A VISIT TO FRANK JAMES' HOME.
"In Southern climes where ardent gleams the sun,
Gilding each rivulet, and tree, and flower,
With crimson radiance--and gaily flings
On all around of light a golden shower--
Where lavish nature mingles in the breeze,
Refreshing odors with her spicy hand;
The rare Nepenthes wave their flexile form,
The floral wonder of that fragrant land."
During the autumn of the year 1878, a young gentleman of the
highest respectability, a citizen of the State of Georgia, being
on a tour through Texas, expressed to his friends a desire to make
the personal acquaintance of the celebrated outlaws, Frank and
Jesse James. His friends endeavored to dissuade him from making the
attempt to see them at their own retreat. They represented to him
that such an undertaking would be fraught with no little personal
danger. The Boys have been hounded and hunted over so large a
territory, through so many years, that they have become extremely
cautious, and very suspicious of all strangers.
But the young Georgian was courageous and determined. There was a
tinge of romance in his composition, and the career of the Boys,
to his mind, was the most romantic in all history. He felt that
he would venture farther to see them than to behold the face of
any living man. The advice of his friends fell unheeded upon his
ear. He resolved to seek their retreat at whatever hazard. He had
learned to admire their cool bravery, indomitable energy, and
shrewd ability to evade the snares laid for them by the officers of
the law.
The Jameses, outlaws as they are, do not want for friends. They
have devoted admirers and staunch friends even in the ranks of
respectable circles--persons who would suffer death rather than
betray them. Such a friend was a Texas relative of the young
Georgian. Finding that his kinsman was resolved upon a visit--that
he would in all probability be able to discover the retreat of
the outlaws, and, believing that he might possibly meet with a
misfortune by venturing to penetrate to their place, the Texan gave
his relative a letter addressed to a certain name--which is not
that of James--described the route to be taken, and gave a minute
description of the personnel of the renowned desperadoes, and with
many admonitions and cautions, after having solemnly pledged his
kinsman to reveal nothing concerning the exact whereabouts of their
home, the Texan bid his Georgia kinsman God-speed, and they parted.
Many days he rode over the plains, and crossed many a limpid
stream, and pushed his way through many a tangled wold before he
approached the retreat of the outlaws. He found it, however, but in
what county or division of the state, he declines to say.
In a letter written to the author, subsequent to that visit, he
gave a most interesting account of his reception and sojourn
with the outlawed brothers on their own ranche. We have obtained
his permission to use that portion of the letter relating to the
Jameses, which we herewith present to our readers:
"It was a lovely afternoon. The grass was brown and sere. A few
late autumn flowers relieved the otherwise monotonous landscape.
The country through which I was passing was high, undulating
prairie. Here and there, from the tops of the long swells in the
surface, the course of streams far away to the right and the left,
were well defined by dark lines of trees from which the foliage had
not yet been cast. The journey had become lonely and irksome. I had
lost interest in the landscape. The faded grass and the golden-hued
flowers no longer possessed charms for me. The limpid brooks and
darting minnows in their clear waters even failed to awaken the
slightest interest. The truth is, I was worn out by the excessive
fatigue of the long journey.
"I had just crossed a small stream, skirted by some wind-twisted
trees, and was ascending a long slope. Looking toward the crest of
the ridge, I saw two horsemen, splendidly mounted, riding rapidly
directly toward me. They wore low-crowned, broad-brimmed felt hats,
looped up at the side. I could see at a glance that they were
heavily armed. A repeating-rifle was swung behind the shoulder
of each, and a holster was attached at the saddle-bow. When the
horsemen had approached within seventy-five yards of me, they
suddenly halted, and each drew a heavy pistol, and simultaneously
presented them at me, calling out at the same time for me to raise
my hands. I confess that I felt a little shaky about that time. I
readily complied with their command, and held up both hands as high
over my head as possible. The horrible thought occurred to me that
I was to be shot, and left out there to make a feast for voracious
vultures and ferocious wolves. A cold shudder thrilled through my
veins. I had dropped the reins, and my horse stopped still. It was
a dreadful moment. There were the two men, grim in features and
steady of hand, with their horrible, yawning repeaters pointed at
my heart. I felt sure they were murderous highwaymen. Strange that
I never once thought of the renowned outlaws! I know not how long
I looked at those dreadful pistols; it seemed half an age. I was
aroused by the voice of one of the men calling out,
"'Why don't you come on?'
"I did go on. Once I let my hands droop slightly, as I advanced up
the slope.
"'Up with your hands, I say!' exclaimed one of them.
"You may readily suppose that I threw up my hands without further
admonition.
"When I had arrived within fifteen paces of the spot where the men
were sitting on their horses, the thought that these were no other
than the men whom I was seeking, flashed through my brain.
"'What are you doing here?' asked the larger one of the two.
"I must have stammered a little, and appeared awkward and
frightened as I made answer that I had a great desire to meet
Mr. ---- and his brother--naming the person to whom the letter was
addressed--and I have a message for Mr. ---- here with me now.
"One of them--it was Frank--turned to me sharply, and asked me
what I knew about Mr. ----. I told him that I had never met the
gentleman, but that I had a great desire to do so. He then asked
me when I was last in St. Louis. I replied that I had not been in
St. Louis for a period of more than five years. 'What are you doing
here?' he asked. 'Looking about the country,' I replied. 'You like
it, do you?' he inquired. 'Very well,' I said. 'You go to Chicago,
do you?' 'Never was there in my life,' I answered. 'Do you know
Allan Pinkerton?' 'I don't,' I said. 'What state do you hail from?'
