LIBRARY SEMINAR
233227
THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT WAS BROKEN B\* THE
SOUND OF HORSES’ HOOFS BREAKING THE CRISP SNOW.
THE JAMES BOYS
A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THESE
FAMOUS BANDIT BROTHERS.
FRANK AND JESSE JAMES
AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THEIR NOTED BAND OF
BANK FLUNDERERS, TRAIN ROBBERS
AND MURDERERS.
ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOS.
J. REGAN & CO*,
415 Dearborn St.
Chicago, Ill
dhU Ll
Hts-hn&aL
233227
CONTENTS.
Chapter. Page,
I.—Boyhood of the Bandit Brothers. 7
II.—The Vow of Eternal Vengeance 11
III.—Jesse Joins the Guerrillas 16
IV.—The Bloody Work Begins: 20
V.—The Lawrence Massacre 22
VI.—Frank and Jesse on the Rampage.. 28-
VII.—Jesse's Ride for Life. 33
VIII.—Quantreirs Last Stand... 37
IX.—The James Boys Turn Bandits 39
X.—Robbery of the Russellville Bank 44
XI.—James Boys Tackle the Californians 46
XII.—The James Boys Travel Incog 52
XIII.—The Gallatin Bank Robbery 55
XIV.—The Corydon and Columbia Robberies 60
XV.—Raiding of Kansas City Fair 63
XVI.—The First Train Robbery 67
XVII.—The Hot Springs Stage Robbery... /. 7r
XVIII.—The Gad’s Hill Train Robbery.. 74
CONTENTS.
Chapter. Page.
XIX.—Murder of Detectives Allen and Daniels 76
XX.—Torture and Murder of Detective Wicher 81
XXI.—Tackling Cowboys and Indians 85
XXII.—Dastardly Deed of the Detectives 90
XXIII.—The James Boys Retaliate 95
XXIV.—The San Antonio Stage Robbery... 97
XXV.—The Kansas Pacific Train Robbery 99
XXVI.—The Huntington Bank Robbery.............. 102
XXVII.—The Missouri Pacific Robbery. 104
XXVIII.—The Northfield Tragedy...., ’ no
XXIX.—The James Boys in Mexico 126
XXX.—The Glendale Train Robbery 133
XXXI.—Bassham’s Confession of Glendale Robbery.. 136
XXXII.—Shooting of Jesse James by George Shepherd.139
XXXIII.—The Mammoth Cave Stage Robbery 150
XXXIV.—Robbery and Murder on the Rock Island. ..153
XXXV.—The Blue Cut Robbery on the Alton Road. ..158
XXXVI.—Governor Crittenden Calls a Halt 160
XXXVII.—Jesse James’ Assassination.*,. 165
XXXVIII.—The Inquest 176
XXXIX.—Rapid Career of the Ford Boys... *...183
XL.—Personal Characteristics of James Boys.,.. 187
THE JAMES BOYS
CHAPTER I.
BOYHOOD OF THE BANDIT BROTHERS.
0
“The boy is father of the man/’ and those who read
this opening chapter of the life of the noted American
bandit will not fail to recognize in Jesse James the
boy the promise and prophecy of all that afterwards
appeared in Jesse James the man—bandit and mur¬
derer.
Like many another noted criminal Jesse James had
for a father a minister of the Gospel, but the only
benefit he derived from that fact was what he received
through the law of heredity, and if that was anything
to the credit of his father or for the good of the son
or anybody else, the fact lias never been discovered, pr,
at least pointed out.
Jesse’s brother Frank was four years older than
Jesse, and was born in Scott County, Kentucky.
Shortly after Frank’s birth the family moved to Clay
County, Missouri, where Jesse was born, in 1849.
The Reverend James did not remain long in this
new charge as pastor of the little Baptist church in
Missouri. Before Jesse was a year old, the father,
becoming enthused with the gold fever of ’49, bade
good-bye to his little family and started for the gold
fields of California. He never returned, but died in
the then far-off Golden State of the Pacific coast.
Jesse, therefore, could not have had any remembrance
of his father whatever. About all that is known of
Reverend Robert James, father of Frank and Jesse, is
7
8
THE JAMES BOYS.
the fact that he was a Baptist preacher, that he
preached for a number of years in the State of Ken¬
tucky and afterward for a short time in Missouri. The
only thing that will cause his name to be mentioned in
the pages of history is the fact that he was the father
of the two most noted bandits America has ever pro-
duced.
But though he was responsible for these inhuman
plunderers of their fellow-men being brought into ex¬
istence, he was in no way responsible for their educa¬
tion in the school of crime, or the shaping of their
desperate characters.
It were idle to discuss what might have been the
career of Frank and Jesse James had not death de¬
prived them of a father’s care and admonition in early
infancy. From what little is known of the life and
character of that father it is safe to conclude that it
would have made but little if any difference to the
boys; for the mother was the ruling spirit in that
household, and in any event would have exerted the
dominant influence in shaping the characters of her
sons.
An old proverb says, “Like father, like son,” but
history establishes the fact that most of the remark¬
able men that the world has produced received their
characters from their mother. Frank and Jesse James
were no exception to the rule.
In many respects Mrs. Zerelda Cole James was a
remarkable woman, and it is probably-as natural that
she should have given birth to Frank and Jesse James
as that Cornelia, the famous Roman matron, should
have been the mother of the Gracchi.
Mrs. James has been represented by certain self-
styled “compilers” of the lives and exploits of the
James boys as being little short of a brutal, uncivilized
Amazon. Such misrepresentation is uncalled for as
it is untrue. No one who knows anything about the
personal life and character of the noted bandits*
THE JAMES BOYS. 9
mother would make any such outrageous, because un¬
founded, assertion.
Mrs. James belonged to a respectable and well-to-do
family, and though by no means a model of meekness,
she could not truthfully be calleda termagant.
While she could not be considered of a refined and
gentle disposition, she had the reputation among her
neighbors of being a kind and helpful friend and an
affectionate and only too indulgent mother.
If, like the famous Roman matron, her character
was cast in an iron mold, and her temper and bearing
were stern and imperious, so too, like the Roman
mother, she idolized her sons and in her heart said of
them, “These are my jewels.” Indeed, so wrapped up in
her boys was she that she believed that, like a king,
they could do no wrong.
And this confidence and devotion of the mother
was fully reciprocated on the part of the sons. No
matter how hardened they grew to all other human
sympathies, their affection for their mother never fal-
tered, but throughout their unparalleled criminal ca¬
reer, as in the case of Byron’s Corsair, they held fast
to this “one virtue linked with a thousand crimes.”
Being left by the death of her husband with a family
of four children, two boys and two girls, to provide
for single handed, Mrs. James had to struggle pretty
hard for a number of years. She sent the children to
school, and did the best she knew how to train them
up in the way they should go. But as she lacked ten¬
derness of feeling herself, she.failed to inspire it in
her children, the boys especially.
At an extremely early age they displayed traits of
character which have ever since distinguished them.
Their hatreds were always bitter and their cruelty re¬
morseless.
They manifested especial delight in tormenting
dumb animals, frequently amusing themselves with
cutting off the ears and tails of eats and dogs, and
10
THE JAMES BOYS.
sometimes even going so far in their cruelty as to
•bury small animals alive.
Among other boys they were domineering and cruel,
and would'rarely participate in innocent amusements.
In 1857, when Frank was eleven year s old and Jesse
seven, their mother married Dr. Reuben Samuels, a
native of Kentucky. Dr. Samuels was very kind and
indulgent to his stepsons, and knowing their bent pre-
sented each of them with a double-barrel shotgun.
Frank was fourteen and Jesse ten year s old when this
eventful period in their lives was reached. For a year
or so after the boys practiced almost incessantly;
shooting at a mark or going gunning for small game
and domestic fowls in the neighborhood of their home.
In this way they soon became very expert marksmen.
But after awhile they tired of their shotguns and pro¬
vided themselves with revolvers for a change.
Just at this eventful period in their lives the country
was excited over the struggle of the free soldier s and
slave-holders for the possession of “bleeding” Kansas.
The Fire-Eaters of the South were determined to make
Kansas a slave state and the Abolitionists of the North
were equally determined that it should forever remain
free soil. Bold, reckless men of both factions flocked
into the state and many deadly encounters occurred
between them. Not only Kansas, but Kentucky and
Missouri as well, were overrun with bands of lawless
and bloodthirsty men, known as Jim Lane’s Jayhawk-
ers, who, under the pretense of making Kansas “free
soil,” went about murdering and plundering indiscrim¬
inately.
The newspapers were filled with blood-curdling ac-
counts of farm houses pillaged, harvest fields laid
waste, and men, women, and children mercilessly
butchered by Lane’s anti-slavery Jayhawkers or Ham-
ilton’s pro-slavery “Border Ruffians,” afterward Con¬
federate guerrillas.
THE JAMES BOYS.
II
Everybody in the border counties sided with one or
the other party of marauders.
The excitement was intense.
The mother of Frank and Jesse James was pro-
slavery in her sentiments and sided with the “Ruf-
fians.” Frank and Jesse naturally did likewise, and
.young as they were, burned with the fever of hellish
hate for the interloping bands of “black Abolitionists,”
as the Jay hawker s were sometimes termed.
In this unwholesome atmosphere of feverish excite-
.ment to unlawful deeds of pillage and murder, were
;the young minds of the James boys nurtured, and their
natures hardened for future deeds worthy only of
devils.
CHAPTER II.
f THE VOW OF ETERNAL VENGEANCE.
Close upon the heels of the border warfare in Mis¬
souri and Kansas folio wed old John Brown’s murder¬
ous raids to free the staves in Virginia. Brown had
been one of the most daring and zealous leader s of the
Jayhawkers in the border warfare of Kansas and Mis¬
souri, and had transferred the scene of his- bloody
operations to the sacred soil of Old Virginia. Here he
soon met his fate. He was indicted for treason against
.the Commonwealth of Virginia, tried, convicted and
hung. Then came the exciting political campaign of
1860, when the whole nation was worked up to fever
heat over the question whether the country should be
ruled by the slave power or by the advocates of uni¬
versal emancipation.
Lincoln, the Republican candidate for President, was
elected. As he had made the declaration that the
nation could not live half-free and half-slave, the
friends of slavery concluded that he would endeavor
to carry out the doctrines of the Abolitionists and
abolish slavery fn the South. They rebelled and the
12
THE JAMES BOY S,
slave states resolved themselves out of the Union.
Civil war followed.
At the beginning of hostilities, in 1861, the border
warfare increased in virulency, and the sympathizer s
were forced into extreme measures. The “Border
Ruffians” were now termed guerrillas, among the most
noted of whose leaders was Charles William Quan-
trelb
Quantrell is said to have been the most heartless,
blood-thirsty marauder that ever lived in any country.
As Frank and Jesse James were introduced to guer¬
rilla life and started on their career of crime by this
celebrated guerrilla chieftain, it may be of interest to
the reader to know something of his history and the
causes which made him the inhuman dare-devil ruffian
he was.
Charles William Quantrell was born in Hagerstown,
Maryland, July 20, 1836. While Charles was yet a
boy in his teens his father died, and shortly afterward
the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Charles
and a brother several years older attended school.
Shortly after they arrived in Cleveland the mother
died; the older brother moved to Kansas, but Charles
continued to attend school in the Ohio city. For sev¬
eral years he paid his way in Cleveland by doing odd
jobs out of school hours, and was progressing finely
in his studies. His habits were good and he was re¬
spected by all who knew him. In 1856 his brother
wrote him from Kansas that he was about to start on
a trip to California to seek his fortune in the new
Eldorado of the Pacific coast, and he would like to
have Charles accompany him. Although much at¬
tached to his friends in Cleveland, and anxious to com¬
plete his education in the splendid schools of that city,
Charles had such affection and confidence in his
brother that he could not resist the latter’s appeal. So,
bidding his friends and schoolmates good-bye, young
Quantrell joined his older brother in Kansas.
THE JAMES BOYS.
13
Charles William was now twenty years old, and his
brothers representations of the great opportunities
offered by California for the speedy accumulation of
wealth filled his mind with visions of a glorious future.
Ilcwtte dreamed what terrible things the immediate
future had in store for him. The bright visions of a
life of honorable distinction and usefulness among his
fellow-men were destined to be speedily turned into a
hideous nightmare of crushed hopes, hellish hate and
eternal vengeance.
The brothers set to work getting ready for their
overland trip to California soon after Charles Wil-
liam’s arrival in Kansas. Having procured a “prairie
schooner” and the necessary articles to enable them to
make the trip with a negro servant, they started on
their long journey across the prairies and “Great
American desert” for the land of California.
Though the brothers knew that Kansas and Mis¬
souri were at that time infested by the murderous
bands of “Jayhawkers” and “Border Ruffians,” neither
of them felt any apprehension of harm from them, as
they had never actively sided with either of the con-
tending factions. But they little knew the animus of
those fiends in human form who, in the name of free¬
dom, plundered friend and foe alike.
All went well with the Quantrell brothers on their
overland journey to the land of gold until they arrived
at the banks of the Cottonwood River. Fate had de-
creed that thus far and no farther should the brothers
continue on their journey toward the setting sun.
Death was to snatch one from among the living, and
the other, though left to live, was to have the buoyant
spirit of his hopeful young manhood forever blasted,
and he turned into an avenging instrument of hate and
vengeance.
It was early evening when the brothers arrived at
the river. They at once pitched their tent on the river
bank, prepared and ate their supper, and were just on
14 THE JAMES BOYS.
the joint of retiring for the night, when the negro they
had with them called their attention to a company of
horses dashing over the brow of a neighboring hill in
their direction, * .
The older brother recognized them at once txr Be a
company of Jim Lane's Jay hawker s, and immediately
advanced to meet them, waving his white handkerchief
in the air as a sign that they were not enemies. A
volley of pistol shots was the response to the signal,
and the elder Quantrell fell a bleeding and lifeless
corpse on the river bank. Charles Wiliam was just
behind his brother when the death-dealing volley was
fired, and was fearfully, though as it proved, not mor¬
tally wounded.
Believing they had killed both their victims, the
Jayhawkers paid no further attention to the bodies,
but proceeded to plunder the camp. The negro was
not harmed, but was commanded to place the tent
upon the wagon that had belonged to the Quantrells
and follow in the wake of the Jayhawkers.
All that night young Quantrell lay unconscious on
the ground by the side of the dead body of his brother.
When morning dawned a faint glimmer of conscious¬
ness returned, but a raging fever was consuming his
brain, and he raved like a wild man.
All day long the fever and the raving continued.
But the bleeding from the many wounds he had re¬
ceived at last abated the fever, and as the second
night drew near, consciousness once more came back
to the poor bullet-riddled body. Oh, the agony he ex¬
perienced when the horror of his situation dawned
upon his mind! He reached out one hand to see if he
could touch the corpse of his murdered brother. It
was not within reach. Had it been devoured by hun-
gry wolves whose howling even then seemed to be
ringing in his ears? He would see. With agonizing
efforts he managed to crawl to where the dead brother
lay, and all that awful night, and all the next day,
THE JAMES BO VS.
15
under the rays of a scorching sun, did that faithful
brother keep sacred vigil over the body of his beloved
dead.
Toward evening of the third day after the murder,
young Quantrell, though suffering almost unendurable
agony from his many wounds, and faint from the loss
of blood, managed to crawl to the bank of the river
and quench his feverish thirst. When about to malle
his way back again to the side of his dead brother’s
body for another night’s vigil in fighting off the rav¬
enous vultures of the air and prowling wolves of the
desert, his eyes were gladdened by the sight of an ap-
proaching human being.
It proved to be an old Shawnee Indian, named Go-
lightly Spiebeck, who happened to pass along that
way on his route home from a day’s hunt. Spiebeck
acted the part of the good Samaritan toward the
wounded white man, bound up his wounds, and with
his long-bladed knif e dug a rude grave and buried the
murdered brother.
But before the shallow grave with the poor bleed¬
ing, uncoffined body of his brother lying within it had
been filled in with the clods of the desert, young-
Charles William Quartrell dropped upon his knees be¬
side it and registered a solemn vow before high heaven
that he would from that time on live only for ven¬
geance—eternal and untiring vengeance against the
destardly murderers of his brother and their entire
Jayhawker breed.
Some wise whiteman has said “There are no good
Indians but dead ones.” The Christian conduct of the
old Shawnee Indian, Golightly Spiebeck, toward those
wretched victims of the whiteman’s diabolical inhu-
manity to whiteman, proves the author of the assertion
to be a falsifier and .wholesale slanderer of the noble
race of Red Men.
Had it not been for the kindly deed of Christian
charity performed by the old Shawnee Indian toward
l5 THE JAMES BOYS.
the Quantrell brothers, stranger s to him and of a dif¬
ferent race, Charles William Quantrell, in all proba-
bility, would never have lived to become the avenger
of his brother’s massacre and the greatest guerrila
chieftain that wielded a sword in behalf of the South¬
ern Confederacy.
The old Indian conveyed the wounded Quantrell to
his humble home and tenderly nursed him back to
health and strength. Charles William Quantrell proved
faithful to his vow of vengeance.
As soon as his strength returned he was on the war¬
path, dealing death and destruction to the Jay hawker s
and all who sympathi'zed with their cause. He gath-
ered beneath the folds of his black flag scores of the
most daring youths of the West, among them Frank
James, and the story of their desperate deeds is almost
the entire history of guerrilla warfare in the South¬
west.
CHAPTER III.
JESSE JOINS THE GUERRILLAS.
The exciting accounts of the dare-devil doings of
Quantrell and his chosen band of guerrillas, which
the papers published with glaring headlines at the
commencement of the war, sent a thrill of feverish,
excitement through the nation, and many a youth in
Missouri burned to be enrolled under the folds of
the black flag of Quantreirs guerrillas.
Jesse James was among them. His brother Frank
was already with Quantrell. Jesse made repeated
and persistent efforts to join the band, but was re¬
jected by Quantrell on account of his youth, he
being then but little over fourteen years of age.
The sympathies of his mother and step-father, Dr.
Samuels, were all with the South. Mrs. Samuels,
especially, was loyal to the Confederacy. By various
tneans she managed to learn of the movements of
17
THE JAMES BOYS.
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¬
noxious was Mrs. Samuels in her demonstrations of
Southern love that the Federal militiamen began 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.
The part played by Jesse and 'the open and de¬
cided expressions frequently made by Dr. Samuels
and his decidedly demonstrative wife greatly excited
the Federal soldiers, and it was determined to make
an example of the family. Accordingly, in June,
1862, a company of Missouri militia approached the
Samuels homestead, which is near Kearney, in Clay
county, and, first meeting Dr. Samuels, they ad¬
dressee! him in language that could leave no doubt in
his mind that they mean to carry affairs to the bitter
end. It was in vain he pleaded that he was leading
a peaceful farmer's life, and didn’t desire to be mixed
up in the strife of the time. They told him—what
he knew much better than they did—that he and his
whole family were in secret alliance with Quantrell
and his followers. Frank was at the camp, Susie was
away from home, Jesse was plowing in the fields.
Mrs. Samuels was nowhere to be seen. But she saw
all that was going on, just the same.
They had not come unprepared for their work. A
strong rope was produced, with which he was se¬
curely pinioned, and then led away from the house a
distance of about one hundred yards. Here the rope
was fastened in a noose around his neck, while the
other end was thrown over the limb of a tree, and
several men hastily drew him up and left him sus¬
pended to choke to death. Mrs. Samuels, however,
had followed stealthily, and the moment the militia,
had departed she rushed to the rescue of her hus¬
band, whom she hastily cut down, and by patient
l8 THE JAMES BOYS.
nursing saved his life. The cnraged troops decided
also to hang Jesse James, whom they found plowing
in the field, but his youth and manifest courage had
some influence with his tormentors, so after further
abuse, and after pricking him freely with their
swords, they gave utterance to the most awful
threats, garnished with sundry oaths, as to what
they would do if he ever dared to ride to QuantrelFs
camp again with any message, good, bad or indiffer¬
ent.
Supposing that they had made a full end of Dr.
Samuels, and being pretty well satisfied with their
day’s diversions, they departed, leaving Jesse to fol¬
low his plow.
But, instead of producing the effect desired, this
act of outrage on the part of the militia only excited
Jesse the more, and led him to deeds of graver im¬
portance. He continued to communicate almost
daily with Quantrell, which so exasperated the
militia that they paid a second visit to the Samuels*
residence, and decided upon killing both Dr. Sam¬
uels and the daring Jesse.
When they reached the place, however, they
found their intended victimis absent, but, determined
not to return without some trophy of their vengeful
sortie, they arrested Mrs. and Miss Samuels and
took them to the jail at St. Joseph. Here they were
kept for weeks, subjected to all the insults which
the ingenuity of the vulgar crowd could invent, buV
an implacable hater herself, Mrs. Samuels gave
them as good as they sent, and they were glad to let
her go. This last act drove Jesse to desperation.
With his brother Frank a member of QuantrelFs
band, his mother and sister prisoners, his step¬
father and himself hunted fugitives, Jesse deter¬
mined to join Frank, and forthwith mounted his
horse and rode to QuantrelFs camp, where, after de¬
tailing the particulars of this last outrage, he begged
THE JAMES BOYS.
19
the guerrilla commander to accept his services as a
private. So hard did he plead for permission to join
the ranks that marched under the shadow of the
black flag that at length the barrier which his youth
imposed was overlooked, and the terrible Quantrell
oath was administered to him.
The oath, which was always administered to the
newly-made member at the solemn hour of mid¬
night, read as follows:
“In the name of God and Devil, the one to punish
and the other to reward, and by the powers of light
and darkness, good and evil, here, under the black
arch of heaven’s avenging symbol, I pledge and con¬
secrate my heart, by brain, my body and my limbs,
and swear by all the powers of hell and heaven to
devote my life to obedience to my superiors; and
that no danger or peril shall deter me from execut¬
ing their orders; that I will exert every possible
means in my power for the extermination of Feder-
als, Jayhawkers and their abettors; that in fighting
those whose serpent trail has winnowed the fair
fields and pessessions of our allies and sympathiz¬
er I will show no mercy, but strike with an aveng¬
ing arm so long as breath remains.
“I further pledge my heart, my brain, my body
and my limbs never to betray a comrade; that I will
submit to all the tortures cunning mankind can in¬
flict, and suffer the most horrible death, rather than
reveal a single secret of this organization or a single
word of this, my oath.
“I further pledge my heart, my brain, my body
and my limbs never to forsake a comrade when
there is hope, even at the risk of great peril, of sav¬
ing him from falling into the hands of our enemies;
that I will sustain Quantrelbs guerrillas with my
might and defend them with my blood, and, if need
be, die with them; in every extremity I will never
withhold my aid nor abandon the cause with which
20
THE JAMES BOY S.
I now cast my fortunes, my honor and my life.
“Before violating a single clause or implied pledge
of this obligation I will pray to an avenging God and
an unmerciful devil to tear out my heart and roast it
over the flames of sulphur; that my head may be
split open and my brains scattered over the earth;
that my body may be ripped up and my bowels torn
out and fed to carrion birds; that each of my limbs
may be broken with stones, and then cut off by
inches, that they may feed the foulest birds of the
air; and lastly, may my soul be given unto torment,
that it may be submerged in melted metal and stifled
by the flames of hell; and may this punishment be
meted. out to me through all eternity, in the name
of God and the devil. Amen”
Jesse was now a full-fledged member of “Butcher”
Q.uantrell’s dare-devil band of border guerrillas, and
fairly entered upon his headlong career of crime.
CHAPTER IV.
THE BLOODY WORK BEGINS. RICHFIELD AND PLATTS-
BURG RAIDED.
When Quantrell organized his band of Border
Ruffians to avenge the murder of his brother he
never dreamed that he would ever have to fight the
-soldiers of the United States in addition to the mur¬
derous Jayhawkers. But when the Civil War began
~fche Jayhawkers, being Abolitionists, were all ranged
on the side of the Union, while the “Ruffians,” being
pro-slavery, sided with the South, and Quantrell and
liis band found themselves more often pitted against
the boys in blue than against the Jayhawkers.
The guerrilla chieftain accepted the situation,
however, without faltering in the least, and entered
the service of the Confederacy with greatest enthu¬
siasm. Up to the time when young Jesse James was
accepted as a member of the band the guerrillas had
THE JAMES B0YS.
2X
i
been engaged in but few skirmishes, their services
consisting chiefly in small foraging expeditions,
making themselves thoroughly acquainted with the
topography of the country, preparatory to engaging^
in more effective measures.
The town of Richfield, on the northern bank of the'
Missouri River, was occupied by a squad of thirty
Federal soldiers, under the command of Captain
Sessions, Quantrell determined to attack this garri¬
son, and detailed a small company of his most in¬
trepid guerrillas to make a dashing raid on the town*.
Frank and Jesse James were among the number*
Frank James leading the attack.,
The garrison was taken by surprise and a desper¬
ate conflict ensued.
Ten of the Federals were killed, including Captain
Sessions, and the remainder taken prisoners.
When the attacking party returned to their com¬
pany Jesse-James was sent out with orders from
Quantrell to scour the counties adjoining Clay and
locate the militia.
After passing through Clinton county he paid a
short visit to his mother, wlio received him with
many manifestations of pleasure, and then began to
unload herself of the valuable information she had
gathered for the benefit of the guerrillas. She told
him that the attack on Richfield had resulted in mass-
ing the militia for a determined stroke, and that the
troops were concentrating near that point; that
Plattsburg had been almost entirely relieved of its
garrison and would fall an easy prey to the guerril¬
las if they chose to profit by the opportunity.
Jesse lost no time in communicating the situation
to Quantrell, and, accordingly, three days after the
capture of the squad of militiamen at Richfield, Cap¬
tain Scott took fifteen men and silently stole upon
Plattsburg, which he found defended by less than a
score of Federals, under the command of a lieuten-
22
, THE JAMES BOY S.
ant. The guerrillas dashed into the town about 3
P. M. (August 25) yelling like a tribe of Comanche
Indians. The citizens fled into their houses with
such fear that few ventured to look into the streets
even through keyholes. The Federal lieutenant,
chanced to be in the public square when the charge
was made, and Jesse James had the honor and credit
of capturing him. The rest of the militia gained the
court-house, where it would have been impossible
to dislodge them, and to have attacked the building
wrould have exposed the guerrillas to the fire of the
enemy. It was here that Jesse James' strategy and
military tact was first manifested. Turning his pris¬
oner (the lieutenant) over to Captain Scott, he said
in a loud voice: “Captain, there is no use parleying
with these cut-throats; shoot this fellow if he don't
order his men in the court-house to surrender im¬
mediately."
Captain Scott replied that he would if the court¬
house was not surrendered in two minutes. The re¬
sult was that Plattsburg fell into the hands of the
guerrillas, who pillaged the town and gathered
booty, consisting of two hundred and fifty muskets,
several hundred rounds of ammunition, ten thou¬
sand dollars in Missouri warrants, besides a large
quantity of clothing, etc. The money was divided
among the participating guerrillas, each of whom
received nearly one thousand dollars in warrants,
besides clothing and other articles of value. The
guerrillas compelled the landlord of the principal
hotel to prepare them a good supper, to which they
invited their prisoners, whom they paroled, and
after feasting until 9 o'clock P. M. they withdrew
to the cover of the forest.
CHAPTER V.
THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE.
After raiding Plattsburg Quantrell broke camp
THE JAMES BOYS.
^3
and moved southward, passing through Independ¬
ence, and bivouaced near Lee’s Summit. The resi-
dents of that section suffered pitilessly from the
sack and pillage of both Federals and Confederates.
They occupied a middle ground which was subject
to the incursions of both armies, and what was left
after the forays of the Union forces was remorse¬
lessly appropriated by the guerrillas. There were
skirmishes almost daily, and every highway was red
with human blood. The James ioys, young as they
were, became the terror of the border; the crack of
their pistols or the whirr of their pirouetting bowies
daily proclaimed the sacrifice of new victims. The
sanguinary harvest grew broader as the sickle of
death was thrust in to reap, and the little brooks and
rivulets that had babbled merry music ior ages and
laved the thirst of man and beast with their crystal
water suddenly became tinged with a dye fresh
from the fountain of bitterest sorrow. And thus the
days sped on heavy with desolation. Q.uantrell and
his followers were scarcely interrupted by the
militia, who never attached them except at the price
of terrible defeat, until at length a direful scheme
was proposed in which the desperate character of
these free riders was manifested in its blackest hues.
And that scheme materialized in the sacking of a
city and the massacre of the inhabitants, Lawrence,
Kansas, a thrifty town located on the Kaw River,
wras selected by Quantrell as the place to wreak a
long-pent-up vengeance. Sitting around the camp
fire on the night of August 18, 1863', the chief of the
black banner held a consultation with Frank and
Jesse James, the Younger boys, the Shepherd broth¬
ers and others of his most daring followers, as to the
next advisable move upon a place which would fur¬
nish the best inducements for their peculiar mode
of war. There was a concert of opinion that Law¬
rence was the most available place. The point hav-
24
THE JAMES BOY S.
in g been selected, Quantrell did not neglect to in¬
form his followers of the danger such an undertak¬
ing involved; that their road would be infested with
militia, the forces of which would be daily aug-
mented when the first intimation of the purposes of
the guerrillas should be made known; that it would
be ceaseless fighting and countless hardships, and
many would be left upon the prairies to fester in the
sun. He then called his command to arms and ac¬
quainted every man with the decision in the follow¬
ing speech: “Fellow-soldiers, a consultation just
held with several of my comrades has resulted in a
decision that we break camp tomorrow and take up
a line of march for Lawrence, Kansas; that we at¬
tack that town, and, if pressed too hard, lay it in
ashes. This undertaking, let me assure you, is haz¬
ardous in the extreme. The territory through which
we must pass is full of enemies, and the entire way
will be beset by well-armed men, through wdiom it
will be necessary for us to carve our way. I know
full well that there is not a man in my command
who fears a foe; that no braver force ever existed
than it is my honor to lead; but you have never en-
countered danger so great as we will have to meet
on our way to Lawrence; therefore, let me say to
you, without doubting in the least your heroism, if
there are any in my command who would prefer not
to stake their lives in such a dangerous attempt, let
them step outside the ranks.”
At the conclusion of Quantreirs remarks a shout
went up from every man, “On to Lawrence!” Not
a face blanched, but, on the other hand, there was
but one desire, to lay waste the city on the Kaw.
On the following day the order was given to
“mount,” and with that dreadful black flag stream¬
ing over their heads the command, two hundred
strong, turned their faces to the west. As they
crossed the Kansas line at the small town of Aubrey,
THE JAMES B0YS.
25
in Johnson county, Quantrell compelled three men,
whom he found sitting in front of a small store kept
by John Beeson, to accompany him as guides.
The command passed through Johnson county
midway between Olathe and Spring Hill, and
through the northern part of Franklin county. When
they reached Cole creek, eight miles from Lawrence,
the three guides were taken into a clump of thick
woods and shot by Jesse and Frank James.
One of the party, an elderly man, begged piteously
to be spared, reminding his executioners that he had
never done them any wrong, but his prayers for
mercy ended in the death rattle as a bullet went
crashing through his neck.
Quantrell had been agreeably mistaken concern¬
ing the resistance he expected to encounter. Not a
foe had yet appeared, but he never permitted a per¬
son to pass him alive. No less than twenty-five per-
sons whom he met in the highway after getting into
Kansas had been shot, and yet he avoided the public
roads as much as possible.
Early in the morning of August 21 Quantrell and
his band came in sight of the fated town. The sun
was just straggling above the undulations of the
prairie and the people of the place were beginning to
resume the duties of a newly-born day.
With a cry which froze the blood of everyone in
the town who heard it, Quantrell and his two hun¬
dred followers descended upon the place with pistol,
sword and firebrand.
The prime object of this sortie, as- has been al¬
ready said, was to lay a strong hand on General Jim
Lane, who, with his relentless Jayhawkers, had
burned and sacked the town of Osceola, Mo. Lane
lived in Lawrence, but the moment he heard that the
followers of Quantrell were at hand he fled like a
dastard and a coward and hid himself in a' cornfield.
The guerrillas, foiled and maddened by being
26
THE JAMES BOYS.
cheated of their chief prey, shot down every man
who came within the range of their revolvers.
QuantreU’s orders were to shoot down every man,
but to spare the women and the children. Many
women and children, however, were shot, and others
met a more horrible death, for the murderers became
incendiaries, and with flame and torch set the beau¬
tiful city of Lawrence on fire. The groans of the
dying mingled with the shrieks of the burning, and
house and home fell a prey to the devouring flames.
The guerrillas became demoralized; they broke open
saloons and stores and soon became a mob of howl¬
ing drunken devils. The holocaust of murder and
rapine lasted all day, and when the night closed on
the ghastly harvest of hell the city of Lawrence was
swept wholly from the face of the earth.
In all their after career of crime Frank and Jesse
James never surpassed the bloody record made by
them that day. It was their baptism of blood, their
consecration to a career of crime and cruelty that
was to startle and terrify the entire population of
whole states of the Union.
Though youngest of the band, the James boys
were the most inhuman, most bloodthirsty of them
all. They seemed very fiends incarnate, frenzied for
human blood. They reveled in their butchery of in¬
nocent, unoffending fellow-beings, and under the
terrifying folds of the black flag glutted their ven¬
geance to satiety.
The ready aim of their deadly revolvers dealt
death in every direction, and as a total result of their
bloody day’s work sixty-five human beings lay dead
and a score or more most fearfully wounded. Of
the sixty-five killed by the James boys, Frank is
credited with thirty-five and Jesse with thirty.
Quantrell was terribly chagrined over the failure
of the main purpose of his murderous raid on Law-
THE JAMES BOYS.
rence. Jim Lane, the Jayhawker chief, had escaped
him.
What eared he for the glory won to his name by
the sacking of the unprotected and defenseless city.
It would bring him not fame, but infamy. And, in¬
deed, because of that inhuman act he has ever since
been known as “Butcher Quantrelh”
Disgusted with the extent of their own hellish
propensities, Quantreil and his band of murderers
hastily retraced their steps, but they were terribly
liarassed during the entire return march by the
Kansas militia and federal troops that hurriedly con¬
centrated and went in pursuit of them.
Just how many men engaged in this pursuit of the
retreating guerrillas is not definitely known, but the
force has been reliably estimated at fully seven
thousand, and nothing but hard marching, deter¬
mined fighting and an endurance that has never been
equaled saved the guerrillas from total destruction.
At Black Jack, about fifteen miles from Lawrence,
a stand was made, and some brisk fighting occurred.
The guerrillas took to cover in a large barn which
stood at the edge of an orchard.
Several assaults were made to dislodge them, but)
in vain. The horses of the guerrillas were suffering
severely, however, and realizing that without horses
they would be unable to get out of Kansas, the guer¬
rillas made a desperate charge, in which thirty-two
of the militia were killed and a panic was the result.
