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13 - Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James by Joseph. A. Dacus · Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James

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Speaker 1: Section thirteen, comprising chapters thirty seven and thirty eight of
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Speaker 1: Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James by J. A. Dakis.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by P. J. Lando,
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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty seven in Minnesota, The Bandits seek a new
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Speaker 1: field Frank James and the younger brothers Bill, Chadwell Miller
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Speaker 1: and Pitt's The long ride hitherto The brigands led by
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Speaker 1: the Jameses and the youngers had only committed outrages in
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Speaker 1: those countries with the physical features of which they were
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Speaker 1: well acquainted. They had ridden through Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Kentucky,
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Speaker 1: and Iowa was not so far away from their haunts
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Speaker 1: in Clay County that they could not reasonably hope to
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Speaker 1: retreat to their hiding places. The list of outrages already
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Speaker 1: committed by them was extravagantly long, commencing at Russellville, Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: They had ransacked bank safes at Gallatin Corridon, Iowa, Columbia, Kentucky,
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Speaker 1: Saint Genevieve, Missouri, Huntington, West Virginia, and a section of
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Speaker 1: the band had paid a visit to and plundered the
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Speaker 1: bank at Corinth, Mississippi. They had stopped trains in Kansas, Wyoming, Iowa,
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Speaker 1: and Missouri, and they had plundered stages in Arkansas, Texas,
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Speaker 1: and Kansas. But over the whole territory, intervening between the
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Speaker 1: widely separated scenes of their depredations, they had often traveled
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Speaker 1: and were perfectly familiar with the topography of the country,
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Speaker 1: and had friends in many places. Having achieved such remarkable
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Speaker 1: success in their nefarious calling, the brigand chiefs were emboldened
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Speaker 1: to enter upon new enterprises and seek new fields for
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Speaker 1: the exercise of their prowess and genius. They agreed to
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Speaker 1: go beyond the borders of their accustomed field of operations.
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Speaker 1: After Otterville, a part of the gang went into Saint
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Speaker 1: Clare County, and the other members of the Banditi proceeded
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Speaker 1: to Clay County, to the vicinity of Kearney, where resided
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Speaker 1: the mother of Frank and Jesse James, Missus Zerelda Samuels.
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Speaker 1: That person was always true to the interests of her sons,
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Speaker 1: and under no circumstances did she ever desert their cause
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Speaker 1: or betray their designs. Missus Samuels was a very useful
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Speaker 1: ally of Frank and Jesse, and when hard pressed in
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Speaker 1: other quarters, they were always sure of a safe retreat
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Speaker 1: and succor in the vicinity of the Samuel's house. The
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Speaker 1: successful robbery accomplished at Otterville had created a profound sensation
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Speaker 1: throughout the Southwest, and the law abiding citizens were vigilant
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Speaker 1: and suspicious, and it was not a pleasant time to
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Speaker 1: travel in any direction where the least possible suspicion in
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Speaker 1: regard to the character of the traveler was once aroused. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: the robbers of the train at Otterville sought their hiding
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Speaker 1: places and remained in quiet for a time. But idleness
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Speaker 1: under such circumstances became extremely irksome to the free riders,
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Speaker 1: accustomed as they were to a life of activity and
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Speaker 1: exciting adventure. The division of the band from Saint Clair
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Speaker 1: County journeyed into Clay County, Missouri, and then began a
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Speaker 1: series of conferences in regard to the next campaign, which
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Speaker 1: they contemplated. Inaugurating these consultations between the leaders of the
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Speaker 1: Banditi were held in a thick forest near the residence
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Speaker 1: of Missus Samuel's. The result of the deliberations was the
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Speaker 1: development of a plan to pay a visit to Minnesota
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Speaker 1: and raid some bank there, the exact place of its
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Speaker 1: situation to be determined when they should have arrived in
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Speaker 1: that state. Who originated the scheme is a question which,
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Speaker 1: in all human probability, will forever remain unanswered. The credit
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Speaker 1: of the project has been often given to Jesse James.
