safe demanded. The de- 
 mand was emphasized by a blow from the butt of a 
 pistol. 
 
 Holding a revolver to his head, they opened the 
 safe, and took all the money. Great was their dis- 
 appointment v/hen they found so small a booty. 
 
 Believing Murray had secreted the greater por- 
 tion of it, they asked him how much money was 
 aboard. Murray replied that he did not know. 
 
(^ BTiA^E MESSENGER 169 
 
 "Then you ought to know." said the leader. 
 "What in hell are you in charge for if you don't 
 know? Come tell me quick, or I'll kill you." 
 
 "You've got everything but those silver bricks." 
 was the cool response. 
 
 "Oh! d — n your bricks. " was the disgusted re- 
 joinder. 
 
 Satisfied that they had all there was, they struck 
 him again with the revolver, and left the car. 
 
 They had only secured ^2,000, but they had com- 
 mitted a cruel and atrocious double murder. Leav- 
 ing the dead and living, the plundered car, and 
 the terrified passengers, the masked men disap- 
 peared in the woods, and rode away. 
 
 It did not seem their policy to rob the passengers, 
 for not a cent was taken from the cars. They 
 meant to rob the express alone. 
 
 The killing of Westfall was a heinous crime of the 
 most flagrant character. He had not said a word; 
 yet he was shot down without mercy. 
 
 The presumption is that the James brothers paid 
 off an old score in killing him. He had aroused 
 their enmity somehow, and this was their revenge. 
 It was a cruel, brutal, cowardly act, and aroused a 
 storm of indignation never before created. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 GLENDALE AGAIN THE BLUE-CUT AFFAIR BREAKING 
 
 OPEN EXPRESS CARS ARGUMENT BY REVOLVERS 
 
 PLUCKY ACTION OF HAZELBAKER, THE CON- 
 DUCTOR FLAGGING A TRAIN UNDER DIF- 
 FICULTIES CHAPPY FOOTE TREATED 
 
 BY JESSE JAMES A BOMBAS- 
 TIC TIRADE 
 
 Beyond any doubt, the men engaged in this last 
 raid, were Jesse and Frank James, Pope Wells, Jim 
 Gummings, Miller, Palmer, and young Samuels, 
 brother-in-law to Jesse. This is the opinion of 
 Mr. M. A. Lowe the attorney of the railroad, and 
 sheriff Crosby of Daviess County. 
 
 Mr. William Pinkerton stated that the robbery 
 and murder was undoubtedly the woik of the James 
 gang, and the testimony of the passengers aboard 
 the ill-fated train all tend to this conclusion. 
 
 Again came up the much-discussed question 
 "Cannot something be done to rid Missou*-^ of this 
 lawless band of robbers and murderers?" 
 
 Again and again were bountiful rewards offered 
 for the apprehension, conviction, detection, or 
 death of the bandits. Again were strong parties 
 organized for pursuit, and again did it all end in 
 nothing. For several months this agitation was 
 continued and while the interest was still una- 
 bated, while the police were still making strenuous 
 ' 170 
 
^%GUMENr BY %EyOLyERS 171 
 
 efforts to do something, another train was held up 
 by the same band of train robbers. 
 
 Again was the Chicago & Alton R. R. the 
 victim and the robbery occurred near Glendale, 
 where two years previous, Jesse James had taken 
 ^40,000 from the passengers and express company. 
 
 It was September 7th, 1881, about 9 o'clock in 
 the evening, when the train was brought to a stand 
 still in a deep cut where the Missouri Pacific 
 crosses the Alton tracks. The sudden stop was 
 caused by a huge pile of broken stone, which was 
 across the track. Immediately a dozen masked 
 men dashed into the cars, while the leader, ap- 
 proaching the engine, said to Foote, the engineer: 
 
 "Step down out of that engine and do as I tell 
 you, or ril kill you! " 
 
 Foote, after some parleying, did so, and at the 
 same time brought down the coal pick at the com- 
 mand of the armed outlaw. 
 
 With his fireman, he was marched to the express 
 car, and ordered to break the door down. This he 
 did. 
 
 Fox the express messenger, anticipating trouble, 
 had secreted himself in the grass near the track, 
 and only came out when the leader threatened to 
 kill the engineer and fireman unless the messenger 
 showed up. 
 
 With menacing revolvers they compelled Fox to 
 open the safe, giving him several, raps on the head 
 with the butts of their revolvers to accelerate his 
 
172 fESSE JAMES AND HIS "BAND 
 
 movements. Cramming the money — some ;S>2,5oo 
 into a leather bag they carried, they left a guard 
 over the engineer, fireman and messenger and went 
 back into the train. 
 
 While these exciting events were taking place 
 around the engine and baggage car, others of the gang 
 were passing and repassing through the passenger 
 coaches, firing their revolvers into the roof of the 
 car, swaggering and bullying, declaring with deep 
 oaths and obscene remarks, that they were going 
 to hold up every passenger on the train. The con- 
 ductor, Mr. Hazelbaker, and the brakeman, Mr. 
 Burton, comprehending the condition of affairs at 
 the first alarm, begged the passengers to be sub- 
 missive, and warned them that resistance to the 
 robbers meant death. This duty done, the two 
 brave men made instant preparations to flag a 
 freight train following them. In doing this, they 
 performed as courageous an act as was ever record- 
 ed, for, as with a red lantern in hand, the two 
 heroic train men leaped from the rear platform, 
 they were greeted with a volley of bullets, and the 
 robbers kept up an incessant fire as long as they 
 were in range. 
 
 The danger of telescoping over, for Burton re- 
 mained with the red lantern to flag the train, 
 Hazelbaker returned to his charge, and seating 
 himself waited quietly to be robbed. 
 
 The leader of the band, a tall, athletic man, 
 
A "BOmBzASTIC TIRADE 173 
 
 shoved his revolver under the conductor's nose and 
 said: 
 
 "D — n you; that is the pistol that killed West- 
 fall at Winston. You tell your G — d d — d com- 
 pany that Jesse James told you so." 
 