But the guerrillas did not care to follow up the vic-
tory, as every moment was precious. The militia
were swarming and closing in upon them rapidly,
and it was only by the rarest stroke of fortune that
Quantrell and his men ever escaped from Kansas.
When once more safely across the border on their
old stamping ground in Missouri, the guerrillas dis-
banded and once more mingled among their friends
and sympathizer in Jackson and Clay counties.
*fc8 THE JAMES BOYS.
Here they were perfectly safe from pursuit, and for
nearly a month remained comparatively quiet.
During this lull in hostilities Frank and Jesse
James made frequent visits to their home, and were
received by Mrs. Samuels with as much pride and
hearty welcome as ever greeted a Roman warrior on
his return home flushed with victory. She gloried
in their reckless daring, and encouraged them by
every means in her power to do and dare in behalf
of the Southern Confederacy*
CHAPTER VI.
FRANK AND JESSE ON THE RAMPAGE.
* The James boys could not long remain quiet, even
under the most favoring conditions, and their moth-
er’s nagging at and urging them on to fresh deeds
of pillage and slaughter inflamed their impatience
beyond all bounds of restraint. They became' wild
and almost frenzied at Quantreirs delay in calling
the guerrillas back into active service.
At last the summons came. Quantrell once more
called his command together for active hostilities.
The James boys were among the first to respond to
the call.
The guerrilla chief had resolved upon a new plan
of campaign, and immediately proceeded to carry it
out. He divided his band into squads of twenty and
thirty, by which means they could make bold dashes
at various points almost simultaneously, and so con-
fuse their enemies as to make pursuit futile.
Indeed, this peculiar and remorseless warfare gave
rise to the strange superstition that Quantrell was
some spirit of darkness who could transport himself
and troops from place to place in the twinkle of an
eye.
He became no less dreaded by the Federal troops
than by Union citizens, and day and night non-com-
THE JAMES BOYS. 29
batants as well as armed militiamen fell victims to
the terrible guerrillas.
To his unspeakable delight Jesse James was ap¬
pointed to the command of one of these squads. He
regarded his appointment as a recognition of his
valor and efficiency as a fighting guerrilla, and the
thought that he was deemed worthy of a command
under the great guerrilla chieftain filled his heart
with a warrior’s pride.
Jesse was placed in charge of a squad of twenty-
five picked men, and shortly afterward, learning
through his mother of the movements of a company
of Federal cavalry under the command of Captain
Ransom, who was marching toward Pleasant Hill,
made a rapid detour and flanked the Federals five
miles north of Blue Springs.
Jesse selected a place near the road which was
well screened by a dense thicket; here he stationed
his men, and when the Federals came riding leisure¬
ly by, unconscious of any lurking danger, suddenly
a storm of bullets poured upon them from the
thicket and men fell like wheat stalks in a tempest of
hail.
Thus suddenly surprised, the whole company of
horsemen were confused and panic-stricken. Jesse
was quick to take advantage of their bewilderment,
and immediately ordered a dash into the confused
and stricken ranks. The havoc was terrible, for out
of nearly one hundred Federals less than one-third
the number escaped, while the loss of the guerrillas
was only one killed and three slightly wounded.
One week later Frank and Jesse James, with fifty
men, suddenly appeared in Bourbon county, Kansas,
five miles south of Fort Scott, and swooped down
upon Captain Blunt and his company of seventy-five
mounted infantry, and with a yell of rage and tri¬
umph swept with deathly missiles the astonished
30 THE JAMES BOYS.
Federals, leaving forty of them to bleach in autumn
rains.
Jesse and his squad of picked fighters next made
an attack upon Lieutenant Nash’s command, three
miles west of Warrensburg, Missouri, which was
taken completely by surprise and cut to pieces. Then
came the sacking of Camden. The little town was
garrisoned by a small company of Federate, who,
upon the day in question, were in the midst of bac¬
chanalian revels and unable to offer resistance. This
fight was simply a massacre, for the drunken sol-
diers were helpless, and the riot of murder was a
pastime of sport for the guerrillas. After complet-
ing their slaughter of the soldiers, the little town
was pillaged and burned.
The next engagement in which Frank and Jesse
took part was an encounter between a squad of guer¬
rillas under command of George Todd and a com¬
pany of Colorado cavalry under command of Captain
Wagner. This was a conflict in downright earnest.
The Colorado troops understood guerrilla warfare,
and Wagner was as brave a man as ever mustered
a company. The guerrillas made a furious charge,
but the onslaught was met with such resistance that
the opposing forces mingled together in a hand-to-,
hand contest. The fight was terrible, the rattle of
revolvers being at times almost drowned by the
clash of sabers.
Jesse James fought like a hungry tiger, and his
death-dealing pistol made terrible inroads among his
foes. Singling out the jCaptain, who was fighting
with wonderful desperation, Jesse rode by him at a
furious pace, and, discharging his pistol with re¬
markable accuracy, he sent a bullet through the
brave Captainte heart. This act sent consternation
through the ranks of the Colorado troops, and a re¬
treat in confusion was soon begun. ^
Those that were wounded received no mercy at
THE JAMES liOVS.
31
the hands of the guerrillas, but were shot or put to
the sword and then left unburied. In the early part
of 1864 Quantrell learned that the Federal forces
were being massed at Harrisonville, and Frank
James was sent out to number the Federal
forces at that point. The duty was fraught with
much peril, but it was danger the James boys
courted as the spice of existence. He rode straight
for the town until - 'ithin sight of the picket lines.
He then hitched his horse in the closest thicket he
could find, after which he approached with great
care, and at night succeeded in passing the pickets.
Very soon after Teaching the outskirts of Harri¬
sonville he met a negro, from whom he obtained
what information he desired, and then crept back
again through the lines and mounted his horse. At
this juncture he was spied by two of the picket
guards, who commanded him to halt. The reply
came from his pistol, and, though the night was
without moonshine, he sent a bullet through the
brain of one, and another shot tore through the body
of the other picket.
The camp was speedily in arms, but Frank rode
rapidly out of harm, and delivered the information
he had gained with such risk to Anderson.
Two day s afterward an attack was made on the
garrison at Harrisonville, but the Federals were
prepared and ready for their assailants. The guer¬
rillas were compelled to retire, and this was to them
most humiliating.
They heard, however, of a band of Federal voi-
unteers who were encamped on Grand River, at Fiat
Rock Ford. Thither they bent their steps, only
again to be defeated.
In this fight Jesse James—who seemed to have
borne hitherto a charmed life—was seriously wound-
ed. A musket ball passed through his breast, tear¬
ing away a large portion of his left lung, and knock-
3*
THE JAMES BOYS.
ing him from his horse. He fell as if dead, and but
for the bravery and fidelity of his companions would
have been made a prisoner of war, and probably the
world would have heard no more of Jesse James.
But these guerrillas were bound by an awful free¬
masonry to stand by each other in the hour of peril,
and Arch Clements and John Janette rode back
through a terrible rain of bullets and rescued their
fallen comrade. He was taken to the house of Capt.
John A. M. Rudd, where for many days his death
was hourly expected.
Careful nursing and the best surgical skill, how¬
ever, saved his life, and in one month’s time he was
able to resume the saddle, and in six weeks he re¬
ported again for active duty.
December 16, 1864, while Jesse was on his way to
pay a visit to his ihother, he was suddenly con-
fronted by three uniformed militia, who ordered him
to halt; but instead of obeying the summons he
whipped out two pistols, and in a moment the three
men were struggling in the throes of death. Jesse
was not further molested on his way, and after
spending two days with his mother returned to the
camp of the guerrillas. Immediately upon his re¬
turn he was informed of the plans conceived during
his absence of attacking Fayette, Missouri: On the
20th the attack was made, and charge after charge,
with all the force the guerrillas could command, was
hurled against the stockades which protected the
Federals, but every onslaught was firmly met and
left a trail of dead and wounded guerrillas. Lee Mc-
Murty, one of the bravest of Anderson's forces, fell
dreadfully wounded directly under the Federal para-
pets. Jesse James was an intimate comrade of Mc-
Murty, and he determined to. rescue his friend. He
braved that lurid stream of fatal fire and drew away
the gasping form of his friend, and yet escaped un¬
scathed. This battle also resulted adversely to the
THE JAMES BOYS. 33
guerrillas, and they were driven with great loss
from Fayette.
From this time on fortune seems to have turned
against the guerrillas. Indeed, the career of the
Quantrell band was rapidly approaching its end.
Their inhuman deeds of massacre and pillage were
disowned and condemned by the regular forces of
the Confederacy, and for a time it was seriously con¬
sidered by many of the prominent Confederate offi-
cers advisable to unite with the Federals in the
effort to rid Missouri of this terrible scourge. But
the Federals alone proved sufficient for this task.
The guerrillas were routed at every point, and de¬
feat followed defeat in rapid succession.
A band of guerrillas headed by the desperado Bill
Anderson was attacked by a company of Federals
.while crossing the Missouri River, in Howard coun-
ty, and Anderson and five of his men were killed, the
others fleeing to the hills to escape the same fate.
Another squad of the guerrillas was surprised by a
company of Federals on the Blackwater, and Jesse
James was badly wounded in the leg and had a horse
killed under him. Soon after this George Todd, one
of Quantreirs most trusted lieutenants, was killed in
an engagement on Sugar Creek, and the whole band
of guerrillas was so closely crowded by the Federal
troops that Quantrell concluded it was best to dis¬
band. Quantrell, Frank James and other members
of the band crossed over into Kentucky, while Jesse
James and George Shepherd, with a company of fifty
guerrillas, went to Texas.
CHAPTER VII.
jesse's ride for life.
It was late in the fall of 1864 that Jesse James,
with a company of fifty picked men under command
of Lieut. George Shepherd, set out for Texas. Their
34
THE JAMES BOYS.
route lay through the most perilous portion of the
Indian Territory. It was necessary to be on con¬
stant guard against a covert attack of Indians.
All went well, with never a sign of an Indian or
enemy of any sort in sight, until the morning of No¬
vember 22, when the guerrillas were suddenly con-
fronted, not by a band of the dreaded savages, but a
company of loyal Texas Rangers, under command of
Capt. Emmet Goss, who was well known to the
guerrillas-to be a famous and fearless fighter, who
never asked for nor granted any favors.
There was no chance for parleying, and both par-
ties instinctively knew that either victory or exter¬
mination awaited them. But there, was no faltering
on that account by either band. Both guerrillas and
Rangers dashed forward and met in a murderous
hand-to-hand fight.
For awhile victory seemed certain for the Ran¬
gers, but by a desperate, dare-devil deed Jesse James
turned the tide of victory in favor of the guerrillas.
Singling out Captain Goss, he made a headlong dash
for the person of the brave Union officer, and sent
two bullets crashing through his body, one into his
brain, another through his heart.
The death of Captain Goss demoralized the Ran¬
gers and ended the fight, for those that were killed
after his fall were simply massacred.
Elated by their victory, the guerrillas continued
their journey, forgetting for the moment that they
were trespassing on the hunting grounds of hostile
Indians.
A day or so after the killing of Captain Goss, Jesse
James met with one of the most exciting adventures
of his life.
He was riding alone along the bank of a stream,
when suddenly to his horror he heard the fearful
warwhoop of a body of Pin Indians. He turned
quickly about and beheld only a few rods away ten
Y?{, ims ■mtimBhMmkn
t'/uiff V' \
)Mȣf igiffmmJ x 1
‘i- vJ •• f ly/ /
With a yell of defiance both horse and horseman went over
the cliff.—Page 35.
THE JAMES BOYS.
36
mounted, well-armed Indians coming pell-mell in
his direction. There was only one thing for him to
do, and that was to fly. Jesse fled. The terrific yells
of the Indians rang in his ears loader and louder,
and Jesse was conscious that they were gaining
ground every moment. It was a race for his life,
with all the odds in favor of the Indians. On they
came like a pack of hounds on the track of a fox.
Frightened by the fearful yells of the Indians, Jesse’s
horse dashed on as if goaded by a gadfly. Jesse's
spurs were pressed deep into the frightened horse’s
flesh, but all to little or no purpose, for the yells of
the Indians sounded nearer every instant. Death
was sure to be his if once within range of the red-
skins’ rifles.
Suddenly just ahead of him he beheld a high preci¬
pice. To go over it seemed certain death to both
horse and rider. But not to go over it was just as
certain and more fearful death. Lightning quick he
resolved to make the leap and cheat the redskins of
their prey. On, straight toward the terrible preci¬
pice, dashed the daring guerrilla, and with a wild
yell of defiance both horse and horseman went over
the cliff into the unknown depths below. As good
luck would have it, there was a deep pool of water
at the foot of the precipice, and Jesse and his horse
escaped without injury.
, The Indians did not attempt the leap, and Jesse
soon made his way back to his company without
further adventure. The band of guerrillas reached
Texas without further adventure worth mentioning.
After spending the winter in the Lone Star State,
and making a murderous raid across the border into
Mexico, the guerrillas early in the spring decided to
return to Missouri. No sooner had they arrived on
their old stamping grounds than their return was
made only too well known in the community where
THE JAMES BOYS. 3J
their lawless deeds had made their names synony¬
mous with murder.
Upon Teaching Benton county Jesse James, Arch
Clements and another comrade proceeded to the
farmhouse of James Harkness, who was known as
an uncompromising Union man. They decoyed him
a. short distance from his house by requesting him to
direct them to a spring which they knew was in the
neighborhood. When out of sight of the house Jesse
James and his comrade caught Harkness by the
arms and held him firmly, while Arch Clements
drew a large bowie knife, with which he cut the
throat of the defenseless farmer, almost severing his
head. Fresh blood being upon their hands, they
rode into Johnson county to the house of Allen Dun¬
can, another Union man, and, finding him chopping
wood in his yard, Jesse James first accosted him and
then sent a bullet into his brain.
The guerrilla band, now numbering scarce a score,
before getting out of Johnson county were surprised
by a company of Federal volunteers and almost an-
nihilated. Jesse James had his horse shot under him
and a musket ball went crashing through his lungs.
Supposing him deadj the Federals gave pursuit to
the fleeing guerrillas, and chased the remaining few
for nearly fifty miles. The wounded guerrilla lay
for two days where he fell, in terrible agony, and
would have died except for the kindly ministrations
of a farmer who chanced to find him. The care he re-
eived, after weeks of suffering, enabled him to again
resume the saddle, and he went to Nebraska, where
he remained until the return of his brother Frank
from Kentucky, late in the following summer. «
CHAPTER VIII.
QUANTRELl/s LAST STAND.
Leaving Jesse to recuperate his health and strength
in Nebraska, let us now follow Quantrell and Frank
THE JAMES BOYS.
38
James into Kentucky. In January, 1865, Quantrell
collected together some fifty or more of his old fol¬
lower s, among them Frank James, and started for the
hills of Kentucky, where he expected to continue his
warfare. Their route lay southeast, and before they
got out of Missouri they came near falling into the
hands of Curtis, who pursued them hard almost to the
Arkansas line, where the trail was lost. The guerrillas
crossed the Mississippi River at Gained Landing,
nearly twenty miles above Memphis, and made their
way through Tennessee, entering Kentucky from the
south. At Hartford, in Ohio county, the command
met a squad of thirty militia under command of Capt.
Barnett, whom they readily deceived into the belief
that they were Federal troops searching for guerrillas,
and that Quantrell was a Federal captain.
Indeed the deception was played so successfully
that Barnett was induced to accpmpany them upon an
expedition. Quantrell managed to communicate with
each of his men, whom he instructed to ride beside
the Federals, and when he should draw his handker¬
chief and throw it over his shoulder it was the signal
for the slaughter. At about five o’clock in the after¬
noon Frank James rode up beside Capt. Barnett, while
Quantrell moved forward, and as his horse stepped
into a shallow branch, where all his men could see him,
he drew the fatal handkerchief and, without looking
back, he waved it and then threw it over his shoulder.
There was a rattle of pistol shots and Capt. Barnett
and his men fell dead under their horses.
Near Hopkinsville the guerrillas met twelve Federal
cavalrymen who sought the shelter of a barn and gave
battle. The fight lasted for more than an hour, and
until the barn was fired, when the twelve brave fellows
were forced from their defense and were shot as they
rushed from the flames.
Their horses then became the property of the guer¬
rillas. Frank James stopped one day with an uncle,
THE JAMES BOYS. 39
who lived about fifty miles from Hopkinsville, and
thus permitted the command to get so far ahead of
him that he did not engage in any more skirmishes in
Kentucky; for, two days afterward, Quantrell was
driven into a small village called Smiley, where, find-
ing escape impossible, he made his last stand.
It was forty against nearly three hundred, and
Quantrell knew it was a fight to the death. Bleeding
almost at every pore, the black-bannered bandit fought
like the gladiators, until, blinded by his own blood,
and with a score of gaping wounds, he fell mortally
wounded, with an empty pistol in one hand and a
bloody sword in the other. It was thus that the entire
force of Quantrell’s guerrillas died, excepting Frank
James, whose life was saved by his accidental absence.
CHAPTER IX.
THE JAMES BOYS TURN BANDITS.
When the civil war closed and the occupation of the
guerrilla as an authorized fighter was gone, the James
Boys were loth to change the exciting and dangerous
vocation to which they had become inured by nearly
four years of ceaseless activity. i
Other guerrillas, who had been their comrades in so
many desperate struggles, which had made their very
names a terror, had surrendered themselves when the
bond of national union had been repaired, and returhed
to peaceful pursuits; but Jesse and Frank James affect¬
ed to despise the ordinary walks of life and refused to
tread other than paths which bristled with danger and
anxiety. Both were sorely wounded and a period of
recuperation was necessary; and this respite from the
turmoils of bandit life was employed in the conception
of bold schemes by which to enlarge the notoriety of
their names and to accumulate wealth.
When they had somewhat recovered from their
wounds, Mrs. Samuels returned to her old home, in
Clay county, while the boys paid her occasional visits
40
THE JAMES BOYS*
as opportunity offered, but generally keeping them¬
selves well hidden in the fastnesses of Jackson county.
In the latter part of 1866 Jesse James was attacked
with a severe type of malarial fever, which the ex¬
posure he had to endure so intensified that he deter¬
mined to secretly visit his mother and place himself
under her immediate care. The record which he had
made during the war rendered him amenable to the
vengeance of a large number of the residents of Clay
and adjoining counties, who had suffered by his des¬
perate acts. Consequently, Jesse knew that eternal
vigilance was necessary; but hoped to so conceal his
presence at the Samuels' homestead that no one would
suspect his location or condition. But in this he was
deceived, for only a few days had elapsed after his
arrival at home when, by some means unknown to the
writer, it was discovered that Jesse had taken up at
least temporary residence* with his mother.
1 It was a bitter cold night in the month of February,
1867, that a band of six persons, each of whom had a
special grievance of revenge, knocked at the door of
Dr. Samuel’s residence and demanded immediate ad¬
mittance. Jesse was in bed upstairs, but he was the
first to hear and understand the peremptory challenge,
as it were, of the men outside.
* Hastily drawing on his pantaloons and boots, he
grabbed his two heavy pis.tols and looked out of the
window, where, by the light reflected by the snow, he
saw six horses and only a single man. He knew then
that the house was surrounded and all chance of escape
lay in a bloody fight. He silently descended to the
first floor, where Dr. Samuels was rattling the door
and explaining to those awaiting admittance that the
lock was out of repair so that the key would not work
readly. This was a ruse, however, to secure time for
Jesse, who, Dr. Samuels hoped, would be able to es¬
cape through a back window. *Locating the voice of
one of the men who was threatening to break in the
Jesse fired through the panel and a stifled groan told him his
aim had been perfect.—Page 41.
42
THE JAMES BOYS.
door, Jesse fired through the panel and a stifled groan
told him that his aim had been perfect.
On hearing the shot, the other five rushed to the
front of the house. Jesse threw the door partly open
and the light from the snow made the men outside
easy targets for his unerring aim, while he was so hid¬
den by the door and darkness within that the attacking
party could not fire with the least accuracy. In half
the time it has taken the reader to even scan this re¬
port three of the six men were lying dead in the snow
and two others were desperately wounded, while the
other fled in mortal terror.
Suffering, as he was, from a very high fever,Jesse
lost no time in mounting his horse, and with a hurried
good-bye, he again rode into the wilderness, leaving
his mother and her family with the dead and wounded.
It was a ghastly scene, there upon the white-shrouded
ground, one man dead on the doorstep, two others stiff
and frozen in their own blood which crimsoned the
yard, while the groans from the wounded made the
place more hideous. Dr. Samuels notified his nearest
neighbor as soon as possible, and, with the assistance
he secured, the two wounded men were taken into the
house and eared for, while a lonely vigil over the dead
was kept until morning.
A large crowd collected at the homestead on the
following day and removed the bodies, while more
than fifty mounted citizens went in pursuit of the
youthful desperado, but after a week’s fruitless search
they returned to their homes, and quiet" again
brooded over the distressed neighborhood.
In the meantime Frank James, also, was passing
through a bit of “unpleasantness.”
The border states at the close of hostilities were
infested with numerous bands of horse thieves. In¬
deed highway robbery and horse stealing was the order
of the day. Vigilance committees for the summary
suppression and punishment of horse thieving were
THE JAMES BOYS.
43
organized among the citizens on every hand. It was
a fearful thing for a suspected thief to fall into the
avenging hands of one of these regulating commit-
tees. There was little ceremony in the method of their
trial, conviction and execution. Any stranger found
with a horse in his possession for whose ownership he
could not satisfactorily account to the committee was
made to stretch hemp without further ado. Jesse and
Frank James were already well known to these people
as desperate characters. Their deeds of outrage while
.guerrillas under Quantrell made their names rise to
the lips of the citizens whenever any daring robbery
was perpetrated in their neighborhood. It is not im¬
probable, therefore, that many crimes were laid at
their door of which they were entirely innocent. One
day while Frank James was sitting quietly in the hotel
of a small town in Meade county, Kentucky, he was
called upon by one of these law and order committees.
Frank had only arrived at the hotel that morning, and
from his easy-going, careless manner, it was evident
that he knew nothing of the excitement that existed
in the community regarding the depredations of horse
thieves and highway robbers.
There were four of the committee who waited upon
him at the hotel. The leader of the vigilants, a large,
stalwart fellow, approached Frank, and tapping him
gently on the shoulder, remarked: “I apprehend you
as a horse thief. Please consider yourself under ar¬
rest.” The response was most unexpected, for, with an
oath, he drew his pistol and shot three of the party,
and in return was badly wounded in the thigh. The
others fled, but a large crowd soon collected, to intimi-
date which Frank backed up against the house and
threatened to shoot any one who made the least motion
to harm him. A horse was standing hitched conveni¬
ently near, and, compelling the crowd to fall back, he
drew his suffering body up into the saddle and made
his escape.
44 THE JAMES BOYS.
The wound proved a very serious one and kept him
confined to his bed at the house of a friend, where he
found refuge, nearly seventy-five miles from Bran-
densburg, for several months.
CHAPTER X.
KOBBERY OF THE RUSSELVILLE BANK.
Frank and Jesse James were now looked upon by
the farmers of Missouri as nothing less than horse
thieves and murderers. It is said that the James
boys both claimed to be innocent of the crimes that
had been charged against them since the close of the
war, but, as they had to stand the infamy of the ac¬
cusation, they proposed to have the benefits of the
business. This is the excuse given by them for or¬
ganizing their band of outlaws. For sometime after
Frank James’ exploit at Brandensburg nothing was
heard of either him or Jesse. They had not been
seen in Clay county for many months, and no spe¬
cially reckless deeds had been committed to bring
back a remembrance of them. Their bloody record
had been almost forgotten, when it was suddenly
and most startlingly brought to mind, and the town
of Russellville, Kentucky, thrown into the greatest
excitement it ever experienced. The James boys had
paid the place a visit and left a souvenir of their des¬
perate valor.
On the 20th of March, 1868, Jesse James, accom-
panied by four comrades—George Shepherd, Oil
Shepherd, Cole Younger and Jim White, dashed into
the town like a hurricane, yelling and firing their pis-
tols until everyone was frightened from the streets.
They then rode to the bank, where four of them dis-
mounted and entered, with drawn revolvers, so in-
timidating the cashier that he opened the safe to
Jesse James, while Cole Younger gathered the cash
from the money drawer and counter.
THE JAMES BOYS.
45
Besides $14,000 belonging to the bank, the bandits
took from the vault, the door of which was standing
open, several bags of gold and silver. This specie
consisted principally of dollars, half-dollars and
quarters, and had been placed in the bank on special
deposit by several of the neighboring farmers. The
amount has never been ascertained, but it will not,
we understand, exceed five thousand dollars. Several
private boxes which were on the shelf in the vault,
and contained bonds, were broken open, but none of
the bonds were carried off—doubtless because of a
fear that they had been registered and would lead to
the detection of the robbers. Two robbers kept
guard outside while the work of pillage was going
on, and, though the alarm had spread, kept the citi-
zens at bay until a Mr. Owens had the courage to
begin firing upon them with a pistol. He was se¬
riously, but not dangerously, wounded. Finally the
sentinels became alarmed and called for their accom-
plices inside to come out. They quickly complied,
bringing with them saddle bags crammed with gold
and greenbacks.
They were greeted with a heavy volley by a squad
of citizens who were advancing up the street. All
of the bandits, however, safely mounted their horses
and dashed at full speed out of town.
When the excitement and surprise had somewhat
subsided the Sheriff summoned twenty deputies and
started in pursuit. The chase continued through
Kentucky and Western Tennessee. Telegrams were
sent in every direction with the hope of intercepting
the robbers, who, finding themselves close pressed,
scattered, as was their custom, and all save George
Shepherd eluded pursuit and gained the marshes and
dense coverts of Arkansas, where it was impossible
to trail them. Shepherd was captured two weeks
after the robbery in a small drug store in Tennessee
and taken back to Logan county, where he was con-
46 THE JAMES BO VS.
victed and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term
of three years.
Oliver Shepherd, a brother of George, who was
also connected with the bank robbery, was afterward
found in Jackson county, Missouri, and a requisition
being first obtained, a dozen men attempted his ar¬
rest. But Oil, as he was called, was made of that
sterner composition which would not brook a cur¬
tailment of his liberty, and he threw defiance at the
officers of the law. Then began a battle of extermi¬
nation. The officers had armed themselves with
carbines, because they knew that to come in range
of the old guerrilla’s pistols would be death to many
of them.
The hero of a hundred desperate conflicts felt that
his time had come, so, bracing himself against a
large tree, he stood and received the fire of his slay-
ers at a range of nearly two hundred and fifty yards.
His pistols were useless, _ although he fired every
shot, fourteen rounds, at the officers, who, from be¬
hind trees, shot seven terrible slugs into his body be¬
fore he fell; even then, like Spartacus, he struck out
toward his foes in the last throes of death.
CHAPTER XI.
THE JAMES BOYS TACKLE THE CALIFORNIAN S.
After the Russellville bank robbery Jesse James
was not so well as usual. The long and exciting ride
from Russellville through rough ravines and over
precipitous hills to his hiding place in Missouri told
fearfully on his constitution, and set the old wound
in his lungs to bleeding again. His physician recom-
mended a change of scene and air, and advised a sea
voyage to the Pacific Coast.
Frank James also seemed the worse for his fearful
five hundred miles ride from Russellville. He was
suffering very much from the old wound in his hip,
THE JAMES BOY S. 47
and his physician also advised a sea voyage for rest
and repairs.
Accordingly, shortly after the Russellville rob-
bery, both the James boys were on their way to Cal¬
ifornia. Jesse took passage from New York city for
Panama, and thence for the Golden Gate and Cali¬
fornia. Frank made the trip independently of Jesse,
and arrived at San Francisco in advance of him.
They met at the home of their uncle, Mr. D. W.
James, and for the first time since they left their boy¬
hood home in Clay county, Missouri, to join Quan-
trelFs band of guerrillas they breathed an atmos¬
phere of quiet, free from the apprehension of attack
by avenging foes. Their uncle, whose guest they
were, was at the time proprietor of the Paso Robel,
Hot Sulphur Springs, Hotel. Here for several
months the brothers rested and recuperated their
health and strength. Visitors and guests of the hotel
little suspected that the two genial young men in-
troduced to them as the nephews of their host were
really the bloodthirsty ex-guerrillas whose daring
deeds of robbery and murder had made their names
a holy terror to at least four states of the Union.
Jesse, especially, won for himself golden opinions on
account of his kindly, genial disposition. Through
the whole of that summer of 1869 the brothers lived
without a single adventure, save the very desirable
change from weakness, to robust health. Frank’s
hip grew strong, Jesse’s lung yielded to the kindly
influences of the beautiful climate, and before the
autumn sun had touched the far-spreading wood-
lands with tints and hues of golden splendors the
young men who came to Paso Robel broken down
and emaciated were as strong and robust as ever.
And with returning health and vigor came back the
old spirit of daring and wild adventure. Whatever
firm resolves they made in the day of their weakness
as to a quiet, honest life for the future, these resolves
48 THE JAMES BOYS.
began to weaken with their increasing strength.
Moreover, just at that time the newspapers of the
Pacific Coast were filled with thrilling accounts of
daring robberies by “road agents” who infested the
nountain passes of California, Nevada and Colorado.
These accounts were read with avidity by Frank
and Jesse James in their quiet retreat at. their
uncle’s hotel. The old desperado spirit was reawak-
ened within them, and they began to look back upon
their three months of indolent rest as just so much
of their lives thrown away. The fever of unrest
burned on in their veins until it drove them forth
into the mountains in search of adventure. Burnish-
ing up their old-time trusty friends, their ever-faith-
ful revolvers, they buckled on their fighting para¬
phernalia and sallied forth into the mountain passes,
prepared for any sort of adventure that might hap¬
pen to turn up. When we remember that the min¬
ing camps of.that region were filled with reckless
adventurers, cutthroats ond gamblers, it is not at all
surprising that Frank and Jesse James did not have
far to go before they found all the excitement and
adventure they wanted.
One bright, sunshiny morning Frank and Jesse,
with two of their old guerrilla comrades from Mis¬
souri, whom they chanced to fall in with, took a
journey into the region of the Sonoma Mountains,
where a small tributary of the Humbolt River cuts
the foothills of the range. There was a new * en¬
campment called “Battle Mountain.” And, to use
the emphatic language of these four Missouri boys,
they thought they would break the monotony of life
by going to Battle Mountain “just to shake up the
encampment.”
These camping towns spring up as if by magic,
and very often just as rapidly pass from sight. So
that now the traveler in these mountain regions
comes often upon the relics of a deserted hamlet
THE JAMES BOY S.
49
that served the purpose of the hour and then was
left to rot and ruin. Some lucky “find” would de-
termine the locality.
A main street would be laid out. Saloons, eating
houses, dance houses and gambling hells, with a
sufficient number of shanties for the dwelling of the
men would make tip the place. And over and over
again the gold for which men had toiled so hard for
weeks would all be squandered in a single night’s
debauch. Battle Mountain had the reputation of
being a “rattling place.” It had among its strange
inhabitants men of honorable positions, charmed by
the hope of finding sudden wealth; and men of easy
mind and careless mien, who were simply traveling
to see what was to be seen, and others of dark in¬
tent ; who knew best of all how to gamble and ca¬
rouse, and always to be ready with bowie knife and
revolver as the quick and sure settlers of any argu¬
ment that might arise. Hard work by day, and at
night women, whiskey and cards; this was the order
of Battle Mountain. And it was to “shake up” this
encampment that Frank and Jesse James and their
two companions from Missouri came. They had
not been here long when a number of gambling
blacklegs, who little knew the sort of men they had
to deal with, formed a plot to swindle these green
boys from Missouri. While the James boys did not
drink, they were somewhat proud of their skill at
cards. One fatal night the boys of Battle Mountain,
thirty or forty, were gathered together. Some were
drinking, others playing cards, others mapping out
plans for future prospecting. One of the ex-guer-
rillas, sitting at the same table with Jesse and act¬
ing as his partner in a game of cards, had just called
the hand of his opponent, one of the men in the plot.
“Three kings,” responded the gambler, confidently.
“Three aces,” exclaimed the guerrilla, as cool as
50 THE JAMES BOYS,
a cucumber, and showing down his cards he raked
in the pot.
The gambler was about to remark something or
other, when his opponent cut him short by saying:
‘T discarded a king; when the cut for your deal was
made the bottom card was exposed. It was a king.
You got your third king from the bottom. You
mustn’t do that again.”
“You lie!” retorted the gambler, with a gleam of
murder in his eyes.
Immediately all was confusion in the room. An
ominous calm prevailed for a moment, while all eyes
were fixed upon the excited players. Then Jesse rose
to the emergency. Cheating had been charged and
the lie given direct. This meant death to one or
other of the parties concerned. Jesse’s ready re¬
volver decided that it should not be his friend.
While the excited gambler was fumbling for his
weapon Jesse’s trusty pistol cracked twice, and the
murder-plotting gambler fell dead on the floor.
Lightning quick the partner of the slain gambler
made a lunge at Jesse with a dirk, but with a quick
movement Jesse avoided the knife, swung round his
ready revolver, cracked away at the gambler, and
literally blew the entire top of his head off.
Pandemonium reigned at once. With a wild yell
the excited gamblers made a mad rush for Jesse and
his companions.
“Back, you devils, back!” cried Jesse. The wild
mob wavered for a moment, the lights went out, and
Jesse and his comrades under cover of the darkness
made a dash for the door.
Once outside they turned and fired a volley into
the midst of the howling mob of pursuers. Two
men dropped dead and three were mortally wound-
ed. Someone struck a light. The scene that the
mob of demoralized gamblers gazed upon made the
blood curdle in their veins. Three men lay dead
THE JAMES BOYS,
51
upon the floor, and five others, fearfully wounded,
were groaning and cursing by their side. Half-
drunken women, sobered by the ghastly sight, were
screaming like beldams. For a while those of the
gamblers who had escaped death or wounding at
the hands of the Missourians were too utterly dazed
by the sight of their dead and wounded comrades
weltering in pools of blood to take any action for
revenge. Suddenly one of the gamblers shouted:
“Now, boys, for vengeance. LeFs follow them to
hell if necessary!” and with a yell of revenge ten
stalwart gamblers put off in hot pursuit of the
plucky Missourians.
The moon was shinging brightly down upon the
path of the fleeing ex-guerrillas, and the maddened
gamblers, made desperate by the death of their com¬
rades, followed close and sure upon the heels of the
fugitives.