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Speaker 1: Whether or not he originated it, we have good reason
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Speaker 1: to know that he was one of the parties who
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Speaker 1: went to Northfield, and in all probability he was the
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Speaker 1: leader of the band. Be that as it may. A
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Speaker 1: plan was concocted to pay a visit to Minnesota and
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Speaker 1: plunder as many of the banks in that state as
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Speaker 1: possible before the beginning of winter, and then retire to
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Speaker 1: winter quarters on the Texas and Mexican frontiers. The general
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Speaker 1: plans were finally agreed upon, and about the middle of
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Speaker 1: August eighteen seventy six, the bandit camp in the vicinity
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Speaker 1: of the Samuel's House was broken up, and the brigands,
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Speaker 1: separating in couples, commenced their long ride through the country
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Speaker 1: to the flourishing villages of Minnesota. The party which left
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Speaker 1: Clay County was composed of Frank and Jesse James Coleman,
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Speaker 1: Robert and James Younger, Clell Miller, Bill Chadwell, and Charlie Pitts.
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Speaker 1: It is related on what appears excellent authority that Cole
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Speaker 1: Younger and Bill Chadwell preceded the other members of the
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Speaker 1: gang to fix upon a suitable rendezvous near Mancato. Bill
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Speaker 1: Chadwell had a friend, a man who had often before
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Speaker 1: rendered him substantial service, preconcerted signs of the route to
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Speaker 1: be taken by the main body of the Bandits had
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Speaker 1: been left by the advance guard Cole Younger and Bill Chadwell.
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Speaker 1: The final rendezvous selected by these leaders was at Mancato,
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Speaker 1: and the whole band then proceeded to Chadwell's friend's resting place,
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Speaker 1: where their final councils were held. A gentleman of the
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Speaker 1: highest respectability, well known in central Missouri, who was in
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Speaker 1: a position to be informed, assures us that Cole Younger
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Speaker 1: did not favor an attack on the bank at Northfield,
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Speaker 1: indeed that he was opposed to raiding any bank in Minnesota,
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Speaker 1: but that he was over ruled in his judgment by
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Speaker 1: the other members of the gang. It is said that
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Speaker 1: Cole favored a movement into Canada, where the prospects for
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Speaker 1: a large hall were believed to be much better better.
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Speaker 1: But whatever might have been his wishes, the other members
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Speaker 1: of the band did not accede to him, and after
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Speaker 1: due consideration, it was determined to strike a Minnesota bank.
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Speaker 1: Cole Junger was too far committed to recede, and so
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Speaker 1: he submitted to the will of the majority and was
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Speaker 1: among the law's victims. After Northfield, Bill Chadwell was for
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Speaker 1: many years of border rough and horse thief in Minnesota.
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Speaker 1: He had committed depredations in many parts of that state
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Speaker 1: and was perfectly familiar with the geography and topography of
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Speaker 1: the country. With a vast number of the dishonest and
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Speaker 1: rough class in that state he was on terms of
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Speaker 1: intimate personal acquaintance. To him. As a guide, the other
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Speaker 1: members of the brigand company looked with confidence to lead
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Speaker 1: them successfully to a handsome deposit of spoils and away
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Speaker 1: from pursuers and pursuit. Chadwell's friends were relied upon to
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Speaker 1: afford them succor in the hour of need, and Chadwell's
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Speaker 1: skill inspired them with hopes of great gains at a
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Speaker 1: small sacrifice of time and little risk of danger. All
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Speaker 1: these things had been discussed and the plans of the
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Speaker 1: gang were well matured before the departure from Clay County.
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Speaker 1: It was a long expedition, and the principal members of
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Speaker 1: the company were unfamiliar with the country into which they journeyed.