 In due time the robbers went through the train, 
 robbing every passenger, securing in all, with the 
 express money, about ^15,000. 
 
 Their work finished the robbers suddenly disap- 
 peared, and were quickly lost to sight in the dense 
 shadow of the night. 
 
 Before leaving however, the leader of the gang 
 came to Foote, the engineer, and said: 
 
 "Chappy Foote, you'r a d — d fine fellow to run 
 on the road. Here's $2. Get a drink in the morn- 
 ing, and drink it for Jesse James. You want to 
 get off the road though, or you'll get killed. We 
 are going to bust this road and the Rock Island 
 too, d — n them.. They are offering too many 
 rewards. We've no grudge against Pullman. He's 
 white, and don't offer any rewards. We'll switch 
 off the Pullmans and burn the rest. I am the man 
 who killed Westfall at Winston. He was too 
 fresh and drew a gun. " 
 
 This tirade was unlike Jesse James. He was 
 not given to brag but rather the other thing, yet, 
 Jesse James led that raid. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE TURNING POINT REACHED GOV. CRITTENDEN AT 
 
 WORK ^50,000 IN REWARDS SHERIFF JOHN 
 
 R. TIMBERLAKE COM. H. H. CRAIG A 
 
 MYSTERIOUS WOMAN DICK LITTLE 
 
 SURRENDERS JESSE JAMES IN 
 
 ST. JOSEPH A SNAKE IN 
 
 THE GRASS PLOT AND 
 
 COUNTER-PLOT 
 
 The Blue Cut robbery, as narrated in the last 
 chapter, marked the turning point of the long lane 
 of Jesse James' career. Gov. Crittenden, of Missouri, 
 had taken hold of the outlaw matter, and was 
 pushing it with great energy. He had resolved, 
 fair means or foul, to sweep this murderous gang 
 of cut-throats from the face of the earth, and bent 
 his energies to the work in a way which was bound 
 to win. 
 
 Gathering together the proper officials of the 
 various railroads and express companies that had 
 suffered by the hands of Jesse James, and his asso- 
 ciate desperadoes, he put the case to them squarely 
 and explicitly. He told them he wanted to offer 
 a reward of ^50,000 for Jesse and Frank James, 
 dead or alive. He said that he felt warranted in 
 offering such an immense pecuniary inducement. 
 
 174 
 
DEATH OF JESSE JAMES. 
 
176 JESSE JAMES ^ND HIS 'B.AND 
 
 The railroads and express companies gladly and 
 willingly pledged their financial support, and the 
 rewards were offered ^10,000 for either Frank or 
 Jesse James dead or alive, and ^5,000 for each 
 member of their gang, dead or alive. 
 
 With this mighty lever .in his hand, the Governor 
 set to work to move the proper machinery by 
 which he hoped to accomplish his object. 
 
 He felt that the honor among thieves was a 
 quality /of honor which would not stand against 
 the pressure of ten thousand tempting dollars. 
 
 He knew that the natural cupidity of such men 
 as composed the James gang would be excited by the 
 princely rewards, and that sooner or later, he 
 would have the pleasure of drawing a check for 
 ^10,000 in exchange for the live or dead body of 
 one or both the notorious outlaws. 
 
 But the two men, most active and more directly 
 responsible for the complete annihilation of the 
 Jesse James band were Sheriff John R. Timberlake 
 of Clay County, and H. H. Craig, Police Commis- 
 sioner of Kansas City. 
 
 On the 1 6th, of February 1882, a veiled woman 
 called on Gov. Crittenden, at his office in Jefferson 
 City, and inquired upon what terms an outlaw 
 could surrender to the authorities. The Governor 
 replied that.it was altogether a matter of the man, 
 who he was. H it was Jesse or Frank James he 
 would promise no immunity from punishment, but 
 if any other minor member of the gang came in, 
 
T>ICK LITTLE SURRENDERS 177 
 
 with the honest intention of abandoning his 
 former life, and having a sincere desire to live a 
 better life, he would be assured of protection, 
 especially so, continued the crafty executive, if he 
 would promise to faithfully assist the officers of 
 the law in capturing the James brothers 
 
 After their interview, the mysterious woman 
 left, and three days later, Dick Little, a trusted 
 member of Jesse James' company, surrendered to 
 Sheriff Timberlake. This was on February igth. 
 
 On the 22d, he was conveyed to Jefferson City, 
 where he made a volumnious confession. 
 
 This was not the beginning of the plot, however, 
 which was to end the career of Jesse James. 
 
 The outlaw had moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 the preceding November, where he lived quietly 
 under the name of Thomas Howard, with his wife 
 and two children. With him came a young man 
 known as Robert Johnson, but whose name was 
 really Robert Ford. 
 
 He was a cousin of Jesse, and possessed his< 
 entire confidence. But the cousin was a false 
 friend. He was a traitor in the camp, a veritable 
 serpent in the grass, waiting but for a favorable 
 opportunity to strike, treacherous, despicable and 
 false hearted, this Robert Ford was nothing more 
 nor less than a detective employed by the authorities 
 to capture or kill Jesse James, the man who took 
 him to his home and fireside, sheltered him, and 
 
 /esse James and his Band 12 
 
178 JESSE JAMES zAND HIS "BAND 
 
 clothed him. This Ford was employed by Gov. 
 Crittenden, Sheriff Timberlake and Mr. Craig. He 
 was joined by his brother Charlie, Sunday, March 
 26th. The latter, who was also in the plot against 
 Jesse James, was invited by the outlaw to visit 
 him for the purpose of perfecting a plan to rob the 
 bank at Platte City. Funds were getting low, and 
 it was proposed to draw upon the exchequer of the 
 Platte City Bank. 
 
 The Burgess murder trial was fixed for April 
 4th, and was to be held in Platte City. Jesse 
 James was to first make a careful examination of 
 the premises, and then when the attention of the 
 town was taken up by the trial, to make a bold 
 dash, and rob the bank. 
 
