OTHER EXPLOITS.
"Where I am injured, there I'll sue redress,
Look to it, every one who bars my access;
I have a heart to feel the injury,
A hand to right myself, and by my honor,
That hand shall grasp what gray beard Law denies me."
The James Boys have always claimed that they were driven into
outlawry by the very instrumentality which organized society has
employed to subserve the ends of justice and afford protection
to the rights and liberties of all--namely, the government. This
claim, made by them, has been partly conceded by a large class of
persons, irrespective of all political affiliations and social
relations. So their wild career was commenced, and so it has
proceeded through many years.
That the Jameses have been accused of crimes which they did not
commit, there is scarcely room for doubt. One of the deeds which
has been laid to their charge was the robbery committed at Corinth,
Alcorn county, Mississippi. This event happened the same day that
the train was robbed at Muncie, Kansas. The two places are many
hundred miles apart, and of course the Jameses could not have been
at both places at the same time. It is possible, indeed probable,
that the robbery at Corinth, which stripped the bank at that
place of a very large sum of money, was the handiwork of some of
the members of the desperate band of men, of which the Jameses
were the acknowledged leaders. The same tactics which had been so
successfully employed at Ste. Genevieve, Russellville, Corydon,
Gallatin, and other points, characterized the raid on the funds of
the bank of Corinth. The spoils obtained were exceedingly valuable,
and although energetic pursuit was made, the robbers succeeded
in making their escape. Their trail, however, was followed into
Missouri, and several circumstances indicate that the successful
bandits were members of the same organization with the James Boys
and Younger Brothers. After this there was a season of quiet.
In the spring of 1876 the robbers renewed the campaign for spoils.
The incidents of the past year had begun to become memories, and
the success which had attended the gang during the past years had
given them confidence in their ability to plunder at will wherever
they might select a field for the exhibition of their prowess and
skill. The trees had assumed their green habiliments, and the
early spring flowers exhaled their choicest perfumes, scenting
the balmy breezes as they blew over hills and through valleys.
The schemers had planned another raid. This time they selected an
objective point remote from the scenes of their former deeds. It
was a romantic expedition away into the mountain regions of Eastern
Kentucky and the state of West Virginia. The spring-birds sang cheery
lays as the brigands marched on to their destined halting place.
Huntington, West Virginia, is a beautiful town of about 3,000
inhabitants, situated on the Ohio river, in Cabell county, and is
on the line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. In 1876, the advent
of the steam cars had given an impetus to trade, and the old town
had taken a new growth. The bold bandits had selected Huntington as
the scene of a most sensational event. The tactics which had served
so well on many other occasions were once more adopted. On a bright
April day, four men made their appearance at the bank. They had
come through the streets without exciting any suspicion. When they
had arrived at the front of the bank, two of them dismounted, drew
their pistols, rushed into the bank, where they found Mr. Oney, the
cashier, and another gentleman. These they at once covered with
their pistols, and proceeded to overpower the cashier. They then
emptied the contents of the safe into a sack, and leaving Oney and
his friend securely bound, they proceeded to remount their horses.
While the two robbers were engaged inside, the other two, who had
remained in the street, very effectually overawed the citizens
who came that way, by displaying their pistols and occasionally
firing a shot. The whole operation was completed within less than
half an hour from the time the robbers made their appearance
in Huntington. There were not many persons who knew what had
happened until after the marauders had left the place. When the
people awakened to a realization of the true nature of the morning
occurrence, there was at once a storm of excitement raised.
Officers of the law and citizens of Huntington, without official
relations, vied with each other in the alacrity with which they
prepared to pursue the robbers.
As soon as the two robbers who had taken the treasure were mounted,
the whole party galloped away, intimidating the citizens as they
went by firing off their pistols.
A vigorous pursuit was at once commenced. The robbers were a long
way from their base; and the road before them was rugged and
difficult. For days the pursuit was unabated. Bligh, the well-known
detective of Louisville, sent his best men on the road to track the
fugitives. The chase became exciting. Diverted from their intended
line of retreat, the marauders sought refuge among the mountains
of Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. The horses of the robbers
failed and were abandoned. Finally the pursuers came up with the
fugitives. A fight ensued, and one of the robbers was killed before
they had left the borders of Kentucky. This person was identified
afterward as Thomason McDaniels, a brother of Bill, who was killed
while attempting to escape from the officers in Kansas City, after
the affair at Muncie. The pursuit was continued. In the hills of
Fentress county, Tennessee, the officers came up with the robbers
again. This time they succeeded in capturing Jack Kean, another
desperado, known in Western Missouri and Kentucky. The others
escaped, and finally made their way into Missouri.
Kean was taken back and lodged in jail at Cabell. The grand jury of
Cabell county returned a true bill against him, and in due time he
was placed on trial, convicted, and received a long sentence in the
penitentiary of West Virginia. The presence of McDaniels and Kean,
both well-known desperadoes of Missouri, at once suggested the
James Boys as leaders in the Huntington robbery. Detective Bligh at
first heralded to the world that Jesse James was captured when Kean
was taken. Statements subsequently made by the convicted robber
left no doubt that certainly Jesse James, and probably Frank, were
parties to the robbery of the bank at Huntington.
It matters not who were the robbers in name. The deed was
undoubtedly committed by members of the organization of which the
James Boys were the most noted leaders. The destiny which seems
to have led them continued to favor them. The leaders of the
Huntington raid escaped, and carried the bulk of the Huntington
bank's funds with them.