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Speaker 1: They based their hopes of success on the conditions which
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Speaker 1: at that time existed in Minnesota. It was at that
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Speaker 1: season of the year when the grain growers were disposing
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Speaker 1: of their crops, when it was supposed grain buyers and
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Speaker 1: shippers would have their heaviest deposits in bank, and when
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Speaker 1: the farmers were in funds which the robbers doubted not
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Speaker 1: would be placed in the country banks for safe keeping. Moreover,
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Speaker 1: they reasoned that, inasmuch as the people of Minnesota were
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Speaker 1: unacquainted with their bold methods, that as usual, when they
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Speaker 1: made an onset the custs to Mary, panic would ensue
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Speaker 1: and the risk taken would be small. Thus the preliminaries
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Speaker 1: of the celebrated raid into Northfield were settled. Never before
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Speaker 1: had this gang of desperadoes failed in accomplishing their object
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Speaker 1: And when the last council was held and it was
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Speaker 1: settled that Northfield should be the objective point, of their
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Speaker 1: great raid into Minnesota. The signs were propitious, and the
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Speaker 1: superstitious element in the character of the outlaws rested. Satisfied,
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Speaker 1: the remainder of the band divided into couples. Jesse and
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Speaker 1: Frank James, as usual, traveled the road in company. Bob
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Speaker 1: Younger and Charlie Pitts went together, and James Younger and
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Speaker 1: Clell Miller bore each other company by the way. These
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Speaker 1: separate detachments traveled different roads and kept a good lookout
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Speaker 1: for favorable places for concealment in case of necessity, and
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Speaker 1: they also noted the characteristics of the surface of the
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Speaker 1: country over which they passed. Previous to leaving Missouri, Jesse
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Speaker 1: James wrote or caused to be written two letters for
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Speaker 1: publication in the Kansas City Times, denying the charge of
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Speaker 1: complicity in the Otterville robbery and denouncing the statement of
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Speaker 1: Hobbs Caerry as a villainous pack of lies. These letters
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Speaker 1: were printed and led to the belief that the Jameses
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Speaker 1: were still in Missouri. The latest one of these letters
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Speaker 1: was dated safe Retreat August eighteenth, eighteen seventy six, and
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Speaker 1: appeared in the Kansas City Times August twenty third, eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy six, divided as they were. Their passage through the
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Speaker 1: country excited no comment. They traveled as respectable persons might
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Speaker 1: have traveled. In the evenings they would put up at
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Speaker 1: a respectable village, inn or country farmhouse, and in the
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Speaker 1: morning they paid for their accommodations as any other reputable
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Speaker 1: citizens might have done. They did not hurry because they
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Speaker 1: did not want to break down their horses. The distance
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Speaker 1: was great, and they were many days on the road.
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Speaker 1: It was about the first of September eighteen seventy six
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Speaker 1: when the whole band had arrived in the neighborhood of Mancato.
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Speaker 1: Their advance agents, having found a suitable place for a
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Speaker 1: rendezvous at the house of Chadwell's friend, met their comrades,
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Speaker 1: and without exciting suspicion among the people, they directed the
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Speaker 1: various detachments to the designated place of meeting. The robbers
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Speaker 1: were now in Minnesota, but as yet they had not
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Speaker 1: determined which of more than half a dozen banks they
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Speaker 1: would rob first. The claims of some one of the
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Speaker 1: three banks doing business in Mancato to the distinction were considered,
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Speaker 1: but the proposition to rob any one of them met
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Speaker 1: with little consideration in the Council of the Brigands. They
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Speaker 1: reasoned that three banks in such a place would naturally
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Speaker 1: cause the business and investment funds of the community to
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Speaker 1: be divided into three parts, no one of which could
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Speaker 1: be very large, And as they played for high stakes
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Speaker 1: at a great risk, they concluded to let Mankato banks alone.
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Speaker 1: Then they considered the claims of the bank at Saint
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Speaker 1: Peter to be plundered, but there was not enough business
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Speaker 1: done in the place, and it was not surrounded by
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Speaker 1: a community deemed wealthy, and the brigands concluded to pass
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Speaker 1: Saint Peter, believing that they would not get a large
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Speaker 1: hall in case they should raid the place. Several other
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Speaker 1: banks were considered, and the probabilities as to the amount
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Speaker 1: of treasure likely to be obtained were all considered. Finally,
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Speaker 1: indications pointed to the Bank of Northfield as probably richer
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Speaker 1: in the treasures contained in its vaults than any other
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Speaker 1: in that region of Minnesota. Northfield, the place selected by
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Speaker 1: the desperadoes as the scene of their attempt at plundering,
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Speaker 1: is a nourishing town on the line of the Milwaukee
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Speaker 1: and Saint Paul railroad, situated in the northeast corner of
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Speaker 1: Ryface County, Minnesota. The town is compactly built and contains
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Speaker 1: a population of about two thousand souls. The country around
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Speaker 1: Northfield is very productive and there is considerable activity in
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Speaker 1: commercial pursuits in the village. The bank building is situated
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Speaker 1: in the very center of the business portion of the town.
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Speaker 1: At the time the raid was made, a large sum
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Speaker 1: of money had accumulated in the vault of the institution.
