A SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLAR HAUL.
It had been some weeks since the people of the West had enjoyed a
sensation growing out of the robbery of a train, or the plundering
of a bank. Frank and Jesse James, and Cole, and Jim, and Bob
Younger, with their merry companions, had been unusually quiet
for quite a long season for these restless rovers and adroit
plunderers. The gang was increasing in numbers, and was now really
formidable. Others as daring had joined themselves to the noted
outlaws--the Jameses and the Youngers. Cal Carter from Texas, and
Clell Miller, and Bill Chadwell, Charles Pitts, and Sam Bass,
and Bill Longley, and the Hardins and the Moores of the Indian
Territory and Texas divisions of the clan were frequently with
Frank and Jesse James and the Younger Brothers. In the gang, but
apparently merely as a subaltern, whose principal employment was to
hold the horses of the chief robbers when business required them to
dismount, was a young fellow who went by the name of Hobbs Kerry.
Before Otterville, the protestations and denials of the Jameses
and the Youngers were accepted by many good citizens, and there
were numbers of very honorable persons who believed sincerely that
these men were sadly slandered. The express robbery at Rocky Cut,
near Otterville, served to remove the scales from the eyes of
numbers of these good people, and Frank and Jesse James, and the
three Youngers were revealed before the public as most dangerous
highwaymen.
The principals in the Otterville affair were Frank James, his
brother Jesse, Cole Younger, and his brother Bob, Clell Miller,
Charlie Pitts, Bill Chadwell and Hobbs Kerry. These men concerted
the project in Southwest Missouri, in the lead mining districts.
Frequent interviews took place between Frank and Jesse James,
and Cole and Bob Younger in regard to the feasibility of the
undertaking. The Jameses were the original suggestors of the
enterprise, and from what information we have been able to gather,
the Youngers did not at first entertain the suggestion favorably;
indeed, it was some time before it was finally agreed that the
attempt should be made. Then the bandits discussed the route to be
taken, and the place to be selected for the scene of this notable
robbery, on the iron-highway. All these were settled in due time,
and everything was ready to carry out their well-matured plan.
Jesse James was the leader, the others merely acting in concert
with him, and taking their places in accordance with his
suggestions.
The expedition left the scene of their plotting about the first day
of July, 1876.
Before leaving, the band separated into two parties, Jesse and
Frank James, Bill Chadwell and Bob Younger, composed one, and
Cole Younger, Charlie Pitts, Clell Miller and Hobbs Kerry, made
up the other. The journey through the country was made leisurely
enough. The two parties travelled by different routes, and had no
difficulty in securing lodging places. Sometimes they travelled in
the night to make the distance to the house of a friend in good
time the next day.
On Sunday, July 3rd, there were four of the bandits at Duval's
house. Tuesday a part of the band were in California, and after
lingering about the place for a part of the day, they mounted their
horses and rode to a house four miles north of the town, where four
others of the robbers were stopping. A heavy rain came on that
night, and so the robbers stayed nearly all of the day on the 5th,
and remained during the night. There is no evidence that the people
where they stayed had any knowledge of the character of the persons
whom they received under their roof. However, Jesse James and Cole
Younger were acquainted with the gentleman, but not under their
names.
On the morning of the 6th, the raiders mounted their horses and
rode west in pairs. The James Boys travelled together, Clell Miller
and Hobbs Kerry rode by each other, Charlie Pitts and Coleman
Younger formed a pair, and Bill Chadwell and Bob Younger followed
another route in company. These all travelled different roads.
The place of meeting previously agreed upon was a spot about two
miles east from the bridge, across the Lamine river, and the time
appointed was at 3 o'clock Friday evening, July 8th. There were
designated stopping places on all the roads. The Jameses under
assumed names were acquainted personally with a number of very
respectable people along the route travelled by them, and therefore
had no difficulty in obtaining comfortable quarters and receiving a
hospitable welcome. And so of the others of that band--"on mischief
bent"--they all had good quarters on Thursday night, and as only
two travelled together on a road, no suspicion was aroused on
account of their presence.
The robbers came by pairs to the rendezvous. They had all assembled
by 4 o'clock in the evening. Some of them went without their
dinners that day. Here the whole band remained until sundown on the
evening of the 8th.