 The Ford boys approved of the scheme, and 
 entered enthusiastically into the affair. 
 
 The preparations completed, the outlaw remained 
 at home waiting for the appointed day, little 
 dreaming that he would never again mount his horse 
 and dash into a terror stricken town as of yore. 
 His days were numbered upon the fingers of his 
 hand, but unconscious of the fate which was to over- 
 whelm him in so short a time, the confident bank 
 robber spent his last days on earth scheming and 
 planning new raids, concocting new deviltries and 
 devising means for acquiring fresh plunder. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 JESSE JAMES SHOT BY ROBERT FORD — THE FAMOUS BAN- 
 DIT DIES KILLED BY TREACHERY TREMENDOUS 
 
 EXCITEMENT THE FORD BROTHERS IN JAIL 
 
 ROBERT ford's STORY ^JOHN WICHER 
 
 AVENGED AT LAST MRS. SAMUELS 
 
 AND HER DEAD SON ^THE GRIEF- 
 STRICKEN WIFE— -A 
 PITIFUL INTER- 
 VIEW 
 
 Monday April 3rd, 1882, was an eventful day for 
 St. Joseph, Mo. A shot 'was fired that morning, 
 between eight and nine o'clock, by a smooth- 
 faced boy of^ twenty years, which did more than all 
 the Pinkertons, United States Service, Missouri 
 detectives, sheriffs, marshals and constables had 
 been able to do in ten years; a mere lad, not old 
 enough to vote, had dared do a deed which would 
 have caused many a stout heart to turn coward, and 
 make many a brave man tremble to even dream of. 
 
 This Monday morning, April 3rd, 1882, a bullet 
 was sped which forever stilled the heart of the 
 most famous outlaw the world has ever seen — Jesse 
 James! 
 
 Jesse James was shot by Robert Ford, and died 
 almost immediately. 
 
 For months, the Ford boys had watched for a 
 179 
 
i8o JESSE JAMES ^CM^D HIS "BAND 
 
 favorable opportunity to kill the intrepid bandit. 
 On this morning after breakfast, Jesse and Charlie 
 Ford went to the stable to curry the horses, and 
 get everything ready for the Platte City bank raid. 
 The day was unusually warm, and they returned to 
 the house, Jesse remarking: "It's an awfully hot 
 day," pulled off his coat and vest, and tossed them 
 on the bed. 
 
 Robert Ford was in the room at the time, and a 
 significant glance passed between himself and his 
 brother, when Jesse unbuckled his belt, and said: 
 
 "I guess rU take off my pistols for fear some- 
 body will see them if T walk in the yard." 
 
 So saying, he placed the belt, in which he car- 
 ried two revolvers — 45 calibre, one Smith & 
 Wesson and the other, a Colt, upon the bed with 
 his coat and vest. 
 
 He then picked up a dusting brush, and stepping 
 on a chair, commenced dusting a picture. 
 
 His back was turned to the brothers, his pistols 
 were out of reach, they were alone in the room, 
 and the time had come. 
 
 Silently, the Ford boys stepped in betweeiSi 
 Jesse and the bed, and, at a motion from Charlie, 
 both drew their guns; Robert, quick as a flash, 
 raised his weapon, and glanced along the barrel; as 
 he did so, Jesse made a movement as if to turn 
 his head, but there was a nervous pressure on the 
 trigger, a sharp report, and the 45 calibre lead ball 
 crashed its deadly way through Jesse James' head; 
 
THE FAMOUS "BANDIT "DIES i8i 
 
 entering at the base of the brain and crashing out 
 through the forehead. 
 
 Not a word was said, not a sound but the report 
 of Robert Ford's pistol; there was a tottering, 
 swaying of the athletic figure on the chair, a sud- 
 den relaxing of muscles, a quiver, and then the 
 king of the outlaws fell heavily to the floor, and 
 gasped out his life with the crimson blood 
 streaming from the awful wound in his forehead. 
 
 Mrs. James was in the kitchen at the time, but 
 hearing the shot, rushed into the fatal room. On 
 the floor, she saw the body of her husband, and 
 running to the rear fence were his murderers, 
 pistols in hand. 
 
 "Robert," she screamed, "You have done this! 
 Come back!" 
 
 "I swear to God I did not." was the reply. 
 
 Dropping on her knees, she raised her husband's 
 head in her arms. He was still breathing, and 
 when she asked him if he was hurt, he endeavored 
 to speak, but could not. It did not last long. A 
 few more gasps, a last sigh, and Jesse James died 
 in his wife's arms. 
 
 Charlie Ford explained to Mrs. James, that a 
 pistol had gone off accidentally. 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. James. "I guess it went off on 
 purpose." She was wonderfully calm, was this 
 slender, fair woman. But for years she had lived 
 in daily expectancy of just such a scene, and had 
 schooled herself to bear it stoically when it came. 
 
i82 JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND 
 
 Anxious to get away from the home to which 
 they had brought such dire desolation, the two 
 boys left the house, and telegraphed the news to 
 Gov. Crittenden and Sheriff Timberlake, then pro- 
 ceeded to Marshall Craig's office to give themselves 
 in custody. They were told that the marshall 
 with a posse of officers had already started to 
 the Harwood house, as news of the tragedy had 
 reached him. 
 
 Even' Craig, although he knew the Ford boys 
 were after Jesse James, never suspected that How- 
 ard and James were the same person. Hurrying 
 back, the Ford brothers gave themselves up to 
 Craig, telling him that the man they had killed 
 was Jesse James, and they claimed the reward. 
 
 When Marshall Craig heard that the dead man 
 was Jesse James, he exclaimed: 
 
 "My God! do you mean to tell me this is Jesse 
 James?" 
 
 "Yes, that is Jesse Jmaes. " was the proud re- 
 sponse. "We have killed him and we don't deny 
 it. We feel proud that we have killed a man who 
 is known all over the world as the most notorious 
 desperado that ever lived." 
 