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Speaker 1: But Northfield happened to be peopled by a hardy and
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Speaker 1: courageous race of pioneers who were not made of the
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Speaker 1: material to submit with a good grace to be plundered
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Speaker 1: by strange outlaws from another state. But the leaders of
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Speaker 1: the brigands had selected Northfield, and it only remained to
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Speaker 1: fix upon a time when the attempt should be made.
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Speaker 1: That time was set for the afternoon of September seventh,
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Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six. Chapter thirty eight. The attack at Northfield,
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Speaker 1: Haywood's death, the raid on the bank, the cashier shot,
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Speaker 1: Bill Chadwell killed in the street. The citizens come to
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Speaker 1: the rescue. Fuselades in the town. The bandits forced to
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Speaker 1: go out in quick time. A hot pursuit capture of
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Speaker 1: the Youngers. Some time before noon on the seventh of September,
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Speaker 1: four well mounted and well armed men approached Northfield from
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Speaker 1: the north. They did not at once enter the town,
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Speaker 1: but remained on that side of the bridge in the
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Speaker 1: suburbs for the advance of the other division of the band,
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Speaker 1: which came via Dundas, a small station on the line
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Speaker 1: of the railway about four miles south of Northfield. The
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Speaker 1: brigands from Dundas were Cole and James Younger, Bill Chadwell
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Speaker 1: and Clell Miller. On the north side were Frank and Jesse, James,
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Speaker 1: Charlie Pitts, and Robert Younger. About two o'clock in the afternoon,
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Speaker 1: Cole Younger and his party appeared. Then the Brigdians rode
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Speaker 1: into town and directly to the bank, the exact position
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Speaker 1: of which had been before ascertained. Jesse and Frank, James
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Speaker 1: and Cole Junger dismounted and entered the bank. The brigands
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Speaker 1: had entered the town at a full charge, shouting at
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Speaker 1: the top of their voices and firing off their pistols
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Speaker 1: as they rode. The inhabitants were taken by surprise, but
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Speaker 1: were not at all panic stricken. The movement on the
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Speaker 1: bank was noted and its object at once comprehended. The
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Speaker 1: three leading brigands who had entered the bank proceeded to
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Speaker 1: business at once. They sprang over the counter and confronted
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Speaker 1: the surprised cashier, mister J. L. Heywood, with a huge knife,
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Speaker 1: which they placed at his throat and ordered him to
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Speaker 1: open the safe, threatening him with instant death in case
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Speaker 1: he refused. The knife had already marked his throat, but
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Speaker 1: the brave cashier refused to comply with their demands. Again
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Speaker 1: with fearful threats, the command was repeated, but Heywood's still
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Speaker 1: persisted in his refusal. When one of them, now generally
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Speaker 1: believed to have been Jesse James, placed the muzzle of
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Speaker 1: his pistol to Heywood's right temple and fired. The cashier
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Speaker 1: fell and expired ere he had touched the floor. Besides
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Speaker 1: the cashier, there were mister A. E. Bunker assistant cashier,
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Speaker 1: and mister Frank Wilcox clerk. These were ordered to hold
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Speaker 1: up their hands when the robbers first entered. Of course,
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Speaker 1: under the circumstances they could not do otherwise than to obey.
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Speaker 1: After Heywood fell, they turned to mister Bunker and ordered
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Speaker 1: him to open the vault. That gentleman declared that he
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Speaker 1: did not know the combination. Then they thrust a pistol
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Speaker 1: into his face and made other threatening demonstrations. Mister Bunker,
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Speaker 1: acting under an impulse to preserve his own life, fled
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Speaker 1: out through the back door. As he ran, the robbers
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Speaker 1: fired at him, the ball taking effect in his shoulder.
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Speaker 1: They seemed not to have paid any further attention to
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Speaker 1: mister Wilcox, but occupied the remainder of the brief time
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Speaker 1: allowed them in efforts to find the cashier's money drawer.
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Speaker 1: The nickel drawer was found, and they scattered the contents
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Speaker 1: of that over the floor. Meanwhile, an exciting scene was
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Speaker 1: transpiring in the street in front of the bank building.
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Speaker 1: A mister Wheeler, a young gentleman who occupied a second
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Speaker 1: story room in a building opposite, happened to possess a gun.