'Georgia.' 'A very good state,' he soliloquized. 'From whom did
you say you had a message for Mr.----?' 'From Col.----, of----,'
I answered. 'You know where you can find----?' 'I do not.' 'Give
me the message; I'll see that he gets it.' 'Are you Mr.----?' 'No
matter,' he answered, 'I'll see that he gets the communication.'
'But I've come all the way here to see him myself. I do not want
to go back without seeing him,' I remarked. 'What do you want to
see him for?' 'Well,' I stammered, 'I have heard a great deal about
him and his brother, and I just wanted to visit them at home.'
'You know who he is then?' 'Certainly, he is Jesse James and----.'
'An outlaw!' he interrupted me. 'Mind how you act, young man.'
The tones of his voice were dry and harsh, and the pistol which
had been allowed to droop was once more raised, and pointed at my
breast.
"You may be sure I was thoroughly alarmed, and it required some
effort to speak distinctly. At last I managed to say in a tolerably
low tone, 'I wish you would read this letter which I have brought.'
The pistol was lowered and he reached out his hand to take the
letter from the breast-pocket of my coat. Meanwhile, Frank kept me
under cover of a pistol. Jesse secured the letter, and commenced
to read it. I watched his features closely. A change came over his
countenance. The cold, stern look relaxed, and his face put on a
sunny smile as he read on. When he had finished, he turned to Frank
and said, 'I guess this is all right.' Then he turned to me and
said, 'So you are a kinsman of Colonel----?' 'I am,' I replied. He
continued, 'He is a good friend of ours, and I reckon you're all
right. You wanted to see the James Boys. You see before you what is
left of them. I guess you had better give us your pistols to keep
for you until you are ready to leave again, for you know we are the
only armed men allowed around our place. This is a very odd world
anyhow. We do not trust anyone.' 'I have but one, and here it is,'
I said, presenting it to him, while I held the muzzle. He took the
pistol and thrust it into a side-pocket, and turning full toward
me, he said with a smile on his face, and a merry twinkle in his
bright blue eyes: 'So you wanted to see the _notorious_ outlaws?'
'Yes.' 'Well, did you expect we wore horns, and had split feet,
and spouted fire and brimstone, eh? But you see you are mistaken.
There are a hundred, yes, a thousand, worse men along the borders
here than the James Boys. But they have not been lied about as we
have been; they have not been hunted all over the states as we have
been; they have not been so grossly misrepresented and abused, and
we must bear not only our sins, but the sins of many others. It is
a pretty hard fate, young man.' The hard, unpitying expression came
upon his features once more, but it was only for a moment, and the
cloud passed away, and his countenance was illuminated by a smile
that was genial and pleasant, and whoever could have gazed into the
face of Jesse James at that moment, would not have concluded that
he was a desperado and an outlaw.
"'I suppose,' said Frank, 'that you will accept an outlaw's
invitation to his humble retreat?' 'Most gladly,' I said.
[Illustration: The Home of Frank James, in Texas.]
"They turned their horses' heads, and Jesse taking a position on
one side and Frank on the other, we rode on to the crest of the
ridge. 'There is where we camp,' said Frank, as he pointed away
to the northwest. Camp! Indeed, it seemed more like the residence
of a well-to-do planter in Georgia. The situation which they had
selected was beautiful as any I had yet seen in the West. Before
us a broad, green valley lay spread out in the sunlight, bounded
by a line of high hills toward the northeast, and widening toward
the southwest. A noble grove of timber skirted the margin of the
stream, which appeared to be of considerable size, and meandered
through the valley. Beyond the stream and the grove, situated on
a gentle slope in the midst of gardens and cultivated fields,
and vigorous young trees, rose a pleasant house of two stories
in elevation, with a garden in front. Some distance away were
the barns, stables and other outbuildings. 'A lovely home!' I
exclaimed. Frank smiled at my evident delight, and remarked that he
found it very comfortable, after the exposure and hardships through
which he had passed.
"So we rode on down the slope into the grove, and across a
beautiful broad pebble-bottom stream, and up the slope to the front
of the mansion, talking, by the way, of many things in the past,
and expressing views and opinions concerning the future.
"The James Boys are far from being loquacious. They seem to
maintain a perpetual guard over their words. Sometimes this
reserve is momentarily cast aside, and the brothers will converse
with considerable freedom. But the fits of relaxation do not last
long. They speedily relapse into their accustomed reticent state,
and then they answer questions only in monosyllables.
"It was not long before I discovered that I was at the home of
Frank James, and that Jesse and his family were only visitors. My
peculiar reception was due to the fact that a person supposed to be
a detective, had been making inquiries concerning the Boys at San
Antonio, some weeks before my arrival.
"Arriving at the yard gate, we dismounted, and I was invited
into the house. At the door we were met by a neatly dressed and
handsome lady, whose deep blue eyes and regular features produced
a favorable impression at once, to whom I was introduced. It was
Mrs. Frank James. She received me with much dignity, yet with a
genial cordiality which assured me that I was a welcome visitor.
Her manner toward her husband was trusting and affectionate.
'We welcome you,' said Frank, 'as a relative of one of our best
friends. We hope you will prove as manly as he. Annie, this is
Mr.----, a near relative of Colonel----, who was so kind to you
when you arrived at----, on your way out here.' 'I am very, very
glad to meet you. We all feel extremely grateful to Col.----, for
his kindness toward us, and we are only too glad to serve any of
his friends,' she said.
"Such was the welcome which I received at the home of Frank James.
I felt myself quite at ease very soon, and the four days and nights
which I spent under their hospitable roof gave no occasion for me
to think hard of the outlaws. Indeed, I could not bring myself to
think of them in that light. Mrs. James is a lady who is suited by
education and disposition to grace any circle. And where is this
model home? you ask. Well, it is in Texas--just what part of Texas
I must leave you to find out. I know that I never met with better
treatment in any home, anywhere."