tourists and sight-seers, who are usually 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 visitors, is by way of the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad to Cave 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 it runs 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 and 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
distributed his attentions to the defenseless party of eight passengers
with a sang froid and easy politeness which did much to alleviate their
feelings. His accomplice was about the same age, with black whiskers
and mustache 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 spokesman, in a light, high
pitched voice.
The passengers looked through the open windows and saw the muzzles of
the impassive revolvers covering 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. In the
excitement and bustle attendant upon rising and leaving their seats,
Mr. R. S. Rountree, of the Milwaukee _Evening Wisconsin_, who was
making the trip with relatives, slipped his pocket-book and gold watch
under the cushion of the seat.
Very few words were spoken, though the highwaymen 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, of Lebanon, Ky., was permitted to remain in the stage. After
the passengers were all out the leader of the two villains tossed
his rein 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; Hon. 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. Frohlichstein, of Mobile, Ala., lost $23;
Geo. M. Paisley, of Pittsburg, gave up $33; W. G. Welsh, of Pittsburg,
lost $5 and a handsome watch. R. S. Rountree, of Milwaukee, 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. Proctor 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 officers
that they were compelled to have money to get out of the country. 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 Mr. Craig, of Georgia, he remarked that he hated to 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 marauders returned
the pocket-books with the railway passes and tickets, and giving the
passengers orders to get in, mounted and rode off. They told the
passengers, for consolation, that they had robbed the out stage,
getting $700 from Mr. George Croghan, one of the owners of the cave.
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
indisputable character, which came into the possession of the writer
since the robbery.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JAMES BOYS.
Singular as it may appear, there is scarcely a single feature of
similarity in the character of the James brothers. Frank James is a
man of more than ordinary education, and his manners show some effort
at refinement. He is very slim, and not more than five feet six inches
in height, and weighs about one hundred and forty pounds. He has blue
eyes, very light hair and usually wears a shortly cropped full beard
and straggling mustache, of a pale, reddish color. His face is peculiar
in shape, being broad at the forehead and tapering abruptly from the
cheek bones to the chin, which is almost pointed. In his motions he
is neither naturally slow nor quick, but at times he affects either.
His cunning and coolness are remarkable, and to compare the two boys in
this respect would be like comparing the boldest highwayman with the
lowest sneak thief, so great is Frank's superiority. In the matter of
education Frank has improved his opportunities and is a student, being
a lover of books and familiar with the different phases of life. He has
murdered many men, and yet he is not destitute of mercy, and finds no
gratification in deeds of blood. He has tried to imitate the traditions
of Claude Duval, whose fictitious adventures Frank has read until he
can repeat them like the written narrative.
Jesse James is a strongly made man, standing five feet ten inches in
height, and will weigh one hundred and sixty-five pounds. He has brown
eyes, dark hair and is of a nervous temperament. Jesse's peculiarity is
in his eyes which are never at rest. In his youth Jesse was troubled
with granulated eyelids from which he has never fully recovered, which
is seen in the constant batting of his eyes and a slight irritation
of the lids; besides this marked peculiarity, the first joint of the
forefinger on his left hand is missing. He usually wears full whiskers
of apparently one month's growth. His education is very limited, barely
enabling him to read and write. He is revengeful in his nature, always
sanguine, impetuous, almost heedless. It is due to Frank James'
strategy and Jesse's desperate bravery that the latter has not long
since been punished for his crimes. In deeds of violence Jesse finds
especial delight, and in his entire nature there is not a trace of
mercy.
It is asserted, by those who know them best, that Jesse and Frank are
only half-brothers, having the same mother, but that Jesse's father
is a physician in Clay county. What truth there is in this report the
writer does not assume the responsibility of confirming, giving it only
as the assertion of many prominent men of Clay county.
On one occasion, so George Shepherd relates, while Jesse and Frank were
dining with their mother, with Shepherd as their guest, a dispute arose
over a trivial matter, in which the brothers became very angry and
drew their pistols. Mrs. Samuels made no effort to interfere, and the
difficulty terminated without a fight. In the row Frank told Jesse that
he knew they were not brothers, to which assertion neither Jesse nor
Mrs. Samuels made any reply.