About a mile away they overtook the four green-
horns from Missouri, as they had considered the
James boys and their two friends to be, and with a
wild yell of triumph dashed forward and demanded
their surrender. “Surrender nothing!” cried Jesse,
and, turning to his comrades, he said: “Let her go,
boys!” and instantly four revolvers flashed in the
moonlight and three more Battle Mountain gam¬
blers joined the company of their departed comrades
in the happy hunting grounds of disembodied
shades. The seven remaining gamblers turned to
retreat, but the ready revolvers of the Missourians
flashed forth again, and two more of the Battle
Mountain desperadoes fell to the earth wounded.
The five others were glad to escape with their lives
and whole skins. Jesse lost his hat in the encounter
and one of the ex-guerrillas had a finger shot off.
With these slight exceptions no damage was done
to the brave quartet of Missourians, who had dem-
onstrated their ability to do what they set out to
THE JAMES BOYS.
52
accomplish—give Battle Mountain a good shaking
up. Of course, after this dare-devil exploit it was
no longer any use for Frank and Jesse James to play
the role of goody-good boys in the State of California.
They had given themselves away, and the only
thing for them to do was to take French leave and
quit the state for some more congenial clime. They
went back to their old stamping ground in Missouri.
CHAPTER XII.
THE JAMES BOYS TRAVEL INCOG.
Frank and Jesse James were great travelers. We
have seen that they frequently made quick trips clear
across the country, from East to West, from North to
South, and vice versa.
The question naturally occurs, how did they travel ?
Openly or secretly?
Those who knew the James boys intimately say that
they seldom or never traveled together, but when
bound for the same destination Frank would take one
route and Jesse another, as they did on their trip to
California. They made no attempt to disguise them¬
selves, but trusted to their reputation as crack shots
to protect them from molestation by any ambitious
detectives who might by chance stumble upon them
in their travels. Everybody knew enough about them
to know that it was best to mind one’s own business
when either of them was about. The very name of
Jesse James was a terror to the people in all parts of
the country, and no one eared to place himself in a
position to incur the bandit’s hatred. The James boys
had so many friends and abettors in various portions
of the country that no one could safely take any step
toward bringing the bandits to justice without the
fact being made known to Frank and Jesse. And the
fact once known, the life of him who had been too
officious was not worth more than the cost of a revol-
THE JAMES BOYS. 53
ver cartridge. A man’s life was as nothing when it
stood in the way of Frank or Jesse James. The knowl¬
edge of this fact by the people constituted the James
boys’ most perfect safeguard.
But on their return trip from California the bandit
brothers departed from their usual custom and trav¬
eled together. They had lived like gentlemen so long
at their good old uncle’s Hot Sulphur Springs Hotel
that they became somewhat socialized and concluded
not to abandon their new mode of life completely just
yet awhile.
Frank and Jesse, you may imagine, traveled as first-
class passengers. They had not exhausted their sup¬
ply of greenbacks and gold obtained by them in their
Russellville raid, and they proposed to experience
something of the luxury of trans-continental travel.
In this way they were thrown into the society of
wealthy people traveling for the benefit of their health,
and experienced no difficulty whatever in passing for
well-bred gentlemen of the Pacific coast.
They stopped over at Denver for a few days, and
while there Frank was recognized by an ex-detective
from Missouri, named Ed Ballintine. Rallintine was
not inclined to let Frank James know that he under¬
stood who he was, but the latter stepped to the ex-
detective on the street and, extending his hand, said:
"Shake hands, my friend. Like myself, you seem to
be having a ‘lay off’ from your usual occupation; can’t
you join Jesse and me in doing Denver for a day or
two?” The result was that Ballintine, who was a
little hard up just then, was treated to as jolly a three
days’ and nights* dissipation. as he ever experienced
in all his life. All the places of amusement, both repu¬
table and disreputable, were visited by the trio, and, as
the society reporter for a country newspaper some¬
times says of a Sunday-school picnic, "A nice time
was had.”
After seeing all the sights Denver had to show them,
TIIE JAMES BOYS.
54
Frank and Jesse boarded at east-bound train for Chi¬
cago, where they put up at the Palmer House, regis¬
tering as James and Frank Jesse, San Francisco, Cali¬
fornia.
“Do you see that rather sedate, well-dressed fellow,
sitting over in that large chair just by the pillar
asked a gentleman of his companion not very long
ago, as they sat smoking in the great central hall of
the Palmer House, Chicago.
“I do,” was the response of the gentleman, who hap-
pened to be a Justice of the Peace for Cook county.
“Well,” said the first speaker, “do you know that
that is the notorious outlaw, Frank James?”
“Indeed!” said the magistrate.
“Yes,” said his informant, “no doubt at all about it.
He has registered as Edwin Jackson, of Detroit; but
he has been spotted by a dozen men; there is no doubt
about his being the great Missourian bandit, Frank
James. Say, Judge, what a grand opportunity for
you! You might have him arrested, and make quite
a name and fame!”
“No, thank you!” said the legal dignitary.
“But you are a Justice of the Peace and society looks
to you!” said his friend, growing quite eloquent.
“That's just where it is,” said the magistrate; “Pm
a Justice of the Peace, and I want peace. Society
looks to me, and I want it to go on looking to me.
That may or may not be Frank James; it’s none of my
funeral. But if it were Frank or Jesse James or any
of that infamous gang, and I arrested him, it would
probably be my funeral, and soon! Do you think that
because a man is a magistrate he must therefore be a
fool ? Come and let us take a turn along State street.”
For fully a week the James boys enjoyed themselves
in the great metropolis of the West, right under the
eyes of the smart detectives of the Pinkerton head¬
quarters, and had many a good-natured remark to
make as they from time to time passed by the weM-
THE JAMES BOYS. 5$
known sign of the Pinkerton's bearing the boastful
motto, “We never sleep/'
It is said by some who pretend to know what they
are talking about, that Jesse even went so far in his
good-natured bantering as to make a visit to the de-
tectives' headquarters and ask for a job, but this
seems hardly probable, for a chance recognition by
any of the Pinkerton force would certainly have re-
suited in Jesse's arrest. Jesse, of course, knew this,
and as he was no fool, it is not likely that he took any
such reckless chances.
After enjoying themselves to their hearts’ content
in Chicago, the James boys went to Missouri to visit
their mother. Of course, their conduct in the neigh¬
borhood of their old crimes was not so open and above
board as while on their travels, but they felt perfectly
safe at home, where their faithful and affectionate
mother was ever on the alert against surprise.
The James boys were not altogether idle while at
home, for they were thinking of new way s and means
for replenishing their pretty well exhausted treasury.
After a few days' resf they retired to their Jackson
county cave, where with the advice and consent of a
number of their old fellow-bandits, they speedily ar-
ranged a plan of campaign for another bank robbery.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE GALLATIN BANK ROBBERY.
For a period of some eighteen months after the
Russellville robbery the people of Missouri, Kansas
and Kentucky were free from the raids of the bandits.
Frank and Jesse were rusticating in California, and
the good citizens of the border states were beginning
to believe they were rid of them forever.
The country banks had relaxed their vigilance, and
detectives, anxious to pluck honors by bringing noted
criminals to justice, looked no longer toward the bor¬
der bandits.
56 THE JAMES BO VS.
Suddenly, and with a surprise which shook society
like a social earthquake, the outlaws returned to their
old haunts in Missouri, and descended like some ter¬
rible avalanche upon the Daviess County Savngs Bank
at Gallatin. It was but a fragment of the old crowd,
however, Cole Younger and the James boy s, the most
desperate trio that guerrilla warfare ever gave birth to.
It was on the 7th of December, 1869, when the
three rode leisurely into Gallatin and stopped in front
of the bank. Cole and Jesse dismounted, leaving
Frank with the horses and to keep the outside clear of
interference.
In the bank, at the time, was a young man named
McDowell making a deposit, and Capt. John W.
Sheets, the cashier. Jesse James threw a one-hundred
dollar bill on the counter and asked the cashier to give
him small change in return. Capt. Sheets took the
bill, walked to the safe, took out a handful of money,
and, returning to the counter, was in the act of count¬
ing out the change, when Cole Younger suddenly
thrust a navy revolver forward and commanded the
cashier to surrender to them the key s of the inner
doors of the safe, the outer ones being open. Before
the startled McDowell could recover from his aston¬
ishment he found the deadly revolver of Jesse James
covering his person, and was forced to consider him¬
self a prisoner. Cole Younger went behind the coun¬
ter, plundered the safe and till, and secured in all about
seven hundred dollars in currency.
After rifling the safe, there was a whispered con¬
sultation, and the next moment Jesse James turned
and deliberately shop Capt. Sheets dead. Meantime
one or two persons who had come to the bank on busi¬
ness had been driven away by the confederate outside,
and this, together with the sound of the pistol, had
caused an alarm to be given. The whole transaction
occupied but a few minutes, but by the time the rob-
bers emerged from the bank a dozen citizens had
THE JAMES BOYS. 57
snatched up various weapons and were moving up-
the street toward the bank.*
Frank James called out to his comrades, his cry
being answered by the immediate appearance of Jesse
and Cole, who rushed out of the bank. The horses,
spirited animals, were headed for flight; affrighted by
the shouts of the advancing crowd, Jesse’s horse gave
a plunge just as he, with one foot in the stirrup, had
made an effort to mount. The suddenness of the
horse’s movement completely discomfited the robber,,
who fell to the ground and was dragged about thirty
feet head downward with one heel fast in the stirrup..
By that time, however, he succeeded in disengaging^
himself. *
For a second he lay prone on the ground, while
the fractious steed went careering away in the dis¬
tance. The* crowd of citizens began to open a lively
fusillade, but Frank James instantly wheeled and rode
back to his dismounted brother, who leaped up be¬
hind him, and away they went together. Less than
ten minutes had elapsed when the citizens were mount¬
ed in pursuit, and they must soon have overtaken the
overloaded horse that was carrying double. It so hap-
pened, however, that about a mile southwest of town
the fugitives met Mr. Dan Smoot riding an excellent
saddle horse. Without a moment’s hesitation they
rode up to him, and with the muzzle of a revolver an
inch from his nose, requested him to dismount. Of
course, he took to the bush with great alacrity, and
the three bandits were once more thoroughly equipped.
They appeared to have little fear for the result dfter
this. Between Gallatin and Kidder they talked with
several persons, boasting of what they had done. On
nearing Kidder they met Rev. Mr. Helm, a Methodist
minister. They pressed him into service by the use
of the usual persuasion, the revolver, and made him
guide them around so that they could avoid the town.
On leaving him one of them told Mr. Helm that he
THE JAMES BOYS.
58
was Bill Anderson’s brother and that he killed S. P.
Cox, if he hadn't made a mistake in the man. He
claimed that this was an act of vengeance for the
death of his brother Bill.
The pursuing posse folio wed hot upon the heels of
the fugitives, who were once or twice almost in sight.
About six miles south of Kidder they took to the
woods, going toward the Missouri River, and there
their woodcraft and the approach of night enabled
them to escape. The horse which had escaped and
so nearly killed Jesse in front of the bank was held
by the sheriff of Daviess county.
The escaping robber s were traced across into Clay
county, and*the abandoned horse, according to an ac¬
count in the Kansas City Times, of December 16, 1869,
was fully identified as the property of “a young man
named James, whose mother and step-father lived
about four miles from Centerville, Clay county, near
the Cameron branch of the Hannibal and St. Joe
Railroad.”
The account adds that “both he and his brother are
desperate men, having had much experience in horse
and revolver work.” The .most careful inquiry was
made in order to leave no question as to the identity
of the robbers, and it is still held that there was no
doubt about Frank and Jesse James and Cole Younger
being the trio.
As soon as it was definitely ascertained who the
men were and where they lived, two of the citizens
of Gallatin, thoroughly armed and mounted, rode away
to Liberty, Clay county, where they called on Mr.
Tomlinson, the deputy sheriff, and stated what they
knew about the three outlaws, and what they had done
in Gallatin.
Tomlinson, accompanied by his son and the two
pursuers from Gallatin, started at once for Dr. Sam¬
uels’ house, the step-father of the brothers James.
This house is some twenty miles from Liberty. Ap-
THE JAMES BOYS.
59
proaching it, some strategy was displayed. The Gal¬
latin detachment watching it from the side next the
woods, the Liberty detachment—father and son—dis-
motmted at the gate in front of the house and walked
very deliberately up to the door. Before Teaching it,
however, a little negro boy ran past them and on to
the stable, and just as he got there the door opetied
suddenly, and out dashed the two brothers on splendid
horses, with pistols drawn, and took the lot fence at
a swinging gallop. The Gallatin party, from the fence
above, opened fire on sight; the sheriff and his son
folio wed suit; the brothers joined in at intervals, and
then the chase began:
To mount and away in pursuit was with Tomlinson
but the work of a few seconds, and he dashed on after
the robbers. His horse alone of all the horses ridden
in pursuit would take the fence, and so while the rest
of the party were dismounting and pulling off top
rails, Mr. Tomlinson was riding like the wind after the
two brothers. He gained upon them, well mounted as
they were. He fired several times at them and they
at him, but the rate of speed was too great for accu-
racy. Carried on by the ardor of the chase, Mr. Tom¬
linson soon found himself far in^advance of the sup¬
porting column, and, in fact, hotly pursuing two des-
peradoes with no weapon to rely on except an empty
revolver. Just what happened will probably never be
known, as there were no witnesses except the prin¬
cipal. s A short time afterward, however, Mr. Tomlin¬
son came back to Dr. Samuels’ house on foot, having
evidently made a forced march through the brush. He
borrowed a horse and started for Centerville. He had
hardly been gone ten minutes when the two James
boys returned to the house, and on learning that he
had the cheek to come back there, they went after him,
swearing they would kill him. They missed him, how¬
ever. The horse he had first ridden was afterward found
shot dead. Tomlinson reached Liberty about ten
6o
THE JAMES BO VS.
o’clock that night, and found the town in considerable
excitement over the report that he had been killed. His
posse having lost track of him, had returned to Lib-
erty and circulated the report.
Tomlinson’s story about the affair was that he could
not hit the boys from a running horse, and so he dis-
mounted to get one deliberate shot. The outlaws sub¬
sequently told some of their friends that when they
found only one man close to them they turned on him
and killed his horse, whereupon he plunged into a
thicket, and they were willing enough to let him get
away, but they had no idea he would go to their home
for a fresh horse. Of course, the whole country turned
out after this to catch the Jameses, but they were not
caught. The robbery was, perhaps, the most remark¬
able of all that had been done by the Missouri bandits,
partly because only three men were engaged in it, and
partly because of the utter wantonness of the murder
committed.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE CORYDON AND COLUMBIA ROBBERIES.
After the Gallatin robbery Frank and Jesse James
and the three Younger boys temporarily retired from
business. Their safety was in separation and seclu¬
sion, and for fully a year or more after the robbery of
the Gallatin bank they either remained among their
many friends in Kentucky, where they were perfectly
safe from capture, or hid themselves in their impreg¬
nable cave in Jackson county, Missouri. They had
a well-defined policy of action by which they were
guided in their social intercourse as well as in their
dangerous adventures.
Secret communication was kept up when the band
was divided, and each one was always on the alert for
special opportunities in the practice of their peculiar
profession.
THE JAMES B0YS. 6l
But this sort of inactive existence grew to be mo¬
notonous, and the outlaws became restless for new
adventures.
After a long period of idleness and plotting, the
reorganized band, consisting of the two James boy s,
Cole and Jim Younger, Clell Miller, Jim White and
one other, whose identity has never been conclusively
established, seven in all, decided to visit Iowa and
plunder the bank of Obocock Bros., in Corydon. On
the 3d of June, 1871, the seven outlaws, well mounted
and armed, came trooping into the town, like so many
countrymen hastening to the political meeting then in
progress in the public square. They halted before the
bank and three of the party dismounted, while the re-
maining four stood guard on the outside.
The dismounted trio entered the bank very quietly,
and, ^finding - no one inside but the cashier, it being
high noon, he was confronted by three heavy revolvers
and then bound hand and foot. This was a singular
act which the bandits never before or since attempted,
and their purpose is not yet apparent, for they ob-
tained the keys of the safe without trouble, and plun-
dered it of nearly $40,000, one of the largest hauls, if
not the largest, except one, they had ever made up to
that time.
After completing the robbery and placing their
treasure in a sack, the three emerged, from the bank,
and, mounting their horses, the entire party masked
themselves with handkerchiefs and rode over to the
political meeting, which was being addressed by Henry
Clay Dean, where Jesse James asked pardon of the
speaker for interrupting him a few moments. Mr.
Dean graciously gave way when Jesse, still sitting
astride his. horse with the other bandits by his side,
spoke as follows: “Well, you’ve been having your fun
and we’ve been having ourn. You needn’t go into
hysterics when I tell you that we’ve just been down
to the bank and robbed it of every dollar in the till.
6 2
THE JAMES BO VS.
If you’ll go down there now you’ll find the cashier
tied, and then, if you want any of us, why, just come
down and take us. Thank you for your attention.”
At the conclusion of this strange speech the seven
dare-devils set up a wild yell, li fted their hats and
sped away southward.
The crowd thought the confession was only a plan
to break up the meeting, but a few minutes served to
prove the truth of Jesse’s words.
After discovering the robbery there were hasty prep-
arations for pursuit, and a posse of a dozen men,
headed by the sheriff, dashed off in reckless haste to
capture the bandits.
On the second day the outlaws were overtaken in
Daviess county, Mo., and a fight ensued, but the citi-
zens were forced' to give way without inflicting any
damage on the bold marauders. Others joined in the
chase, however, and the trail was followed into Clay
county, and then into Jackson, where the track faded
out suddenly.
A whole year passed after the Corydon bank
bery, and things had somewhat quieted down, when
the band concluded the time was ripe for another raid,
and they planned to plunder the Safety Deposit Bank
at Columbia, Kentucky.
First providing themselves with the purest blooded
horses they could purchase, and completing every de¬
tail for a profitable ride, the James boy s and the three
Younger brothers set out for Columbia, the county-
seat of Adair county, Kentucky.
On the 29th of April, 1872, the five daring outlaws
rode into Columbia by different roads, coming to¬
gether in the public square at 2.30 o’clock in the after¬
noon.
Scarcely had they met when John and Jim Younger
dashed down the street yelling and firing their pistols
at every person seen abroad, while Cole and the two
James boy s rode directly to the bank and entered with
THE JAMES BOYS.
63
drawn pistols. In the bank at the time was the cash¬
ier, Hon. R. A. C. Martin, James Garnett and Mr.
Dalrymple.
A demand was made on the cashier for the safe
keys, which, being refused, one of the outlaws shot
him dead. The other gentleman in the bank made a
hasty exit, leaving the bandits in undisturbed posses¬
sion.
Being unable to effect an entrance into the safe, the
robbers were compelled to content themselves with the
currency they found in the drawers, amounting to
about two hundred dollars; they then remounted their
horses and the gang galloped away southward.
On the same afternoon of the robbery fifteen men,
with such horses and arms as they could hastily se¬
cure, started out after the bandits, while telegrams
were sent in every direction with the hope of heading
them off. Others joined in the chase, and the trail was
followed pertinaciously through Kentucky and several
hundred miles in Tennessee, but the outlaws gained
the dense coverts and recesses of the Cumberland
Mountains, where pursuit ended. The shooting of the
cashier has been charged to Frank James, but that is
merely supposition.
It is almost certain that Cole Younger did not com¬
mit the murder, because of his well-known aversion to
the adoption of such expedients to effect a robbery;
Cole would try intimidation, but his nature revolted
at murder, except where the conditions were equally;
divided, and it was life staked against life.
CHAPTER XV.
RAIDING OF THE KANSAS CITY FAIR, AND ROBBERY OF
THE ST. GENEVIEVE BANK.
After raiding the Columbia bank the bandits retired
to their Jackson county cave, where they remained in
hiding for several months. It was not until the fol-
THE JAMES BO VS.
64
lowing autumn that they again startled the whole
country with one of their dare-devil raids.
It was Thursday, September 26, 1872. The Kansas
City fair was in session. Indeed it was “big day” at
the fair. There were at least thirty thousand people
on the grounds that day, all attracted thither by the
announcement that the famous horse Ethan Allen was
to trot against a running mate on the exhibition track.
Every incoming train poured hundreds of new-comers
into the city. The streets were literally jammed dur¬
ing the early morning hours, and by nine o'clock the
stream of humanity began to flow toward the fair
grounds. It was, indeed, a big day for both the city
and the fair association. By one o'clock in the after¬
noon there was scarcely standing room about the race
■course or the buildings containing exhibition articles.
Ethan Allen was brought out and shown to the thou-
sands occupying the amphitheatre, and then the pool-
selling began on the other races to take place after the
noted horse had exhibited his speed. At three o'clock
the great horse appeared in harness in the ring, and
when he was sent off the most deafening cries arose
from the crowd and continued until the mile was
finished.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Hall, the sec-
retary and treasurer of the Fair Association, com-
pleted counting the receipts of the day, and, in re¬
sponse to a question from the writer, he stated that the
day's revenue was only a fraction less than $10,000.
This money he placed in a large tin box, which he in-
structed his assistant to carry to the First National
Bank for deposit. No thought was entertained that
.any attempt would be made to steal the cash-box while
so many people were constantly on the highway lead¬
ing to the city, and the young man started off whistling
gayly, carrying the treasure box by a wire handle in
his right hand. As he reached the entrance gate,
where more than a dozen persons were coming in and
THE JAMES BOYS.
65
going out, three men on horseback (Jesse and Frank
James and Bob Younger) dashed up to the young man
with such reckless haste that a little girl was badly
trampled by one of the horses; at the same moment
a pistol shot was fired and Jesse James jumped from
his horse into the confused crowd and, snatching the
cash-box from the hand of the affrighted messenger,
be leaped into the saddle again and the three highway¬
men disappeared, with a clatter of fast-flying feet, like
the sweep of a whirlwind. For several minutes it was
thought that the little girl had been struck by a pistol
ball, but after she was carried home it was ascer-
tained that her injuries, which were not fatal, were
caused by the horse of one of the robbers knocking
her down and trampling upon her hips.
The excitement following the robbery was intense.
The police, detectives, and the sheriff with several
deputized citizens, went in pursuit of the robbers be¬
fore night approached, and they had no difficulty in
following the trail for a distance of ten miles, when
the tracks faded like a fog lifted by a heavy wind; the
outlaws had entered their mysterious cave and, while
counting their sudden gain, laughed at the foiled pur-
suers.
Every robbery thus far had been consummated with
such signal success that the outlaws could not remain
idle, for the love of money increased with its accumu¬
lation, just as the love of adventure grew greater with
successful accomplishment. Before the winter ended
Jim Younger and Frank James left their hiding place
in Jackson county and made a trip through the north¬
west, going through Omaha and as far west as Chey¬
enne, wrhere they remained for a considerable time
prospecting for opportunities. They both had rela-
tives in California, and as shipments of gold over the
Union Pacific Railroad were frequent, the purpose of
the two bandits was, doubtless, to ascertain the date of
contemplated express shipments of treasure.
66
THE JAMES BOYS.
During their stay in Cheyenne, Cole and Bob
Younger, Jesse James, Bill Chadwell, alias Styles, and
Clell Miller conceived and definitely arranged a plan
to rob the Savings Association at St. Genevieve, Mis¬
souri. In pursuance of their arrangements, the five
bandits left Jackson county about the ist of May,
and stopped a short time at a country place a few
miles south of Springfield. From here they went to
Bismarck, on the Iron Mountain Railroad, but remain-
ed there only one day. From this latter point they
rode through St. Genevieve county and on the morning
of May 27th the five outlaws appeared in the old Cath¬
olic town, three entering from the south and two from
the north.
It was shortly after nine o'clock when the bandits
made their appearance, and as three of them entered
the bank they found no one inside except the cashier,
O. D. Harris, Esq., and a son of Hon. Firman A.
Rozier, the president. No time was given for parley;
the robbers presented their pistols at the cashier and
commanded him to open the safe. Young Rozier com-
prehended the situation at once, and as none of the
pistols were covering him, he ran down the steps and
through the street rapidly, calling for help. The two
bandits fired three times at the fleeing boy, one bullet
passing through his coat, but doing no bodily in jury.
Mr. Harris appreciating the critical position he occu¬
pied, accepted the more sensible alternative and opened.
the safe door, permitting the outlaws to secure all the
funds then in the bank, ^mounting to four thousand
one hundred dollars. This money, much of which was
silver, they threw into a sack, and mounting their
horses decamped. Before getting out of town the
bandit who carried the sack by some means let his
treasure fall to the ground, which necessitated his re¬
turn for it. All the five robbers came together here,
and four of them halted in the road while the fifth one
dismounted for the treasure sack; in the attempt to re-
THE JAMES BOYS. 67
mount his horse became frightened and broke away,
running some distance north.
At this juncture a German came riding into town,
and the mounted bandits by direful threats compelled
him to ride after and secure the fugitive horse, which
he accomplished after considerable delay. In the
meantime a posse of citizens gathered, and, obtaining
horses quickly, they went in pursuit of the robbers,
whom they came up with within a mile of the town!
There was an exchange of shots, which halted the citi¬
zens, and after this the outlaws were not again ap-
proached.
The bold desperadoes, in order to exasperate the
authorities, it would appear, marked their trail by
leavipg sign boards in their wake on which they would
inscribe the day and hour they were at the spot indi¬
cated by the board. On the 30th of May the robbers
rode into Hermann, Missouri, and stopped for dinner,
telling the people of the place who they were and per¬
forming other dare-devil acts which set the authorities
after them in a state of fury. The chase continued
for weeks, it being joined in by several detectives
from Chicago and St. Louis, who arrested dozens of
“suspicious characters,” only to find they had the
wrong men. It was thus the chase ended, as all the
other attempts to arrest the bandits had terminated.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE FIRST TRAIN ROBBERY.
“You can’t get too much of a good thing,” an old
maxim says. But the James boys evidently did not
believe in the truth of the saying, for after having
made a pretty good thing of robbing banks they
concluded that they had got enough of that kind of
business for the time being, at least.
So, shortly after the St. Genevieve bank robbery,
they decided to try their hand at wrecking and rob¬
bing express trains.
68
THE JAMES BOYS.
This idea of a change to a more daring and reck¬
less species- of robbery is supposed to have origi-
nated with Frank James and Jim Younger.
These two desperate bandits had been absent
from the band for several months, and it is probable
that they were on a tour of observation. They made
a trip westward by rail as far as Cheyenne, and evi¬
dently learned a great deal regarding the running
of trains, shipment of money by express from the
Pacific Coast and x>ther important information nec¬
essary to be possessed in the successful carrying on
of their new business enterprise of wrecking and
robbing railroad trains.
Shortly after the return of the two bandits from
their tour of observation a meeting of the bandits
was held at their famous rendezvous in Jackson
county, Missouri. At this meeting two new acquisi-
tions to the band were present—Comanche Tony, a
noted desperado from Texas, commonly known as
Texas Tony, and Bob Moore, a tough character
from the Indian Territory.
The result of their confab was a determination to
inaugurate a new order of “knights of the road.”
The “road agents” of the Far West were to be com¬
pletely thrown into the shade. Holding up and
robbing mere stage coaches on lonely roads in Eng¬
land had made the names of Claud Duval and Dick
Turpin world renowned. What would the world
say of this daring scheme to tackle the great railway
trains, the giant stage coaches of this latter part of
the nineteenth century?
This thought fired the vaulting ambition of the
James boys to the intensest degree, and the terrible
crime it Involved of the indiscriminate slaughter of
helpless women and children did not cause them a
moment’s hesitation.
On the night of July 21, 1873, in pursuance of a
plan agreed upon at their meeting in their Jackson
THE JAMES BOYS.
69
county cave, the eight bandits—Frank and Jesse
James, Cole, Bob and Jim Younger, Bud Singleton,
Bob Moore and Texas Tony—met at a point four¬
teen miles east of Council Bluffs and about five
miles west of the town of Adair, in Iowa, on the
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
At this point there is a sharp curve in the road,
which obscures the rails sixty yards in advance of
the engine. The reason for selecting this place and
time for their first venture in their new line of busi¬
ness was because of information received of an in¬
tended shipment of a large amount of gold from
San Francisco to New York, which would be made
over this route, teaching Omaha about the 19th of
July. How this information was imparted was
never ascertained, but its truth has led to the belief
that the James boys had confederates on the Pacific
Slope with whom they were in constant communica¬
tion.
Availing themselves of a dense thicket beside a
deep cut in the railroad, the eight bandits hitched
their horses out of view of passengers on the train,
and then, after a few minutes’ work, loosened one of
the rails. To this loose rail they tied a rope leading
to their hiding place in the tall grass, where, after
piling a number of ties on the track, they concealed
themselves.
The passenger train they expected to plunder was
due at the point of ambush at 8130 P. M. The ban¬
dits did not have long to wait after their work of
preparation for wrecking the train was completed,
Hardly had they ceased their operations when far
down the track they heard the ominous rumbling of
the approaching express.
The train consisted of seven coaches, including
two sleepers, and was in charge of Engineer John
Rafferty, who was looking sharply along the curve
and saw the ties piled across the track. He in-
THE JAMES BOY S.
70
stantly reversed the lever, but at the same moment
the bandits pulled their rope and the loosened rail
moved out of place. The engineer saw the move¬
ment and uttered a cry of despair.
The screaming engine struck the loosened rail
and plunged sideways into the bank, while the cars
telescoped and piled up in terrible confusion. Engi¬
neer Rafferty was instantly killed and a dozen pas-
sengers seriously injured. Regardless of all this,
however, the robbers quickly boarded the wreck,
two of them entering the express car, while the
others forced the excited and demoralized passen-
gers to deliver up all their money and valuables.
The express messenger was made to open the safe
and give the. bandits what money he had in charge,
but the amount was small, consisting of about three
thousand dollars. From the passengers nearly as
much more was obtained. This was a bitter disap¬
pointment to the outlaws, for they confidently ex¬
pected to find not less than fifty thousand dollars in
gold, as reported. Fortunately, the bandits were
twelve hours too soon, as on the following day .the
express carried over the same road seventy-five
thousand dollars in gold..
After securing all the booty possible, the seven
daring wreckers waved their hats and shouted fare¬
well to their victims, and, gaining their horses, they
rode away to the south.
The excitement created over this dreadful outrage
was very great, and hundreds volunteered to assist
in apprehending the desperadoes.
The trail led straight'through Missouri and to the
Missouri River, where there was unmistakable evi¬
dence that the outlaws swam the stream with their
horses. Following the track on the other side, the
band was followed into Jackson county, where, as
usual, every trace disappeared. A party of detec-
tives went down to Monegaw Springs in search of
THE JAMES BOYS.
71
the outlaws, and found Jesse James and two of the
Younger boys, but they made no effort to bring
them away, and were glad to escape themselves
alive.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE HOT SPRINGS STAGE ROBBERY«
“Variety is the spice of life,” and the James boys
and their daring band of robbers seemed to like
plenty of the spice in theirs.
Having done a splendid business in the bank rob¬
bing line, and without rhyme or reason changed
from that to the train-wrecking business, they han-
kered for another change immediately after their
first experiment of plundering a train.
It was not because they had not succeeded in
their new line of business, for the Rock Island train
robbery was a howling success.
It was simply from a love for change that after
the train robbery in Iowa they concluded to make
their next raid not on a bank or a railroad train, but
on a stage coach, in the old Dick Turpin regulation
highwayman style.
After the Rock Island train robbery the bandits
remained quiet for awhile, enjoying the fruits of
their raid in seeming security among their intimate
acquaintances in Jackson and Clay counties.
Nothing was heard of them in the way of new
depredations until the beginning of 1874.
By this time their money was probably well-nigh
exhausted, as all the band were known to be high
li vers during their periods of plenty. During the
holidays of 1873 the bandits proposed other schemes
for plundering, and by New Year’s Day of 1874
Frank and Jesse James, Cole and Jim Younger and
Clell Miller perfected a plan for robbing the stage
running between Malvern, on the St. Louis, Iron
72
THE JAMES BOYS.
Mountain and Southern Railway, and Hot Springs,
Arkansas. On the 21st of January the five bandits
left Hot Springs, where they had remained the pre¬
vious night, and secreted themselves near the stage
roadside, five miles east of the town. At 11 o’clock
in the forenoon the heavy Concord stage, with two
ambulances and fourteen passengers, came lumber¬
ing over, the rough road en route for the Springs.
When the stage came nearly abreast of the robbers
they suddenly rose out of their hiding place, and,
presenting their -pistols, sternly commanded the
driver to halt. Frank James acted as leader and
was the one who gave the order. The driver, thor¬
oughly frightened by the appearance of the bandits,
drew rein quickly and became a quiet spectator of
the proceedings that followed.
As the frightened passengers thrust their heads
out of the vehicle they saw five fierce-looking men,
armed and spurred, whose purposes were at once
divined. Frank James, who acted as leader, ordered
the occupants of the stage to get out, which, being
complied with, the passengers were formed into
line, and then submitted to a search by Clell Miller
and Jim Younger, while the three other bandits
stood guard with cocked pistols.
The fright of the travelers was greatly intensi-
fied by the blood-chilling threats of the desperadoes.
They jested .with one another and made banters to
test their skill as pistol shots on the trembling and
unarmed passengers. “Now,” said Frank James to
Cole Younger, “I will bet you the contents of that
fellow’s pocketbook,” pointing to one of the trav¬
elers who was a small tradesman at Little Rock,
“that I can shoot off a smaller bit of his right ear
than you can.” “Fil take the wager,” responded
Cole, “but you must let me have the first shot, be¬
cause my eyesight is not as good as yours, and if
you should hit his ear first thg blood might confuse
THE JAMES BOYS.
73
my aim.” Frank insisted on shooting first, and in
the wrangle the poor victim trembled until he could
scarcely retain his feet, and with the most prayerful
entreaties begged the robbers to take what he had
but spare his life.
Mr. Taylor, of Massachusetts, a sufferer from
rheumatism, then drew the attention of the bandits,
and Jesse James offered to bet his share of the booty
that he could throw his bowie knife through Tay-
lor’s underclothing without drawing blood. It was
thus the bandits jested with one another, and in
turn had each of the fear-stricken passengers pray¬
ing for his life.
When the search was concluded Frank James
produced a memorandum book and took the names
of all the travelers, saying: 'T am like lightning; I
don't want to strike the same parties twice.”
The total amount of money and valuables taken
approximated $4,000, the heaviest loser being ex-
Governor Burbank, of Dakota, from whom the rob¬
bers secured $1,500.
When the bandits left their victims they gra¬
ciously and with great punctilio raised their hats
and bade them a most courteous adieu, wishing
them a pleasant visit at the Springs.
When the travelers reached Hot Springs they
were in a sorry plight, not one of them having
enough money to send a message home for addi¬
tional lunds, but the citizens kindly provided for
their wants and exhibited much sympathy, but little
or no attempt was made to capture the highwaymen.