 They were then taken back to the police station, 
 and securely guarded. 
 
 Sheriff Timberlake had telegraphed t@ the F©rd 
 brothers to stay where they were, and he would 
 eome at once. 
 
 The news spread like wild-fire, and St. Joseph 
 
THE FORD BROTHERS IN MIL 183 
 
 ftever witnessed such intense excitement. The 
 streets were thronged with a crowd of agitated 
 citizens, who could scarcely comprehend the fact 
 that Jesse James, the terrible, murderous outlaw, 
 who had kept Missouri in a state of terror for years, 
 had lived for months among them, and was now 
 lying dead in his home. The body had been re- 
 moved to the morgue, and the place was beseiged 
 by hundreds of curious people, anxious to see the 
 rerriains of the terrible man of whom they had 
 heard so much. But they were obliged to curb 
 their morbid curiosity for a time, as Coroner 
 Heddens refused admittance to any except repre- 
 sentatives of the press, and the proper officials. 
 
 The coroner's jury was impaneled, and after 
 viewing the remains, adjourned to the old circuit 
 court rooms, where the inquest was to be held. 
 
 The jury consisted of W. H. Chooning, J. W. 
 Moore, Warren Samuels, Thomas Morris, William 
 Turner and William George. The chief witnesses 
 were Mrs. James, Charles and Robert Ford and 
 James Little, who had been brought from Jefferson 
 City for that purpose. 
 
 Many people refused to believe that the dead man 
 was Jesse James. Some sneered and with the cyni- 
 cism of deferred hope, expressed the opinion that 
 Jesse James was as much alive now as he ever was. 
 When Robert Ford was told that many people be- 
 lieved that Jesse James was still living, he became 
 indignant. 
 
i84 JESSE JzAMES <^ND HIS BAND 
 
 "So they say the dead man is some one else, do 
 they? Then they are mistaken. I met Jesse James 
 three years ago, and I am not mistaken now. He 
 moved here to St. Joseph last November, and as- 
 sumed the name of Thomas Howard. He rented a 
 house on the corner of Lafayette street and Twenty- 
 first, and after staying there two months, secured 
 the house No. 1318 Lafayette street, and paid ^14.00 
 a month rent. My brother, Charlie, and I know 
 nearly all his gang, but have never worked with 
 them. 
 
 I was in with the detectives, and was with the 
 party that arrested Clarance Hite, in Kenutcky, 
 last February. He got twenty-five years in the 
 penitentiary. 
 
 Jesse James never suspected either Charlie or 
 myself, and as his gang was all busted up, he 
 wanted to make us members. He went to Kearney, 
 to see his mother two weeks ago, and when he came 
 back, we told him we wanted to join his band, and 
 he said "All right." Charlie came here a week ago 
 Sunday and I followed last Sunday night, and we 
 put up at his house. 
 
 We have been watching for a chance to do him 
 up for months, but he was always on the lookout, 
 and we knew that if we failed, it was all up with 
 us. He kept close to the house during the day- 
 time, but in the evening, he would go down town 
 and get his papers; the Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati 
 Commercial, and Kansas City Times, regularly. 
 
JOHN IVICHER <^yENGED A7 LAST 185 
 
 He kept himself posted on what was going on all 
 over the world. 
 
 Gov. Crittenden had offered a reward for Jesse 
 James, dead or alive, and we were after that 
 reward. But we could get no chance until this 
 morning. He was in the front room where he slept 
 and did the most careless thing of his life. He 
 took off his coat and vest and laid his pistols on 
 the bed, then stepped on a chair to dust a picture. 
 As he did so, we got between him and his guns 
 and drew on him. I was eight feet away, and 
 when he heard my pistol cock, he turned like light- 
 ning, but I pulled, and he fell at Charlie's feet. 
 
 Not one of us spoke a word. We got our hats 
 and went to the telegraph office, and telegraphed 
 what we had done to Gov. Crittenden, Captain 
 Craig of Kansas City, and Sheriff Timberlake of 
 Clay County. The sheriff replied: "I will come 
 at once. Stay there until I come." 
 
 "That is Jesse James, and we killed him." 
 
 The newspapers, the next day, published the 
 most sensational reports of the murder, for murder 
 it was, -although it vindicated the law. 
 
 The startling news was received with considerable 
 joy by the Pinkerton's in Chicago, and William 
 Pinkerton especially was well pleased, remarking: 
 
 "Good! Then John Wicher is avenged at last." 
 
 Hundreds of people flocked into St. Joseph, that 
 wanted to get a vision of the dead man, and the 
 
t86 JESSE JAMES A^D HIS BA^D 
 
 town was in a great commotion until after the 
 funeral. 
 
 The sentiments regarding the act, were as varied 
 as the people who expressed them. Some thought 
 the ktlling a contemptible, despicable assassina- 
 tion, not recognizing the great truth that "the end 
 justified the means," 
 
 Others, while they regarded the killing as a 
 justifiable and legal man-slaughter, by which the 
 majesty of the law was upheld, were inclined to 
 cast approbrium upon the underhand method em- 
 ployed, while there were others who lauded the 
 Ford brothers to the skies, making heroes of them, 
 and praising their bravey in thus killing such a 
 well-known desperado.** 
 
 Mrs. Samuels, who received the news by tele- 
 graph from Mrs. James, bore the shock with the 
 stoicism characteristic of the stern-visaged woman. 
 
 She shed no tears, nor indulged in any outward 
 demonstations of sorrow, but a baneful gleam shot 
 from her hard eyes, when she read that Bob Ford 
 had killed her son, and Dick Little had placed a 
 criminating and detailed confession in the hands 
 of the authorities. Hastening to St. Joseph, she 
 sought her widowed daught@r-in-law, and the meet- 
 ing was pathetic in the extreme. Even then Mrs. 
 James and Mrs. Samuels retained their unnatural 
 composure, but, when they were permitted to see 
 the body of the dead son and husband, their calm- 
 
G%IEF-STRICKEN WOMEN 187 
 
 ness forsook them, and they clung to each other 
 with the strong embrace of sorrow and grief. 
 
