place called Madelia, the Youngers and Charlie Pitts were surrounded
in a swamp, and captured after a desperate fight with the citizens'
posse Pitts being killed and all the Youngers receiving fresh wounds.
Pitts was buried, and the Youngers, always under guard, after months of
suffering finally recovered. After their recovery they pleaded guilty
to the charges against them and were sentenced to prison for the term
of their natural lives. They are yet in the Minnesota penitentiary at
Stillwater. Jesse and Frank James were more fortunate; although so
closely pressed that a hundred times they could see and hear the voices
of their pursuers, yet they were not discovered. Day and night the
James Boys continued their flight, unable to cook anything, subsisting
on green corn and raw potatoes; never daring to show their faces,
swimming streams, and confining their route to the least accessable
sections of country. Extraordinary cunning, a knowledge of men and
adaptability to circumstances, after ten days of a most remarkable
pursuit, covering their tracks by wading for miles in streams of water,
Jesse and Frank James eluded their pursuers and regained their secure
haunts in Jackson county.
AT GLENDALE--THE LAST GREAT 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 consumption in the Indian Nation and that Jesse was living
peaceably in one of the remote Territories, following the profitable
occupation of cattle-raising.
On the evening of October 7th, 1879, the people of Western Missouri
were suddenly shocked by the intelligence 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 rebellion. On
the day in question Jesse James, Jim Cummings, Ed. Miller, a brother
of Clell, Daniel (better known as Tucker) Bassham and seven others
whose names are not known, appeared suddenly at the little station
of Glendale, which is on the line of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis
Railroad, twenty-two miles from Kansas City. The town consists of a
post-office and store combined and a station house, and is a flag
station only. About six o'clock in the evening the party of bandits
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 station, and these were locked in the station house. The
train going east was due at 6:45 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 bandits 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. Meeting with no resistance the bandits broke in
the door of the express car, but in their efforts to break in the door,
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 appropriated, as was also
the bag containing the money.
The haul was a very rich one and the attempt having been successful the
passengers were not molested, and the train was permitted to depart
after a detention of no more than ten minutes.
The commission of this crime again aroused the officers, 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 intelligently and
unceasingly. He soon discovered who composed the party that committed
the robbery, notwithstanding the fact that they were heavily masked.
Tucker Bassham, one of the robbers, 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 one hundred dollars. 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.
SHOOTING OF JESSE JAMES BY GEO. SHEPHERD.
The pursuit of the Glendale robbers did not cease after a week's
efforts, as previously, but Maj. Leggitt was determined to accomplish
his purpose. He resolved upon an expedient which evidences his cunning
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 appeared impossible to escape. After the
close of the war Jesse James accepted Geo. Shepherd as a leader and
followed him into Texas, and would still be following his counsels had
not circumstances separated them.
Maj. Leggitt evolved a scheme out of his hours of study looking towards
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 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 Glendale robbery. A report of this was
to be printed upon a slip of paper having printed matter upon the
reverse side, so as to appear like a newspaper clipping. 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 innocent,
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 opportunity 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 to receive $50 per month during the time of
his service.
The conditions and terms were satisfactory to Shepherd, and in 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, and other corroborative testimony
establishes its truth:
When Shepherd left Kansas City he was mounted upon a sorrel horse and
his weapons consisted of a thirty-two calibre 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 invitation 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
Glendale robbery, he had been forced to flee, and for mutual protection
he wished to join Jesse James and his confederates; thereupon Shepherd
produced the apparently newspaper clipping already referred to, which
Dr. and Mrs. Samuels both read. After finishing 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 Dr. went out into the woods
where he knew the bandits were concealed, while Shepherd mounted his
horse 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 clipping, after which he was
immediately 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 together
in a hundred terrible conflicts, 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 circumstances, for any of the bandits to doubt Shepherd's
story.
The party remained all night at the Samuels residence 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 Marr's. 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 procure
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 imparted the information
of his meeting and arrangements with Jesse James to Maj. Leggitt, who
provided Shepherd with a splendid horse and three large-sized Smith &
Wesson pistols. But in order to prevent any possibility of deception,
Maj. Leggitt took Shepherd to Independence and placed him in jail, and
then sent three trusted men to Six Mile for the purpose of ascertaining
if Jesse James and his party were really rendezvoused at that point.
Maj. Leggitt soon learned that Shepherd had reported nothing but facts
and he was then sent out, splendidly armed and mounted, for the meeting
place. Shepherd did not reach the trysting spot until the morning after
the time agreed upon, and he found Jesse and his followers gone, but
the party at whose house the meeting was to occur--Benj. 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 Iland, and
we will talk about that Business we spok of. I would wate for you
but the boys wants to leave hear, dont 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 untill I
find you.
Your Friend.
J---- ----
Thus instructed Shepherd started for Rogue's Island, 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 returned
to the camp, where they found Cummings, Miller and the unknown, and
then the party rode directly for Empire City, the vicinity of which
they reached about noon on Saturday, November 1, 1879. They went into
camp on Short Creek, eight miles south of Empire City, and at four
o'clock in the afternoon 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, pursuing his story, he was astonished at finding the bank
lighted up and a close inspection revealed to him a dozen men inside
the bank armed with double-barreled shot-guns. Shepherd stated to the
writer that Maj. Leggitt must have notified the bank officers of the
intended raid, by telegraph, but Maj. Leggitt denies having done so,
and says that Shepherd must have told some person who communicated
with the bank. Anyhow the arrangement was that Maj. 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 prevented Maj. 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 intended attack, Shepherd
went into a restaurant and while eating his supper, Tom Cleary, an old
acquaintance, came in and greeted him. After supper the two went to
Cleary's house and remained all night, and Shepherd told his friend the
part he was acting in the effort to capture Jesse James. Ed. Cleary, a
brother of Tom's, was also informed of the scheme and Shepherd asked
their assistance, or to at least follow him the next morning to the
camp of the bandits. The understanding was at the time Shepherd left
the outlaws that he should return to the camp by nine o'clock Sunday
morning and, if his report was favorable, the raid on the bank would be
made Sunday night.