Indeed, any such effort would have undoubtedly
terminated fruitlessly, for, in addition to the cun¬
ning and bravery of the bandits, the mountainous
nature of the country would have prevented a pur-
suing party from making up the time lost in report¬
ing the circumstances of the robbery.
74
THE JAMES BOYS.
CHAPTER XVII-I.
THE GAD'S HILL TRAIN ROBBERY.
After holding up the stage near Hot Springs the
bandits took a northwestern direction, and crossed
the line into Southern Missouri, where they rested
among their friends for about two weeks, and then
rode to Gad’s Hill', a small station on the Iron
Mountain Railroad, in Wayne county, Missouri.
They made hasty preparations to rob the Little
Rock express train, which was due at Gad’s Hill
shortly before 6 o'clock P. M. The station con-
tained a population of not more than a dozen per-
sons, and the country about was very sparsely set¬
tled, so that no danger of interference was antici-
pated from the neighborhood. Their first precau¬
tion was to make a prisoner of the station agent and
the five other men found about the station. The
switch was then turned so as to force a stoppage of
the train should it attempt to pass by. Clell Miller
then secured the signal flag and planted it in the
center of the track, after which the bandits awaited
the coming of their victims. Promptly on time the
train rattled along the track, and the engineer,
seeing the flag, closed the throttle valve and brought
the heavy passenger coaches to a standstill along¬
side the little platform.
The conductor, Mr. Alvord, stepped off one of
the cars to ascertain the cause of the signal, but at
the same moment he was confronted by a revolver
in the hands of Frank James and made to surrender.
The outlaws were then posted one on each side of
the train, another covering the engineer and pris-
oners, while the other two went through the coaches
and by fierce threats and more dangerous revolvers
compelled all the pasengers in the first-class car and
the sleepers to disgorge their money and valuables.
After completing the robbery of the passengers, the
THE JAMES BOYS.
73
express car was next raided, obtaining from the safe
one thousand and eighty dollars, and then the mail
bags Were cut open and rifled, one registered letter
being secured which contained two thousand dol¬
lars in currency.
The money and valuables obtained aggregated
nearly twelve thousand dollars. None of the bandits
entered the second-class cars, saying they were only
after the “plug-hat” crowd. During the robbery the
band talked constantly, but were always vigilant.
All of them wore masks made of calico with holes
cut for the eyes. Only one of them had an overcoat,
and it was this one who attended to the switch and
guarded the prisoners. When he fixed the forward
switch he had thrown his overcoat down on the
track. After the robbery was over they released the
trainmen and the men imprisoned in the station-
house and told the engineer to_pull out.
After the train started one of them happened to
discover that the overcoat was still lying on the
track, when he instantly made the engineer stop
until the fellow could go and get it. The amount
obtained from the passengers was nearly two thou¬
sand dollars.
Having again successfully accomplished their
criminal purpose without meeting any resistance,
the five desperadoes mounted their horses, which
were hitched near by, and, riding into the brush, dis-
appeared in the darkness.
When the train reached Piedmont information of
the robbery was telegraphed to Little Rock, St.
Louis and all the towns along the road. On the fol¬
lowing day a large body of well-armed men started
from Ironton and Piedmont in pursuit of the des¬
perate outlaws, and soon got on their track. The
pursuing party found where the bandits had break-
fasted, sixty miles from Gad’s Hill; following the
trail closely on the second day, the citizens* posse
THE JAMES BOYS.
76
reached the spot where the outlaws had spent the
night, and they were encouraged by the belief that
a capture might be effected before the close of the
day; but suddenly the party came to a low marsh
through which it was dangerous to ride, and in
searching for a pathway around the boggy district
much time was lost, and the trail of the robbers
could not be found again, so the pursuit was aban¬
doned.
CHAPTER XIX.
MURDER OF DETECTIVE^ ALLEN AND DANIELS.
The Gad’s Hill robbery created consternation.
Citizens everywhere armed themselves for protec¬
tion against the bandits. The community at last
awoke to the fact that there was a well-organized
band of robbers operating in their midst. The fre¬
quent daring and successful robberies of banks,
wrecking of trains and holding up of stages satisfied
everybody that the work was being systematically
performed by a single band of robbers.
The people were thoroughly aroused, and a deter¬
mined effort was made to identify and hunt down
the desperadoes.
It was soon definitely learned that the banditti
consisted of at least a score of cutthroats and rob¬
bers, the best-known of whom were the James boys,
the Younger brothers, Clell Miller, Bob Moore, Jim
Cummings, Arthur McCoy and Bud Singleton.
Governors Woodson, of Missouri, and Baxter, ot
Arkansas,' offered large rewards for the apprehen¬
sion of all or any of the bandits, as did likewise the
American Express Company, who engaged Allen
Pinkerton and his efficient force of detectives to
hunt them down at all hazards and at any cost.
Stimulated by these offers of large rewards, armed
bodies of men from all points along the line of the
THE JAMES BOYS.
77
Iron Mountain Road went out in pursuit of the ban-
dits. Several St. Louis detectives engaged in the
search, and Pinkerton dispatched two of his best
men to the haunts of the bandits. These officers
were known as Captain Allen, alias Lull, and James
Wright, the latter having been in the Confederate
service and claimed to be acquainted with the
Younger boys.
At Osceola, Missouri, the two detectives engaged
the services of an ex-deputy sheriff named Edwin
B. Daniels, and together the three pehetrated the
Monegaw Springs settlement, where the Youngers
spent much of their time.
After leaving Osceola the official trio assumed the
character of cattle dealers, and on March 16 t hey set
out on the road for Chalk Level, a little place about
fifteen miles northwest of Osceola. On the route
Lull and Daniels stopped at the farmhouse of Theo¬
dore Snuffer, a distant relative of the Youngers, and
asked for directions to Widow Simm’s house.
Wright did not stop with his companions, but rode
on, intending to spend a few moments with an ac¬
quaintance two miles west of Snuffer’s.
By chance John and Jim Younger were stopping
with Mr. Snuffer at the time, but did not show
themselves. They listened intently, however, and
after the directions were given as requested they
saw the detectives take a contrary road; this excited
the suspicions of the two Youngers, and they de¬
cided to watch the strangers. For this purpose they
mounted their horses and followed after Lull and
Daniels for nearly a mile before coming up with
them. The authentic particulars of this meeting are
best given in the ante-mortem statement made by
Captain Allen, alias Lull, and subscribed to before
Justice of the Peace St. Clair. It is as follows:
“Yesterday, on the 16th of March, 1874, at about
half-past 2 o’clock P. M., E. B. Daniels and myself
THE JAMES B0YS.
78
were riding along the road from Roscoe to Chalk
Level, in St. Clair county, which road leads past the
house of one Theodore Snuffer. Daniels and myself
were riding side by side, and our companion,
Wright, was a short distance ahead of us. Some
noise behind us attracted our attention, and looking
back we saw two men on horseback coming toward
us; one was armed with a double-barrel shotgun,
the other with revolvers; don’t know if the latter
had a shotgun or not; the one that had the shotgun
carried it cocked, both barrels, and ordered us to
halt; Wright drew his pistol, but then put spurs to
his horse and rode off; they ordered him to halt, and
shot at him, and shot off his hat, but he kept on
riding. Daniels and myself stopped, standing across
the road on our horses; they rode up to us and or¬
dered us to take off our pistols and drop them on
the road, one of them covering me all the time with
his gun. We dropped our pistols on the ground,
and-one of the men told the other to follow Wright
and bring him back, but he refused to go, saying he
would stay with him; one of the men then picked up
the revolvers we had dropped, and, looking at them’,
remarked they were damned fine pistols, and that
we must make them a present of them; one of them
asked me where we came from, and I said, ‘Os¬
ceola / he then wanted to know what we were doing
in this part of the country; I replied, ‘Rambling
around/ One of them said: ‘You were up here one
day before/ I replied that we were not. He then
said we had been at the Springs. I replied that we
had been at the Springs, but had not been inquiring
for them; that we did not know them; they said de-
tectives had been up there hunting for them all the
time, and they were going to stop it. Daniels then
said: T am no detective; I can show you who I am
and where I belong, and one of them said he knew
him, and then turned to me and said: ‘What in hell
THE JAMES B0YS.
79
are you riding around here with all them pistols on
for?' and I said: ‘Good God! is not every man wear-
ing them that is traveling, and have I not as much
right to wear them as anyone else?’ Then the one
that had the shotgun said: ‘Hold* on, young man, we
don’t want any of that/ and then lowered the gun,
cocked, in a threatening manner. Then Daniels
had some talk with them, and one of them got off
his horse and picked up the pistols; two of them
were mine and one was Daniels’; the one mounted
had the gun drawn on me, and I concluded that they
intended to kill us. I reached my hand behind me
and drew a No. 2 Smith & Wesson pistol and
cocked and fixed at the one on horseback; my horse
became frightened at the report of the pistol and
turned to run; then I heard two shots and my left
arm fell; I had no control over my horse, and he
jumped into the bushes before I could get hold of
the rein with my right hand to bring him into the
road; one of the men rode by and fired two shots
at me, one of which took effect in my left side, and
I lost all control of my horse again, and he turned
into the brush, when a small tree struck me and
knocked me out of the saddle. I then got up and
staggered across the road and lay down until I was
found. No one else was present.
“W. J. Allen ”
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th
day of March, 1874.
“James St. Clair, J. P.”
The shot fired by Captain Allen killed the man on
horseback who was covering the Captain with his
shotgun. The other man, who had dismounted to-
pick up the revolvers thrown into the road by Allen
and Daniels, immediately fired upon the latter, kill¬
ing him instantly.
The statement of Captain Allen was used at the
coroner’s inquest over the bodies of Daniels and
8o
THE JAMES BOYS.
Younger, and the examining physicians gave the
following testimony':
“All we know concerning the death of the two
men, being the same that the inquest is being held
over, is that the one, John Younger, came to his
death from the effects of a gunshot wound, which
entered the right side of his neck, touching the clav-
ical bone on the upper side, and about two inches
from the meridian, went nearly straight through the
neck; the orifice is small, indicating that he was
shot with a small ball. The other man, Edwin B.
Daniels, came to his death from the effects of a gun-
shot wound, which entered the left side of the neck,
about one inch from the meridian line, and about
midway of the neck, Opposite the aesophagus, and,
as per examination, went straight through the neck,
striking the bone; the orifice was pretty large, in¬
dicating that the ball was of pretty large size.
“A. C. Marquis, M. D.,”
“L. Lewis, M. D.”
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day
of March, 1874.
“James St. Clair, J. P.”
The jury, with A. Ray as foreman, submitted a
verdict to the effect' that Daniels was killed by
James Younger, and that John Younger met his
death at the hands of W. J. Allen.
Captain Allen was struck very hard in the left
side, two inches above the hip; he was carried back
to Roscoe, where he lingered for a period of six
weeks, and then died, surrounded by his family, that
had come to him from Chicago directly after the
shooting. His remains were enclosed in a metallic
case and returned to Chicago, where they were
buried with Masonic honors, Ed Daniels was laid
away in the little churchyard at Osceola, while John
Younger sleeps under a neglected mount in old man
Snuffer’s orchard.
THE JAMES BOY S. 81
CHAPTER XX.
TORTURE AND MURDER OF DETECTIVE WICHER.
While the terrible tragedy which terminated the
lives of Detectives Allen and Daniels was being
enacted in St. Clair county, another more atrocious
murder of one of Pinkerton’s detectives was taking
place in Clay county.
Pinkerton received information that the James
boys and others of the band of robbers were in hid¬
ing near Kearney, in Clay county, Missouri, and he
determined to send some brave, trusty man out
there to definitely locate them, get into their confi¬
dence and prepare the way for an early capture of
the whole murderous gang. Pinkerton had come to
the conclusion that open pursuit of the bandits
would never result in their capture, for they had too
many friends in the community where they operated
to make it possible to apprehend them. They al¬
ways had timely warning of the approach of an en-
emy, and ready shelter in the houses of their friends
on a moment's notice. The chief of detectives,
therefore, resolved to capture the gang through
strictly detective methods, and called upon his force
for a man to do the delicate and dangerous work.
John W. Wicher, of Chicago, one of Pinkerton’s
most trusted men, volunteered for this dangerous
duty. Wicher was scarcely thirty years of age, but
had seen much service as a detective, and was con¬
sidered by Pinkerton to be one of his bravest, clear-
est-headed and most trusty men.
Young Wicher was fully informed of the dangers
of such a mission, but his self-reliance and pride
made him anxious to make the attempt which had
already cost the lives of so many courageous offi-
cials. The chief gave his consent, and Wicher set
out at once for the Samuels residence. In the early
part of March the detective arrived in Liberty,
where he soon laid his schemes before the sheriff of
82
THE JAMES BOYS.
Clay county, and asked for assistance when the time
and circumstances were ripe for a strike. The Sheriff
promised all needful aid, and gave Wicher all the
information in his possession concerning the habits
and rendezvous of the James and Younger boys.
Changing his garb for the habit of. a tramp,
Wicher left Liberty on the 15th of March, and ar-
rived at Kearney on the same day late in the after¬
noon. He took the road leading directly tb the
Samuels residence, and had proceeded perhaps two
miles on the lonely highway, when suddenly Jesse
James walked out from behind a pile of dead brush,
and, with pistol presented, confronted the detective.
Wicher's surprise was complete, but he manifested
not the least excitement, his cool self-possession
never deserting him for a moment “Where are you
going?” was the first remark made by Jesse James.
“I am looking for work,” was Wicher’s reply.
“What kind of work do you want, and where do
you expect to find it?” asked Jesse, his pistol still
pointing full in poor Wicher’s face.
“I have been used to farm labor, and hope to find
something to do on some farm in the vicinity,” re-
sponded the detective.
Jesse James smiled contemptuously and then gave
a sharp whistle, which brought to his side Clell
Miller and Frank James, whose near presence
Wicher had not thought of. The conversation then
continued. Said Jesse: “You don't look much like
a laborer, nor is there any appearance of a tramp
about you except in your clothes. Now I want you
to acknowledge frankly just what your purpose is in
this part of the country.”
The detective began to realize how critical was
his position, and that unless the most fortuitous cir¬
cumstances should arise in his favor his chances of
escape were exceedingly small.
But with the same coolness he made reply:
Before he could use his pistol, the bandits sprang upon him.
Page 83.
THE JAMES B0YS.
84
“Well, gentlemen, I am nothing h ore than a poor
man, without as much as a dollar in my pocket, and
what I have told you as to my purpose is true. If
you will be good enough to let me proceed, or fur¬
nish me with means by which I can secure work, I
shall be thankful/'
At this the bandits laughed scornfully, while Jesse
James proceeded with the examination:
“I think you are from Chicago, and when you ar-
rived at Liberty a few days ago you wore much bet¬
ter clothes than you now have on; besides, it seems
that you and Moss (the sheriff) have some business
together. Say, now, young fellow, haven’t you set
out to locate the James boys, whom you have found
rather unexpectedly?"
Wicher saw that he was in the hands of his ene-
mies, and his heart beat in excited pulsation as he
thought of the young wife he had so recently wed¬
ded, and from whom an eternal separation appeared
certain. Dropping his head as if resigning himself
to cruel fate, Wicher hoped to deceive his captors,
and in an unguarded moment be able to draw his
pistol and fight for his life. Like a flash from a hazy
cloud the detective thrust his hand into his bosom
and succeededSn grasping his pistol, but ere he
could use it the bandits sprang upon him, and in
the grip of three strong men he was helpless. He
was then disarmed and firmly bound by small cords
which Frank James produced. Clell Miller went
into the woods and soon returned leading three
horses, on the largest of which Wicher was placed
and his feet tied under the horse's belly. A gag
was placed tightly in his mouth, and Jesse James,
mounting behind, the desperadoes rode into the
deepening woods with their victim. They crossed
the Missouri River at Independence Landing, and
just before day they halted in the black shadows of
a copse in Jackson county. Here they prepared for
THE JAMES BOYS.
8S
the punishment and execution of their prisoner.
Wicher was taken from his horse and bound fast to
a tree; the gag was removed from his mouth, and
then the bandits tried to extort from him informa¬
tion concerning the plans of Pinkerton and the num¬
ber and names of the detectives he had engaged in
the attempt to capture the outlaws.
Though they pricked him with their bowie knives
and bent his head forward with their combined
strength until the spinal column was almost broken,
and practiced other atrodous torments, yet Wicher
never spoke. He knew that death was his portion,
and he defied the desperadoes and dared them to do
their worst.
Finding all their endeavors fruitless, Jesse and
Frank James murdered their victim, one of them
shooting him through the heart and the other
through the brain. The body was then carried to
the nearest highway, where it was left to be found
next day by a farmer who was driving into Inde¬
pendence.
CHAPTER XXI.
TACKUNG C0WB0YS AND INDIANS.
The excitement following the murder of Wicher
was so great that the James boys, Clell Miller, Arthur
McCoy and the three Younger brothers quit Missouri
and again visited Texas. After carousing around
through the state until their pecuniary means were
well-nigh exhausted, they determined upon the com¬
mission of a new crime—stealing a herd of cattle. It
was in September, 1874, that the seven brigands rode
into the southwestern part of the state, where they
selected a herd of five hundred of the finest beef cattle
in Starr county, which was being tended by three cow-
boys. The herders were cruelly murdered and the rob-
bers drove the cattle rapidly toward Mexico, with the
86
THE JAMES BOYS.
design of selling them to the Mexicans, who eared
little for the real ownership of the cattle after they
were upon Mexican soil. On the extensive plains of
Texas, where the large herds are left in charge of cow-
boys to roam from season to season, subsisting en¬
tirely upon the rich grasses of the prairies, the owners
often do not see their cattle for months, trusting them
to the care of the herders. It is due to this fact, per¬
haps, that the bandits, after killing the cowboys, were
permitted to drive the herd over sixty miles and into
Mexico without being pursued.
Reaching Camargo, the bandits had no difficulty in
disposing of the cattle, and with this money they went
on a big spree, which terminated in a fight with fifteen
gringos, who were saloon loafers and petty disturbers
by profession. The result of this combat was the
wounding of Clell Miller and Jim Younger and the
killing of two Mexicans. The bandits would have
fared much worse, however, had they not gained their
horses and made rapid retreat, gaining the Rio Grande
so far in advance of their pur suer s as permitted them
to cross the driver before the Mexicans reached the
bank.
The free~booters having eluded their pursuers,
stopped at Camp Hudson for several weeks, where the
wounds of Miller and Younger were attended to.
While the gang were resting and caring for the two
wounded bandits, Frank and Jesse James crossed over
into Mexico again, where they met with a remarkable
adventure with Indiaiis.
The Apache Indians from the New Mexico reserva¬
tion used to make occasional raids into old Mexico,
and often attacked emigrants along the Rio Grande.
Frank and Jesse came across a party of three men
and their families from Texas on their way to Arizona.
They took dinner together and the Texans volunteered
much advice to Frank and Jesse, told of the danger
they had braved through the Indian country and pro-
THE JAMES B0YS.
87
posed that they all join company for the remainder of
the journey. They represented themselves as old In¬
dian fighters, who had killed hundreds of Indians in
Texas. The James boy s declined, however, to wait
the slow movements of the Texans, and after dinner
rode on. A few hour s later they discovered a band
of Indians moving along the foothills on the south,
in an easterly direction. They at once concluded that
it was not unlikely they were on the scent of the
Texas party.
Soon coming across footprints of a horse, they were
convinced that an Indian spy had preceded them from
the east, and it was then almost beyond a doubt that
the Indians were on the trail of the emigrants.
With one impulse the brothers wheeled their horses
and struck across the prairie to the foothills to try and
cut the Indian trail.
They succeeded, and found that they consisted of
fourteen warriors, and that from the course they were
taking they would soon intercept the emigrants or
strike them in camp.
The tired ponies soon caught the spirit of their dar¬
ing riders and dashed on at the best speed they were
capable of.
“Can we make it?” Jesse asked Frank; “will our
horses hold out?”
“We’ve just got to make it,” Frank replied; “it’s a
ground hog case. Think of those little tow-headed
young ones, Jess, and whoop her up. If our horses’
legs give out, we have each got two of our own/’
Rounding a point in the trail just at dusk they came
in full view of the emigrant camp. They were just in
the nick of time and not a second to spare. At that
very instant the 'blood-curdling yell of the Apaches
broke upon the evening air and the savages emerged
from a pass on the south and charged the camp.
The worn horses of the James boy s were reeling
and ready to fall.
88
THE JAMES BOYS.
Throwing themselves out of the saddles and grasp¬
ing their revolvers, they started on a run with a yell
as fearful as any red devil of them; they threw them¬
selves among the yelling fiends. Panic-stricken and
confused as one after another bit the dust at the crack
of the ready revolvers, the terrified savages scattered
in all directions. A covered wagon stood in their way
and the James boy s could not see what was going on
in the camp, but hearing a child scream out as if in
its death agony, Jesse with a six-shooter in either hand
sprang under the wagon and crawled out on the other
side.
Two big Indians were doing deadly work. Jesse
fired both revolvers in quick succession, emptying
every chamber into the two Apache devils, and then
rushed into club the life out of them with the butts
of his revolvers, if any yet remain in their infernal'
red skins.
Three minutes after the music began not a live In¬
dian was in sight, and eight dead ones lay spread out
on the ground.
After a breathing spell Frank and Jesse began to
look about them. The little girl that screamed was
only slightly hurt, having been dropped to the ground
by the stalwart Indian when Jesse shot him full of
holes. Two other little children escaped unhurt, as
did also the three women of the party. The three men
were all seriously wounded; Frank and Jesse escaped
without a scratch.
Early in December the seven bandits returned to
Missouri, thinking that, as had been usual, the excite¬
ment over their crimes had so far subsided as to per¬
mit them to visit their old homes and haunts. Their
appearance in Clay county, at least the James boys,
was noted on the 20th of January, 1875, and report of
their return was at once made to Allen Pinkerton, who,
after some correspondence with county officials and
others, formed a plan for capturing the bandits.
Jesse fired two revolvers in quick succession, emptying every
chamber into the Apache devils.—I^age 89.
90
THE JAMES BOYS.
CHAPTER XXII.
DASTARDLY DEED OF THE DETECTIVES,
The murder of Detectives Allen, Daniels and
Wicher created great excitement at the Pinkerton
headquarters. The chief of detectives felt humil-
iated at the thought that three of his most skilful
men should have been beaten at their own game and
done to death by the bandits.
Spurred on by chagrin and anger, Allen Pinker¬
ton determined that something desperate must be
done to avenge the murder of his men and retrieve
the honor of the department. No halfway milk-and-
water measures were to be thought of now. The
bandits must be handled without gloves and no fa-
vors asked or mercy shown.
The James boys and their infernal gang of ma1
rauders and murderers must be swept from the
earth. The business had narrowed down to a fight
between the Pinkertons and the bandits. The Pin-
kertons must win at all hazards. With this deter¬
mination in view William Pinkerton and five picked
detectives were cent to Kansas City, where they
were to meet the Sheriff of Clay county, Missouri,
and arrange a definite and effective plan of action.
Every precaution was taken in advance against any
possible surprise or counter-action on the part of
the bandits.
Twelve citizens of known pluck and reli&bility
were engaged to watch the Samuels home and re¬
port from hour to hour every fact learned which
had any possible bearing on the movements of the
James boys.
The greatest secrecy was enjoined upon all en¬
gaged in the undertaking, and every possible pre¬
caution was taken to prevent any alarm Teaching the
bandits.
On the afternoon of January 25th Jesse and Frank
THE JAMES BOYS.
91
James were both seen in the yard fronting the Sam¬
uels residence, and report of this quickly reached the
Sheriff and Mr. Pinkerton, who were in Liberty. Ar-
rangements were made for the immediate capture of
the two bandits, who, it was confidently supposed,
would spend the night in their mother’s house. Ac¬
cordingly, the two officars rode to Kearney late in
the afternoon, where they organized a party of
twelve men who were to assist them, and, preparing
several balls of cotton saturated with turpentine and
two hand-grenades, the well-armed body of men
proceeded to the Samuels residence, which they
reached about midnight. A reconnoissance was first
made with great care for indications of possible sur¬
prise, and, after completely surrounding the house,
four of the men with turpentine balls were sent for¬
ward to open the attack. A window in the kitchen
of the residence was stealthily approached, but in
the act of raising it an old colored woman, who had
for many years been a house servant in the family,
was awakened, and she at once gave the alarm. But
the window was forced up and the two lighted balls
were thrown into the room, and as the flames shot
upward, threatening destruction to the house and
its contents, the family were speedily aroused and
efforts were made to extinguish the fire. At the mo¬
ment every member of the household, consisting of
Mr. and Mrs. Samuels, a son eight years of age and
the daughter, Miss Susie, and the old colored
woman, had partly subdued the flames, one of the
detectives, or at least one of the party leading the
attack, flung a hand-grenade into the room among
the affrighted occupants, and a heavy explosion was
the prelude to the dreadful havoc made by that in¬
strument of death.
A, scream of anguish succeeded the report, and
groans from within, without any evidence of the
outlaws* presence, convinced the detectives and cit-
92
THE JAMES BOYS.
teens* posse that they had committed a grave and
horrible crime; so, without examining the premises
further, the party withdrew, apparently with the
fear that the inexcusable deed they had just com¬
mitted would be avenged speedily if they tarried in
the vicinity.
When the lamp was lighted by Dr. Samuels he
found his little boy in the agonies of death, having
received a terrible wound in the side from the ex¬
ploded shell. Mrs. Samuels* right arm had been
shattered and hung helpless by her side, but she for¬
got her own misfortune in the anguish she suffered
at seeing the dying struggles of her little boy.
What a terrible night was that memorable 25th of
January to the Samuels family! Alone with their
dead boy, whom they worshiped, and with a des¬
perately wounded mother, who would certainly
have bled to death but for the thoughtfulness of the
old colored servant, who hastily bandaged the arm
and staunched the flow of the crimson life current.
The funeral of the innocent victim did not take
place until th? second day after the midnight at¬
tack, and then Mrs. Samuels, who had suffered an
amputation of the injured member, was too greatly
prostrated to attend and witness the last service
over her darling boy, but the remains were accom-
panied to the grave by a very large body of sympa¬
thizing people of the neighborhood.
This unfortunate and indefensible attack for a
time allayed public animosity against the James
boys, and turned the sympathy of people in West¬
ern Missouri somewhat in their favor. Those who
had been most earnest in their desire to see Jesse
and Frank James brought to punishment began to
think more lightly of their crirnes, attributing them
partly, at least, to the manner in which they had
been hunted and persecuted. It is a notorious fact
that for sometime this sentiment predominated in
THE JAMES B0YS.
93
Clay and Jackson counties, and the same feeling ex¬
tended to other parts of the state, and in March fol¬
lowing led to the introduction of an amnesty bill in
the Legislature, granting immunity for past offenses
committed by Jesse and Frank James, Coleman
Younger, James Younger and Robert Younger. The
bill was introduced by Gen. Jeff Jones," of Callaway
county, and contained a provisional clause that am¬
nesty would be granted the parties named in the in¬
strument for all offenses committed during the war,
provided they would surrender to the lawful author-
ities and submit to such proceedings as might be
brought against them in the several states for
crimes charged against them since the war. After
a stormy debate the bill was defeated, although had
it passed none of the bandits named would have ac¬
cepted the terms, for surrender meant either execu¬
tion or life imprisonment. A rejection of the terms
of surrender by the Legislature afforded a fresh
pretext, however, to the bandits to pfursue their
crimes of blood and pillage, and it was not long be¬
fore the country was again startled by the daring
deeds of the outlaws.
The purport and intent oi the “Outlaw Amnesty
Bill” appears in the following quotations thereon:
Whereas, By the 4th section of the nth Article of
the Constitution of Missouri all persons in the mili¬
tary service of the United States, or who acted
under the authority thereof in this state, are relieved
from all civil liability and all criminal punishment
for all acts done, by them since the ist day of Jan-
uarv, A. D. 1861; and
Whereas, By the 12th section of the said nth Ar¬
ticle of said Constitution provision is made by
which, under certain circumstances, may be seized,
transported to, indicted, tried and punished in dis¬
tant counties any Confederate under ban of despotic
displeasure, thereby contravening the Constitution
94
THE JAMES BOYS.
of the United States and every principle of enlight¬
ened humanity; and
Whereas, Such discrimination evidences a want of
manly generosity and statesmanship 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 pronounced 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 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 tiQ
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 too gallant
and honorable to betray a friend or break a promise,
and beheving further that most, if not all, of the of-
fenses with which they are charged have been com¬
mitted 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 perpetrators;
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 the
real criminals, and that common justice, sound pol-
icy and true statesmanship alike demand that am-
nesty should be extended to all alike of both parties
for all acts done or charged to have been done dur¬
ing the war; therefore, be it
THE JAMES BOYS.
95
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Sen¬
ate concurring therein, That the Governor of the state
be, and he is' hereby, requested to issue his procla¬
mation 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 to remain, submitting themselves to such
proceedings as may be instituted against them by
the courts for all offenses charged to have been com¬
mitted since said war, promising and guaranteeing
to them and each of them full protection 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.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE JAMES BOYS RETALIATE.
When Jesse James learned the fearful result of
the midnight attack on his home he was wild with
rage, and swore immediate and eternal vengeance
against the perpetrators of the outrage.
With all his crimes and shortcomings, Jesse
James still possessed one manly virtue—affection
for his mother and home—and it was but natural
that the dastardly outrage of the detectives, result¬
ing in the death of the bandit’s innocent little broth¬
er, should inspire him to direful deeds of revenge.
Jesse communicated with his’brother Frank, and
the two bandits resolved upon an immediate inves¬
tigation into the terrible affair.
For reasons known only to themselves they sus-
pected Mr. Daniel Askew of being a member of the
THE JAMES BOYS*
96
posse which made the attack on the Samuels resi¬
dence, and this belief was justification sufficient, in
their estimation, for murdering that gentleman; but
the plan of its execution was equally as dastardly as
the casting of the hand-grenade blindly and sav¬
agely among the several members of Dr. Samuels’
family.
The circumstances of the assassination were as
follows: Mr. Askew_was an unpretentious farmer
living about four miles from Kearney, in a neat
frame house, but with no neighbors nearer than one
mile. He had returned home from Liberty late in
the afternoon of April 12th, 1875, and after eating
supper took a bucket and went to the spring, which
was fifty yards from the house, after water. This
was about 8 o’clock in the evening, but the moon
was shining brightly and objects were plainly dis-
cernable.
He returned from the spring with the water and
sat the bucket upon a shelf on the porch, after which
he proceeded to take a drink, but as he was in the
act of lifting the cup to his mouth three sharp shots
rang out upon the still air, and Mr. Askew plunged
forward on his face dead, the three bullets having
taken fatal effect upon his person, one entering the
brain and the two others Teaching vital spots in his
body.
At the sound of the shots and the heavy fall on
the porch Mr. Askew’s wife and daughter rushed
out of the house just in time to see three men steal
out from behind^ the cover of a large woodpile in
front of the porch and regain their horses and ride
swiftly away. The three assassins were undoubted¬
ly Jesse and Frank James and Clell Miller, for with¬
in an hour after the murder these three met a gen¬
tleman upon the highway and informed him of Mr.
Askew’s fate, and told him the murder was in con¬
sequence of the acts of Pinkerton’s detectives.
97
THE* JAMES BOYS.
This cowardly act, by which a peaceable citizen
had been made to surrender up his life for the sake
of a savage revenge, destroyed again every spark of
sympathy for the desperadoes, and the determina¬
tion for their capture was reriewed. Armed posses
,of Clay county citizens set out in search of the as-
sassins, but the pursuit was in vain, and after a week
of earnest effort, finding no trace of the brigands,
the party returned to their homes, each one recking
how soon his turn might come to add to the gory
record of the remorseless freebooters.
CHAPTER XXIV.
.THE SAN ANTONIO STAGE ROBBERY.
Frank and Jesse James did not remain long in
Western Missouri after the murder of Mr. Askew.
The latter was a general favorite in the community,
where he had lived for many years, and the James
boys knew that there was great danger of some of the
murdered farmePs many friends getting them into
trouble.
Accordingly, after gathering a remnant of their old
band together, Frank and Jesse with said remnant,
consisting of Clell Miller, Jim Reed and Cole and Jim
Younger, left Missouri and visited their old haunts in
the Southwest. They spent several days in the Indian
Territory for the purpose of learning with what per-
sistency and the character of the search being made by
the authorities.
Finding that all effort at their apprehension was
confined to Western Missouri, the outlaws rode into
Texas and soon formed a plan for robbing the stage
running between San Antonio and Austin. To plan
was to execute, and on the 12th of May, 1875, Jesse
James, Clell Miller, Jim Reed and Cole and Jim
Younger selected a spot on the highway about twenty-
THE JAMES BOYS*
98
three miles southwest of Austin, and there ambushed
themselves to await the coming of the stage.
It was late in the evening, the sun just descending
behind the hills and the chirrup of twilight insects
had begun to echo in the solitude of the place. Eleven
passengers, three of whom were ladies, were cheerily
cracking jokes and relieving the discomforts of the
journey by agreeable conversation. Suddenly the
driver descried five horsemen riding out into the road
one hundred yards ahead of the stage and advancing
leisurely. Their appearance and' conduct looked sus¬
picious, but as no robberies had been perpetrated on
the highway for many years, the driver did not realize
what the act portended until, as the stage bowled up,
the five men, drawing their pistols, commanded a halt.
The order, being accompanied by such persuavive au-
thority, of course the obedience of the driver was
prompt. Then the passengers wondered what it
meant, but before they could propound a question
four of the brigands rode up on either side of the
stage and ordered the inmates to get out. The women,
seeing such cruel-looking men and their fierce-looking
pistols, screamed and scrambled over the male pas¬
sengers with utter disregard of propriety, and created
much confusion. Jesse James and Cole Younger did
the talking for the bandits, and in courteous language
assured the ladies they had nothing to fear, provided
the passengers acted with discretion. Soon the eleven
but recently gay travelers were arranged in single file
along the road behind the stage, and as not the slight-
est resistance was offered, Frank James and Jim
Younger had no difficulty in expeditiously relieving
all the passengers of their money, watches and other
valuables. Among the number was John Brecken-
ridge, president of the First National Bank of San
Antonio, from whom $1,000 were obtained; Bishop
Gregg, of Austin, contributed his gold watch and
233227
THE JAMES BOYS. 99
nearly $50 in money, while from the other passengers
sums from $25 to $50 were obtained.
Having completed the personal plunder, the bandits
cyt open the two mail bags, from which a goodly sum
of money was secured.
The haul aggregated $3,000, which they placed in a
sack, carried for the purpose. Having appropriated
all the valuables the passengers possessed, the bandits
cut out the lead span of horses and, taking these with
them, rode away rapidly toward the north.