 Mrs. Samuels nearly swooned when she first saw 
 her dead son's face, and sobbed aloud. 
 
 "My poor boy ! My dear son ! My darling boy !" 
 Alone before their dead, the stricken women 
 moaned in the agony of their dreadful loss, and 
 gave way to unrestrained sobs of acute anguish. 
 From the undertaker's establishment, they were 
 driven to the court rooms to give their testimony 
 at the inquest. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE INQUEST — THE CROWDED COURT-ROOM ^TESTIMONY 
 
 OF OFFICIALS DICK LITTLE BEFORE THE JURY 
 
 "would TO GOD IT WERE NOT" THE FORD 
 
 boys charged with murder "traitor ! 
 
 traitor! traitor! " — the funeral 
 
 of jesse james comments of 
 
 the press 
 
 The great interest created by the assassination of 
 Jesse James was manifested by the throng that 
 packed the court room to suffocation. Hundreds of 
 other disappointed persons, unable to obtain admis- 
 sion, filled the hall and entrances, and crowded 
 outside the building, discussing the tragic event. 
 
 H. H. Craig, Police Commissioner of Kansas 
 City, was the first witness sworn. 
 
 He testified that the body corresponded with the 
 description of Jesse James, and gave a detailed 
 description. He was acquainted with both the 
 Ford boys, and stated that Bob Ford assisted 
 Sheriff Timberlake and himself. He was not for- 
 mally commissioned, however. Robert Ford acted 
 through his instructions, but Charles Ford did not. 
 
 Sheriff Timberlake, the next witness, said that 
 he was acquainted with Jesse James, and recognized 
 the body. They were personally acquainted with 
 
 i88 
 
TESriMONY OF OFFICIALS 189 
 
 each other. He stated that he saw Jesse James in 
 1870, and knew his face. He told Robert Ford, 
 who was employed to assist him, to get his brother 
 Charles as a helper. 
 
 Dick Little was then sworn. He recognized the 
 body and swore it was that of Jesse James. He was 
 sure of it. In general appearance the body resem- 
 bled Jesse James. The outlaw had a finger off his 
 hand; so did the corpse. He recognized the scars 
 in the thigh and side, and identified the body as 
 that of Jesse Jame 
 
 Jame^ Finley, the next witness, testified as 
 follows 
 
 "I am not acquainted with Jesse James. I went 
 to the house after the shooting, and found two 
 horses. I sent two officers after the Johnsons, as 
 they were then called. Ford came and acknowl- 
 edged the shooting. He described the wounds on 
 the body and claimed the man was Jesse James. 
 Ford told me there were watches and jewelry in the 
 house. I found watches, jewelry, pistols, cart- 
 ridges and a purse. I gave the purse to Mrs. James. 
 It had some small change in it. A scarf pin was 
 found with the marks 'J. W. J.'" 
 
 When Mrs. Samuels, the mother of Jesse James, 
 was called, all eyes were turned upon her. Men 
 stood in their seats, and crowded forward in their 
 anxiety to catch a view of the now famous old 
 woman. She walked slowly and with bowed head, 
 to the witness stand. Although her face was stern^ 
 
igo JESSE JAMES <^^D HIS "B^^D 
 
 it had a kindly look, and her bright eyes and prom- 
 inent nose gave a note-worthy appearance to her 
 visage. She was simply and quietly dressed in 
 black. 
 
 She testified that she was the mother of Jesse 
 James and that she had seen his body but a moment 
 ago. 
 
 "Is that the body of your son?" inquired the 
 coroner. 
 
 "It is." was the answer; and then followed sobs. 
 "Would to God it were not. And these are his or- 
 phan children," she continued, placing her hands 
 on the heads of the son and daughter of the 
 dead desperado. Again the old lady was moved 
 to tears. 
 
 Requesting Mrs. James to raise her veil, the 
 coroner asked Mrs. Samuels if she recognized 
 her. - 
 
 "Yes, she is the widow of Jesse James." 
 
 Mrs. James testified that she recognized the 
 preceding witness as Mrs. Samuels and then the 
 bereaved mother left the court-room. 
 
 The jury retired, and, in a short time, brought in 
 the following verdict: 
 
 "We, the jury, find that the deceased is Jesse 
 James, and that he came to his death by a pistol 
 shot in the hands of Robert Ford." 
 
 Immediately afterward'S, the Ford boys were 
 committed to jail, charged with the murder of Jesse 
 James, on a warrant sworn out by his widow. 
 
TRAITO%! TRAITOR! TRAITOR! 191 
 
 As she was returning from the court-room, Mrs. 
 Samuels met Dick Little, and a highly dramatic 
 scene was enacted. With her eyes flashing passion, 
 and her frame quivering with excitement, she 
 sprang toward the traitor with the ferocity of a 
 tiger. 
 
 "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" she exclaimed, her 
 voice vibrating with anger. "God will send his 
 vengeance on you for this. Oh, you villain! I 
 would rather be in my boy's place than in yours." 
 
 The outlavv^ shrunk from the female fury, in 
 abject fear. 
 
 "I did not hunt him," he pleaded. "I thought 
 you knew who killed him?" 
 
 "Oh ! God ! My poor boy" was the piteous ejecu- 
 lation of the gray-haired woman, as she turned 
 away. 
 
 That night, the wife, mother and sister slept in 
 the cottage where Jesse James had been killed, 
 and the next day, the body was taken to Kearney, 
 for burial. 
 
 The following is an extract from the Kansas 
 City Times of Apjril 6th, 1882. 
 
 St. Joseph, Mo., April 5. — Craig and Timber- 
 lake, the men who engineered Jesse's capture, have 
 been delayed and obstructed all day by the St. 
 Joseph officials, through jealousy. The special 
 train has been waiting since 10 a. m., to take the 
 body, but the city marshal would not give it up. 
 The body was secured at 6 p. m., and taken quietly 
 
192 JESSE JAMES zAND HIS "BAND 
 
 to the depot, where the sheriff's party next pre-" 
 pared it to go out on the regular train to Cameron.' 
 