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Speaker 1: Seizing this weapon, he took deliberate aim and fired. The
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Speaker 1: ball took effect, and Charlie Pitts, a notorious Texas desperado,
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Speaker 1: fell from his horse, shot through the heart. The shots
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Speaker 1: fired by the brigands who had remained on the street
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Speaker 1: did not have the desired effect in intimidating the citizens
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Speaker 1: of Northfield. In a few moments, many citizens, who had
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Speaker 1: seized guns and pistols and whatever other weapons came in
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Speaker 1: their way, were rushing toward the bank. Mister Wheeler, having
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Speaker 1: been so successful in his first shot, fired a second time,
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Speaker 1: and Bill Chadwell fell mortally wounded from his horse. By
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Speaker 1: this time others were firing from windows, and one of
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Speaker 1: the horses was struck and fell dead. Another horse, which
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Speaker 1: had been ridden by Charlie Pitts, ran through the street.
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Speaker 1: Another one of the band was struck by a bullet,
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Speaker 1: but managed to keep his place. The situation was desperate.
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Speaker 1: The leaders in the bank had not succeeded in getting anything.
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Speaker 1: When the events happening in the street admonished them that
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Speaker 1: their only salvation was in immediate flight. They rushed out
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Speaker 1: of the bank, mounted their horses, and the six living
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Speaker 1: bandits galloped away. Indeed there was need that they should.
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Speaker 1: Already a band of fifty citizens, well mounted and well armed,
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Speaker 1: were nearly ready to take the road in pursuit. At
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Speaker 1: the head of this party rode Wheeler, who had already
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Speaker 1: proved himself to be cool and daring. The flight of
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Speaker 1: the discomfited robbers was rapid. These free riders would never
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Speaker 1: mount an inferior horse, but chances for escape were very few.
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Speaker 1: The robbery, or rather bold attempt at robbery, and especially
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Speaker 1: the death of mister Haywood, a gentleman held in the
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Speaker 1: very highest esteem by the community at Northfield, had created
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Speaker 1: a state of feeling in the public mind which would
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Speaker 1: not allow the people to rest satisfied until the murderers
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Speaker 1: were either captured or killed. In less than twenty four hours,
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Speaker 1: the whole region about was notified of the occurrence at Northfield,
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Speaker 1: and not less than four hundred well armed and well
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Speaker 1: mounted men were in hot pursuit of the six surviving brigands.
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Speaker 1: The excitement occasioned by the events at Northfield was at
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Speaker 1: fever heat. Efforts to capture the outlaws were further stimulated
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Speaker 1: by the proclamation of Governor Pillsbury offering a reward of
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Speaker 1: one thousand dollars for the apprehension of each of the robbers,
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Speaker 1: or six thousand dollars for the capture of the survivors
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Speaker 1: of the band. The bandits fled in a southwestern direction
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Speaker 1: toward the little hamlet of Shieldsville, situated about twenty miles
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Speaker 1: on an airline southwest from the scene of the tragedy
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Speaker 1: at Northfield. The route taken by the robbers made the
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Speaker 1: distance more than twenty five miles, yet they were at
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Speaker 1: Shieldsville before dark. They passed straight through the place and
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Speaker 1: made no concealment of their identity. Shieldsville is a small
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Speaker 1: post village containing a population of no more than one
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Speaker 1: hundred seventy five souls. As they passed through the village,
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Speaker 1: they shouted to the citizens who were on the streets
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Speaker 1: to get into their houses, and they made such demonstrations
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Speaker 1: by firing off their pistols that the people were greatly alarmed.
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Speaker 1: The pursuers, meanwhile, were gathering about them. Sheriff Davis and
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Speaker 1: Posse were behind them, Sheriff Estes and Posse were before them,
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Speaker 1: and there were officers and armed citizens to the right
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Speaker 1: and to the left of them. Their situation became extremely
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Speaker 1: critical after leaving Shieldsville, but the indomitable courage of the
19:55
Speaker 1: bandits seemed for a time to promise them of final escape.
19:59
Speaker 1: From Shieldsville, the bandits traveled in a westerly direction toward Kilkenny,
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Speaker 1: a post town and railway station in Lassour County. They
20:07
Speaker 1: were now avoiding the towns and traveling highways, and keeping
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Speaker 1: in the forest and traveling through the farms. All the
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Speaker 1: crossing places on the streams were guarded by armed citizens.