The loss of two horses so delayed the stage that it
was not until four o’clock on the following morning
that it reached Austin; this prevented an early report
of the robbery, so that fully eighteen hours had elapsed
after the perpetration of the outrage before the sher¬
iff, with ten men, went in pursuit. The search for the
robber s was fruitless for more than two weeks, the
trail, seemingly, being thoroughly covered. After the
sheriff returned home, a reward of $500 was offered
for the capture of the bandits, and some time after¬
ward several detectives came upon a party by the
name of Jim Reed, whom they suspected of having
been one of the robber s, and in their efforts to arrest
him he fought his would-be captors until mortally
wounded. Before dying, it is claimed, that he con-
fessed to a participation in both the stage and Gad’s
Hill robberies.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE KANSAS PACIFIC TRAIN ROBBERY.
After robbing the San Antonio stage the bandits
remained in hiding somewhere in Texas until late in
the following fall, and. then returned North. In De¬
cember the James boys learned of an intended ship¬
ment on the 12th of that month of a large quantity of
gold dust from Denver .to the* East- yi#a.fhe* Kansas Pa-;
cific Railroad. A* Vas;at hnQer-d^v&ed^or-jtl^:
IOO
THE 'JAMES BOYS.
interception and appropriation of the treasure. To
accomplish this design, the band, consisting of Cole
and Bob Younger, Jesse and Frank James and Clell
Miller, took into their confidence a worthless fellow
in Kansas City named Bud McDaniels. There is an¬
other story to the effect that McDaniels had learned
of the intended valuable shipment through a friend in
Denver, and that, communicating this knowledge to
the bandits named, the six then confederated together,
with pledges of confidence, to accomplish the robbery.
On the 13th of December, the outlaws being well
mounted, left Jackson county without the discovery
having been made of their presence in the locality, and
rode over to Wyandotte county. The localities along
the railroad were inspected for the purpose of select-
ing the most available place for the successful perpe¬
tration of the crime then in contemplation.
The spot finally chosen was one mile east of Muncie,
Kansas, and five miles west of Kansas City. This
selection was made because there was a water tank at
the place at which trains almost invariably stopped,
and because the Kaw River ran alongside the road
with a margin of heavy timber and brush, in which
the bandits secreted themselves, after placing a pile
of old ties on the track, to await the train which was
due at 445 in the afternoon. They had been under
cover only a short time, when a bank of smoke in the
distance and the singing sound that ran along the rails
signalled the approaching train. It happened on that
particular occasion the engine did not require water,
and would have run by had not the engineer discovered
a pile of ties on the track, which compelled a stop. At
the moment the train came to a standstill the robbers
sprang from out their hiding place and, advancing
with menacing weapons, forced a compliance with
their demands. Each one of the bandits was thor¬
oughly masked and their appearance indicated deter¬
mination. One of these, since believed to have been
THE JAMES B0YS.
lox
McDaniels, covered the engineer and fireman with his
pistols, while the others distributed themselves among
the passengers and the express car, They uncoupled
and made the engineer pull the express car forward
about one hundred feet, when they forced the messen¬
ger to open the safe and took about $30,000 in cur-
rency and $25,000 worth of gold dust. They also
robbed some of the passengers of money, but left
them their watches. There was some jewelry in the
express car which the thieves took, however, and this
furnished the evidence which gave them away in a
short time. The horses of the gang were hitched in
a little clump of brush in plain sight of the train, and
after the robbery the passengers saw them run across
the intervening open ground and mount their horses
with the sack full of plunder.
They rode away across the Kaw River bridge, pass¬
ing within five miles of Kansas City. Late that even¬
ing they overtook a man named Steele and made him
exchange horses with one of them.
After the train reached Kansas City due report was
made of the robbery, and an armed band of about
twenty-five persons went in pursuit. The track was
easily found, and on the day following the sherifFs
posse traced the bandits through Westport, Jackson
county, and discovered the spot, five miles southeast
of that place, where they had camped, and doubtless
divided their booty.
The robbers made directly for their secret haunts on
the Blue, however, and further search'by the author-
ities proved unavailing.
Th old band of outlaws was immediately charged
writh the crime, chiefly Because of the manner in
which the robbery was completed, the well-known,
distinguishing marks of the bandits, so familiar
with that section, affording almost conclusive evi¬
dence, though the circumstantial testimony would
102
THE JAMES BOYS.
never have been sufficient for the conviction of any
of the old band had they been arrested.
Two days after the robbery Bud McDaniels hired
a horse and buggy in Kansas City for the purpose of
treating his girl to a ride.
Proceeding to her house he found she was absent,
and, being much provoked, he drank frequently, and
was soon driving through the streets in a very reck¬
less manner, indicative of a decidedly drunken con¬
dition. He was at length arrested by the police,
and on searching him at the station-house, prepara¬
tory to locking him up to :ober off, they found on
him $1,034 in money, two reiolvers and some jew-
elry, which he said he had bought to give his girl.
His statement as to where he had bought it was not
very definite, and, besides, the description of the
jewelry taken from the train had been fui„iished to
the police. ; Suspicion was instantly aroused, and in¬
vestigation resulted in the positive identification of
the jewelry. It was also found that Bud had been
out of town. The case was too clear. He had to go
back to Kansas to stand his trial. He had a pre¬
liminary examination, and was held to answer be¬
fore the grand jury. He had refused to breathe a
word about his confederates. McDaniels was con¬
fined for a considerable time in the Lawrence jail;
when he was taken out by a deputy sheriff, who at¬
tempted to conduct him to the court-house for trial,
McDaniels made a break and succeeded in escaping.
After enjoving his liberty for about one week, he
was discovered, and in the effort to again arrest him
the officers, meeting with resistance, one of them
shot him dead.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE HUNTINGTON BANK -ROBBERY,
After the train robbery there was a short separa¬
tion of the outlaws, some going to Texas and others
THE JAMES BOYS.
103
proceeding East, where identification was less liable,
for the purpose of enjoying the sights of New York
and Washington.
Each of the band was now provided with suffi¬
cient wealth to dissipate every desire, for the time,
except the best and most enjoyable means for spend¬
ing it. During a short residence in the East Cole
Younger formed the acquaintance of a sharp, black-
eyed fellow who went by the name of Jack Kean,
alias Tom Webb. This man had spent many years
in Kentucky and West Virginia, being at all times
a suspicious character, and it was he who proposed
the robbery of the bank at Huntington. Cole
Younger and Frank James considered the proposi¬
tion, and meeting Tom, or Tomlinson McDaniels,
a brother of Bud’s, at Petersburg, they laid the
scheme before him, and then the four concluded to
raid the bank.
The plan for the robbery being perfected, the
bandits decided to wait until fall, when the bank
would probably carry a large amount of money for
the handling of the harvests.
About the first of September the four bandits rode
into town under the leadershio of Frank James and
proceeded directly to the bank, which they reached
at 2 P. M. Frank James and McDaniels dismounted,
leaving Younger and Keen standing guard on the
outside. When Frank and McDaniels entered the
bank they found only R._T. Oney, the cashier, and a
citizen who was making a deposit; these the robbers
covered with their pistols and compelled the cashier
to open the safe and deliver up all the money in the
bank', amounting to $10,000. Having secured the
booty, the four outlaws rode rapidly out of town,
not a single person in the place having the least
suspicion of what had occurred until Mr. Oney
spread the news.
A posse of twenty-five citizens, headed by the
104 THE JAMES BOYS.
Sheriff, set out in pursuit of the bandits at 3 o’clock,
one hour after the robbery was consummated, and
followed the trail with the greatest persistency. The
officers in other counties were notified by telegraph,
and armed bodies of men were sent out from a
dozen towns. One ' hundred miles southwest of
Huntington the robbers were sighted, and in an ex¬
change of shots McDaniels was killed. This en-
couraged the pursuing party, who pressed the ban¬
dits so hard that they were forced to abandon their
horses and take to the mountain fastnesses of Ken¬
tucky.
The pursuit continued unabated for four weeks,
and at length the outlaws were driven out of Ken¬
tucky and into Tennessee; here Keen was captured
and taken back to Huntington, where he made a
confession and was sentenced to eight years’ im¬
prisonment in the penitentiary. Frank James and
Cole Younger eluded pursuit and returned to the
Indian Territory, where they met Jesse James and
his band of highwaymen, and forthwith new plans
were laid for another robbery.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE MISSOURI PACIFIC ROBBERY.
Immediately after the Huntington raid Frank
James and those of the bandits who joined hini
therein lit out for the Indian Territory. There they
were met by Jesse James and others of the band,
and at once began to reorganize their gang. The
James boys were recognized as the chiefs in author-
ity, and their word was law among the bandits.
The band spent nearly a year in reorganizing
their forces and getting ready for a new series of
raids on banks, railroad trains and stage coaches.
They made no demonstration until more than a
year had passed away after the Huntington bank
THE JAMES BOYS.
105
robbery, when the old tactics of the bandits were
once more put into practice on a train of the Mis¬
souri Pacific Railroad, at a point known as Rocky
Cut, about four miles east of Otterville, in Pettis
county, Missouri. The particuiars of this bold ad¬
venture are as follows:
About 9 o'clock on the night of the 7th of July,
1876, Henry Chateau, the old Swiss watchman at
the Otter bridge, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad,
was sitting by the pumphouse smoking his cob pipe
and enjoying the balmy air of the evening. ‘ The
sound of voices fell on his ear, and looking out into
the shadow he saw four men walking across the
bridge toward him. It was an isolated, out-of-the-
way place, and though strangers did n<5t very often
pass, their very scarcity made company the more
welcome.
The men came along and proved to be right so¬
ciable fellows. Three of them sat down, passed the
compliments of the evening and talked a few min-
utes about anything that occurred to mind. Pres¬
ently the fourth, who was a tremendously big fel¬
low, standing just in front of the watchman, asked:
“What kind of a job have you got ? What do you
have to do here ?”
“Just watch the bridge,” was the reply. “If there
is danger I show the red light and the train stops.
If all is safe I show the white light and she goes on/’
The big fellow remarked that that was a good,
easy job. Then, turning to one of. his comrades, he
o cPpn •
“What time is it?”
“Ten minutes after 9,” said the other.
“It’s about time.”
One of the others rose to his feet and asked for
a drink of water. The watchman stepped into the
pumphouse to *get it, and was suddenly seized. A
revolver was placed at his head and he was a pris-
106
THE JAMES BOYS.
oner. The next thing he discovered was that all the
men had pulled out masks and slipped them on. The
large man then said:
“Come, follow us, and be quiet.”
Trembling with fear, the watchman pleadingly
inquired: “You do not intend to kill me?”
“What do we want to kill you for?” replied the
leader; “we only want you to do what you’re told,
and if you are wise you’ll do it without any ques-
tions.”
The large fellow then pulled from his pocket a
handkerchief, with which the prisoner was blind¬
folded, and then taking up the white and red lights,
the parties crossed the bridge and walked for more
than a mile along the track, when they came to a
deep rocky cut two miles east of Otterville, where
the captive watchman was ordered to be seated,
two of the robbers maintaining guard over him.
Meantime others of the gang heaped a lot of ties on
the track. Presently the train was heard in the dis¬
tance. Then one of the bandits lighted the red lan¬
tern, which he placed in the watchman’s hand, and
led him out on the track, telling him to stand there
and stop the train or be run over or shot, just as he
chose.
The train consisted of two baggage, one express,
three passenger and two sleeping cars, John Stand-
thorpe engineer and Captain Tebbitts conductor.
On came the train, and the prisoner, who conceived
death staring at him from every side, made indus¬
trious use of the signal. The vigilant engineer saw
it, and, applying the air brakes, brought the locomo¬
tive to a standstill about twenty feet from the fright¬
ened watchman. Pistol shots were heard, and the
old man, slightly moving the bandage over his eyes,
saw that his guards had vanished; frightened, then,
at what he could not define, the watchman threw'
down the lantern and fled through the woods in the
THE JAMES BOYS.
107
darkness. The cowcatcher of the engine had ac¬
tually pushed in amongst the pile of ties on the
track, and had the train stopped less promptly the
engine would have been ditched.
The engineer and fireman had company in an in¬
stant. Two masked men shoved revolvers at them,
telling them to take it easy and come along. They
were quickly escorted to the baggage car and forced
in. Others of the band had instantly piled an ob¬
struction on the track behind the train, so that it
could not back out, and also dispatched a man to
the bridge to flag a freight train shortly due. Still
others at the sides of the train kept the passengers
indoors, firing and warning all not to come out.
The work of robbing was executed with a cool¬
ness unparalleled in the history of crimes of this
kind. The express messenger, J. B. Bushnell, had
in his charge a through safe of the Adams Express
Company, for which he had no key, and a United
States Express safe. The messenger, divining what
was up as soon as the train stopped, made his way
back to.one of the sleepers and gave the United
States safe key to a brakeman, who put it in his
shoe; hence, when three of the robbers rushed into
the express car, which was also a baggage car, they
found the baggageman sitting there looking de¬
mure. They asked him for keys to the safes, and
when he said he had none they searched him. Then
they advised him somewhat earnestly to hunt them
up or say his prayers. Finally he convinced them
that he was not the messenger. Without a mo-
ment’s warning they bade him show them the mes¬
senger. Through the train they marched him in
front of their revolvers until the messenger was
found. The arguments used to induce him to give
up the key proved irresistible. The brakeman was
pointed out, the shoe pulled off and the key found.
The messenger and brakeman were then marched
108 THE JAMES B0YS.
forward to the baggage car and locked in, with the
injunction not to be “too fly.”
The United States safe contents were speedily
transferred to a grain sack without examination.
The messenger once more found himself in peril,
because he had no key to the Adams through safe,
but, as his explanation was reasonable, the robbers
were convinced. One of the bandits then ran out,
got the fireman's hammer and began banging at the
safe. He was unable to produce much impression,
whereupon a herculean bandit caught the hammer,
and with a few tremendous blows broke a hole in
the side, into which he vainly attempted to force his
hand. The first striker, however, remarked that he
“wore a No. 7 kid,” and could do better.
In just two minutes the safe was plundered and
the booty bagged. No attempt was made to rob the
passengers. The trainboy’s box was broken open,
and peanuts and apples were gobbled up voracious¬
ly. Only one or two shots were fired from the train,
the robbers keeping up a fusillade_on both sides and
moving from point to point, so that in the darkness
it seemed as though the brush was full of men.
The train boy had a revolver, and early in the
fracas he stepped out on the platform and blazed
away at one of the robbers, who gave a loud, croak-
ing laugh and called out: “Hear that little
bark!” As soon as the safes had been emptied the
robbers told the trainmen to remove the obstruc-
tions before and behind and pull out, which was
done with alacrity. The train was stopped an hour
and ten minutes, and the booty secured amounted
to fifteen thousand dollars.
All the robbers who were seen in the cars were
tall men, except the one who said he wore the No.
7 kid, and he was the only one who wore no mask.
The others were masked in various ways, some hav¬
ing the whole face covered, except holes for the
THE JAMES BOYS.
109
eyes, and some having a mask covering only the
nose and lower part of' the face. The one who
seemed to be the leader was tall and had light or
yellowish hair.
The mustering for the pursuit was hot and zeal¬
ous. Bacon Montgomery started out from Sedalia
with a picked crowd and ran the robbers to*within
three miles of Florence, where they scattered tem¬
porarily and took to the hills. Sheriff Murry led
another band. On every side the country was in
arms. The robbers were eight in number. It was
found where they had eaten at farmhouses the day
before the robbery. Accurate descriptions were
given, and it was positively stated that the Young-
ers had been recognized both on the advance and
retreat. Major Wood accordingly visited the
Younger settlement and reported that the boys had
not been away from home.
The Osage River was high, all the fords were
guarded, and from the other side the country was
scouted in every direction, yet the robbers were
cunning enough to get away without apparently
ever being run to close quarters. Matters fell to a
dead quiet, and the pursuit changed to a still hunt,
till about the ist of August, when Hobbs Kerry and
Bruce Younger were arrested at Joplin and Granby,
the St. Louis police having taken a hand at working
up the case. Bruce Younger was soon discharged,
as it was easily shown that he was not at Otterville.
Kerry, however, was positively identified. It ap-
pears the name of every member of the band had
been definitely ascertained, and most of them had
been traced to their lairs. Charley Pitts and Bill
Chadwell had gone to Cherokee and Coalfield, Kan¬
sas, where an attempt was made to arrest them by
agreement on the same day Kerry was taken in.
Pitts was captured on Spring River with one thou¬
sand eight hundred dollars in his pocket, but subse-
no
THE JAMES BOYS.
quently got away. He had been engaged to marry
a widow named Lillie Bearner, but about three
weeks after the robbery he married another girl in
Coalfield. As he had already temporarily intrusted
a two-thousand-dollar package to Mrs. Beamer, and
talked freely about the robbery, she was not slow
to tell of it when he married the other girl. Pitts*
real name was Wells. An effort was made to arrest
Chadwell the same time that Pitts was taken, but he
got into a cornfield and escaped. The officers, who
were sheriff's deputies, then rushed back into Mis¬
souri after the James and Younger boy s, but, as
usual, did not get them. Kerry made a full confes¬
sion about a week after he was captured. He said
Cole and Bob Younger, Frank and Jesse James,
Clell Miller, Charles Pitts, Bill Chadwell and him¬
self did the job. They rode twenty miles the first
night before dividing the money. Then they emp-
tied the sack, ripoed open the packages, put all the
money in a pile and Frank James counted it.
Kerry’s duty was to watch the horses while the
robbery was being accomplished.
His share was one thousand two hundred dollars.
Then he and Chadwell and Pitts went out together.
They got away easy enough. Kerry left them at
Vinita, then back to Granby, where he spent money
gambled, gave himself away and was sent to the
penitentiary for four years.
The usual proffer of an alibi came from the James
boys in spite of Kerry and the Widow Beamer.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE NORTH FIELD TRAGEDY.
After the Missouri Pacific Railroad robbery, Frank
and Jesse James, with Charley Pitts, Clell Miller and
Bill Chadwell, went to Texas, while the Younger
brothers proceeded to Jackson county and secreted
THE JAMES BOYS.
Ill
themselves m the famous cavern, where they ielt se¬
cure against molestation.
About the middle of August Cole Younger conclud-
ed to visit Texas, and in order to make the trip without
interference, he conceived the idea of masking his
identity behind the make-up of a teamster. To pre-
pare for the journey, he went to Lee’s Summit, accom-
panied by his brothers, Jim and Bob, where, after a
short stay, he purchased a pair of horses and a sub¬
stantial wagon, which, being loaded with provisions of
various kinds, the three started for Texas on the fol¬
lowing day. They had proceeded only a few miles in
Kansas, through which the route was taken, when
they met the James brothers with their confederates,
Clell Miller, Charley Pitts and Bill Chadwell. At this
meeting plans were discussed respecting the plunder¬
ing of a bank in Minnesota.
Bill Chadwell, alias Styles, who was with the James
boys, had been a former resident of Minnesota, in
which state he had some respectable relations. His ac¬
quaintance in the eastern part of the state led to a con¬
sideration of the result of a bank robbery in that sec¬
tion. He told a long and plausible story concerning
the wealth of that country; the heavy deposits carried
by some of the banks, that of Mankato being especially
mentioned, and then declared his knowledge of every
road and hog path, cave and swamp within two hun¬
dred miles of St. Paul. His story produced a most
'favorable impression, and the reorganized party pro¬
ceeded to Minnesota by railroad.
On September 7th the eight daring brigands rode
into Northfield, a town of two thousand inhabitants*.
located on the line of the Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail¬
road, in Rice county.
A small stream runs through the place, called Can¬
non River, over which there is a neat iron bridge, and
just above this there is an excellent mill race, with a
large flouring mill owned by Messrs. Ames & Co.
112 THE JAMES BOYS.
The town is chiefly noted for the location of Carlton
College, one of the finest educational institutions in
the state.
Just before noon three of the bandits dined at Jeft’s
restaurant, on the west side of .Cannon River. After
eating they taiked politics, and one of them offered to
bet the restaurant man one hundred dollar s that the
state would go Democratic. The bet was not taken,
and they then rode across the bridge into the business
part of the town, hitching their horses nearly in front
of the First National Bank. They stood for some
time talking leisurely near the corner. Suddenly there
came like a whirlwind a rush of horsemen over the
bridge. There were only three of them, but they made
racket enough for a regiment. Riding into the square
with whoops and oaths, they began firing revolvers
and ordering everybody off the streets. Almost at the
same moment two others rode down from the west,
carrying out a similar programme. It was a new ex¬
perience for Northfield, and for a few minutes the
slamming'of front doors almost drowned the noise of
the firing.
At the first sound of the onset the three men who
first entered town—Jesse James, Charley Pitts and Bob
Younger—had walked quickly into the bank and leaped
nimbly over the counter. The cashier, J. L. Hay¬
wood, was at his place, and Frank Wilcox and A. E.
Bunker, clerks, were at their desks. All were covered
by the revolvers before th,ey apprehended danger, The
robbers stated that they intended to rob the bank. The
cashier was commanded to open the safe, and bravely
refused. The outer door of the vault was standing
ajar, and the leader stepped in to try the inner door.
As he did so Haywood jumped forward and tried to
shut him in.
One of the others, afterward found to be Charlie
Pitts, promptly arrested the movement. At this mo¬
ment Bunker thought he saw a chance, and so he
THE JAMES BOYS.
113
broke for the back door. The third robber, Bob
Younger, followed and fired two shots, one of which
took effect in the fugitive’s shoulder. The others then
insisted that Haywood should open the safe, and, put¬
ting a knife to his throat, said, “Open up, d—d you,
•or wefll slit you from ear to ear!” A slight cut was
made to enforce the demand. Haywood still refused.
Meantime the firing outside had commenced, and the
men then began to cry out, “Hurry up! It’s getting
too hot here!” The three hastily ransacked the draw¬
ers, and finding only a lot of small change, jumped
over the railing and ran out. Jesse James was the
last to go, and as he was in the act of leaping from the
counter, he saw Haywood turn quickly to a drawer
as if in the act of securing a weapon. Instantly the
outlaw presented his pistol and shot the brave cashier
dead.
- The bullet penetrated the right temple and, ranging
downward, lodged near the base of the brain. Hay¬
wood fell over without a groan, a quantity of his
blood and brains staining the desk as he reeled in the
death fall. The shot which struck Bunker entered
his right shoulder at the point of the shoulder blade
and passed through obliquely, producing only a flesh
wound.
As the bandits rushed into the street they met a
sight and reception quite unexpected. Recovering
from their first surprise, the citizens began to exhibit
their pluck, and were ready to meet the outlaws half
way in a deadly fight. A search for firearms was the
first important step, and Dr. Wheeler, J. B. Hyde, L.
Stacey, Mr. Manning and Mr. Bates each succeeded
in procuring a weapon, which they expeditiously put
into service. Dr. Wheeler, from a corner room (No.
8) in the Dampier House, with a breech-loading car¬
bine, took deliberate aim at one of the bandits as he
was mounting and sent a big slug through the out¬
law^ body. The death-stricken man plunged head-
114
THE JAMES BOYS.
long from his horse and never uttered a sound after¬
ward. This man proved to be Bill Chadwell, or, prop¬
erly, Bill Styles.
Mr. Bates was in a room over Hananer’s clothing
store, in the Scriver block, while Manning stood fear¬
lessly on the sidewalk, and the two kept firing at the
robbers as opportunity presented. At length Manning
walked out, and seeing one of the bandits riding rap¬
idly up Division street, he fired, and was rewarded by
seeing the robber grow unsteady in his seat, and then,
checking the speed of his horse, tumble to the ground.
This second victim proved to be Clell Miller, and as
he fell Cole Younger, seeing the fatal result, rode up
to the prostrate comrade, from whose body he unbuck-
led a belt containing two pistols, securing which, he
remounted and rode back to the others, who were still
firing. Another of the outlaws used his horse as a
barricade, and from behind it he continued to shoot
until another shot from Manning^ gun killed the
horse. His protection being destroyed the bandit ran
for the iron stairway which leads to the second story
of the Scriber block from the outside. Behind this
stairway were a number of empty pine boxes, from
behind which the bandit used every effort to kill Man¬
ning. Dr. Wheeler was a critical observer of every¬
thing occurring in the street, and, bringing his‘carbine
to bear on the outlaw, he fired, sending a bullet
through the bandit’s right elbow. This man proved
to be Bob Younger, who, not in the least discouraged
•by his painful wound, coolly maintained his position,
and, shifting his pistol to the left hand, fired at Bates,
who was standing with his weapon unraised inside
his store. The bullet passed through a window plate
and cut a furrow through Mr. Bates* cheek, but not
deep enough to draw much blood.
A Norwegian by the name of Nicholas Gustavson
was on the street, when one of the bandits ordered
him to get indoors. His limited knowledge of the
The outlaw presented his pistol and shot the brave cashier
dead.—Page 115.
Il6 THE JAMES BOYS.
English language caused his death, for, not under¬
standing the command, the outlaw shot him in the
head, producing a wound from which he died four
days afterward.
By some means Jim Younger lost his horse, and
the other bandits, finding the citizens’ fire too de¬
structive, mounted their horses and fled. At this
moment Jim shouted: “My God! boys, you don’t in¬
tend to desert me? I am shot!” At this Cole
Younger dashed back and took his wounded brother
up behind him. The gang then rode rapidly out of
town, going in a westwardly direction.
After getting out of Northfield the outlaws
galloped hard for a mile, and then stopped for a few
minutes to dress their hurts.
It was afterward ascertained that every man in
the party was wounded more or less severely, some
of them being merely punctured with small shot.
This was the result of Mr. Stacy’s double-barrel
shotgun, which he had no time to charge with large
shot.
At Dundas, three miles from. Northfield, they
stopped again and made another application of cold
water and bandages. One of them was so badly
hurt that another of the band got on the horse with
him to hold him on, the riderless horse being led by
a comrade. Thus adjusted the six rode away again.
On the road they met a man by the name of Em-
pey, hauling a load of hoop poles. As he had one
fine horse, they knocked him into the ditch, cut the
horses out of the harness and went ahead a little
way, when they had to pull up again to dress their
wounds.
Starting on again, they stopped another farmer,
but, concluding that his horses were not as good as
some of their wounded ones, let him go.
At this time Frank James was wearing a bandage
around his leg outside his trousers, and Jim Young-
THE JAMES BOYS.
117
er had a cloth around his arm and was holding one
hand in the other, the blood dripping from his fin-
gers, while his horse was led by a comrade. This,
of course, explains how it happened that they got
away no faster. Had they abandoned the worst
wounded ones to their fate, there is little doubt but
that the others would have gotten away easily
enough. As it was, the s’fory of the chase abounds
in incidents almost too marvelous for belief.
Every point, including St. Paul and Minneapolis,
was immediately notified of the robbery by tele¬
graph, and police officers, detectives and sheriffs*
posses were sent out after the fleeing bandits in
such numbers that it was thought impossible for
any of the outlaws to escape.
Very soon rewards were offered for the apprehen¬
sion of the desperadoes, which stimulated the al¬
ready active hunt. The state offered $1,000 for the
arrest of the six bandits, which offer was changed
to $1,000 for each of the gang, dead or alive; $700
was offered by the Northfield bank and $500 by the
Winona and St. Peter Railroad.
A posse of fourteen men overtook the bandits on
the night of the nth in a ravine near Shieldsville,
and fell back after a fight in which one of the rob-
bers’ horses was killed. The dismounted rider was
immediately taken up behind one of the others and
the band took to the woods.
More than 400 men turned out to cut them off.
They got into a patch of timber at Lake Elysian and
were run out of it the next day, and, though the
scouting parties increased to a thousand, two days
later the robbers had . been completely lost. They
aimed to go southwest and follow the timber, which
reaches to the Iowa line, but on the 13th all six were
surrounded in the timber near Mankato, and all
bridges, fords and roads guarded, so that it was
thought they could not escape. At 2 o'clock in the
n8 THE JAMES BOYS.
morning four of them came out, ran the guard off
Blue Earth bridge and crossed over, and left a regi¬
ment of pursuers behind. Next night two of them,
Jesse and Frank James, broke through a picket line
on one horse. They were fired upon, and, abandon-
ing the horse, took to a cornfield.
While riding double a ball fired by one of the
pursuing posse struck Frank James in the right
knee, and, pasing through, imbedded itself in Jesse’s
right thigh, producing painful wounds. They stole
two gray horses that night from a man named Rock¬
well, and went into Madelia in the morning and
bought some bread; then they took to the prairie
and struck out for Dakota. The two gray horses
ridden and the overcoats worn * y the James boys
left the pursuers an easy means of keeping track
of them. Both were so badly hurt and so stiff that
when they went to a farmhouse - and forced the
farmer to swap horses with them at the muzzle of
the pistol they had the greatest difficulty in climb¬
ing upon a fence to get on the horses’ backs. _ For
saddles they had bags stuffed with hay. Yet they
got clear away eventually. A posse from Yankton
had a fight with them about eight miles out of town,
and, after having one man wounded, gave it up as a
perilous business.
The two soon after raided a stable, captured two
horses and again outran pursuit.
Near Sioux Falls they met a Dr. Mosher, and
made him dress their wounds and change horses and
clothing with them. That is the last that was seen
of them by their pursuers, they being then in Sioux
county, Iowa.
They were traced further south to where their
horses.gave out, and they hired a man to take them
on their way in a wagon. Again they were heard of
still further down, evidently making for Missouri.
THE JAMES BOYS.
119
Every sheriff and marshal along their line of re¬
treat was constantly in receipt of letters from Mis¬
souri and Kansas, threatening assassination if they
arrested the two robbers, and finally the fugitives
were lost track of entirely. It is now known that
these two—Jesse and Frank James—continued their
journey by wagon directly to.Mexico.
The other four—Cole, Jim and Bob Younger and
Charley Pitts—passed through the town of Man¬
kato on the night of the 13th, and got into the woods
west. They robbed a hen roost, and were in the act
of cooking breakfast when a posse, who had discov¬
ered them, made a charge and drove them out of
camp, but without getting sight of them. The worst
luck for the robbers was that they had not eaten
breakfast, the chickens being left in camp, already
for breakfast.
Jim Younger afterwards said he felt real mean
when he was robbing that roost. Large bands of
farmers and citizens followed close on their trail,
yet the bandits showed such consummate wood¬
craft that for two days the pursuers thought the
four were only three. !
One was barefoot, and at every camping place
they left the ground littered with bloody bandages.
Finally all trace was lost of them again, but on the
morning of the 21st one of the outlaws went to a
farmhouse eight miles west of Madelia and bought
some bread and butter. The early hour of his visit
and the stiffness of his actions caused a prying
young fellow at the house, Oscar Suborn, to take
particular notice of the man. He discovered that
the stranger had big revolvers, and that he, with
three others, left the road and started west across
the country. In less than an hour the boy had taken
the news to Madelia. It was yet early in the day,
and in fifteen minutes’ time after getting word
Sheriff Glispin and others set out on horseback. For
120
THE JAMES BOYS.
a couple of hours parties were continually starting
off as fast as they could be equipped with arms and
horses. Meantime the four stiff and footsore way-
farers were trudging along across the prairie toward
the timber skirting the Watonwan River. Just at
the Hanska slough they were overtaken by the
Sheriff and advance guard of three or four men,
who rode up within one hundred yards and ordered
them to surrender. The quartette paid no attention
to the summons, but, plunging into the slough,
waded across. The slough could not be crossed by
a horse, so the Sheriff had to ride around. The
robbers continued to hobble along as best they
could towrard the river, and had made about two
miles before the Sheriff headed them off. They kept
straight on for the timber, and the SherifFs party
opened on them with rifles. The robbers returned
the fire, the bullets whistling so close that the officer
and his deputies hastily dismounted and the
. SherifFs horse was wounded.
The robbers got into a belt of timber, and, going
through to the other side, saw a hunting party in a
wagon, which they made a rush to capture. The
men in the wagon instantly presented their shot-
guns, and the robbers, taking them for pursuers,
went back into the brush. It so happened that the
patch of timber they had struck was ony about five
acres in extent, and had bare, open ground all
around it. Before they had discovered the disad¬
vantage of their position the people began to flock
in from all directions, in wagons, on foot, on horse¬
back, equipped with shotguns and rifles. They soon
established a cordon of one hundred and fifty men
around the patch and began shooting into it to drive
the game out. As the robbers paid no attention to
this, Sheriff Glispen called for volunteers to go in
and stir them up.
i The folowing went with him: Colonel Vaught,
THE JAMES BOYS.
121
James Severson, Ben Rice, George Bradford, Chas,
Pomeroy, and Captain Murphy, of Madelia.
These seven formed in line a few yards apart and
moved cautiously through the brush. The hiding
place consisted of about five acres of thick timber,
with considerable willow about the marshy parts,
but not sufficiently dense to offer any considerable
protection.
After the volunteers had advanced into the brush
a distance of fifty yards, Charley Pitts jumped up in
front of Sheriff Glispen and leveled a revolver,
which exploded almost at the same instant as the
Sheriff’s rifle. The robber ran a couple of rods in a
cornering direction and fell dead. The three
Younger brothers were discovered a moment later,
and, as soon as they saw they were in for it, stood
up and opened fire. One of the posse was slightly
wounded and another had a watch knocked into flin¬
ders. Six of the posse returned the volley, the
Sheriff being busy reloading, and so well directed
were their shots that Cole and Jim dropped on the
ground, groaning with the pain of shattered bones.
Captain Murphy fired rapidly with a Colt’s revolver;
Rice and Severson had carbines, while Vaught,
Bradford and Pomeroy attacked with double-bar¬
reled shotguns.
While discharging his pistol Captain Murphy was
struck by a 44-caliber ball, but fortunately the bullet
hit a pipe in his vest pocket, which so spent its force
that the only result was a painful bruise. After the
first skirmish the bandits retreated a little further,
which, while hiding them from the attacking party,
exposed them to a large body of men stationed on
the north side of the thicket7; a volley of gun and
pistol shots drove them back again to within twenty
yards of the seven volunteers. Cole and Jim were
now entirely helpless; in fact, Jim was suffering so
badly from the wound in the mouth that he had been
122 THE JAMES BOYS.
unable to assist his brothers in defending them¬
selves.
Bob, with one arm hanging broken by his side,
stood his ground between the other two, and con¬
tinued to blaze away with a revolver in his left hand,
aiming first at one end of the line and then at the
other, then at the center, but apparently trying
rather to scare the,men off than to hit anybody. One
revolver being exhausted, he was handed another.
As the posse kept on firing, however, he finally
called out to let up, as the boys were “all shot to
pieces.”
The Sheriff made him throw down his pistol and
walk forward into the line, when he was secured.