Shepherd kept the appointment and returned to the place where the
bandits had encamped, but found the camp deserted. He thought this
strange, but soon found the old sign of a "turn-out" had been made to
let him know where they were. It is well known that the James Boys and
their comrades frequently separate. They have a sign, however, by which
it is not difficult for them to find one another. 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 Saturday 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."
[Illustration: SHOOTING OF JESSE JAMES.]
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 positions, Shepherd gave a smart jerk to
the bridle rein which caused his horse to stop while Jesse rode on.
It was the work of an instant, for as Jesse's horse gained two steps
forward Shepherd drew one of his large pistols and without speaking a
word fired, the ball taking effect in Jesse's head one inch behind the
left ear. Only the one shot was fired, for Shepherd saw the result of
the shot, and Jesse plunged headlong from his horse and lay motionless
on the ground as if death had been instantaneous. Shepherd says he
viewed the body for nearly one minute before either of the other
outlaws made any demonstration. 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 pursued
only by Cummings who was gaining on him, Shepherd stopped and wheeled
his horse and at that moment a bullet struck him in the left leg just
below the knee, producing, however, only a flesh wound. As Cummings
dashed up Shepherd took deliberate 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.
That Shepherd told the truth there is no room for doubt, and he had
the best reasons for believing that he had killed Jesse James; but two
parties, at least, whose word is reliable affirm that they have seen
Jesse James since the shooting and that Cummings has also been met by
them, who stated that Shepherd did shoot Jesse, and that the bullet
did strike him just behind the left ear, but instead of penetrating
the brain it had coursed around the skull partially paralyzing the
brain and spine. Cummings further stated that while Jesse James
was still living his career as a bandit was ended forever by the
bullet from Shepherd's pistol. In other words, Jesse's mind has been
totally destroyed. How much truth there is in this report is left for
conjecture. Mrs. Samuels says she believes that Jesse is dead, and a
meeting which she had with Shepherd since the shooting was such as
caused those who witnessed it, to believe the woman was earnest in that
opinion.
WHY DID SHEPHERD SHOOT JESSE JAMES?
The prime motive which actuated George Shepherd in shooting 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 rewards, amounting to nearly one hundred thousand
dollars, for the apprehension or dead body of Jesse James, were 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 notorious 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 expedition. 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 notified some of the neighbors,
and when the body of Flannery was found in the road, there were two
bullet holes in the head and the five thousand dollars were missing.
Shepherd did not learn all the circumstances connected with Flannery's
death until sometime afterward, but when he was told how Anderson 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 occurrence before Shepherd
met either of the murderers. He was in Sherman, Texas, when Jim
Anderson came up to him with a cordial greeting, little suspecting the
terrible result of that meeting. The two drank together and appeared on
the best of terms until the hour of eleven o'clock at night. The saloon
was closing and the darkness without was most uninviting. Shepherd
asked Anderson to accompany him over to the court-house yard as he
wanted to talk secretly concerning a certain transaction.
When the two reached the yard, and about them was nothing but sombre
shadow and the quiet of sleep, cautiously, yet determinedly, Shepherd
drew from its 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 determined 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 accepted fate with a stoicism worthy of a religious fanatic. Before
receiving the fatal stroke, however, he told Shepherd that Jesse James
was the one who proposed the murder and robbery of young Flannery, and
that each fired a fatal shot and then divided the stolen money. When
this admission escaped his lips, Shepherd sprang upon him like a tiger,
drew the glittering blade of the terrible knife across his throat, and
the spirit of the murderer and robber took its flight into the realms
of the unknown.
On the following morning a 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. DeHart, 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 attached
to him so strongly that he had to leave Texas. No one ever suspected
Shepherd of the murder, but his own confessions to the writer are given
in this account of Anderson's execution.
Shepherd has longed for an opportunity to kill Jesse James, but the
surroundings, even during a long association, were never sufficiently
favorable. The opportunity was exceedingly unfavorable at Short Creek,
but revenge and the promise of such an immense reward nerved him to the
undertaking.
ROBBERY OF THE MAMMOTH CAVE STAGES.
The James Boys, and especially Frank, have remained in seclusion for a
considerable period, and with the shooting of Jesse--whom many still
believe to be dead--it was thought that the old remnants of guerrilla
plunderers had entirely disappeared. It is positively known that Frank
James resided in Baltimore during the winter of 1879-80, and his home
was located on one of the principal resident streets. At that time he
wore full whiskers which were very long, reaching to his waist. The
name he bore while in Baltimore the writer has not been able to learn,
for obvious reasons. He disappeared from that city in March last, and
it is reported by Kansas City police officers that Frank was seen in
Jackson county, Missouri, by two of his acquaintances in the latter
part of July, 1880, and that his whiskers were cut short. The following
account of the robbery of the Mammoth Cave stage again brings Frank
James and Jim Cummings prominently into notice.
[Illustration: SETTLING AN OLD SCORE.]
The Concord stage running between Mammoth Cave and Cave City, in
Edmonson county, Kentucky, was captured by highwaymen on the afternoon
of Friday, September 3d, 1880, and the passengers despoiled of
everything they carried.