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Speaker 1: The guards at the Ford on French Creek became alarmed
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Speaker 1: at the approach of the bandits and fled, so that
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Speaker 1: they met no resistance at the crossing place. They remained
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Speaker 1: one night for rest in a large forest near Kilkenny.
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Speaker 1: The next morning they crossed the ford at Little Canyon.
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Speaker 1: They pressed on toward the west. The route was beset
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Speaker 1: with difficulties and dangers for them. They were anxious to
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Speaker 1: reach the border land, the frontier region, where men are
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Speaker 1: few and wild. There was no rest for them. It
20:49
Speaker 1: was at length necessary for them to abandon their horses.
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Speaker 1: They had camped in the depths of a great forest.
20:56
Speaker 1: The officials had taken to the by paths and scoured
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Speaker 1: the woods in search of them. Leaving their horses and
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Speaker 1: some of their heavier clothing, they trudged on foot, skulking
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Speaker 1: among the thickets. Their progress was slow. One day they
21:10
Speaker 1: camped on a sort of a peninsula, about a mile
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Speaker 1: from a church. They were now thoroughly exhausted. Their diet
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Speaker 1: had been green corn, potatoes, and watermelons for several days,
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Speaker 1: and they had been constantly on the move. Here a
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Speaker 1: stray calf came along and they shot it in the head,
21:28
Speaker 1: but the calf did not fall. On the contrary, it
21:31
Speaker 1: ran away. A small pig passed by their camp, and
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Speaker 1: one of them shot it in the head, but the
21:37
Speaker 1: pig refused to succumb and ran away. After leaving their
21:41
Speaker 1: isolated camp in the evening, foot sore and worn out
21:44
Speaker 1: by reasons of the anxiety and fatigue, they pushed forward
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Speaker 1: in a more southerly direction, leaving Cleveland and the forest
21:52
Speaker 1: where they had abandoned their horses to the right. At midnight,
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Speaker 1: they had reached Marysburg, a small post village in the
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Speaker 1: southern part of Lesur County. Finding a convenient hiding place,
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Speaker 1: they kindled a fire and had a meal of roasted
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Speaker 1: potatoes and corn. The village clock struck six, they heard
22:10
Speaker 1: the bell and judged themselves to be about a mile
22:13
Speaker 1: from the town. They left the Marysburg camp somewhat refreshed
22:17
Speaker 1: and with buoyant hope of an ultimate escape from impending peril.
22:22
Speaker 1: Thus far, they had eluded their pursuers. Their route from
22:26
Speaker 1: Marysburg lay southwestward through Blue Earth country to Mankato. They
22:31
Speaker 1: made good headway during the day, and late in the
22:34
Speaker 1: evening they found a nice hiding place in a thicket
22:37
Speaker 1: in a corn field and lay very quiet without making
22:40
Speaker 1: a fire. Twice during the night they were alarmed by
22:43
Speaker 1: persons passing near them. Their hiding place happened to be
22:47
Speaker 1: near a neighborhood path which ran through the fields. Six
22:51
Speaker 1: days after the affair at Northfield, when the worn robbers
22:54
Speaker 1: were struggling along through a great forest near Schaubuts, a
22:58
Speaker 1: few miles in a northeast sterly direction from Mancato, they
23:02
Speaker 1: came suddenly upon a man named Dunning, who was one
23:05
Speaker 1: of a posse of citizens in pursuit of them. They
23:09
Speaker 1: had once captured this man, and a question arose as
23:12
Speaker 1: to the course to be taken with him. At once.
23:15
Speaker 1: It was suggested by some one of the band to
23:17
Speaker 1: bind him fast to a tree and so leave him.