Out of all the shots fired at him only one had taken
effect, wounding him slightly in the side. The
broken arm he had carxied all the way from North-
field. The prisoners were secured and taken, with
the dead bandit, to Madelia, and placed under the
surgical care of Drs. Overholt and Cooley. They
confessed that they were the Youngers, but always
refused to give any information as to their confed-
erates. Cole had a rifle ball under the right eye,
which paralyzed the optic nerve and has never yet
been extracted. He also had a large revolver bullet
in the body and a shot through the thigh, whiqh he
got at Northfield, and was wounded altogether in
the fight eleven times.
Jim was looked upon as a hopeless case by the
surgeons. He had eight buckshot and a rifle ball in
the body. An ugly wound in the shoulder had been
received at Northfield, and he had lost nearly half
his jaw by a minie ball. Bob was the only one who
was able to remain on his feet at the surrender. The
wound he had received at Northfield had shattered
his elbow so as to leave his arm and hand stiff for¬
ever. All the wounds were almost festering for
want of attention. After they had rested and had
THE JAMES BOYS.
123
their wounds dressed every effort was made to get
them to tell who were the other two, but without
avail. They were always on their guard. One day
a man went in to them and said word had just been
received that their two comrades, the James boys,
had been overtaken, and one killed and the other
wounded and captured.
"How do you know they are the James boys?”
said Cole.
“The wounded man confessed.”
"Which one was killed?”
"Frank.”
"Which one, I say? The big one or the little one?”
"The big one.”
"Did they say anything about us?”
"No.”
"Good boy to the last!” the old guerrilla ex-
claimed, to show a man was game. And that was all
that could be got out of them. They were ready to
talk about the "big one” and the "little one,” but
that was all.
No names were in their vocabulary. They would
not tell who their dead comrades were. The two
killed in town were positively identified, however, as
Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell. Miller first came
into bandit fame in connection with the Corydon
bank robbery, and was afterward with the band at
the Otterville and Muncie robberies. He was a hard
fighter under Quantrell. Chadwell was said to have
been driven out of Minnesota for horse stealing
once. His father is reported as having identified his
body. Other reports have it that his family belonged
in Kansas. The one killed at Madelia was Charles
Pitts, or more properly Charles Wells. His chief
record was made at Baxter Springs and Otterville.
Worn out, festering wounds, exposed to terrible
inclement weather, camping without blankets in the
cold nights of a Northern autumn, and, above all,
THE JAMES BOYS.
124
i
not having had a full meal in two weeks, the Young-
*er brothers gave an exhibition of endurance in
this retreat which must be taken as an illustration
pi unparalleled heroism, which only the most re¬
markable constitutions could survive.
j After the death of Chadwell and Miller they were
carried into an empty store on Mill Square, where
they remained for some time the object of popular
gaze and attention.
i ChadweH’s death wound was located about one
inch to the right of the sternum, tearing away his
lungs and passing out at the back below the shoul¬
der-blade. Clell Miller was struck by a minie ball
which penetrated the left breast just below the clav-
iical. Besides this wound he was struck in the shoul¬
der and face by a charge of shot, evidently fired from
Stacy’s gun.
The captured Younger brothers were taken to Ma-
delia, where they received surgical attention at the
Flanders House. Cole and Jim were placed in the
same bed, while Bob was accommodated in another
room.
Their wounds, though of a serious character, were
pronounced not dangerous. During their stay at
Madelia they were daily visited by hundreds of men
and women, many of the latter bringing testimonial
of regard for the heroism displayed by the stricken
bandits.
Cole Younger, though badly wounded, received
his visitors in a most affable manner, and all the
brothers demeaned themselves in such a way as to
win the respect of all who ealled, each having some
kind and cheerful words with which to answer even
impertinent questions. After some telegraphic cor¬
respondence between the Governor, who was attend-
ing the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and
Captain Macy, his secretary, an order was received
to place the prisoners in the county jail at Faribault,
THE JAMES BOYS. 12$
the county seat of Rice county, and to convey the
remains of the dead bandits to St. Paul, which was
accordingly done, the dead bodies being given to the
Surgeon General of the state for embalming.
After the Younger brothers were incarcerated in
jail several detectives from Northwestern cities and
James McDonough, chief of St. Louis police, met in
St. Paul and went by special train to Faribault to
interview and identify the prisoners. The entertain¬
ing trio had so far recovered as to be able to receive
their visitors in excellent style.
When the party entered the jail they found Cole
and Bob smoking and reading the daily papers. Jim,
however, was still suffering severely from the wound
in his mouth. A very interesting conversation of
more than two hours* duration was had, in which no
information was gleaned of importance.
Miss Retta Younger, a sister of the bandits, and a
lovely lady of refinement and exceptional character,
seventeen years of age, visited the brothers directly
after their capture; her grief and refined deportment
gained for her the sympathy of everyone, and the
impression she created was of the most favorable na¬
ture, Mrs, Fannie Twyman, an aunt, was also with
the brothers, and she, too, met with the greatest re¬
spect from the citizens of Faribault. -
The grand jury that was summpned returned four
bills of indictment against the captured bandits, and
Cole Younger was speedily charged with murdering
the Norwegian, which bill was found on the testi-
mony of two witnesses, who swore they saw Cole
commit the deed.
On the 7th of November the District Court con-
vened, Judge Lord presiding. The prosecution was
represented by the prosecuting attorney, George N.
Baxter, Esq., and the prisoners had for their counsel
Thomas Rutledge, Esq., of Madelia, and Bachelder
& Buckham, of Faribault. It was the intention of
126
THE JAMES BQYS*.
the Youngers to plead “not guilty,” but'when they
were forced to stand a trial on the charge of murder
in the first degree, in order to avoid capital punish¬
ment they entered a plea of “guilty.” Had the
charge of murder been confined to Haywood the
brothers would have stood a trial, because they
could have proved positively that neither of them
fired the fatal shot at the cashier, and, as a convic¬
tion could only have resulted in a life sentence, they
could have afforded to take the chances.
After entering the plea of “guilty,” Judge Lord
ordered the prisoners to stand up and receive sen¬
tence. The order of the court was that each of the
brothers should be confined in the state penitentiary
at Stillwater for the period of their natural lives.
When this sentence was pronounced the young and
beautiful sister almost tainted; recovering her
strength, she fell on Cole’s neck and gave expression
to such intense suffering of mind that nearly every¬
one in the courtroom was moved to tears. Sheriff
Barton could hardly persuade the devoted sister to
abate her manifestations of grief.
Thenceforth she did not leave her brothers
until they were conveyed to the penitentiary, to
which place she accompanied them, and when cir-
cumstances compelled them to part she was fairly
overwhelmed with sorrow. Her love was fully re-
ciprocated by the erring brothers, and such an at¬
tachment could not fail in creating a strong bond of
sympathy between the citizens and the unhappy
sister.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE* JAMES BOY S IN MEXICO.
Frank and Jesse James were successful in-escaping
the wrath of the avenging Minnesotians after the
THE JAMES BOYS, 12J
Northfield raid, and arrived safely in the land of the
Montezumas.
They kept perfectly quiet for a while, recuperating
their strength and energy, both of which were pretty
much petered out after their long double-quick run
from Minnesota to Mexico.
They made their first public appearance at Mata-
moras, where their attention was attracted by an ad¬
vertisement of a fandango to take place at a public
house on the night of Their arrival. They decided to
attend.
Accordingly when it opened up in the evening they
paid the price of admission and entered the hall, which
was rapidly filling up with swarthy senoritas and hidal-
gos. From the belts of the latter protruded the glit¬
tering handles of bright, keen stilettos, in preparation
for the affray which is always anticipated.
The dance began about eight o’clock, with much
spirit, and the whirl of the graceful girls soon excited
a desire on the part of Frank and Jesse to participate,
although they were not familiar with the movements
and figures of the Spanish dances. Nevertheless, they
essayed an attempt, which only served to excite the
ridicule of the Mexicans, who, by gesture and speech,
went so far in their sport and mimicry of the outlaws
that at length Frank James knocked down one of the
boldest. This act came near proving disastrous to
both the boys, for the moment the Mexican fell to the
floor another powerfully built hidalgo struck Frank
a blow on the cheek which sent him spining into the
laps of two girls who were seated on a bench await-
ing partners. For a moment he was so stunned as to
scarcely know what to do, but Jesse saw where his
aid was most needed, and the next instant the power¬
ful Mexican fell with a bullet in his brain. A general
fight then ensued, in which Jesse and Frank rushed
for the door, but their passage was impeded; so noth¬
ing remained for the boys except to clear a way by
128
THE JAMES BOYS.
shooting those who stood before them. Frank re¬
ceived a thrust in the shoulder from a stiletto and
Jesse’s right forearm was punctured with a similar
instrument, but the boys fired rapidly and with such
effect that four Mexicans lay dead and six others were
dreadfully wounded, some mortally. Jesse was the
first to break through the doorway, and as he did so
he turned at the very instant a dagger, in the hands
of a strong Mexican, was directed at Fyank’s Heart,
but ere the hand fell to its purpose a. bullet from
Jesse’s pistol entered the Mexican’s eye and he
dropped dead at Frank’s feet, striking the dagger
deep into the floor as he fell. This fortunate shot
enabled Frank to escape from the building, and as the
Mexicans had no arms except stilettos, they were
powerless to continue the fight, but many of them
rushed to their homes to procure firearms and horses,
and the place was swarming so rapidly with blood-
craving hidalgos and greasers that the only avenue
of escape lay in the river. They accordingly rushed
toward their horses, which were hitched in the woods
near by, but just before Teaching them three powerful
Mexicans suddenly sprang upon Frank James, who
was a little in the rear and attempted to bind him
with a stout cord, which they threw over his shoulders.
Fortunately, in running he had picked up a large
bludgeon which lay in his path, and shaking himself
loose from the grasp of his assailants, he laid about
him so briskly with this formidable weapon that in a
moment the three Mexicans lay stunned on the ground
at his feet; then, hastily joining Jesse, who had al¬
ready mounted and was holding his horse for him, he
sprang into the saddle, and, putting spurs to their
restless steeds, they plunged boldly into the Rio
Grande and swam to the other side, while the Mexi¬
cans were riding sibout in every direction trying to
find the bandits, whom they did not imagine would
dare to take to the river.
THE JAMES BOYS.
129
For some time the James boy s remained quiet in
Texas, and then crossed over again into Mexico. They
gave Matamoras a wide berth, went to the little village
of Carmen, in the northern part of Chihuahua, and
settled down for business. The place was well chosen
for the successful carrying on of their peculiar profes¬
sion, for this quiet little village was on the highway
of travel, where wealthy Mexican" merchants and
traders passed along almost daily with loads of eostly
wares and well-filled purses of money.
One bright May morning, a short time after the
James boy s had placed their plant at Carmen, Frank
and Jesse went forth from their business headquarters
to meet a company of Mexican traders, who were on
their way from Chihuahua, where they had disposed of
their wares, and were now returning to their homes
■ loaded down with the current coin of the realm which
they had received in exchange for their merchandise.
The company consisted of eighteen men, including
twelve who .were along in the capacity of guards.
Undaunted by the odds in favor of the merchants, the
bold bandits, consisting of but the two James boys
and three confederates, advanced to meet them, not
with drawn revolvers and a command to throw up
their hands, however, but in a friendly insinuating
way, pretending to be very green American young
men from the United States, unacquainted with Mex¬
ican localities, and timidly inquiring the proper routes
to take. The whilom dashing, dare-devil guerrillas
and cut-throats were for the moment meek, innocent,
unsophisticated lambs. The chief guard was soon
prevailed upon to allow these five “innocents abroad”
to accompany the caravan on their journey until they
should arrive at a point where the traveling was less
dangerous and the country better adapted for new-
comers to earn a living. The five bandits gradually
ingratiated themselves in the good opinion of the mer¬
chants and their guards, who were just congratulating
13°
THE JAMES BOYS.
each other on the fact of having fallen in with five
such good men and true to accompany them on their
journey through the most perilous portion of their
route, when one day, while the company were enjoy-
ing their noonday rest, these five innocent lambs sud¬
denly developed into as many ravenous wolves. The
guns of the guards were stacked against a tree and
the five bandits were holding a quiet confab on a strip
of ground that separated the guards from their guns.
Two of the guards, however, still retained their guns,
but held them in a careless manner, while they ostensi¬
bly stood guard over the guns stacked against the
tree. “Now’s your time, boys; let’er go!” was the
laconic command from Jesse, accompanied by a low
tremulous whistle, the agreed-upon signal for attack.
Crack! crack! Two pistol shots rang out on the
air, and the “armed guards fell dead in their tracks.
The five bandits at once backed up to the arms stacked
against the tree and ordered the remaining guards to
hold up their hands. The order was complied with
double quick, and in less time than it takes to tell it
the five mild-mannered Americans went through the
pockets of those Mexican merchants and left nothing
behind that was considered worth carrying away.
The horses of the entire company were shot to death
by the bandits to prevent pursuit, and the five daring
robbers made quick time for the Texas border, crossed
over safely and divided the spoils on the Yankee side
of the Rio Grande.
For several months afterward the James boys lived
the free and happy life of cowboys on a Texas ranch,
and then crossed up the border again for further ad-
ventures among the Mexicans.
This time they chose for the scene of their exploit
a far-away place on the River of the North, called
Piedras Negras. This place had long been famous as
a rendezvous of desperate character s.
The James boys had been mistaken for what they
Poured a red-hot fire into the faces of the Greasers.—Page 131.
132
THE JAMES BOYS.
were not more than once in their eventful career. Out
in California they had been mistaken for suckers, and
on their last visit to Mexico they had been mistaken
for “innocents abroad/’ But the strangest case of mis¬
taken identity was about to occur to them.
While they were leisurely riding along together one
day a short distance from Piedras Negras, they were
observed by a number of Mexican brigands, who evi¬
dently mistook the two noted American bandits for
wealthy Yankee prospectors on the lookout for a
chance speculation in Mexican mines. Thinking, no
doubt, that there was a splendid chance to make a
good haul, the Mexicans followed the brothers for a
while at a little distance away, and then boldly struck
out to overhaul and rob the supposed prospectors from
over the border. This was a new situation for Frank
and Jesse. Heretofore they had always acted the part
of the outlaws in the fearfully realistic dramas in
which they had taken part, but now they were the
honest men and the other fellows were the outlaws.
At first they were at a loss just how they ought to act
in the premises.
But the Mexicans gave them but little time to con¬
sider the matter, for, dashing forward, they began a
fusillade of shots from their pistols, at the same time
yelling like demons, in hopes, no doubt, to frighten the
two travelers into immediate and utter submission.
There were at least a dozen of the Mexicans, and
they were the most surprised men in the world when
they witnessed the result of their onslaught. Instead
of endeavoring to escape or throwing up their hands
in token of surrender, the supposed-to^be intimidated
prospectors wheeled about and poured a red-hot fire of
pistol balls full in the face of the Greasers, and as a
result four of the foremost pursuers lay weltering in
their blood. The rest of the Mexicans at once re-
treated, but the James boys did not intend to let them
escape without further punishment.
THE JAMES BOYS.
133
They put spurs to their horses, and instead of being
the parties pursued, themselves became the pursuers.
Oyertaking the bandits, they began a merciless fire •
upon them, and before the affair was finished two more
Mexicans lay dead upon the road. The others swore
a speedy revenge, and that night as the James boy s
were crossing a stream they were fired upon by ten
brigands secreted on the opposite side-of the stream,
and Jesse was slightly wounded in the left shoulder.
The James boy s pressed ahead, however, and by rapid
and well-directed firing soon routed the Mexicans from
their ambush, and they scampered off at the top of
their speed, leaving one of their number lying dead
on the ground.
This adventure ended the career of the James boys
in Mexico. There have been other marvelous adven-
tures related of them during their stay in the land of
the Montezumas, but there seems to be no authentic
foundation for them.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE GLENDALE TRAIN ROBBERY.
Three years elapsed from the time of the attack at
Northfield until the James boys were heard of again
in connection with criminal escapades. Their names
existed in tradition, and the horror which was once
manifested at the mention of their savage natures had
become dwarfed into mere expressions of surprise.
It was reported that Frank James had died of con¬
sumption in the Indian nation, and that Jesse was liv¬
ing peaceably in one of the remote Territories, follow¬
ing the profitable occupation of cattle-raising.
On the evening of October 7th, J879, the people of
Western Missouri were suddenly shocked by the in¬
telligence of another great train robbery, committed
in the old guerrilla haunts, where crime had held such
high carnival during the dark period of the great re-
*34
THE JAMES BOYS.
bellion. On the day in question Jesse James, Jim
Cummings, Ed Miller, a brother of Clell, Daniel
(Tucker) Bassham, Bill Ryan and six others, whose
names are not known, appeared suddenly at the little
station of Glendale, which is on the line of the Chi¬
cago, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, twenty-two miles
from Kansas City. The town consisted of a postoffice
and store combined and a station house, and is a flag
station only.
About six o'clock in the evening the party of ban-
dits rode into the place and proceeded at once to put
every one present under arrest, which they readily
accomplished, as there were but three men at the sta¬
tion, and these were locked in the station house. The
train going east was due at 645 P. M., at a time when
darkness clothed the scene, and the masked robbers
compelled the station operator to display his signal to
stop the train.
^ Previous to this preliminary the masked bandit s had
piled a large number of condemned ties on the track
only a few hundred yards east of Glendale, and had
everything fully prepared to execute their purpose
expeditiously. The train was on time, and seeing the
stop signal displayed, the engineer obeyed its import,
and in a moment the conductor, John Greenman, was
facing an ominous pistol, while others of the robbers
covered the engineer and demanded submission. Meet¬
ing with no resistance, the bandits broke in the door
of the express car, but while they were thus engaged
William Grimes, the messenger, hastily unlocked the
safe and took out thirty-five thousand dollars in money
and valuables, which he attempted to conceal. He was
too late, however, for at the moment he was placing
the money bag behind some boxes in the car, the door
yielded and three robbers rushed on him. Refusing to
deliver the safe key, Grimes was knocked down and
badly punished. The key was taken from him and the
few remaining contents of value in the safe were ap-
THE JAMES BOYS.
135
propriated, as was also the bag containing the money.
The haul was a very rich one and, the attempt hav¬
ing been successful, the passengers were not molested,
and the train was permitted to depart after a deten¬
tion of no more than ten minutes.
The commission of this crime again aroused the
officer s, and as Glendale is in Jackson county, Major
James Leggitt, the county marshal, took immediate
steps to discover and arrest the perpetrators. Being
a shrewd and fearless man, he went to work intelli¬
gently. He soon discovered who composed the party
that committed the robbery, notwithstanding the fact
that they were heavily masked. Tucker Bassham, one
of the robber s, who was raised in Jackson county, was
suspected directly after the deed was accomplished.
He left the county for a time, but returned and buried
his share of the booty, which was one thousand dol¬
lar s. Soon he began to exhibit an unusual amount of
money, and a spy was placed upon him until enough
information was obtained to conclusively establish his
connection with the robbery. But Marshal Leggitt
deferred the arrest with the hope that he might learn
of some communication between Bassham and other
members of the gang and accomplish their arrest. In
June last (1880) Deputy Marshals W. G. Keshler and
M. M. Langhorn arrested Bassham and lodged him in
the jail at Kansas City.
Shortly afterward Major Leggitt obtained a full
confession from his prisoner, which was reduced to
writing and made in the form of an affidavit. After¬
ward Major Leggitt engaged George Shepherd to act
as a detective in the matter of capturing Frank and
Jesse James. Shepherd promised to betray his old
comrades into the Major’s hand, but having a griev¬
ance against Jesse James and Jim Anderson, Shepherd
determined to take vengeance into his own hands and
murder both of those bandits. It seems that Shep-
lierd’s brother had been murdered and robbed of $1,000
THE JAMES BOYS.
I36
and he accused Jesse and Anderson of the deed.
Shepherd decoyed Anderson into a lonely place and
cut his throat with a bowie knife, and shortly after¬
ward he shot Jesse James while riding alone with him
on a country road. Shepherd supposed he had killed
Jesse, and so reported the fact to be to Major Leg-
gitt. It turned out, however, that Jesse, though se¬
verely, was not mortally wounded.
The people of Missouri had only begun to congratu-
late themselves over the fact of the bandit’s “removal,”
when their joy was turned to mourning by the report
that Jesse was not dead, but only seriously wounded
and would recover.
Jesse’s mission was not yet ended.
CHAPTER XXXI.
BASSHAM'S CONFESSION OF THE GLENDALE ROBBERY.
The robbery of the Chicago and Alton train at
Glendale, Missouri, as already described, had been sur-
rrunded with considerable mystery concerning the
identity of all those engaged in the outrage.
The large rewards offered for the apprehension of
the robber band—amounting to $75,000—caused a very
active search, which resulted, at last, in the capture
of Daniel (better *known as Tucker) Bassham, under
circumstances already related.
On the 6th day of November, Bassham was brought
into court for trial, having entered a plea of “not
guilty,” despite his confession, but this plea was soon
changed tc that of “guilty,” and he then threw him¬
self upon the mercy of the court. The following sum¬
mary of his confession appeared in the Kansas City
Journal of November 7th:
“On Monday night preceding the robbery,” said
Bassham in his confession, “two neighbor s of mine
came to me and said they had put up a job to rob a
train, and wanted me to go in with them. ' I told them
THE JAMES BOYS.
137
I didn’t want nothin’ to do with robbin’ no train, and
wouldn’t have nothin’ to do with it no hovf; but they
kept on persuadin’ and finally went away, sayin’ they
would come back in the morning and that I must go
with them. They said a very rich train was coming
down on the C. & A., and that we could make a big
haul, perhaps $100,000. Wa’al, that kind o’ half per-
suaded me, but still I didn’t like to go. They finally
told me that Jesse James was arrangin’ the thing and
that it was sure to be a success.
“Wa’al, then they left. My wife kept pesterin’ me
to know what was goin’ on an’ what they wanted, but
I didn’t like ter let on. I kept thinking about it all
night. Of course, I’d heerd often o'f Jesse James and
kinder had confidence in him; then I was pretty poor,
there wasn’t much crops on my place and winter
comin’ on, and I tell you it looked pretty nice to get a
little money just then, no matter whar it kum from.
’Sides, I thought to myself, ef I don’t go it’ll be done
jest the same anyhow; they’ll be down on me and ten
to one Til be more likely to git arrested if I ain’t thar
as if I am. ;
“Wa’al, I kep’ kinder thinkin’ it over an’ in the
morning they came to the house early and eat break¬
fast, and then went out and loafed around the timber
and in the cornfield all day, so nobody wouldn’t see
’em. In the evenin’ they all cum in and we eat supper
and then they giv’ me a pistol, an’ we all got ofi our
horses an’ rode off together. We soon met another
man on the road, an’ when we got to Seaver’s school-
house, ’bout a mile and a half away from my house,
they giv’ a kind of a whistle for a signal, and two men
came out of the timber an’ rode up. I was introduced
to one of them as Jesse James. This was the first
time I had ever seen Jesse James in my life.”
“And who was the other?” demanded the prose¬
cutor.
“The other was Ed Miller, of Clay co unty.0
THE JAMES BOYS.
138
Bassham said that Jesse James then gave him a
shotgun and furnished each man with a mask, and
that they all then rode on in silence toward Glendale.
No instructions were given to any one man. When
they arrived at Glendale they noticed the light in the
store, and Bassham was ordered by Jesse James to go
in, capture the inmates and bring them over to the sta¬
tion. On looking in .the Windows he found the usual
crowd of loiterers had left the store and lounged over
to the depot to wait for the train to come in. He then
went over to the depot and found the crowd in the
waiting-room guarded by ~one of the men. Jesse
James then told him to walk up and down the plat¬
form, as the train approached, and fire off his shot¬
gun in the air as fast as he could. The telegraph
operator was forced, at the point of the pistol, to
lower the green light and thus signal the train to stop.
Jesse James then asked him, if there were any loose
ties there they could lay across the track, and he said
he didn't know of any. The men then went and got
logs and laid them across the track to obstruct the
train if it should take the alarm and not stop for the
green light. Meanwhile the train approached. Bass-*
ham walked up and down the platform firing off his
gun; Jesse James and one of the men jumped into the
express car, and Miller jumped on the engine in the
manner already described and with which all are fa¬
miliar. The train was not stopped more than five or
six minutes.
“As soon as it was over, Jesse James fired off his
pistol, which was the signal for all to leave, and they
jumped on their horses and rode rapidly for about
half a mile, till they came to a deserted log cabin.
Here they. alighted and entered. Somebody produced
a small pocket lantern and somebody else struck a
match. Jesse James threw the booty down on a rude
table in the middle of the compartment, divided it out,
and shoved each man a pile as they stood round the
THE JAMES BOYS. I39
table. Bassham’s share was between $800 and $900.
Jesse then said: ‘Now, each one of you fellows go
home and stay there. Go to work in the morning, and
keep your mouths shut, and nobody will ever be the
wiser. This country will be full of men in the morn¬
ing hunting for me and you.”
It will be observed that in the confession, as re¬
ported, only the names of Jesse James and Ed Miller
appear, when it is now positively known that the gang
Qomprised not less than six persons. The confession
implicated two of the most respectable farmer s in
Jackson county, Kit Rose and Dick Tally, one a
brother-in-law and the other a cousin of the Younger
brothers, both of whom were arrested, but soon after¬
ward released, as not a scintilla of evidence could be
discovered corroborating Bassham’s disjointed state-
ments. The other party, who Bassham swears was
connected with the robbery (and in this he certainly
guessed rightly) was Jim Cummings.
In November last (1880) Bassham was brought into
court with a plea of “not guilty,” notwithstanding his
confession, but he had so completely convicted him¬
self that the plea was withdrawn, and he threw him¬
self upon the mercy of the court. He was then sen-
tenced to the penitentiary for a period of ten years.
Since his confinement at Jefferson City there has been
a considerable change of opinion respecting his guilt,
and there is no doubt that now a large majority of
persons believe Bassham innocent of any complicity
with the train robbery, and that his so-called confes¬
sion was the result of influences which the writer does
not wish the responsibility of naming.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SHOOTING OF JESSE JAMES BY GEORGE SHEPHERD.
The pursuit of the Glendale robbers did not cease
after a week’s efforts, as previously, as Major Leg-
140
THE JAMES BOYS.
gitt was determined to accomplish his purpose. He
resolved upon an expedient which evidences his cun¬
ning and strategy. Living in Kansas City at the
time of the robbery was George Shepherd, one of the
most courageous men that ever faced danger. He
was one of Quantrell’s lieutenants, and fought in all
the terrible and unmerciful encounters of that chief
of the black banner. He was at Lawrence, and rode
beside the James boys in that' dreadful cyclone of
remorseless murder. He had run the gauntlet of a
hundred rifles and fought against odds which it ap-
peared impossible to escape. After the close of the
war Jesse James accepted Colonel Shepherd as a
leader and followed him into Texas, and would still
be following his counsels had not circumstances sep-
arated them.
Major Leggitt evolved a scheme out of his hours
of study toward the capture of Jesse James. He sent
for Shepherd, who, was working for Jesse Noland, a
leading dry goods merchant of Kansas City, and to
the ex-guerrilla he proposed his scheme. It was this:
Shepherd, being'well known to have formerly been a
comrade of Jesse James, it was to be reported that
undoubted'information had reached the authorities
establishing -Shepherd’s connection with the Glen¬
dale robbery.' A report of this was to be printed
upon a slip of paper having printed matter upon the
reverse side, so as to appear like a newspaper clip¬
ping. Shepherd was to take this printed slip, find
Jesse James and propose to join him, saying that he
was being hounded by detectives, and, although in¬
nocent, he felt that his only safety was in uniting his
fortunes with Jesse and his fearless band. This
being accomplished, Shepherd was to find an oppor-
tunity for killing Jesse James, and the reward for
him, dead or alive, was to be divided. In addition to
this, Shepherd was to be provided with a horse and
THE JAMES BOYS. I4I
to receive $50 per month during the time of his ser¬
vice.
The conditions and terms were satisfactory to
Shepherd, and the latter part of October, about two
weeks after the Glendale robbery, he started out in
quest of Jesse James.
The plan of Shepherd’s operations and the manner
in which he accomplished his hazardous undertaking
is herewith detailed just as he related the story to
the writer, but, while the relation is interesting, it
is now proved to be untrue in part.
When Shepherd left Kansas. City he was mounted
upon a sorrel horse, and his weapons consisted of a
32-caliber single-barrel pistol and a small pocket-
knife, He rode directly to the Samuels residence,
which he reached at dusk, and tied his horse in a
thicket about two hundred yards from the house.
He found Mrs. Samuels and the Doctor at home,
just preparing to sit down to supper. The story
that any enmity existed on the part of Jesse James
against Shepherd is untrue; reports of this kind may
have been circulated, but there was not a semblance
of truth in them. Shepherd was warmly received by
Mrs. Samuels and her husband, and at their invita¬
tion he took supper with them. While they were
eating Shepherd explained that his life and liberty
were in great jeopardy, and that, owing to reports,
false as they were, of his connection with the Glen¬
dale robbery, he had been forced to flee, and for mu¬
tual protection he wished to join Jesse James and his
confederates; thereupon Shepherd produced the ap¬
parently newspaper clipping already referred to,
which Dr. and Mrs. Samuels both read. After finish¬
ing supper Dr. Samuels told Shepherd to ride to A
certain point in the main highway, where he would
meet Jesse and some of his associates. The Doctor
went out in the woods where he knew the bandits
were concealed, while Shepherd mounted his horse
142
THE JAMES BOYS.
and rode to the spot indicated, where, after waiting
for less than five minutes, he was met by Jesse
James, Jim Cummings, Ed Miller and another party
whom Shepherd did not know. Shepherd repeated
his story to Jesse James and showed him the clip¬
ping, after which he was immediatley received into
the full confidence of Jesse and the band. Why
should Jesse have entertained suspicions ? Shepherd
had been his intimate comrade for many years; the
two had ridden and fought in a hundred terrible con-
flicts, and were associated together in the Kentucky
bank robbery. Shepherd was the very man of all
.others whom Jesse wanted for a companion in his
daring deeds, and it was unnatural, under the cir-
cumstances, for any of the bandits to doubt Shep-
herd’s story.
The party remained all night at the Samuels resi¬
dence, and on the following day they proceeded to a
spot in Jackson county called “Six Mile/’ which is
eighteen miles from Kansas City, and spent the day
at Benjamin Marris. It was here a plan was laid for
robbing the bank at Empire City, in Jasper county.
After the scheme 'was fully understood Shepherd
told Jesse that it would be necessary for him to pro-
cure a better horse and some effective weapons,
which he could do at a friend’s near Kansas City.
Jesse urged Shepherd then to return at night to the
friend’s place, get a good horse and at least two
heavy pistols and meet the party at Six Mile on the
third night following.
Shepherd then rode back to Kansas City and im-
parted the information of his meeting and arrange-
ments with Jesse James to Major Leggitt, who pro¬
vided Shepherd with a splendid horse and three
large-sized Smith & Wesson pistols. But in order
to prevent any possibility of deception, Major Leg¬
gitt took Shepherd to Independence and placed him
in jail, and then sent three trusted men to Six Mile
THE JAMES BOYS.
143
for the purpose of ascertaining if Jesse James and his
party were really rendezvoused at that point. Major
Leggitt soon learned that Shepherd had reported
nothing but facts, and he was then sent out, splen¬
didly armed and mounted, for the meeting place.
Shepherd did not reach the trysting place until the
morning after the time agreed upon, and he found
Jesse James and his followers gone, but the party at
whose house the meeting was to occur—Benjamin
Marr’s—gave Shepherd the following letter, which
is herewith copied verbatim:
Friend Georg.
I cant wate for you hear, I want you to meet me
on Rogs Hand and we will talk about that Business
we spoke of. I would wate for you but the boys
wants to leave hear, done fale to come and if we dont
by them cattle I will come back with you. Come to
the plase whear we meet going south that time and
stay in that naborhood until I find you. ‘Your Friend.
Thus instructed Shepherd started for Rogue’s Is¬
land, but met Jesse James at the head of Grand
River. This fact furnishes one of the proofs of
Jesse’s anxiety to have Shepherd as a comrade, for
he was so anxious lest Shepherd would not meet
them, or fail to get the letter he left with Marr, that
he returned to find him. Jesse and Shepherd re-
turned to the camp, where they found Cummings,,
Miller and the unknown, and then the party rode di¬
rectly for Empire City, the vicinity of which they
reached about noon on Saturday, November i, 1879.
They went into camp on Short Creek, eight miles
south of Empire City, and at 4 o’clock in the after¬
noon it was agreed that Shepherd should ride into
the town and learn what he could respecting the
surroundings and location of the bank. It was after
dark when Shepherd reached the place, and, pur-
suing his story, he was astonished at finding the:
144
THE JAMES BpYS.
bank lighted up, and a close inspection revealed to
him a dozen men inside the bank armed with double-
barreled shotguns. Shepherd stated to the writer
that Major Leggitt must have notified the bank offi-
cers of the intended raid by telegraph, but Major
Leggitt denies having done so, and says that Shep-
lerd must have told some person who communicated
with the bank. Anyhow, the arrangement was that
Major Leggitt was to be in Empire City with a
good force of assistants, and was to be aided by
Shepherd in capturing the outlaws when the attack
on the bank should be made. Circumstances pre-
vented Major Leggitt from appearing in Empire
City at the time agreed upon, but he sent word to
the town authorities.
Finding* everything in readiness to meet the in¬
tended attack, Shepherd went into a restaurant, and
while eating his supper Tom Cleary, an old ac¬
quaintance, greeted him. After supper the two went
to Cleary’s house and remained all night, and Shep¬
herd told his friend the part he was acting in the
effort to capture Jesse James. Ed Cleary, a brother
of Tom’s, was also informed of the scheme, and
Shepherd asked their assistance, or at least to fol¬
low him the next morning to the camp of the ban-
dits. The understanding was at the time Shepherd
left the outlaws that he should return to the camp
by 9 o’clock Sunday morning, and, if his report was
favorable, the raid on the bank would be made Sun¬
day night.
Shepherd kept the appointment and returned to
the place where the bandits had encamped, but
found the camp deserted. He thought this strange,
but soon found the old sign of a “turn out” had been
made to let him know where they were. It is well
known that the James boys and their comrades fre¬
quently separated. They had a sign, however, by
which it was not difficult for them to find one an-
THE JAMES BOYS,
145
other. This sign is the crossing of two twigs along
the highway, which indicates that one or more of
the parties, according to the number of twigs, has
turned out of the highway at that point. Shepherd
saw the twigs, and, after riding about half a mile in
the direction the branches lay, he found the party,
all of whom were slightly intoxicated. He knew
they had no whiskey with them when he left on Sat¬
urday afternoon, and at once concluded they had
been in town. Cummings was the first to speak.
Said he:
“The bank is guarded; how is this?” Shepherd
responded: “Yes, and I think the best thing for us to
do is to separate and get out of this.”
Cummings had ridden into Galena on Saturday
night, where he had purchased some whiskey, and
there heard rumors of the intended bank raid.
The party agreed with Shepherd that it would be
wise for them to get out of that section, and they
mounted their horses and divided, riding southward.
Ed Miller’s position was one hundred yards to the
right, while Cummings and the unknown rode at the
same distance to the left of the center, which was
taken by Jesse James and Shepherd. The woods
were open enough for all parties to remain in sight
of each other.
When they reached a point twelve miles south of
Galena, all parties maintaining their respective posi-
tions, Shepherd gave a smart jerk of the bridle rein,
which caused his horse to stop, while Jesse rode on.
It was the work of an instant, for as Jesse’s horse
gained two steps forward Shepherd drew one of his
large pistols,' and, without speaking a word, fired,
the ball taking effect in Jesse’s head one inch behind
the left ear. Only the one shot was fired, for Shep¬
herd saw the result of his shot, and Jesse plunged
headlong from his horse and lay motionless on the
ground, as if death had been instantaneous. Shep-
THE JAMES BOYS.
I46
herd says he viewed the body for nearly one minute
before either of the outlaws made any demonstra¬
tion. Ed Miller first started toward him in a walking
pace, and then Cummings and the unknown drew
their pistols and rode swiftly after him. Shepherd’s
horse was swift, and he put him to the greatest
speed, soon distancing the unknown, but Cummings
was mounted on a superior animal, and the chase
for three miles was a hot one. Each of the two kept
firing, but the rapid rate at which they were riding
made the shots ineffectual. Seeing that he was pur-
sued only by Cummings, who was gaining on him,
Shepherd stopped and wheeled his horse, and at
that moment a bullet struck him in the left leg just
below the knee, producing, however, only a flesh
wound. As Cummings dashed up Shepherd took de¬
liberate aim and fired, and Cummings reeled in the
saddle, turned his horse and retreated. Shepherd
says he feels confident that he struck Cummings
hard in the side and that he killed Jesse James. He
rode back to Galena, where he remained two weeks
under a surgeon’s care, and after recovery returned
to Kansas City.
This story of Shepherd’s is partly true, but so far
as it relates to the shooting it is. false; the facts as
gathered from members of the gang are these:
When Shepherd left Empire City he was slightly
intoxicated, and when he came in sight of the gang
they mistrusted his motives, particularly as Cum¬
mings had himself returned to the trysting spot
from Empire City, and had ascertained that the
bank was guarded. . Cummings and Miller were
both half drunk, and as Shepherd came riding to¬
ward them they opened fire on him. Shepherd was
not so badly intoxicated but that he comprehended
the situation, and, considering discretion the better
part of valor, he turned his horse’s head and made a
rapid retreat, followed by the bandit quartette. Dur-
Shepherd took deliberate aim and fired, and Cummings reeled in his saddle.
Page 147.
THE JAMES BOYS.
I48
ing this retreat toward Empire City Shepherd re¬
ceived a shot in the leg, but he succeededin eflfect-
ing his escape without further injury, as he was not
followed more than half a mile.
. The prime motive which actuated George Shep¬
herd in his attempt to shoot Jesse James has never
been suspicioned by more than one man, and, acting
upon suggestions made by that single person, the
writer verified the theory. It is true that the re-
wards, amounting to nearly one hundred thousand
dollars, for the apprehension or dead body of Jesse
James, was a strong temptation, and it certainly had
its influence with Shepherd, but there was a
stronger motive.
Directly after the war Ike Flannery, a nephew of
George Shepherd, reached the age of manhood and
came into possession of five thousand dollars, a sum
he had inherited from the estate of his deceased
father. Ike was somewhat wayward, and was well
acquainted with the James boys and the guerrillas.
Jesse James and Jim Anderson, a brother of the no¬
torious Bill, knew of Ike Flannery’s inheritance, and
they induced him to buckle on his pistols, take his
money and go with them upon a pretended expedi¬
tion. Near Glasgow, Missouri, the three stopped at
the house of a friend, where there were three girls,
the men of the house being away on business. After
eating dinner the three started away, but they had
been gone only a few moments when the report of
two pistol shots was heard, and Jim Anderson came
riding back to the house where they had dined and
told the girls that his party had been fired on by the
militia, and that Flannery had been killed. Jesse
James and Anderson rode away, while the girls no-
tified some of the neighbors, and when the body of
Flannery was found in the road there were two bul¬
let holes in the head and the five thousand dollars
were missing. Shepherd did not learn all the cir-
THE JAMES BOYS.
149
cumstances connected with Flannery’s death until
sometime afterward, when he was told how Ander¬
son and Jesse James acted he was convinced that
they murdered his nephew and plundered his dead
body.
It was more than one year after this tragic occur¬
rence before Shepherd met either of the murderers.
He was in Sherman, Texas, when Jim Anderson
came up to him with a cordial greeting, little sus-
pecting the terrible result of that meeting. The two
drank together and appeared on the best of terms
until the hour of 11 o’clock at night. The saloon
was closing and the darkness without was most un¬
inviting. Shepherd asked Anderson to accompany
him over to the courthouse yard, as he wanted to
talk secretly concerning a certain transaction.
When the two reached the yard, and about them
was nothing but somber shadow and the quiet of
sleep, cautiously, yet determinedly, Shepherd drew
from his sheath a long, bright, deadly knife, which
gathered on its blade and focused the light unseen
before, and then made ready for a horrible deed.
Anderson had never thought of danger until the
keen edge of the terrible weapon was at his throat.
Said Shepherd: “You murdered Ike Flannery and
robbed his body of five thousand dollars. I have de¬
termined to avenge his death, and to accomplish my
purpose I brought you here. ^What have you got to
say ?”
, Anderson had killed many men, and he knew how
to die. There was no begging, no denying; only a
realization of what he could not avert, and he ac¬
cepted fate with a stoicism worthy pf a religious
fanatic. Before receiving the fatal stroke, however,
he told Shepherd that Jesse James was the one wrho
proposed the murder and robbery of young Flan¬
nery, and that each fired a fatal shot and then di¬
vided the stolen money. When this admission es-
THE JAMES BOYS.
150
caped his lips Shepherd sprang upon him like a
tiger, drew the glittering blade of the terrible knife
across this throat, and the spirit of the murderer and
robber took its flight into the realms of the un¬
known.
On the following morning the dead body with a
ghastly gash in the throat, from which the blood had
poured until it dyed the grass a yard in diameter,
was found and identified as that of Jim Anderson.
De Hart, an old-time guerrilla, was in Sherman at
the time of the murder, and was known to have a
grudge against the murdered man, so suspicion at¬
tached to him so strongly that he "had to leave
Texas. No one ever suspected Shepherd of 'the mur¬
der, but his own confessions to the writer are given
in this account of Anderson’s execution.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE MAMMOTH CAVE STAGE R0BBERY.
For a period of eleven months after the Glendale
robbery the James boys remained in seclusion, and
with the report of George Shepherd having shot Jesse
James still indefinitely impressed upon the minds of
the people, it was thought that the last remnants of
the ex-guerrilla bandits had entirely disappeared.
But the robbery of the stage running between Mam¬
moth Cave and Cave City, in Edmondson county, Ken¬
tucky, on the afternoon of September 3, 1880, brought
Frank James and Jim Cummings once more promi¬
nently into notice.
At this season of the year Mammoth Cave is visited
by thousands of tourists and sightseers, who are usu-
lly people of means, furnishing fat pickings for the
robbers. One of the routes to the cave, and the one
selected by the large majority of its visitor s, is by
way of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to Cave
THE JAMES B0YS. IS*
City, and thence by the Concord stages to the cave,
which is about eight or ten miles distant.
The stage road is through a lonely and rocky region,
and about midway on the route through a dense wood,
which adds considerably to its dreariness.
About 6 o’clock Friday evening, while the coach
from the cave was coming to Cave City,, it reached
this wood, and while coming through the narrow road
in a walk, two men, one mounted on a thin black
thoroughbred -horse, and the other on a fine sorrel,
rode out of the dense forest, and, dashing up to the
stage, covered the driver and passengers with their
revolvers and called a halt. The stage was pulled up,
the driver was ordered down to the door of his vehicle,
and then calmly dismounting and holding their horses
by the bridle reins, the work of delivering the booty
began. The rider of the black horse, a man about
thirty-five years old, with a straggling red mustache
and beard, was the leader and spokesman. He was
rather small, not appearing to be over five feet six
inches in height, and would weigh about 140 pounds.
He had light blue eyes, a pleasant smile and distrib¬
uted his attentions to the defenseless party of eight
passengers with a sangfroid and easy politeness which
did much to alleviate their *feelings. His accomplice
was about the same age, with black whiskers and mus¬
tache rather ragged in trim, and had a pair of black
eyes. He was rather slow in his movements, but the
business in hand suffered nothing for that.
“Come out of the stage, please,” said the spokes¬
man, in the light, high-pitched voice.
The passengers looked through the open Windows
and saw the muzzles of the impassive revolvers cover¬
ing the whole length of the vehicle, and, as there was
not a weapon in the party as large as a penknife, they
could not resist or parley.
There were seven gentlemen and one lady in the
coach, and the lady naturally was nervous and alarmed.
THE JAMES BOYS«
152
In the excitement and bustle attendant upon rising and
leaving their seats Mr. R. S. Rountree, of the Mil¬
waukee Evening Wisconsin, who was making the trip
with relatives, slipped his pocketbook and gold watch
under the cushion of the seat.
Very few words were spoken, though the highway¬
men seemed impatient and ordered them to “hurry up.”
As each gentleman stepped out he was covered with
the muzzle of a revolver and told to take his place in
line and hold up his hands. The lady, a daughter of
Hon. R. H. Rountree, o’f Lebanon, Ky., was permitted
to remain in the stage.
After the passenger s were all out the leader of the
two villains tossed his reins to his accomplice, who
covered the line, while the spokesman proceeded to
rifle' their pockets, talking pleasantly as he went. J.
E. Craig, Jr., of Lawrenceville* Ga., lost $670; R. H.
Rountree, of Lebanon, Ky., handed out a handsome
gold watch, valued at $200 and $55 in cash; S. W.
Shelton, of Calhoun, Tenn., gave up about $50; Miss
Lizzie Rountree, of Lebanon, Ky., lost nothing but
rings, one of them a handsome diamond; S. H. Froh-
lichstein, of Mobile, Ala., lost $23; Geo. AI. Paisley,
of Pittsburg, gave up $33; W. G. Welsh, of Pittsburg,
lost $5 and a handsome «watch; R. S. Rountree, of
Alilwaukee, saved his money as stated. Hon. R. H.
Rountree felt very sore over the loss of an elegant
engraved watch, which was presented by Hon. J. Proc¬
tor Knott, the member of Congress from the Fourth
district.
The spokesman of the marauders explained that
they were not highwaymen, but moonshiners, and were
pursued so hotly by the government offlcers that they
were compelled to have money to get out of the"coun¬
try. He asked each passenger his name and place of
residence, and noted them down, saying that some day
he would repay them their losses. When he came to
Air. Craig, of Georgia, he remarked that he hated to
THE JAMES BOYS.
153
take his money because he had fought in a Georgia
regiment during the war, but the case was a desperate
one and he was compelled to do it.
When Miss Rountree gave her name and place of
residence at Lebanon, a pleased smile lighted up the
robber’s face, and he asked:
“Do you know the Misses , of Lebanon ?”
“Quite well/' answered the young lady.
“So do I,” he rejoined, “and they are nice girls.
Give them my regards when you see them, and tell
them I will make this right some day.”
After getting all the valuables of the party, the ma-
rauders returned the pocketbooks with the railway
passes and tickets, and giving the passengers orders
.to get in, mounted and rode off. They told the pas¬
sengers, for consolation, that they had robbed the out
stage, getting $700 from Mr. George Croghan, one of
the owners of the cave. v
The rider of the black horse was Frank James and
his companion was Jim Cummings. These facts have
been fully established by information of an indisput¬
able character, which came into the possession of the
writer since the robbery.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
ROBBERY AND MURDER ON THE ROCK ISLAND ROAD.
Nearly a year elapsed after the Mammoth Cave
stage robberies before the bandits were again heard
from. But it was only another instance of the calm
before the storm. The people of Missouri, Kansas
and Kentucky had fairly settled down to the belief,
or at least to a hope, that the James boys and their
bandits were dead, when they were suddenly
startled by another bloody deed of train wrecking
and robbery committed in their midst.
The night express train on the Chicago, Rock Is¬
land and Pacific Railroad left Kansas City, Missouri,
THE JAMES B0YS.
154
on the night of July 15, 1881, with its usual long
train of passenger coaches and sleepers, having
aboard many wealthy passengers, but luckily for the
express companies, conveying but a light express
shipment of money.
At Cameron a number of tough characters got
aboard, and at Winston they were joined by some
more of the same stripe. Conductor William West¬
fall was in charge of the train, and it is believed that
he recognized some of the desperadoes, who in turn
discovered that they were spotted by the conductor.
It is probable that this fact caused the bandits to
sacrifice his life.
When the train had proceeded about a mile be¬
yond Winchester the bell cord was suddenly jerked,
and the engineer responded to the signal to slow
down immediately. Hardly had he done so, how¬
ever, when the fireman, who suspected what was up,
shouted out to him not to stop the train, but to “let
her go like hell.”
But it \^as too late act upon this suggestion,
for they were, at that instant confronted by three
masked men with drawn revolvers, and neither en¬
gineer nor fireman eared to have anything further to
do with the running of their engine just then. They
concluded- to get out of range of the ugly looking
pistols as soon as possible, and without any cere-
mony at once dashed through the window of their
cab and ran along the footboards to the front of the
engine amid a volley of shots. Reaching the front
of the engine, they clung to the pilot until the en¬
gine slowed down, and then lit out for the woods.
What occurred in the ill-fated train is graphically
told by Major Anthony in his account of the affair
to a Tribune reporter.
“When we stopped at Cameron,” says Major An¬
thony, who was a passenger on the unlucky train,
“two men got on and took seats in the sleeping car,
THE JAMES BOYS.
155
and soon engaged in an altercation with the con¬
ductor on the subject of fare. At Winston several
more passengers got in, and the conductor made the
remark that he was afraid there was going to be
trouble. There was something in the manner of the
man who made a fuss about the fare, he said, which
made him think that mischief was brewing. We
had not gone three-quarters of a mile after we left
this stopping place when the trouble began. Some¬
one stepped up from the platform of the smoking
car and laid his hand on Conductor Westfall’s shoul¬
der as he was standing in the front part of the car,
and said to him: ‘You are my prisoner/ The con¬
ductor dodged down and ran further into the car.
At this time there were already three armed men in
the car, and when the one who had spoken to the
conductor followed him in there were four.
“As he did so this one fired at the conductor twice,
the first time with the revolver which he held in his
right hand. The ball struck the right sleeve of the
conductor’s coat, tearing it from a little above the
wrist to past'the elbow, where it entered the arm.
The man fired the other revolver and the conductor
turned to leave the car, and when he reached the
platform someone else must have shot him in the
back, inflicting a wound from which he died in about
twenty minutes.
“Immediately after the murder of Conductor
Westfall the robbers began to fire shots at random
down the aisle of the car, evidently with the inten¬
tion of intimidating the passengers and preventing
any of them from rising from their seats. A stone¬
mason named MacMillan, in the employ of the rail¬
road, happened to be coming in at the door just at
this unlucky moment, and was instantly killed by
one of these random shots.
“In the meantime the gang who had the securing
of the express car on their hands attacked it. They
THE JAMES BOYS*
156
obtained admission and threatened to kill the mes¬
senger, Charley Murray, a slight and lightly built
man, weighing, perhaps, 120 pounds, if he did not
give up his keys. He did as they requested, and
they opened the safe, which was. found to contain
$900 in money, a $1,000 bond and a quantity of sil¬
ver bullion.
“They were intensely chagrined when they found
that the safe contained so little, and asked: “Where
is the rest of your money, G—d d—n you?”
“Murray announced that that was all he had
under his charge. They insisted that he must pro¬
duce more, to which Murray answered: 'You can’t
draw blood from a turnip/
“The leader of the seven men engaged in the ex¬
press robbery said savagely: 'Well, d—n you, Fil
draw blood from you, then/ at the same stime strik¬
ing him a blow on the head with his revolver, which
laid Murray out senseless.
“I have no doubt,” Major Anthony added, “that
the gang fully intended to !go through the whole
train. The first man who entered the smoking car,
and who fired the shots at the conductor, cried
'Hands up P as he advanced. The others seemed
taken aback at the large number of people they
found in the car, and looked from one to another
and hesitated. The one who had entered the car
looked around him after he had shot a couple of
times, and seemed to be surprised that he was alone,
and then backed out of the car, waving his revolver
as he did so to keep the passengers from rising upon
him.
'Tve been in one or two tight places before,” con¬
tinued Major Anthony, “and did not feel particu¬
larly scared. I was in the sleeper, and I called out
for every man in the car to get his weapon and pre-
pare to do his duty. Not a soul, however, had one
on the car. Then began the fun. It was amusing
THE JAMES B0YS.
IS7
to see the fellows going down for their watches and
money and other valuables and hunting for places to
hide them in. One man, who seemed in an agony
of despair, called out: ‘They can have all the money
I own/ at the same diving under a seat. All sorts of
places were utilized as hiding places for money, etc.
“Men pulled off their boots and shoved their wads
or watches into them. Spittoons were utilized for
the same purpose. I popped my money into the pil¬
low—a pretty safe place, I think. The men on the
car were terribly frightened—much more so than
the women. The idea prevailed that the robbers
were shooting through the Windows at the passen-
gers, and as many as could find refuge under a seat
stowed themselves there, and remained there until
long after the firing was over. On the other hand,
not a woman seemed to be a particle excited. It was
wonderful how coolly they took it. They now and
then asked for an explanation of what was going on,
and for pretty definite information as to when the
affair was likely to end; but when, naturally enough,
they found their curiosity could not be satisfied,
they remained calmly in their seats and awaited fu¬
ture developments.
“There was one great danger which we escaped,
as it were, by a miracle. When the car stopped it
did so not 200 yards in front of a high trestle. When
the robbers had command of the locomotive they
urged the train along at a tremendous rate of speed.
Had this speed been kept up while the train was
running along the trestle it would, so railroad men
tell me, have jumped the track to a dead certainty,
and have become a total wre.£k, with a great de¬
struction of life. The brakeman, Cole, however, by
his opportune opening of the air brake, slacked the
train up and averted the calamity.”
It has been conclusively proven that the gang who
committed this robbery and murder of the Rock Is-
THE JAMES BOYS.
158
land road was composed of Frank James, Jesse
James, Jim Cummings, Parmer, a brother-in-law of
the James boys; Miller, a brother of Cleil Miller,
and a young Samuels, a step-brother of Frank and
Jesse James.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE BLUE CUT ROBBERY ON THE ALTON ROAD.
The whole country was greatly excited by the
daring robbery and murder on the Rock Island road,
large rewards were offered for the capture of the
robbers, and it was generally thought that it would
be sometime before the bandits would dare venture
upon another similar undertaking. But the news¬
paper had scarcely ceased publishing their sensa¬
tional accounts of the affair when the country was
startled by another daring robbery on the Chicago
and Alton Railroad.
The James boys and their band of robbers had be¬
come utterly reckless of consequences, both to them¬
selves and their victims, and seemed bent on deeds
of desperation and outrage that would throw all
dormer acts of highwaymen and bandits completely
in the shade. The murder of Westfall and McMil¬
lan seemed to whet their appetites for new deeds o.f
murder and outrage, and they lost no time in tack-
ling another train, this time going through the pas-
sengers as well as plundering the express cars.
About four miles east of Independence, Mo.,
where the Missouri Pacific Railroad crosses over a
deep cut of the Chicago and Alton, is a point known
as Blue Cut. At that point, on the night of Septem¬
ber 7, 1881, the James boys and ten other bandits
secreted themselves and waited for the night ex¬
press of the Chicago and Alton road to loom in sight.
About 9 o'clock the express train frorji Chicago, in
charge of Conductor Hazelbaker, came tearing
THE JAMES BOYS.
159
along. Just before plunging into the deepest part of
the cut the engineer descried on the track just ahead
of him a pile of stones some five or six feet high,
and of course at once reversed his engine.
As soon as the engine slowed down Jesse James
and four of his masked robbers confronted the engi¬
neer with drawn revolvers, and Jesse said: “Step
down off that engine or I will kill you.” The engi¬
neer lost no time in complying with the peremptory
request, and was then commanded to get up again
and get the coal pick, which he did, and was then,
together with his fireman, marched off to the ex¬
press car and ordered to break down the door. This
request was also complied with under the persuasive
influence of ready cocked revolvers.
The express messenger had climbed down out of
his car at the first alarm and hid in the grass by the
side of the road, but the bandits swore they would
kill the engineer and fireman if the messenger failed
to show up. The engineer called the express mes¬
senger to come forth, which he did, and entered the
car with two of the robbers, who forced him to open
the safe and pour the contents into a sack.
The robbers were disappointed in not getting
more booty, and knocked the messenger down twice
with the butt end of their revolvers, cutting his head
in a fearful manner. They then marched the engi¬
neer and messenger to the coaches, where they kept
them covered with revolvers while they robbed the
passengers.
They began business on the coaches by firing off a
volley of revolver shots into the roof and sides of the
car and savagely shouting: “Hold up your hands,
and be pretty damned quick about it; we’re going
through the entire outfit.”
The leader of the band conducted himself in the
most swaggering manner possible, declaring himself
to be Jesse James, and boasting over and over that
l60 THE JAMES B0YS.
he was the man who killed Westfall, of Winston.
The bandits held up every passenger on the train,
including those in the sleepers, and decamped with
a two-bushel sack full of money and valuables.
Before leaving, however, Jesse James stepped up
to the engineer and handed him two silver dollars,
at the same time saying: “Here’s some change to
buy you a drink in the morning, and drink it to'Jesse
James. You have been a bully good boy, God bless
you! But get off this line of road or you’ll not have
long to live. We are going to tear up and burst the
Alton and Rock Island roads, for they have been of¬
fering rewards for us. I am the man who killed
Westfall, of Winston. He was too. smart and drew
his. revolver.”
CHAPTER XXXVI.
GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN CALLS A HALT.
The unchecked career of the James boys had run
so long that there is no wonder that many believed
them to have a charmed life. Although they were
seriously wounded a number of times, they lived on
defiantly, as if they dared Fate to do her utmost.
But Fate or Fortune is * a fickle goddess; she
smiles on you today and tomorrow frowns, we know
not when her reverses come, and when she wakes to
vengeance doom comes as swift as lightning and as
fearful as death. So it was with Jesse James; the
goddess was about to change her fortune, although
he knew it not. Jesse James had had his day, and
an awful day it had been. Born in 1845, we find hi10
in 1862 a leader of Quantrell’s black flag, which car-
ried death and danger in every breath of its somber
folds. For twenty years Jesse, the bandit of Mis¬
souri, had his hand against every man, and every
man’s hand against him. How many bloody mur-
ders were committed by him it is impossible to tell,
THE JAMES BOYS.
161
and probably he never knew himself. Bat his end
was near, and his sun was fated to set, not in peace
and calm, but in a tragic and bloody manner, as that
of many of his victims had set who haplessly fell
into his remorseless clutch.
In September, 1881, occurred the daring robbery
of the Chicago and Alton train near Glendale; the
question as. to Jesse’s share in that terrible raid was
for a long time a question of dispute.
The leader of that daring robbery assumed to be
Jesse James. But it is said if Jesse had been there
he would never have given himself away in such a
rash and heedless manner.
And yet, the reader of these pages will see that
there was hardly any limit to the daring reckless¬
ness of these outlaw brothers.
A great many claim that this method was pur-
sued to dispel any too close inquiries as to the real
perpetrators of the robbery.
It is now clear beyond a doubt that Jesse was the
leader in the Chicago and Alton raid.
The country was searched for miles around after
that eventful September night by over two hundred
men, and the result was the capture of nine out of
twelve of the gang, but Jesse was not among the
number.
Secretly and unknown, Governor Crittenden was
working to bring the whole gang into the meshes of
the law. From the fatal night in July, 1881, when
John Westfall was killed on the Chicago, Rock Is¬
land and Pacific train near Glendale, the Governor
was determined to do all in his power to break up
or capture this band of murderers. Missouri had
grown heartily sick of its unenviable notoriety. The
newspapers of other states were casting out serious
reflections on the Missourians, as though they were
helping and shielding the marauders. The capture
of Jesse James or any of his followers was scarcely
162
THE JAMES BOYS.
a holiday amusement. The reputation of Jesse as a
“crack shot” was such that most men would prefer
going around a block than meeting him in an angry
mood. And, in case of an enforced meeting, it was
preferable to hand over ready cash than to get into
a brawl, which would probably end in getting into
one’s grave.
The sight of him alone struck terror into both
men and women wh were by no means cowards.
And it was said by Jesse himself on one occasion
to a bosom friend that he could stop a train or a
coach as easily with a corncob as with a revolver,
and such was his notoriety that no doubt he could.
Governor Crittenden was determined to rid Mis¬
souri of Jesse if it could possibly be done, so all
through the summer he quietly and secretly worked.
He felt it was an outrage to think a whole state,
with all the force of the law at its back, should be
defied and baffled by a handful of daring robbers.
The one difficulty he thought was that there had
never been a large enough reward offered for the
capture of the bandits. So he made an appeal to the
railway and express companies, so deeply interested
on financial grounds. The appeal was heartily and
promptly responded to. The money was quickly
subscribed, the amount raised was $30,000; all the
companies who had suffered at their hands made
liberal donations.
It was decreed that $10,000 should be offered for
each of the James bovs and $5,000 for each of the
others. The Governor was authorized to draw on
the companies for the cash as fast as needed, which
would be paid at once.
All the while silence was kept; the operations for
the capture of Jesse James were carried on in secret;
and the net was gradually drawing closer around its
victim; his days were numbered. His head, plan¬
ning new robberies and murders or cold in death,
THE JAMES BOYS. l6j
was worth $10,000 to any person who had daring
enough to take it.
This tempting reward soon had the desired effect*
On the 16th of February, 1882, Governor Crittenden
was in his office at the capital, Jefferson City, when
he was called from the task of his official duties by
the entrance of a thickly veiled lady, who asked on
what conditions an outlaw could surrender himself
to justice with some hope of safety; he told her it
depended on who the outlaw was, and also told her
that neither Frank nor Jesse James could surrender
with an assurance ot exemption from punishment.
“But,” said the Governor, “if qthers of the gang came
in with an honest intention of giving up their nefa¬
rious life, and with a full understanding to assist the
officers in capturing Frank and Jesse James, ready
at all times to go in pursuit of them, and if it became
necessary to die in the effort to capture them, he or
they could come in and I will use my influence for
his protection and pardon, but not until I was fully
convinced of the sincerity and honesty of his inten-
tions.”
It was speculated for sometime who this veiled
lady was; rumor, with tongue as inventive as busy,
spread the report that this mysterious woman was
none other than Mattie Collins, the alleged wife of
Dick Little, the well-known accomplice. of Jesse
James. This, however, was stoutly denied by Gov¬
ernor Crittenden. However^ after their interview
the mysterious woman disappeared, and three days
later Dick Little, a trusted member of Jesse James’
company, surrendered to Sheriff Timberlake. This
was on February 19. On the 22nd he was conveyed
to Jefferson City, where he made a bulky confession.
This was not the beginning of the plots, however,
which were to end the career of Jesse James.
The outlaw had moved to St. Joseph, Missouri,
the preceding November, where he lived quietly
THE JAMES B0YS.
I64
tinder the assumed name of Mr. Thomas Howard.
He seemed to be living in security, but he was
shadowed daily, little dreaming a foe in the role of
a friend was so near. He lived in the southeast part
of the city, on the hill not far from North’s Hotel.
The winter months passed very quietly, and he very
seldom went out, except at night time to procure his
daily papers. The neighbors took very little inter¬
est in the new family, and if anything was said at all
it was to the effect that the “Howards were very
quiet people.,,
Shortly after their arrival at St. Joseph there 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 of the
worst order, a veritable snake in the grass, waiting
only for a favorable opportunity to strike his death
blow; treacherous, despicable, double-hearted, this
Robert Ford was nothing more than a detective em¬
ployed by Governor Crittenden, H. H. Craig, chief
of police of Kansas City, and Sheriff Timberlake, of
Clay county, to make sure of Jesse at all risks and
hazards, and to capture him dead or alive—the man
who took him to his home and fireside, sheltered and
clothed him, treated him as a brother. He was
joined Sunday, March 26th, by his brother Charley.
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 Platte
City bank. The raid was to be made April 4th, as
the Burgess murder trial was to take place in Platte
City on that day. Jesse was to make a careful ex¬
amination of the premises, and then, when the at¬
tention of the town was absorbed in the interest of
the trial, a bold dash was to be made and the bank
was to be robbed. The Fords approved of the
scheme and entered into it enthusiastically. The
THE JAMES B0YS.
X65
preparation were completed; after making a visit
to his mother, the outlaw remained at home waiting
for the appointed day.
But, all unknown and unsuspected, he was him¬
self the victim of a plot within a plot, deep and far-
seeing and shrewd as he was.
Little dreaming that he would never again mount
his horse and dash into a town and have full sway
as of yore, his days were numbered upon the fingers
of his hand, but, unconscious of the fate which was
so soon to overwhelm him, the confident bank rob¬
ber and outlaw spent his last days on this earth
scheming and planning new raids, forming new dev-
iltries and devising means for acquiring fresh plun¬
der, as it was a noticeable fact that at Jesse James*
death he had not a thousand dollars, yet it is posi¬
tively known that Frank and Jesse secured by their
nefarious business not less than $275,000, proving
the old adage—money “come easy, go easy.”
CHAPTER XXXVII.
JESSE JAMES* ASSASSINATION—FRANK's SURRENDER TO
GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN.
Monday, April 3rd, 1882, was an eventful and mem¬
orable day for the town of St. Joseph, Missouri. A
shot fired that morning between eight and nine o'clock
by a smooth-faced boy, a mere lad of twenty years,
who did more than all the detectives, United States
officers, sheriff s, marshals, constables and militia, had
been able to do in ten years; a lad not yet of legal
age had dared to do a deed which would have caused
many a stout heart to quail and many a brave man
tremble to even think of.
This Monday morning of April 3rd, 1882, a bullet
was shot which forever stilled the heart of one of the
most remarkable and notorious outlaws the world has
ever seen, Jesse James!
i66
THE JAMES BOYS.
For months, ever since the Ford boy s had been with
Jesse, they had waited patiently for a chance to shoot
him, but he was always so watchful and heavily armed
that it was next to impossible to draw a weapon on
him without being perceived. It was declared by them
that they never. entertained an idea of capturing him
alive, as they would just as leave think of committing
suicide. After breakfast on the fateful morning
Charles Ford and Jesse James went to the stable to
curry • their horses and make necessary preparations
for the Platte City bank raid. On returning to their
room, where Robert Ford was, Jesse remarked:
“It’s an awful hot day.” He pulled off his coat and
vest and threw them on the bed. He also said: “I
guess Fil take off my pistols, for fear they will attract
attention when I walk in the yard.” He unbuckled
his belt on which he carried two revolvers, 45 calibre,
one a Smith & Wesson and the other a Colt, and laid
them on the bed with his coat and vest. • He then
picked up a dusting brush and, stepping on a chair,
commenced dusting a picture.
Significant glances passed between the brothers as
they saw the only chance they ever had of taking the
life of the greatest bandit and free-booter that ever
figured in this country’s history.
His back was turned to the Ford boys, but for a
moment; but it was the one^fatal moment of his life.
The eager brothers seized the opportunity and in a
moment a 45 calibre lead ball crashed its deadly way
through Jesse James' head, entering at the base of the
brain and crashing out through the forehead, fired
from a gun Jesse had presented to Bob Ford, only a
day or two before, as a token of regard. The daring
deed was the work of a moment; the two brothers
stepped between Jesse and his revolvers, and at a
motion from Charles both drew their guns.
Robert was the quicker of the two. In one moment
he had a long weapon level with his eye, with the
THE JAMES BOYS.
167
muzzle no more than three or fouryfeet from the back
of the outlaw’s head. Even at that moment, quick
as a flash, there was something which did not escape
the acute ears .of the fated man. He made a motion
as if to turn his head, to ascertain the cause, but there
was a nervous pressure on the trigger, a sharp report
and all was over. There was not a word spoken, not
a sound but the report of Robert Ford's pistol; there
was a swaying, tottering of the stalwart figure on the
chair, a sudden relaxation of the muscles, a quiver, and
then the boldest, the king of outlaws fell heavily to
the floor and gasped out his life, with the crimson life¬
blood streaming from the awful gaping wound* in his
forehead. Mrs. James was in the kitchen when the
shooting took place, divided from the room in which
the bloody tragedy occurred by the dining-room. She
heard the shot and, leaving the work in the kitchen,
ran into the front room. She saw her husband lying
on his back and his slayers each holding a revolver in
his hand, making for a fence in the rear of the house.
Robert had reached the fence and was in the act of
scaling it, when she stepped to the door and called to
him: “Robert, you have done this! Oh! my God!
My God! What shall I do!” Then, with a heart-
piercing shriek, she cried, “Come back, come back!”
“I swear I did not,” was the reply\ *
Turning back to the horrible scene, Mrs. James fell
on her knees by the side of her dying husband, and,
taking his head in her lap, sought to stop the flow of
blood from the gushing wound, but her efforts were
all in vain. He endeavored to say something, but
could not. It did not last long; a few more gasps, a
last sigh, and all was over.
Jesse xiied by the hand of a treacherous confederate,
but he died in the arms of the wife he loved so well.
It .was early in the bright spring morning the fatal
shot was fired, and Jesse was yet only in the early
168
THE JAMES BOYS.
prime of manhood. He was only thirty-seven years
old! But how those years had been spent!
What deeds of violence and bloodshed had crowded
into his brief life! There was blood enough on his
hands to have darkened the records of a nation for a
century! The scene was sad enough, and yet it was
not strange that a life so full of deeds of violence
should meet such a violent death!
Charlie Ford tried to expl^n to Mrs. James that
the pistol had gone off accidentally.
“Gone off by accident I” she said; “no, I guess not/'
and she sent a glance at Charles Ford more expressive
than any words she could have uttered. This fair
woman, who had taken him for all time, for better or
worse, was wonderfully calm. But for years she had
lived in daily expectation of just such a scene and had
schooled herself to bear it bravely when it came.