 From there they go by a special to Kearney;. 
 Jesse's widow, children and mother accompany the 
 remains. They are very nervous. The body is in' 
 a $500 coffin furnished by Craig and Timberlake.i 
 The funeral takes place to-morrow. 
 
 Cameron, Mo., April 5. — Although kept very' 
 quiet, a perfect mob was at the depot in St. 
 Joseph, to see the party off. The Times correspon- 
 dent's instructions from Timberlake, were: "Meet 
 us at the depot; I'll be there with the corpse." 
 
 Just as the train pulled into the depot, two car- 
 riages and a wagon with the coffin came up. Mrs. 
 Samuels stepped out of the first carriage, and lean- 
 ing on an officer's arm, walked into the depot, fol«. 
 lowed by a gaping crowd. Mrs. Samuels said as 
 she left the carriage: "Take me to the corpse; I 
 want to see it on board." The carriage with Mrs." 
 James drove back to the hotel, and the old lady 
 went to the baggage-car and saw the body on the 
 train. Timberlake and his party sat in the bag- 
 gage-car to guard the body. Mrs. Samuels entered 
 her car and guards were placed at the doors. The 
 train was held for Mrs. James to come. She drove 
 up to the depot at a rapid pace, and, alighting, was 
 escorted to her seat. The crowd was thicker than 
 ever when the train left. Mrs. James was accom- 
 panied by Luther James, a cousin of Jesse's, from 
 Kansas City, her two children and Mrs. Samuels. 
 
FUNERAL OF JESSE J^UES 193 
 
 The train was heavily guarded. While in the 
 depot at St. Joseph, a short, thick-set man tried to 
 pull a pistol on Mrs. Samuels, but was promptly- 
 fired out of the door and landed in the street. He 
 was shot at, but not hit. 
 
 At all the stations along the road, crowds gath- 
 ered, anxious to see the body, the family, the officers, 
 or anything, and great excitement prevailed. We 
 arrived at Cameron at 9: 11. p. m., and were met by 
 an immense crowd. The ladies were taken to a 
 private room at the depot while waiting for the 
 special train, and the body was taken from the 
 baggage car, followed by a mob, who stood around 
 the windows, eager to catch a glimpse of the pine 
 box that covered the coffin. Mrs. Samuels and 
 Mrs. James are very much worn out. A dispatch 
 received here by Mrs. Samuels, says her youngest 
 son is dying at home. Thus far there have been no 
 signs of any outbreak or disturbance, although, 
 several hard characters appeared on the train. Dick 
 Little will not go to the funeral, but remains at 
 liberty. A difficulty was met here in getting a train 
 to Kearney, and we will probably stay here all 
 night. 
 
 It has been decided at last, to go to Kearney to- 
 night. The party could not get a special train over 
 the Hannibal. One was kept standing all day by 
 that road for the party, but, thinking they had 
 abandoned coming, it was ordered away. W. R. 
 Woodland, general superintendent, telegraphed that 
 13 
 
194 JESSE J^MES AND HIS 'B<^ND 
 
 it was impossible to send a train till morning, as 
 the engines were all working. The Rock Island fur- 
 nished a special to leave here at midnight. The 
 funeral takes place to-morrow, from the Baptist 
 church, in Kearney. The sermon will be preached 
 by Rev. Martin. Mrs. Samuels is afraid that the 
 body will be stolen. A relative stands guard on 
 the box all the time. The crowd here desired that 
 the body be shown, but Mrs. Samuels objected, 
 and the box was not opened. Mrs. Samuels desired 
 President Rothwell, of Liberty, to speak at the 
 funeral. He will probably be there. Mrs. Samuels 
 desires Preacher Williams to preach the funeral 
 sermon but don't know w^here to find him, Will- 
 iams baptized Jesse just after the war. 
 
 St. Joseph, Mo., April 5. — The body of Jesse 
 James was shipped from this city on the 7 o'clock 
 train of the Hannibal & St. Jo. Railroad this even- 
 ing, in custody of Marshall Craig, of this city, and 
 the family of the dead desperado, consisting of L. 
 W. James, cousin of Jesse; R. T. Mimms, the 
 widow's brother, Mrs. James, Mrs. Samuels, and 
 the two children. It will be taken to Kearney, 
 Clay County, and buried on the James homestead 
 to-morrow. There has been considerable of a 
 wrangle over the remains, between H. H. Craig, 
 the police commissioner of Kansas City, Sheriff 
 Timberlake, of Clay County, and the local authori- 
 ties, who insisted upon seeing the body placed in 
 the keeping of the relatives instead of being sent 
 
COMMENTS OF THE PRESS 195 
 
 to Kansas City. The body was officially turned 
 over to Mrs. James, by Coroner Heddens, this after- 
 noon, on an order from the grand jury of Buchanan 
 County and the dispatch of Gov. Crittenden. The 
 jam on the depot platform this evening as the rela- 
 tives stepped from their conveyances to take the 
 train was tremendous. Mrs. Samuels was the most 
 conspicuous personage in the throng. She insist- 
 ed on having an official report from the train at 
 Kansas City. The commission sent up by Gov. 
 Crittenden, including Mattie Collens, Dick Little's 
 wife, arrived at a late hour last night, viewed the 
 remains, and identified them as those of Jesse 
 James. The Ford boys are close prisoners at the 
 county jail, and when interviewed this morning, 
 they betrayed a nervous anxiety about their fate. 
 Up to within twelve hours ago they did not seem to 
 realize the gravity of their situation, but to-day 
 Robert confessed to a reporter that if he had known 
 that he would have been thrown into a dingy cell 
 he would not have killed Jesse. The arms and 
 jewelry found in the outlaw's home are in the 
 hands of the police, who refused to surrender them 
 until the question of their ownership has been fully 
 determined. The household goods will be sold to 
 the highest bidder. 
 