23:21
Speaker 1: Dunning pleaded hard for his life and to be spared
23:24
Speaker 1: the terrible ordeal of such an uncertainty as that of
23:28
Speaker 1: being left bound in that great forest. It might be
23:31
Speaker 1: days before he would be discovered, and it might be
23:34
Speaker 1: that no human being would pass that way until he
23:37
Speaker 1: would be starved finally from motives of humanity, as they claim,
23:43
Speaker 1: They administered to Dunning the most terrible oaths, that he
23:46
Speaker 1: would not say one word about having seen them until
23:49
Speaker 1: they had ample time allowed to get out of the
23:52
Speaker 1: country altogether. Dunning gladly consented to take upon himself these
23:56
Speaker 1: solemn obligations, and they let him go. The released citizens
24:01
Speaker 1: sought the haunts of men, and made haste to communicate
24:04
Speaker 1: to others all the particulars of his adventure with the
24:07
Speaker 1: robbers in the woods, and then the pursuit was renewed
24:11
Speaker 1: with new Ardor and zeal At midnight, six days after Northfield,
24:16
Speaker 1: the weary bandits trudged through Mancato in a very different
24:19
Speaker 1: plight from that in which they had made their entry
24:22
Speaker 1: into the place but a little more than a week before,
24:26
Speaker 1: as they approached the town with which they had made
24:29
Speaker 1: themselves familiar. As they went to Northfield, they were alarmed
24:33
Speaker 1: by the shrill whistle of the oil mill. They concluded
24:36
Speaker 1: that their approach had been noted, and the steam whistle
24:39
Speaker 1: was the signal agreed upon to call the citizens together
24:43
Speaker 1: in case the approach of the robbers was noted. They
24:46
Speaker 1: therefore turned aside from the main streets and sought the
24:50
Speaker 1: lanes and alleys back of the oil mill. Here they
24:53
Speaker 1: hid a while, but as there did not seem to
24:56
Speaker 1: be any movement among the citizens, they stealthily passed on
24:59
Speaker 1: across the bridge. The guards had retired or were not
25:04
Speaker 1: disposed to attack the six desperadoes at any rate, they
25:08
Speaker 1: were not interrupted. After crossing, they raided a field of watermelons,
25:13
Speaker 1: selected four large ones, and under the deep shade of
25:16
Speaker 1: the trees, at the hour of one o'clock they had
25:18
Speaker 1: a feast on the melons. They visited a house near
25:22
Speaker 1: by and got one spring chicken, and would have secured
25:26
Speaker 1: more had time been allowed. But they heard a great
25:28
Speaker 1: shouting of people and saw one man looking for tracks.
25:32
Speaker 1: They fled at once up a bank and pushed forward
25:36
Speaker 1: through the woods bordering the Blue Earth River. During the
25:39
Speaker 1: day they crossed that stream. It was on the day
25:42
Speaker 1: after they passed Mankato that Frank and Jesse James, who
25:46
Speaker 1: appeared to have suffered less from the fatigue and exposure
25:49
Speaker 1: than the others, bid a last adieu to their comrades
25:53
Speaker 1: in the ill starred Northfield Enterprise. Only Coal Younger and
25:57
Speaker 1: his brothers Jim and Bob, and well Miller were left.
26:01
Speaker 1: The pursuers struck the trail of the Jameses, and these
26:04
Speaker 1: desperadoes now had a terrible time in eluding those who
26:08
Speaker 1: sought them. They were repeatedly fired upon and were both
26:12
Speaker 1: wounded severely several times. The four men left in the
26:16
Speaker 1: blue Earth River forest struggled on toward the west. They
26:20
Speaker 1: had passed through the County of Blue Earth and entered
26:23
Speaker 1: Wattawan County, full seventy five miles on a straight line
26:26
Speaker 1: from Northfield, and one hundred and twenty five miles by
26:29
Speaker 1: the route they had traveled, they had reached the swamps
26:33
Speaker 1: bordering the Wattawan River. They had been now exposed to
26:36
Speaker 1: untold hardships from the afternoon of the seventh of September
26:40
Speaker 1: to the twenty first of the same month, a period
26:43
Speaker 1: of fourteen days. They had subsisted on green corn, potatoes,
26:47
Speaker 1: and melons for the most part. During that whole time,
26:51
Speaker 1: they had had but little sleep and had been constantly
26:54
Speaker 1: harassed by their pursuers. For nine days and nights. They
26:58
Speaker 1: had been compelled to walk through forests and thickets and
27:01
Speaker 1: their clothes had been literally picked from their bodies by
27:04
Speaker 1: the thorns and brambles through which they had struggled. Their
27:08
Speaker 1: feet were in a most terrible condition, but their pursuers
27:11
Speaker 1: still followed them with a grim resolve that nothing could equal.