The cry of the children was heartrending as they
saw their dead father lying in a pool of blood and
their mother crying and frantic with grief.
“Poor papa! Poor papa!” they cried as they clung
in fright to their heart-broken mother.
For whatever this border outlaw had been to the
world at large, he had been a loving and devoted
father and husband.
While the excitement wras at its utmost in the now-
desolate home, Robert and Charles Ford, 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 Governor Crittenden and
Sheriff Timber lake, and then went to the police sta¬
tion to surrender themselves. When they appeared at
the station they were told by an officer that Marshal
Craig and a posse of officers had gone in the direction
of the James residence, and they started after them
and surrendered themselves. They then accompanied
the officers to the house, and then returned in the cus-
tody of the police to the marshal’s headquarters.
THE JAMES BOYS;
169
Even Craig, although he knew the Ford boys were
after Jesse James, never suspected that Howard and
James were the same person, and when he heard that
the murdered man was none other than Jesse James
he exclaimed: “My God! do you mean to tell me that
this is Jesse James ?”
“Yes, that is Jesse James,” was the proud response..
“We have killed him and we don’t deny it, and we
want the reward. We feel proud we have killed the
man who is known all over the world as the most
noted desperado that ever lived.”
After arriving at the marshal’s headquarters, they
were furnished with a dinner, and about three o’clock
were removed to the old Circuit Court room, where the
inquest was held in the presence of an immense crowd.
The news spread like wildfire and St. Joseph never
witnessed such excitement. The streets were thronged
with crowds of agitated citizens, who could hardly
comprehend the fact that Jesse James, the terrible,
murderous outlaw, who had kept Missouri in a state
of terror for year s, had lived for months amongst
them without their knowledge and was now lying dead
in his home.
The courthouse was crowded, and every train
brought in crowds of people attracted by the rumor of
Jesse James’ death.
Very few believed the news, however, and simply
laughed at the idea that he was really the dead man.
Nevertheless, the excitement ran high and one con¬
firming report followed another.
Coroner Heddins was notified, and Undertaker Sid-
enfader was instructed to remove the remains to his
establishment'. A large crowd accompanied the cor-*
oner to the morgue, but only a few, including report-*
ers, were admitted.
And the balance of the attendance were obliged tof
curb their morbid curiosity for a time. j
There was nothing in the appearance of the once;-*
170
THE JAMES BOYS.
noted bandit to indicate the desperate character of the
man or the many bloody scenes in which he had been
a prominent actor.
Only the lower part of the face, the square cheek
bones, the stout prominent chin, covered with a soft,
sandy beard, and the thin, firmly closed lips were the
things which betrayed the iron will and undaunted
courage of the dead man.
At a careful examination of the body, you could see
two large bullet holes on the right side of the breast,
within about three inches of the nipple, a bullet wound
in the leg and the absence of the middle finger of the
left hand.
After viewing the remains, the coroner returned to
the court, and was soon followed by Mrs. James in
care of Marshal Craig; the two Ford boys, heavily
armed, followed.
They were kept in separate rooms until the jury
announced themselves ready to hear testimony.
The witnesses called for examination were Mrs.
James, the Ford boys and Dick Little.. It was cer¬
tainly hard to believe that Jesse was really dead.
Hunted so long by thousands of citizens and the best
detectives the state could supply, could it be possible
that he had been run to the ground at last ? The news
seemed too strange to be true. Some people expressed
their opinion that Jesse was as much alive now as ever
he was. When Robert Ford was interviewed on the
subject, he became very indignant and said: “So they
say the dead man isn’t Jesse James, do they?' Then
they are very much mistaken. I first met Jesse James
about three year s ago, and I have made no mistake.
“He used to come over to the house when I was on
my brother’s farm. Last November he moved here
to St. Joseph and went under the name of Thomas
Howard. He rented a house on the hill, back of the
World’s Hotel,-a quiet part of the town and not thickly
settled.
THE JAMES BOYS.
171
“My brother Charley and I knew nearly all the
gang, but had never worked with them in any of their
robberies.
“I was working with the detectives, and was one of
the party that went to Kentucky and arrested Clarence
Hite last February. He got twenty-five years in the
penitentiary. Jesse never suspected that we were after
him, and as his gang was all broken up, he wanted
new members, and considered Charley and I as good
material to start a fresh one.
“Two weeks ago he went to Kearney to see his
mother, and when he came back we told him we wanted
to join his band, and he said ‘all right/ Charley ar-
rived here a week ago Sunday, and I followed the fol¬
lowing Sunday night. We both put up at his hotfse.
“Governor Crittenden had offered $10,000 reward
for Jesse, dead or alive. We knew the only way we
could take him would be dead, and if we failed it
would be all up with us. He was always cool and col¬
lected, but always on the watch, and we had been wait¬
ing for a chance to do him up for months, and we
could not get the slightest opportunit}". During the day
he would stay around the house and in the evening he
would go down town to the news stand and get his pa-
pers, the Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Commercial and
Kansas City Times, regularly, and kept himself well
posted on what was transpiring the world over. He
had not done any job since the ‘Blue Cut’ train rob-
bery, last September, and I don’t believe he had over
$700 or $800 in money. He was thinking of robbing
some bank close by and then living in close cover. It
was for the furtherance of this scheme that he wanted
our help. We knew we would have to kill him, but
there was no chance to get the drop on him 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
172
THE JAMES B0YS.
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 lightning, but I pulled the trigger,
the ball hitting over the left eye and coming out over
the right ear, and he fell mortally wounded at Charlie’s
feet. Charlie had his finger on the trigger of his
pistol, but saw that he was done for and did not shoot;
not one of us uttered a word. We got our hats and
went to the telegraph office and telegraphed what we
had done to Governor Crittenden, Captain Craig, of
Kansas City, and Sheriff Timber lake, of Clay county.
The sheriff replied: T will come at once; stay there
until I do.- That is Jesse James, and we killed him,
and we want the reward.”
The new^papers the next day published the most
sensational reports of the murder, for murder it was,
although it vindicated the law. *
The tidings that the wildest free-booter since the
days of Quantrell had been shot in his own house
awoke universal astonishment. All over the states
and territories of the Union, and especially in the
Western regions, the news had the most startling
effect. “At last,” men said, and held their breath for
a moment, and then, as if doubting the possibility of
such a thing as Jesse James’ death, suggested that
the news would need a good deal of confirmation be-
fore it was accepted by them as a fact beyond possi¬
bility of doubt.
The startling news was received with considerable
joy by the Pinkertons in Chicago, and William Pinker¬
ton especially was well pleased, remarking: “Good!
then John Wicher is avenged at last 1” A stranger in
the country might almost think that Jesse James was
some great hero, so great was the excitement caused
by his tragic end. Many and varied were the opinions
expressed concerning his fate. Some thought the kill¬
ing a contemptible, despicable assassination, not recog-
THE JAMES B0YS. 173
nizing the great truth that “the end justified the
means/'
Others, while they regarded the killing as a justi¬
fiable and legal manslaughter, by which the law was
enforced and upheld, were inclined to cast reflections
upon the underhand methods employed. “Too bad,
too bad,” said one, “after all his pluck and courage to
be shot down like a dog at last!” “Poor devil!” said
another, “bad as he was, he was clear grit, and only an
infernal traitor would have done him the dirty trick!”
There is and always will be a wonderful power in
death to wipe out the dark blots in a bad life.
So there seemed a universal disposition to pity the
man whose life had traveled through such bloody
paths and ended at last in such utter hopeless gloom.
The trains that came into St. Joseph on Wednesday
brought hundreds of people that wanted to take one
last look on the face of the murdered man.
Mrs. Samuels, who received the news by telegraph
from Mrs. James, bore the shock with the stoicism
characteristic of the stern-visaged woman. She shed
no tear s and indulged in no outward show of emotion,
but a baneful gleam shot from her hard eyes when she
heard that Bob Ford had killed her son and Dick
Little had placed a criminating and detailed confes¬
sion in the hands of the authorities, Hastening to
St. Joseph, she sought her widowed daughter-in-law,
and the meeting was pathetic in the extreme. Even
then Mrs. James and Mrs. Samuels retained their un¬
natural composure, but when they were permitted to
see the body of their dead husband and son their calm¬
ness forsook them and they clung to each other with
the strong embrace of sorrow and grief.
In October of 1882 Frank James entered the office
of Governor Crittenden, in Jefferson City. Walking
up to the Governor, he surrendered himself, and, tak¬
ing off his pistol belt, laid it and his revolvers on the
THE JAMES BOYS.
174
table, remarking: “No living man but me has had his
hands on these revolvers since 1861;”
This bit of a drama was the ending of a good deal
of correspondence between Frank James and the Gov¬
ernor. The outlaw, tired and weary of his passionate
life, seeming rapidly approaching his grave, hurried
on by the dread disease consumption, and anxious to
end his days free from apprehension of arrest or meet
such a sad end as his outlaw brother, gave himself up
voluntarily. He was taken to Independence the next
day and delivered into the proper hands to await his
trial.
He was sentenced for life, but was afterward par-
doned, as the deadly disease seemed to be fast claim-
ing him as its own, and mercy tempered justice so
that he could end his days in the bosom of his family,
and since has been leading a good, honest life.
The James boys’ band is now a matter of history.
It was undoubtedly one of the most daring bands of
robbers that ever made war on society. They may not
have been guilty of all the iniquity 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 shade; and Gads’ Hill
and Blue Cut and some other equally famous lacalities
will not be soon forgotten by so much of the public as
had occasion to travel in the State of Missouri.
The introduction of the railway system did more
than inaugurate a new system of transportation; it in-
troduced several new professions, and not the least
notable of these is 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
THE JAMES B0YS.
175
to halt and the passenger s to divest themselves of
their watches, jewelry and money. But the railway
train seemed 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 easily make better time than even
the horse, whose quick time 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 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 on the train as passen-
gers and rob the occupants of the cars en route, then
compel the engineer at the point of a pistol to stop and
let them off at some convenient place not down on the
schedule as even so much as a flag station, and the
whole 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 in the State of Mis¬
souri, 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 de¬
tection 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 them¬
selves unpleasant to persons who seemed unfriendly.
No man eared to make himself the target for the James
brothers or to invite the destruction of his house or
barn by refusing them shelter or giving information of
THE JAMES BOYS.
176
their whereabouts to the officer s of the law. Jesse
is believed to have stated that he would never be taken
alive, and the belief was universal in Missouri that he
would have to be reduced to a corpse before it would
be practicable to serve a warrant on him. No experi-
ments were tried. One of the detectives whom he sup¬
posed 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 un¬
doubtedly have preferred dying as he did to being
hanged; and the traveling public feel a good deal
safer now than it would if Jesse James were merely
in jail awaiting trial. Ford’s method of arrest was a
little irregular, but Jesse’s reputation was such that
no man could be expected to undertake his arrest by
any other means than the revolver.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE INQUEST.
The great interest created by the assassination of
Jesse James was manifested by the throng that
packed the courtroom almost to suffocation, and
hundreds of other disappointed persons, unable to
gain admission, filled the hall and entrances and
crowded outside the building, discussing the tragic
event; inside the most intense interest was mani¬
fest, and the closest attention paid to the testimony.
i H. H. Craig,.police commissioner of Kansas City,
was the first witness sworn. He testified that “the
body corresponded with a description of Jesse
Jameshe then gave a detailed, description.
“He knew both the Ford boys, and stated that
Bob Ford assisted Sheriff Timberlake and himself;
he was not formally commissioned, however. Robert
Ford acted through his instructions, but Charles
Ford did not.”*
THE JAMES BOYS.
177
Sheriff Timberlake, the next witness, said “he was
acquainted with Jesse James and recognized the
body. They were personally acquainted with each
other. He stated he saw Jesse James last in 1870,
and knew his face. He told Robert Ford, who was
employed to assist him, to get his brother Charles
to help him.,,
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 it resembled that
of Jesse James. The outlaw had a'finger off; so did
the corpse. He recognized the scars on the thigh
and side and identified the body as that of Jesse
James.”
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 tw#
officers after the Johnsons, as they were then called.
Ford came and acknowledged the shooting; he de¬
scribed 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, cartridges and a purse; I gave the
purse to Mrs. James; it had sortie small change in it.
A scarfpin was also 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 craned their necks and used
every endeavor to gain a view of the woman who,
although the mother of the outlaw, had the respect
of every one in the room. She moved with a slow
step and bowed head to the witness stand. Although
her face was stern, it had a kindly look, and her
bright eyes and prominent nose gave a noteworthy
appearance to her visage. She was dressed in black,
with a black straw hat, and a black veil that partly
covered her face. When she took the stand her face
had a resolute appearance, but as the examination
THE JAMES BOYS.
178
progressed that disappeared, and she became very
much affected. She testified “she was the mother of
Jesse James and that she had seen his body only a
moment ago.”
“Is that the body of your son?” inquired the coro¬
ner.
“It is,” was the answer, and then followed sobs.
“Would to God it were not!” Placing her hands on
the heads of the little son and daughter of Jesse
James, who were standing in front of her, she con¬
tinued : “And these are his orphan children.” As she
said this she was again 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 then testified that “she recognized the preced¬
ing witness as Mrs. Samuels,” and then the bereaved
mother of the notorious outlaw left the courtroom
(The jury retired for a very short time and 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.”
The two Ford boys were at once committed to
jail, charged with the murder of Jesse James, under
a warrant sworn out by his wife.
As she was returning from the courtroom Mrs.
Samuels confronted Dick Little, whose treachery
seemed to affect her as much as the actual deeds of
the Ford boys, and a highly dramatic scene was
enacted; she seemed to think that, but for Little’s
surrender, Jesse would not have been hunted to his
death. Mrs. Samuels is a woman about 57 years of
age; her hair has grown gray. With her eyes flashing
passion and her whole frame quivering with excite¬
ment, she sprang toward the traitor with the feroc-
ity of a lion. “Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” she ex-
claimed, excitedly, her voice vibrating with deep
THE JAMES B0YS.
179
hatred for the man who had betrayed her son’s con¬
fidence. “God will send his vengeance on you for
this, oh, you villain! I would rather be in my boy's
place than yours.”
Dick cowered before her gaze and seemed to be in
abject fear of this female fury, and perhaps it, was as
well for him that she was not armed.
“I did not hurt him,” said Dick; “I thought you
knew who killed him.”
“Oh, God! my poor boy!” she cried out, as she
left the courtroom. Mrs. Samuels begged for the
body of her.murdered son, and rumor avers that the
agent who wanted to negotiate for Guiteau’s body
put himself in communication with Mrs. Samuels
and offered a very large sum for his remains. But
this offer was in vain. 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 April 6, 1882: “St. Joseph, Mo., April 5.—
Craig and Timberlake, the principal men who engi-
neered Jesse’s capture, have been delayed and ob-
structed 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 not secured
until 6 P. M. and taken quietly to the depot, where
the Sheriff’s party next prepared 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 ner¬
vous. The body is in a $500 coffin furnished by
Craig and Timberlake. The funeral will take place
tomorrow.”
“Cameron, Mo., April 5.—Although kept very
quiet, a perfect mob was at the depot at St. Joseph
to see the party off. The Times correspondent^ in-
180 • THE JAMES BOYS.
structions from Sheriff Timberlake were: ‘Meet us
at the depot; Fil be there with the corpse/ Just as
the train pulled into the depot two carriages and a
wagon with the coffin came up. Mrs. Samuels
stepped out of the first carriage, and, leaning on an
officeris arm, walked into the depot, f#llowed 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, but the old lady went t© the baggage
car and saw the body on the train. Timberlake and
his party sat in the baggage car to guard the body.
Mrs. Samuels entered her car and guards were
placed at the door. 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 accompanied by Luther James, a
cousin of Jesse’s, from Kansas City, her two chib
dren and Mrs. Samuels. The train was heavily
guarded. While in the depot at St. Joseph a short,
thickset man tried to pull a pistol on Mrs. Samuels,
but was promptly thrown 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 pri¬
vate 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 envel-
open the coffin. Mrs. Samuels and Mrs. James were
very much worn out. A dispatch received here by
Mrs. Samuels says her youngest son is dying at
home. Thus far there had been no signs of any out¬
break or disturbance, although several hard charac-
THE JAMES BOYS. l8l
ters appeared on the train. Dick Little will not go
to the funeral, but remains at Liberty. A difficuhy
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 it was im¬
possible to send a train until morning, as the engines
were all working. The Rock Island furnished a spe¬
cial to leave here at midnight. The funeral takes
place tomorrow from the Baptist Church at Kear¬
ney. The sermon will be preached by the Rev. Mr.
Martin. Mrs. Samuels is afraid that the body will
be stolen; a relative stands guard over the box ail
the time. The crowd here desired that the body be
shown, but Mrs. Samuels objected, and the box was
not opened. Mrs. Samuels desires President Roth-
well, 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 where to find him. Williams baptized Jesse
just after the war.”
. “St. Joseph, Mo., April 5.—The body of Jesse
James was sent from this city on the 7 o’clock train
of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad this even¬
ing in custody of Marshal Craig, of this city, and
the family of the dead desperado, consisting of L.
W. James, cousin of Jesse; R. T. Minnis, the
widow’s brother; Mrs. James, Mrs. Samuels and the
two children. There has been considerable wrangle
over the remains between H. H. Craig, the police
commissioner of Kansas City, and the local authori-
ties, who insisted upon seeing the body placed in the
keeping of relatives, instead of being sent to Kansas
•City. The body was officially turned over to Mrs.
l8 2
THE JAMES B0YS.
James by Coroner Heddens this afternoon on an or¬
der from the grand jury of Buchanan county and the
dispatch of Governor Crittenden. The jam at the
depot as the relatives stepped from their conveyance
to take the train was tremendous. Mrs. Samuels
was the most conspicuous person in the throng; she
insisted on having an official report from the train
at Kansas City. The commission sent up by Gov¬
ernor Crittenden, including Mattie Collins, Dick
Little's wife, arrived at a late hour last night, viewed
the remains and identified them as Jesse James.
“The remains, on Teaching Kearney, were takep
at once to the Kearney Hotel, where they lay in rude
state in a front room of the hotel from 6 until io
o'clock, during which time more than fifteen hun¬
dred people viewed the dead desperado.
“The services at the church took place at 2 P. M.,
and were conducted by Rev. G. M. Martin, assisted
by Rev. G. R. Jones. The ordinary obsequies were
conducted, interspersed with vocal music. Rev. Mr.
Martin delivered the address, and his only reference
to the character of the dead man was to say that it
was too well.known to need any comment. Without
any expression of opinion regarding the spiritual
outlook of the law, he spoke only of the chances of
the living and the lesson taught by the dead. About
five hundred people were in the church, and an im¬
mense crowd gathered outside, who could not gain
admittance. At the close of the service Mr. Martin
stated to the audience that, owing to the severe ill¬
ness of John Samuels, all but the near relatives of
the deceased were requested noi to follow the body
to the grave.
“The corpse was then taken to the Samuels home¬
stead ; when the short procession reached that place
a crowd assembled who were not present at the
church. At the southwest corner of the one-acre
tract that comprises the Samuels homestead a grave
THE JAMES BOYS.
183
had been dug. After a brief prayer the body was
lowered into the ground and the sounds of the clods
of earth falling on the coffin told the crowd that had
assembled that Jesse James had left the sight of the
world forever. Mrs. Samuels was greatly distressed;
in the old farmhouse a younger son of Mrs. Samuels
lay dangerously ill, while in the corner of the home
lot Jesse’s grave looked spectral as the sunset tinged
the new-made ground with lurid beams. She clings
to the hope that Jesse is at rest in peace.”
CHAPTER XXXIX.
RAPID 'CAREER OF THE FORD BOYS. BOB DIES WITH HIS
BOOTS ON.
After an inquest had been ordered over the body
of Jesse James and the coroner had delivered the re¬
mains into the keeping of the dead bandit’s widow,
the Ford boys were sent to jail under a charge of
murder. The authorized murderers of Jesse James
were interviewed at the jail by representatives of the
press, and betrayed a nervous anxiety regarding
their fate. Up to the time of their arrest they did
not seem to realize the gravity of their arrest on a
charge of murder. Bob Ford 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 James.
On Monday, April 17, 1882, Charles and Robert
Ford were arraigned for trial at St. Joseph, Mo., be¬
fore Judge Sherman. The courtroom.was crowded
The prisoners seemed to be wholly unconcerned,
and took the whole proceedings as mere formal
business. No attempt was made by them to enter
a defense. They acknowledged the * killing and
pleaded “guilty” in a most unconcerned manner,
after the prosecuting attorney read the indictment
charging them with murder in the first degree. The.
THE JAMES BOYS.
I84
promptness of the plea and the unconcerned manner
of the prisoners took Judge Sherman somewhat
aback. After a brief pause the Judge passed sen¬
tence of death upon both the prisoners, as follows:
“Under the circumstances, there is only one thing I
can do, and that is to pronounce sentence here and
now. You have pleaded guilty to murder in the first
degree, and it only rerrtains for me to carry out the
provisions of the law; it remains for others to say
whether the sentence shall be carried out. Robert
Ford, stand up.”
Robert did as commanded.
“Have you anything to say why sentence should1
not be pronounced upon you?”
“Nothing,” responded the prisoner.
“Robert Ford,” said “Judge Sherman, “you have
pleaded guilty before this court to murder in the
first degree, and it becomes my duty to pass the sen¬
tence of death upon you; it is, therefore, the sen¬
tence of this court that you be taken to Buchanan
county jail and there kept until the 19th day of May,
11882, and at that time to be taken to a convenient
place and hanged by the neck until you are dead.”
Robert then took his seat and Charlie was ordered
to stand up. The same sentence was passed upon
him and they were both taken back to the jail.
On the morning of the 18th of April an uncondi¬
tional pardon was granted both the Ford boys by
(Governor Crittenden, and Sheriff Thomas at once
liberated them; but Robert’s liberty was short-lived,
and he became very much agitated when Sheriff
Tregg, of Bay county, placed his hands on his shoul-
tter and said: “You are my prisoner,” and arrested
him for complicity in the murder of Wood Hite,
iwhose body was found a week previous in an old
well on the Ford farm, harlie Ford went free.
After the trial of the Ford brothers, Jesse James*
&rmory was handed over to Mrs. James. The value
THE JAMES BOYS. 18$
of the guns, weapons and knives were said to be
worth from $500 to $700. Robert Ford was taken to
Richmond, Mo., where he stood trial for complicity
in the murder of Hite, and was acquitted.
Shortly afterward Charles and Robert Ford di¬
vided between them the sum of $10,000, the reward
paid to them by the State Missouri for their cow¬
ardly murder of Jesse James.
The two brothers stuck together and lived like
pigs in a clover patch until their ill-gotten “swag”
was nearly exhausted in riotous living, and then
“fell out” and fought like fishwomen over the short
balance on hand.
For awhile they tried stage life, and took the
leading roles in a blood-curdling drama called “The
Outlaws of Missouri.” This venture did not prove a
success, and Charlie and Bob decided to exhibit
themselves as curiosities, and for awhile posed as
“freaks” in a dime museum. But this venture also
proved a miserable failure, and Charlie decided to
cut loose from Bob entirely and settle down to some
honest mode of making a living. Bob’s career after
that was exceedingly rapid. Finding he could not
live on his reputation as a hero, he determined to
exist on, or at least at the expense of, someone else’s
reputation.
While he was starring it on the stage in “The
Outlaws of Missouri” Bob made the acquaintance of
a pretty variety actress named Nelly Watterson.
Bob remembered that Nelly was quite popular—in
fact, about the only feature of attraction in “The
Outlaws of Missouri,” and he felt pretty certain
that he had made a favorable impression upon the
girl by his mock display of bravery on the boards.
He found no difficulty in persuading Nelly to “come
with him and be his love.”
She followed him to Creede, the new mining Ef-
dorado of the Silver State, where she stood by him
t86
THE JAMES BOYS.
through thick and thin, suffering all manner of
mean treatment and abuse without murmur or com¬
plaint.
Before Bob Ford struck Creede there were already
. plenty of toughs, gamblers, thieves and murderers
running wide open dens of iniquity there. But Bob
went them one better and opened up the boss hell¬
hole of the town.
With Bob's pretty “wife” as a drawing factor, the
thugs, plug-uglies and thieves were soon flocking
from the other dens of the town to the boss gam¬
bling hell run by Ford.
For a time the devil held high carnival, and all
went merry as a marriage bell at the place. But the
knock-downs and high-handed robberies of nightly
occurrence there soon became so menacing to the
peace of the thriving little town that the authorities
set about to suppress it.
Among the officials who were placed upon duty in
this regard was a handsome and gallant deputy
sheriff named Kelly.
Bob Ford was always on his good behavior when
Kelly was about, and took special care to have the
handsome deputy sheriff come under the “mashing”
influence of his alleged wife, the pretty little song
and dance actress, Nelly' Watterson, while he
“winked the other eye," and pretended to see noth¬
ing that occurred between Kelly and Nelly.
In this way Ford hoped to get on the good side of
the deputy and be permitted to run things wide open
without official interference.
Whether because he was disappointed in this par¬
ticular or whether things got too warm between the
deputy and the pretty actress for him to wink at the
matter any longer, for some reason or other Ford
and the deputy quarreled last February, and always
^afterward were mortal enemies.
The enmity between the deputy sheriff and Ford
THE JAMES BOYS.
18/
grew more and more intense, and on a night of Feb-
ruary, 1892, Kelly headed a posse of citizens in a
raid upon Ford’s dance hall, which resulted in the
wounding of Ford and for the time being driving
him from the place.
But it was only a short time until he was back
again, running things as recklessly as ever. Deputy
Kelly was on his track immediately, and persistently
dogged his steps until the favorable moment arrived
for him to act. At last the opportune moment was
at hand.
It was the afternoon of June 8, 1892, when Kelly
presented himself at the door of Ford's establish¬
ment with a double-barrel shotgun in his hands.
Faithful Nellie Watterson first saw his approach
and cried out to Ford: “Bob, Bob! be on your
guard; Ned is here, armed with a shotgun.”
Ford reached for his revolver on a shelf behind
the bar. Too late. A double report from Kelly’s
leveled gun rang out, and two loads of buckshot
went crashing into Bob Ford’s neck, severing the
windpipe and jugular vein, killing him instantly.
And'thus the cowardly assassin of Jesse James,
like the victim of his treachery, died with his boots
on.
CHAPTER XL.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JAMES BOYS.
The public career of Frank and Jesse James is as
well known to the world as that of any persons
whose names have been made famous by daring
deeds of robbery and murder. But the world knows
little of the domestic side of their lives. j|
We have seen in this record of their criminal ca¬
reer a few examples of their affectionate regard for
their mother, and we are now to learn that this gen¬
tleness of heart was also characteristic of them in
188
THE JAMES BOYS.
their relations toward their sweethearts, wives and
children. That either Frank or Jesse James could
have found time amid the exciting scenes of their
bandit life to make love and marry, each of them, a
gentle, home-loving little wife seems almost incred¬
ible. And yet both Frank and Jesse did that very
thing. Each of them chose a wife that could *make
for him a happy home, and all through their des¬
perate career thereafter both of the brothers proved
themselves affectionate husbands and most indulgent
fathers. Singular as it may seem, with the excep¬
tion of this one domestic virtue there was scarcely
a single feature of similarity in the character of the
James brothers. Frank James was a man of more
than ordinary education, and his manners showed
some effort at refinement. Frank was very slim and
not more than five feet six inches in height, and
weighed about one hundred and forty pounds. He
had blue eyes, very light hair and usually wore a
close-cropped full beard and straggling mustache of
a pale reddish color. His face was peculiar in
shape, being broad at the forehead and tapering
abruptly from the cheek bones to the chin, which
was almost pointed. In his motions he was nat¬
urally neither slow nor quick, but at times he af¬
fected either. His cunning and coolness were re¬
markable, and to compare the two boys in this re¬
spect would be like comparing the boldest highway¬
man with the ordinary bungling housebreaker, so
great was Frank’s superiority. In the matter of ed¬
ucation Frank improved his opportunities and was
a persevering student, being a lover of books as well
as familiarizing himself with the different phases of
life. He murdered many men, and yet he was not
destitute of mercy, and found no gratification in
deeds of blood. He tried to imitate the traditions of
Claude Duval, whose fictitious adventures Frank
THE JAMES BOYS. l8$
had read until he could repeat them like the written
narrative.
Jesse James was a strongly made man, standing
five feet ten inches in high, and weighed one hun¬
dred and sixty-five pounds. He had brown eyes,
dark hair and was of a nervous temperament. Jesse's
peculiarity was in his eyes, which were never at rest.
In his youth Jesse was troubled with granulated
eyelitls, from which he never fully recovered, which
was seen in the constant batting of his eyes and a
slight irritation of the lids; besides this marked pe¬
culiarity, the first joint of the middle finger on his
left hand was missing. He usually wore full whis-
kers of apparently a monthl growth. His educa¬
tion was very limited, barely enabling him to read
and write. He was revengeful in his nature, always
sanguine, impetuous, almost wantonly heedless. In
deeds of violence he took especial delight, and in his
entire nature, as toward others than his friends and
relatives, there was not a trace of mercy.
Frank James married Miss Annie Ralston, of Jack¬
son county, in September, 1875. The marriage was
one of those romantic episodes which brought great
sorrow to Mr. Ralston, an industrious farmer living
eight miles from Kansas City. Miss Annie was but
a school girl, whose reading of dime novels had so far
impaired her judgment as to make her long for the
association of a hero. Her meeting with Frank James
was accidental, but she had read of his exploits and
he was her ideal. Annie left her home clandestinely
and met Frank James many miles from the old home¬
stead ; a Baptist minister performed the ceremony and
the-outlaw and his now ostracised wife went into the
shadows of cave and forest, severing the bonds which
bound them to society and civilization.
When Mr. Ralston learned of the desperate step
taken by his daughter he was almost crazed with grief.
He went direct to Kansas City and, with eyes suffused
THE JAMES BOYS.
190
with tears, begged Judge Mumford, of the Times, to
prepare for him and publish an article which would
relieve him of the stigma which might attach to him
by the error of his daughter. Mr. Ralston was anxious
the public should know that he never had any associa¬
tion with the outlaw, and that, though Annie had been
a child who had filled his heart with love, yet her alli¬
ance with a highwayman had banished the very mem-
ory of her from the fond heart which would know her
no more. Such an article did appear in the Times,
and if Mr. Ralston ever became reconciled to his ban¬
dit son-in-law, his neighbors never learned the fact.
The peculiar profession followed by Frank and Jesse
James prevented them from having any permanent
residence, and their wives were compelled, in a meas¬
ure, to lead a life of seclusion, traveling from place
to place, concealing their identity and experiencing
few pleasures because of the constant anxiety to which
they were subjected. It is understood that Frank is
the father of several children, and Jesse left behind
him one little boy and a baby girl.
Sometimes incidents, in themselves trivial, serve to
reveal the character of persons connected with them
better than those actions which are esteemed as more
important. The James boys are robbers, but never¬
theless they are still capable of generous actions. It
may be that the remembrance of former days some¬
times disposes their minds to the contemplation of the
true,'the beautiful and the good in humanity. Jesse
James was once baptized and became a member of a
Baptist church in Clay county, Missouri, and it is said
that for a considerable time before the war his conduct
was exemplary in the highest degree. But he after¬
ward sadly fell from grace.
Shortly, after Frank and Jesse entered upon their
bandit life a tenant of the Samuels farm had a diffi-
culty with the mother of Jesse and Frank. In the heat
of passion he denounced the old lady as a liar. Jesse
.THE JAMES BOYS.
191
heard of the affair, and, as he always exhibited the
warmest affection for his mother, those who knew of
the circumstances fully expected that the tenant would
be called to account in the usual way by Jesse James.
One day the offending tenant was engaged in some
domestic labor near his home and adjacent to a corn¬
field, when suddenly there was a rustling of the dry
corn blades and the next instant the dreaded outlaw
leaped his horse over the fence and dashed up to the
affrighted citizen with a heavy revolver ready cocked
in his hand. “I have come to kill you!” he said, at
the same time making an ominous motion with the
pistol. “Did you not know better than to call my
mother a liar? Now, if you want to make your peace
with God, you had better be at it.” The poor man
dropped upon his knees and began to pray. As he pro-
ceeded he became more and more fervent. He asked
God to pardon his transgressions and have mercy upon
him. Then he commended his loved o.nes to the pro-
tecting care of that Beneficent Being to whom alone
they could look, now that he was so soon to be taken
away from them. The prayer had become pathetic in
its earnestness. As the man proceeded the hard lines
in Jesse James* features relaxed, a shade of sadness
stole over his countenance, the muzzle of the pistol
was unconsciously lowered, and when the poor fright¬
ened farmer had finished, the look of stern resolve was
all gone, and the outlaw’s pistol had been sheathed.
“I cannot kill you thus,” he said, “but you must leave
the country/* and Jesse James wheeled his horse and
disappeared as he had come.
What tender reminiscences may have come to Jesse
James then? Who can tell? The farmer settled up
his affairs and departed from the country soon after¬
ward. His prayer had prevailed with Jesse, and he
was spared to his loved ones.
Price 25 Gents.
A MAN S BROKEN
PROMISE
A Novel Ponnded on the play by the same name.
BY LILLIAN MORTIMER.
A Bloodcurdling Novel ot great interest,
describing with telling effect the cunning vil-
liany of an arch-fiend in human form; his
betrayal and desertion of a beautiful and
confiding girl; his bold attempt to win and
wed a rich heiress by trickery and fraud and
separate her from the man she ioves.
Simon Burt, the black-hearted villain, also plots with his mother,
a Cold-blooded and brutal woman of desperate deeds, to murder a
crippled orphan boy in order to get his fortune; but by the mercy
of that guiding power which protects innocence and punishes guilt,
the devilish plots of the murderous pair are foiled and in the end the
furious woman sends a bullet crashing through the skull of her crim¬
inal son to save him from the gallows. The book is full of thrilling
and startling situations.
Pric® 25 Gents.
THE FUN DOCTOR
A Hogshead Brimful
of
Rich and Racy Fun.
Pun about Babies, Twlns,' Children, Bad
Boys, Love, and Pun about Kissing. The Moat
Tickling Thing of Ail.
Containing a collection of tunny stories that will cause the reader
to split his face wide open and button his mouth over his ears. Read
this book and you will smile with a roar like a circus megaphone. It
will swell you up with laughter and burst all the stitches in your glad
rags while your wife is busy sewing buttons on the breweryendof
your overalls. Read this book; you will enjoy it and save the price
of theatre tickets.
Send Postpaid upon receipt of 25 cents.
University of Washington I.,ibrary
Date
i Due
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