 From the Chicago Times, April 4, 1882. 
 The killing of Jesse James rids the country of 
 one of the boldest and most dangerous land-pirates 
 who ever made war on society. He and his gang 
 
196 JESSE JAMES ^0^ H/S B^^ID 
 
 may have not done all the iniquity that is credited 
 to them; their reputation doubtless led people to 
 attribute to them some deeds done by others. But 
 no crime has ever been laid at their door that they 
 would not have cheerfully committed had they had 
 the chance. The James brothers and the Younger 
 brothers have given many localities in the state of 
 Missouri a reputation that casts Hounslow Heath 
 in the shade; and Gadshill and Blue Cut, ?»nd 
 some other equally famous localities will not soon 
 be forgotten by so much of the public as ever had 
 occasion to travel in the state of Missouri. The 
 introduction of the railway system did more than 
 inaugurate a new method of transportation; it 
 introduced several new professions, and not the 
 least notable of these is that of the train-robber. 
 The world was familiar with stage-coach robberies 
 at the time the railroad was inaugurated. In a 
 secluded region, it was not a difficult matter to 
 induce the driver of a stage to halt and the passen- 
 gers to divest themselves of their watches and money 
 But the railway train appeared to be a contrivance 
 for travel that the highwayman could not deal with. 
 The driver of a locomotive might disregard with 
 impunity, the summons of the masked gentlemen, 
 and a train of cars could certainly make better^ 
 time than even the horse whose fleetness enabled 
 Dick Turpin to prove an alibi. For a while, the 
 road-agents, as they were euphemistically called, 
 looked with dismay on the substitution of steam 
 
COMMENTS OF THE TRESS 197 
 
 for horse-flesh, as a motive power, but in the course 
 of time, they learned that a railway train could be 
 robbed as easily as a stage-coach. The robbers had 
 only to obstruct the track in a desolate locality, or 
 to embark in the train as passengers, and rob the 
 occupants of the cars en route, then compel the 
 engineer to stop and let them off at some conven- 
 ient place not down on the schedule as even so 
 much as a flag-station, and the whole thing could 
 be done with neatness and dispatch, and also with 
 entire success. In fact, the facility with which 
 the artists in this line of business have done their 
 work, creates some surprise that more brigands 
 were not drawn into the profession of train-robbing. 
 Though the thing has been essayed once or twice 
 elsewhere, it was confined as a regular business to 
 the state of Missouri, and there was growing up in 
 the country at large a conviction that no small 
 part of the population of Missouri must be in league 
 with the train-robbers. It certainly does look as 
 though the local authorities were not as efficient as 
 they might have been, in the detection of the 
 rascals, but it must be remembered that the train- 
 robbers were numerous, or were believed to be so, 
 and they had no scruples about making themselves 
 disagreeable to persons who seemed unfriendly. 
 No man cared to make himself the target for the 
 rifles of the James brothers, or to invite the destruc- 
 tion of his house and barn, by refusing them 
 shelter, or giving information of their whereabouts 
 
198 JESSE f<^MES AND HIS 'B<^ND 
 
 to the officers of the law. And so Jesse James 
 was able to live In St. Joseph all winter, and 
 might have been robbing another train last night, 
 had he not, in a moment of weakness, indulged in 
 the ceremonies of ablution. Any person who has 
 tried it, knows how inconvenient it is to take a bath 
 with a half a dozen large revolvers buckled around 
 his waist. The late Mr. James was incautious 
 enough to lay aside his choice collection of firearms. 
 That was the moment that two spies had long 
 been looking for. It was not attempted to arrest 
 him. Mr, James was believed to have stated that 
 he would not be taken alive, and the belief was 
 universal in Missouri that he would have to be re- 
 duced to the condition of a corpse before it would 
 be practicable to serve a warrant on him. No ex- 
 periments were tried. One of the detectives, whom 
 he supposed to be his apprentice, crept up behind 
 him, and put a -bullet in his brain. Jesse James 
 was effectually arrested. The end was in perfect 
 accord with his career, and he would undoubtedly 
 have preferred dying as he did to being hanged, 
 and the traveling public feels a good deal safer now 
 than it would if Jesse James was merely in jail, 
 awaiting trial. Ford's method of arrest was a little 
 irregular, but his reputation was such, that no man 
 Gould have been expected to attempt his arrest by 
 any other means than the revolver. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 TRIAL OF THE FORD BROTHERS — CONVICTED OF THE 
 MURDER SENTENCED TO BE HANGED INDIFFER- 
 ENCE OF THE CONVICTED PARDONED BY GOV. 
 
 CRITTENDEN-^ROBERT FORD ARRESTED FOR 
 
 KILLING WOOD KITE — FRANK JAMES 
 
 SURRENDERS TO GOV. CRITTEN^- 
 
 DEN-— THE LAST OF JESSE 
 
 JAMES SIC TRANSIT 
 
 GLORIA MUNDI 
 
 Charles and Robert Ford were arraigned before 
 Judge Sherman at St. Joseph on Monday, the 17th 
 of April, and both prisoners pleaded guilty to the 
 indictment, unhesitatingly and promptly. 
 
 No attempt was made by them to enter a defense. 
 They acknowledged the killing and pleaded 
 "guilty" in a most unconcerned manner. 
 
 Recovering from the surprise excited by the 
 nonchalance of the prisoners. Judge Sherman asked 
 them if they had anything to say why sentence 
 should not be passed upon them. 
 
 "Nothing," was the unconcerned reply. 
 
 The Judge then passed sentence of death upon 
 them, fixing the date when they were to be hanged, 
 at May 9th, 1882. 
 