It is well known among the confederates of the James Boys, and it has
been so declared by Shepherd, the Younger boys and Cummings, that there
was no love between Frank and Jesse, and Shepherd told the writer that
instead of Frank avenging the attack on Jesse at Short Creek he would
applaud it. Going still farther, Shepherd said that at his last meeting
with Frank, two years ago, the latter declared he would kill Jesse if
he ever met him again; that Jess, as he called him, had tried to have
him (Frank) ambushed and captured in Texas, and that that was not the
first time Jess had played the stake to have him murdered.
The fact of Jim Cummings' association with Frank James in the robbery
of the Mammoth Cave stage coaches gives color of truth to Shepherd's
declaration that he killed Jesse James near Galena, or to Cummings'
statement that Shepherd's shot, while not killing Jesse, had paralyzed
his brain and destroyed his mind.
Frank James was married to Miss Annie Ralston, of Jackson 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
homestead; 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 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
association with the outlaw and that, though Annie had been a child
who had filled his heart with love, yet her alliance with a highwayman
had banished the very memory 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 bandit son-in-law his neighbors
never learned the fact.
[Illustration: FRANK JAMES WINS A BRIDE.]
Jesse James was married to his cousin, Miss Zerelda Mimms, in the
Autumn of 1874, at the home of his mother in Clay county. Miss Mimms
was an orphan, who had lived with a married sister in Kansas City.
Being of age there was no one to criticise her act, and she stepped
across the threshold of prescribed citizenship to share the perils of
an outlaw's life.
The peculiar profession followed by Jesse and Frank James has prevented
them from having any permanent residence, and their wives have been
compelled, in a measure, 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 are subjected.
It is understood that Frank is the father of two children, and Jesse
finds consolation in two little boys and a baby girl. The outlaw
brothers make affectionate husbands and loving and indulgent fathers.
THE UNION PACIFIC EXPRESS ROBBERY.
The following account of the Union Pacific train robbery is not
published in chronological order with other robberies, because it is
not certainly known that the James Boys had any connection with it,
and in this history of these noted desperadoes we have endeavored to
give only such facts as are, sustained by indisputable evidence. It is
generally believed, however, that the two noted brothers led the party,
and, with their usual shrewdness, succeeded in escaping southward
with a large amount of booty. The following letter, written by Jesse
James to a former comrade, in March previous to the robbery, is strong
presumptive evidence that he and Frank were the planners and executors
of the scheme, and that they had it in contemplation even before the
raid into Minnesota:
FORT WORTH, March 10th, '77.
DEAR ----
The boys will soon be ready. As soon as the roads dries up, and
the streams runs down, we will drive. We expect to take in a good
bunch of cattle. You may look out. There will be lots of bellering
after the drive. Remember it's business. The rainge is good, I
learn, between Sidney and Dedwood. We may go to pasture somewheres
in that region. You will hear of it. Tell Sam to come to Honey
Grove, Texas, before the drive seson comes. There's money in the
stock. As ever,
Jesse J.
There is a mystery connected with the Union Pacific Railroad robbery
which, for more than three years, has remained impenetrable and will,
doubtless, continue so to the end of time. The particulars of this
daring outrage, gathered principally from newspaper reports at the
time, are as follows:
On the 10th day of September, 1877, a party of nine men, well armed
and mounted, rode to a point on the Union Pacific R. R. near Ogallala,
the capital of Keith county, in the extreme western part of Nebraska.
They made no special effort to deceive the people of the town, as the
purpose of their visit was never mentioned. On the day following the
encampment, one of the party, afterwards known to be Jim Berry, a
former resident of the State, went into Ogallala and purchased four
large red handkerchiefs and a gallon of whiskey. That night the camp
presented a hilarious scene and the wild orgies were continued such an
unusually long time that the citizens began to make remarks respecting
the character of the nine strange men. Three days afterward the camp
was abandoned, none of the citizens knowing which direction the party
had taken, so that suspicion was directed against the object of the
singular visitors.