The place selected was at a deep cut known as Rocky Cut, about
four miles east of Otterville, in Pettis county, Missouri, on the
line of the Missouri Pacific railroad. Three of the band, Bob
Younger, Clell Miller and Charlie Pitts, were detailed to capture
the watchman at the bridge. Bill Chadwell and Hobbs Kerry, it
appears, were assigned the duty of taking care of the horses. A
dense piece of timber land adjacent to a field was selected as
the place of concealment. The express train bound east was due at
that spot about 11 o'clock at night. The robbers did not arrive
at the designated rendezvous until some time after the curtains of
night had been drawn over the scene. At a little after 9 o'clock,
Younger, Miller and Pitts went down to the bridge, and were hailed
by the watchman. They were close upon him, and with drawn revolvers
and fearful oaths they commanded him to surrender. The helpless
watchman could not do otherwise. They took him in charge and
secured his signal lanterns.
"What are you going to do with me?" asked the astonished watchman.
"You keep still," was the reply.
"But you ain't going to hurt me?" he inquired.
"What do we want to hurt you for? We want that money on the train,
that's all we care for," was the reply he received.
The whole party walked up the track to the mouth of the cut. It
was about half past ten o'clock. A heap of rocks and a number
of old cross ties were piled across the rails. Then the cunning
brigands sat down quietly in the darkness to await the coming of
the train. The horses of the robbers were about fifty yards away
ready to be bestridden, and fresh enough to make a long journey if
that should be necessary. Crouched there, they were silent as the
broken fragments of rocks which lay scattered around them. They had
not long to wait. A distant rumbling was heard, like the first low
mutterings of thunder before the storm cloud appears. Then it grew
louder and shriller like the raging wind. It was the train.
The robbers were not asleep. Charlie Pitts had been detailed to
display the red lantern--the danger signal--as the train came
thundering around the curve into the cut. He performed his part of
the programme well. Precisely at the right spot the train came to a
standstill. The engineer had reversed his engine and put on the air
brakes.
Instantly the train was boarded by a number of masked men, said to
have been twelve at least, all heavily armed. Guards were placed
at each end of the cars, and the leader boarded the express car,
compelled the messenger under threats of immediate death to open
his safe, and then the contents were emptied out into a sack, and
the car was thoroughly searched for valuable packages. The result
was about $17,000 were secured and carried away for the use and
behoof of the robbers.
The whole transaction was completed in less than an hour. The
passengers were greatly alarmed during the time of the detention.
The robbers stationed at the ends of the cars kept their revolvers
bearing upon the passengers, and would not allow them to stir a
finger under threats of death. Every moment they expected their
turn to be robbed would come. But the robbers appeared to be
satisfied with the amount realized from the plundering of the
express car, and when they had accomplished that job thoroughly,
they released the train, sought their horses and rode away. Several
shots were fired during the time the train was standing, for the
purpose of keeping the passengers in a state of alarm.
The news was telegraphed from the next station to St. Louis,
Sedalia, Kansas City and other points. By this event the whole
country was thoroughly excited. The detective forces of St. Louis,
Kansas City, Chicago, and even the cities of the Atlantic seaboard
were taken by surprise, and aroused to make efforts to capture
them. The railroad and express companies offered large rewards, and
the Governor of the state took measures to aid in the pursuit of
the brigands.
Meanwhile, the men who had created all this furore of excitement
rode through the darkness with their treasure bag. When "the first
faint blush of dawn streaked the east," the plunderers of the
express car at Rocky Cut were twenty miles away and just turning
off the main highway into the dim recesses of a large forest.
After travelling more than a mile in the woods, the brigands
came to an open space. Here they dismounted. Jesse James had the
treasure bag. During the journey, Frank James, Cole Younger and
Charlie Pitts had relieved each other alternately in carrying the
precious burden. Now they had reached a safe place, and the spoils
of the adventure were about to be divided. Frank James acted as
master of ceremonies on that occasion. Whether "the divide" was an
equal one we are not advised, and perhaps we shall never know. The
envelopes were torn from the express packages and the money divided
into separate heaps, one of which was given to each of the men who
had participated in the exploit.
The ceremony of dividing the money having been gone through with,
and Jesse James, Cole Younger, Frank James and Charlie Pitts having
parceled out the captured jewelry among themselves, the robbers
remounted and separated into pairs, each pair selecting the route
which pleased them best. In the day time they rode in the woods
and along by-paths; in the night they returned to the highways,
and were soon secure from pursuit because they went at once among
friends who, if they were acquainted with the character of their
guests, "never gave away anything."
An outrage of so daring a character was not slow in producing
effects. The news had been flashed afar on the lightning's track.
The Chief of Police of St. Louis, the marshals and constables,
and county sheriffs were aroused to unusual activity. The people
everywhere were excited by an event of so sensational a character.
A keen pursuit was inaugurated. Watchful eyes and open ears were
in every town and hamlet throughout Missouri, and even in adjacent
states. This time, it appeared, the robbers would be surely
compelled to remain hidden far from the habitations of man.
But secure in their retreats, the shrewd leaders of the raid,
Jesse and Frank James, and Cole and Bob Younger and Charlie Pitts,
laughed at the efforts of the officers of the law to capture them.
They enjoyed reading the newspapers containing accounts of their
daring feat, and made merry at what they were pleased to term "the
stupid work of the d--d detectives."
The robbers had one single thing on their minds which gave them
some concern. The "cub" robber, Hobbs Kerry, was scarcely shrewd
enough to evade capture, and, they feared, not brave enough to
withstand the pressure which they knew would be brought to bear
upon him to "make him squeal on his associates." What if Kerry
should fall into the hands of the hunters? And was it not extremely
probable that he would? These were questions which they asked
themselves, and in time they framed an answer in the form of
another question, "What if he does? We don't know the fellow?"
We have said the passengers and trainmen were passive witnesses
of the proceedings of the robbers. But there was one person on
the train who was not afraid to resist. That individual was the
train newsboy. Johnny, as he was called, had a small pistol, of a
cheap grade, with which to defend himself against all enemies, and
robbers in particular. Now the opportunity had come to display the
latent heroism which he knew he possessed. Johnny did not believe
in being plundered, and, though his weapon was not very dangerous,
he believed he could do some execution with it; at any rate, he
could try. From the car window, where he had taken a position,
he opened fire on the marauders. His first shot was ineffective,
and the bandits derisively encouraged him to try again, when they
discovered the youthful appearance and diminutive size of their
assailant. Johnny took them at their word, and blazed away again.
The robbers were well satisfied and good humored, and they laughed
and jeered at the little hero who had exhibited so much courage.
They told him he would do for a train-robber himself when he was a
little older. Johnny insisted for a time that he knew he had shot
one of the robbers badly.
Charlie Pitts, Bill Chadwell and Hobbs Kerry made a forced march to
Southwest Missouri. Late Saturday night they forded Grand river.
After going a little distance from the river, the three robbers
dismounted, threw themselves on the ground, and slept soundly
until morning. Here Kerry's horse, which was well broken down,
was abandoned. The saddle he hid in the brush in the Grand river
bottom. Kerry at this point separated from Pitts and Chadwell,
they remaining in the Grand river forests, while he proceeded to
Montrose station, on the M., K. & T. railway. He had not long been
there when a train bound south came along. He stepped on the car
and went down to Fort Scott, Kansas. Finding a clothing store open,
he purchased a good suit of clothes, which he donned at once. With
valise in hand, he boldly entered a hotel, called for supper, which
he partook of, and then proceeded on the train to Parsons, took
lodgings there, where he remained until 4 o'clock next morning.
From Vinita, to which he went from Parsons, he proceeded to
Granby, where he had "a good time with the boys." From Granby to
Joplin, and from that place to Granby again, and then away down
in the Indian Territory Hobbs Kerry went, without remaining very
long at one place. Wherever he went he drank, and whenever he drank
whisky he talked, and showed his money and boasted. He was liberal
with the boys, had money for the faro dealer, and was for the time
"a hale fellow well met" with all. But the eyes that were looking,
and the ears that were listening, putting this and that together
by an act of cogitation, concluded that Hobbs Kerry knew about the
Rocky Cut business.
It was not a mistake. The detectives "pulled" Kerry, and when he
had time to reflect, he unfolded his mind, and told of his friends
and their ride at night. He proved to be "a good peacher," as the
police say, and whatever may be the slight inconsistencies of his
narrative of the Otterville affair, the events at Northfield,
Minnesota, a few months later, confirm the truthfulness of Hobbs
Kerry's story in all the main particulars.
Of course the James Boys and their friends were swift to denounce
Hobbs Kerry as a fraud, and his stories of the midnight ride and
the flaring of the "danger signal" before the train, as pure
fabrications of a diseased or wicked brain.
Meanwhile, the Jameses and Youngers had not gone far away. The
former found friends and a safe retreat in the eastern part of
Jackson county, and the latter retired to St. Clair county,
where they rested in contentment for a season. The Jameses have
friends yet in a certain neighborhood in that section of Jackson
county--men and women--who, despite their known character, and
the edict of outlawry against them, would receive them into their
houses and treat them not only with ordinary hospitality, but with
marked consideration.