27:16
Speaker 1: On the afternoon of the twenty first, Sheriff MacDonald of
27:19
Speaker 1: Sioux City, having tracked the brigands to a swamp a
27:22
Speaker 1: few miles from Medelia, the county seat of Wadawan County, Minnesota,
27:27
Speaker 1: the final struggle commenced. The Sheriff's forces had surrounded the
27:31
Speaker 1: swamp where the brigands lay concealed. The armed citizens then
27:35
Speaker 1: began to close in upon the surrounded men, keeping up
27:38
Speaker 1: a continuous fire as they advanced. The bandits were not
27:42
Speaker 1: the men to yield even to a superior force without
27:45
Speaker 1: making a desperate resistance. One of the Sheriff's men was
27:49
Speaker 1: severely and another was slightly wounded as they closed in
27:52
Speaker 1: upon the wearied but still determined men. The continuous volleys
27:57
Speaker 1: poured into the thicket where the bandits had concealed themselves
28:00
Speaker 1: were not without effect. First Clell Miller fell moaned once,
28:05
Speaker 1: and then his lips became mute forever. A heavy rifle
28:09
Speaker 1: ball then crashed through Jim Younger's jaw, shattering the lower
28:12
Speaker 1: jawbone in a most frightful manner. Coal Younger received seven
28:17
Speaker 1: wounds and Bob was shot in the right elbow. They
28:20
Speaker 1: fought desperately, But what could four men do. Sheriff mac
28:24
Speaker 1: donald commanded a hundred and fifty courageous men whose lives
28:28
Speaker 1: had been spent on the frontiers. Resistance could no longer
28:32
Speaker 1: be offered. When one of their number had fallen and
28:35
Speaker 1: the other three were wounded, two of them nigh unto death.
28:40
Speaker 1: It was the last struggle of four as daring and
28:42
Speaker 1: dangerous men as ever rode over the western prairies. When
28:46
Speaker 1: resistance had ceased, the Sheriff's men gathered around them. They
28:50
Speaker 1: were prisoners. Their last hour of freedom had expired. They
28:54
Speaker 1: were placed in spring wagons and carried into Medelia. The
28:58
Speaker 1: people of the whole surrounding regions came flocking into the
29:02
Speaker 1: town to see the renowned outlaws, for they had confessed
29:06
Speaker 1: that they were the younger brothers whose fame as daring
29:09
Speaker 1: freebooters had already been extended over the entire country. In
29:13
Speaker 1: a few days, the wounded robbers Cole Jim and Bob
29:17
Speaker 1: Younger were carried to Farabau, the county seat of Rice County.
29:21
Speaker 1: They were closely guarded as well to prevent excited citizens
29:25
Speaker 1: taking the law into their own hands, as to ensure
29:28
Speaker 1: the safe custody of the bandits. The body of Clell
29:31
Speaker 1: Miller was conveyed to Saint Paul to be embalmed. While
29:35
Speaker 1: confined at Farabau, the youngers received every attention and rapidly
29:40
Speaker 1: recovered from the effects of their long exposure and the
29:43
Speaker 1: terrible wounds which they had received. During this time, a
29:47
Speaker 1: strong guard was maintained about their prison. Early in October,
29:51
Speaker 1: the Rice County Circuit Court met at Farabau and Thomas Coleman,
29:56
Speaker 1: James and Robert Ewing Younger were arraigned at the bar
29:59
Speaker 1: to plead to an indictment for murder in the first
30:02
Speaker 1: degree and for conspiring to commit murder and robbery. Advised
30:07
Speaker 1: by counsel that under the laws of the state, the
30:10
Speaker 1: death penalty could not be inflicted in cases where the
30:13
Speaker 1: parties charged entered the plea of guilty, the three brothers
30:16
Speaker 1: pled guilty and were sentenced to the penitentiary at Stillwater
30:20
Speaker 1: for the term of their natural lives. A few days afterward,
30:24
Speaker 1: they were removed to their lifetime place of abode, and
30:27
Speaker 1: the stormy career of the Youngers closed. Since their incarceration,
30:32
Speaker 1: it is understood that Jim Younger has died. Cole and Bob,
30:36
Speaker 1: in their dreary isolation, still survive without hope of breathing
30:40
Speaker 1: the air of freedom again. End of Section thirteen.