On the 18th following, the mysterious nine suddenly appeared at a
small station called Big Springs, fifteen miles west of Ogallala,
where the engines of the Union Pacific railroad almost invariably stop
for water. The express train was due from the west at eight o'clock,
P. M., and the party disposed themselves, directly after dark,
in favorable positions for the work in hand. Promptly upon time the
train came thundering up to the station and the engine stopped under
the water tank. As the fireman was about to mount the tender for the
purpose of directing the water spout, two men wearing red handkerchiefs
for masks rushed up toward the engine. For some reason the engineer had
a presentiment that some trouble was brewing, so seizing his pistol he
stepped to the side of the cab and peered into the darkness. It was
too late; the fire through the open furnace door reflected his actions
distinctly and in a moment the engineer realized that he was looking
down into the fatal depths of four navy revolvers and he and the
fireman were forced to surrender and keep quiet.
[Illustration: AN ENGINEER WHO MEANT TO FIGHT.]
At the same time the two robbers took possession of the engine, two
others, with the same mask of red handkerchiefs, boarded the express
car, while the other five commenced discharging their pistols in order
to intimidate the passengers. The express messenger made an effort
at resistance, but he was struck a desperate blow on the head with
a pistol and then forced to deliver up the keys to the Wells, Fargo
& Co.'s safe. The contents of the safe in gold, silver and currency
amounted to $60,000, besides 300,000 ounces of silver in bars, the
latter consigned to the Treasury at Washington. The robbers could not
handle the heavy silver bars, so they were compelled to be satisfied
with the other contents of the safe and about $2,000 which they took
from the passengers. They then permitted the train to go on its
way, and having divided their plunder they loaded the coin on three
pack-mules and made off with it.
The men had been carelessly masked and a passenger had recognized
one of them as a fellow named Joel Collins, who had been passing for
a stock man about that section. From this the railroad detectives
obtained information on which to act, and though the pursuit which was
organized failed to overtake the outlaws, there was still a hope of
recovering some of the treasure. Part of the gang had gone directly
south into Kansas, and word was sent along the Kansas Pacific to be
on the lookout for them. On the 25th of September, Sheriff Bardsley
and ten soldiers were patroling a section of the road near Buffalo
station. They had a description of one of the parties who were expected
to strike about that point, and sure enough two men were seen coming
down from the north with a pack animal. The soldiers kept out of sight
in a ravine near by, and when the men reached the station and were
watering their horses the sheriff talked with them long enough to be
satisfied that they were the men he was expecting. They only stopped
a few minutes, then pushed on south. The sheriff immediately brought
out his squad and demanded a halt, calling Collins by name. The men
even then did not seem to apprehend that they were known as the train
robbers, but on being told to surrender they drew their pistols. This
brought a volly from the cavalrymen which killed them both. In the pack
was found $20,000 of the gold. Collins' companion's name was Bass,
and he is generally supposed to have been the Texas desperado, Sam
Bass. The point at which this treasure was first recovered was only 300
miles south of where the robbery occurred. Subsequently the detectives
succeeded in tracing several others of the band and making them give up
some of the money, but the greater part of it was lost. It was claimed
at the time that Jesse and Frank James were along with this band and
that they made enough out of the haul to reimburse themselves very well
for what they lost on the Northfield trip.
After the fight at Buffalo the remaining bandits separated for the
purpose of dividing the trail which was being followed closely, and the
hope was indulged for some time that all the robbers would certainly be
apprehended. But after the bandits divided the chase was unavailing and
the pursuing parties returned to their homes.
Nearly three weeks after the robbery, Jim Berry returned to Mexico,
Missouri, with a large sum of money, principally in gold. He had been
a resident of the neighborhood but had left for the Black Hills--so
he claimed--some months before. He had never borne a good character
and was known to be an acquaintance, at least, of the James and
Younger Boys and other noted outlaws. Further than this he was seen
in Nebraska, near the place of the robbery, by parties who knew him.