 On the morning of the 18th of April, an uncon- 
 ditional pardon was granted both the Ford boys 
 
 199 
 
FRANK JAMES SURRENDERS 
 
 by Gov. Thomas T. Crittendeiij and Sheriff Thomas 
 at once liberated them, but Robert's liberty was 
 cut short, and he became very much agitated when 
 Sheriff Trigg of Bay County, placed his hands on 
 his shoulders, and said: 
 
 "You are my prisoner," and arrested him for 
 complicity in the murder of Wood Hite, whose 
 body was found a week previous in an old well on 
 the Ford farm. 
 
 Charlie Ford went free. 
 
 After the trial of the Ford brothers, Jesse James' 
 armory was handed over to Mrs. James. The value 
 of the guns, weapons and knives exceeded $700. 
 
 On the 5th of October, 1882, Frank James en- 
 tered the office of Gov. Crittenden, in Jefferson 
 City. 
 
 Walking up to the governor, he surrendered him- 
 self, and unbuckling his pistol belt, laid it and the 
 revolvers on the table, remarking: 
 
 "No living man but me has had his hands on these 
 revolvers since 1861. 
 
 This bit of drama was the culmination of a cor- 
 respondence between Frank James and the Governor. 
 
 The outlaw, tired and weary of his passionate 
 life, rapidly nearing the grave, hurried on by the 
 dread consumption; anxious to end his days free 
 from apprehension of arrest or a violent death, 
 voluntarily gave himself up. He was taken to Inde- 
 pendence the next day and delivered into the 
 projjer hands, to await his trial. 
 
JESSE JAMES AND HIS "B^ND ^oi 
 
 Sentenced for life, he was afterwards pardoned 
 out, as the deadly consumption was claiming him 
 for a victim, and mercy tempted justice, so that 
 he could end his days with his family. 
 
 The Jesse James band of outlaws is no more. 
 The desperadoes are scattered, death has claimed 
 many, the prison guards many more, and the few 
 that remain are cautioned to depart from their 
 wickedness, and live law-abiding lives. 
 
 Ou a monument of red granite, which rears its 
 shaft fourteen feet above the grave is chiseled the 
 following inscription: 
 
 My Husband — Our Father. 
 Jesse James, 
 
 DIED 
 
 April 2. — 1882. 
 
 Age, 
 
 34 years, 6 months, 8 days. 
 
 COLE younger' S TRIBUTE 
 
 When Cole Younger was told by one of the assist- 
 ant wardens of the Stillwater Penitentiary, that Jesse 
 James had been shot and killed, he was very much 
 affected. After a few moment's reflection he voiced 
 the following remarkable panegyric over the death 
 of his old leader: 
 
 "So he is dead! Dead by the pistol I He died 
 with his boots on. It is what he wished for. It 
 
202 COLE YOUNGER' S T%IBUTE 
 
 is the death he would have chosen, though not by a 
 traitor's hand. 
 
 "Jesse James was a brave man, he had no acquaint- 
 ance with fear, and did not know the meaning of the 
 word afraid. To his friends he was loyalty itself.. 
 In their cause he held his life as nothing. The 
 bravest, boldest deeds of his life were performed 
 for friendship's sake. He was the first to lead into 
 danger, and the last to leave. Jesse James was a 
 white man and clear grit, and never went back on 
 his friends. But to his foes he was Satan himself. 
 Fair means or foul, he arrived at his revenge. No 
 danger was too great, no hardship too severe, and 
 no place too saCred for him when after one whom 
 he regarded as an enemy. Toward such he was 
 merciless, cruel, treacherous, and crafty; for days 
 or months or years, he would wait or follow, but 
 never forgiving or forgetting, he would bide his 
 time, and when that time came he struck, and 
 when he struck, he killed. 
 
 "He was a wonderful man, was Jesse James, and 
 the boys who made up his gang would lay down 
 their lives for him. There was something about 
 him that inspired the blindest fealty. He was a born 
 commander, a genius in controlling men. When 
 we were with Quantrell, there was always a strug- 
 gle to get into Jesse's squad, and he was but a lad. 
 But, young as he was, he could shoot, ride and 
 
COLE YOUNGER'S TRIBUTE 
 
 203 
 
 fight better than any man in the command, and he 
 was always successful. 
 
 "He loved his family^ and they idolized him. 
 Many a time has he ridden over a hundred miles 
 through the enemy's lines, surrounded on all sides 
 by Union troops, who were on the lookout for any 
 of QuantrelTs gray-coats, just to have an hour's 
 chat with his mother. After he was married, he 
 would spend v/hole weeks at his home, playing 
 with his children, happy as a lord. But in spite of 
 all that, he w^as a terrible man, and nov/ he is dead. 
 He was bound to be killed that way, for he Vv^as 
 too bold — so bold that he v/as careless. It is a ,,.s«^^r 
 shame that he was killed by one of hi"s ow^n men. flB^ 
 He wanted to be shot to death, but not by the , 
 traitor's hand. It's too bad." 
 
A LITERAKY GEM.4 
 
 Mademoiselle de Maiipin, 
 
 A ROMANCE OF LOVE AND PASSION. 
 By THEOPHILE GAUTIER 
 
 f2fno/413 pages. Paper coveps. itlustpated with 16 
 
 Half-tones from the original etchings 
 
 by Toudouza 
 
 "Gautier Is an tiiimttaUe model His aunner it so fi^ and tme* so really cm* 
 adve, his fancy so alert, his taste so happy, his humor 86 genial, itet he makes ilrnskm 
 almost as contagious as laoghter.**— Jiff . Henry Jamet^ 
 
 'HADEMOSSeLE BE mm%r the latest product of tlie pen of 
 
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 "^ his mo t artistic, v^tty and audacions woik. In writing 
 
 lovel, Gantien has d!ipiayed all the artistic coloring that 
 
 nantic gchool of literature this versatile anthor has 
 
 iLE I^E GIAUPIN^ is alive with the characteristic vigor 
 
 4tus,» « Les Jeunes—France," and « Poesies db 
 
 lER,** his earlier work% bat is more delicate, and 
 
 ^!e cynicism which contrasts so deligfatfnlly with the 
 
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