The exhibition of so much suddenly acquired wealth, together with the
circumstances of the express robbery fresh in the memory of every one,
created a suspicion on the part of the sheriff of Audrain county that
Berry was one of the robbers. He kept his own counsel, however, and
waited further developments. They came soon enough. Berry sold several
thousand dollars in gold to the Southern Bank at Mexico; exhibited
several fine gold watches which he offered to sell at surprisingly low
prices, and besides this he exchanged his ordinary habit for the finest
clothes he could have made. Another very suspicious circumstance was
in the conduct of Berry; he kept himself in secret places and appeared
apprehensive of some effort to catch him. The sheriff, Mr. Glascock,
now felt certain that his suspicions were founded upon facts. In the
middle of October a young fellow by the name of Bozeman Kazey came into
Mexico with an order from Berry for a suit of clothes then being made
by a tailor of the place. The sheriff learned of this and he at once
arrested Kazey, after which a posse consisting of Robert Steele, John
Carter, John Coons and Sam Moore was deputized by the sheriff to assist
in the capture of Berry. Kazey was compelled to act as guide, and on
the 14th of October the official party set out for the haunts of Berry
near Kazey's house. They reached the latter's home before daylight on
Sunday morning, and leaving their prisoner in the custody of Steele
the remainder of the party surrounded the house for the purpose of
catching Berry when he should come to obtain the clothes he expected
Kazey to bring.
Shortly after daylight sheriff Glascock made a little tour out in
the woods, and after skirting a bridle path for some distance he saw
Berry hitching his horse preparatory to walking to Kazey's house. The
sheriff crept cautiously towards Berry and was within forty feet of
him before the latter discovered the officer. Berry then started to
run, heedless of the sheriff's cry to halt, and never paused until the
second discharge of buckshot from the sheriff's gun tore through his
leg and felled him to the ground. Prostrate as he was the bandit tried
to draw his pistol, but the sheriff was upon him too quickly. Berry was
disarmed and then carried to Kazey's house and surgical aid speedily
summoned. On his person was found nearly $1,000 in money, and a fine
gold watch and chain.
After the surgeon arrived, Moore, Coons and Steele were left in charge
of the wounded man and Kazey, while the sheriff and John Carter rode
over to Berry's house to see if new discoveries might not be made.
When they entered the house the sheriff addressed Mrs. Berry and said:
"Mrs. Berry, where is your husband?"
"I am sure I have no idea," she responded; "he has not been at home for
several days."
"Then let me inform you," said the sheriff, "that we have just captured
him, but in so doing he was badly wounded. You had better go over and
see him, at Kazey's house."
Mrs. Berry manifested the greatest grief, and the wailings of the wife
and little children quite unnerved the sheriff and his deputy for some
time, but they had to do their duty, and, before leaving, the house was
thoroughly searched for money and valuables, but nothing was discovered.
On the same afternoon Berry was taken to Mexico in an ambulance and
given quarters in the Ringo hotel, where he was attended by the best
surgeons in the town. The wound was much more severe than at first
supposed. Seven buckshot had penetrated the leg, cutting the arteries
and fracturing the tibia bone. His sufferings were excruciating until
Monday night when mortification began, and on the following day he died.
At all times Berry positively refused to give the names of his
associates in the express robbery, nor did he ever admit his own
participation.
The mystery connected with the robbery is found in the impenetrable
veil which masks the identity of the robber band. The three who were
killed gave no clue as to who were their comrades. In the absence
of any proof, judgment being laid entirely upon circumstances and
conjecture, it is popularly supposed that the four whose personnel has
never been discovered were Sam Bass, Jack Davis and the two James Boys.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE YOUNGER BROTHERS.
In the early part of September, 1880, Col. George Gaston, of Kansas
City, while spending a summer vacation at Minnetonka and the Minnesota
lakes, went to Stillwater for the purpose of seeing the Younger Boys,
whom he had known before the war. He was accorded an interview with the
imprisoned bandits, the result of which was published in the Kansas
City _Times_ of September 6th, from which the following is taken.
This interview is of special value, considering the obscurity which
surrounds the shooting of Jesse James by George Shepherd, and the
identity of the James Boys in the Northfield robbery.
After describing his introduction to the prison authorities and
entrance into the penitentiary, Mr. Gaston proceeds as follows: