Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1876-11-16
Why the James Boys Became
Outlaws.

[St. Louis Correspondence N. y. World.
Jesse and Frank James are the sons Of
the Rev. Thomas ,mrs, Baptist preach
er. lie was a gradua'e Of Georgetown
Oolleg. Kentucky, ad after marrying
Miss Zer'ld Cole. Of Scott county, Ky,
settled in Clay CO., Mo-, where the mother
of the James boys still lives. the wife of
DR.. Samuels. The father Of the James brys
was one of the founders of William Jew
ell College of this State, and became
leading man in his denomination in the
West, but died before the war.
Al the very beginning Of the irrepresible
conflict, Clay c"uo'y b. came the bloody
debatabIr grouni. Frank James, eighteen
years old. joined QnantrelI. On. day
company Of militia visit,G the farm. and
taking out old DR.. Samucls, put rope
about his neck and ran him up three or
four lines, letting him down Jus' il time
save his life. They took jesse from the
pIow, put rope about his neck, aud led
him around, beating him with the flat Of
their sab rs. Then they went aw y. say
ing this was warning not to harbor
bushwh ckers Jesse joined his 6roh,cr
with Quantrell, and from that time out
was an outlaw. Both of these boys. Will,
Cole Younger, were in at thu sack of
Lawrence Later Il hand oftwcnty-seven Of
Of tn" guerrillas, headed by the james
boys. fell upon 'e.a, hment of thu 18th
Kansas Cavalry nj Cabin Creek, in the
Cherokee Nation. There were thirty. two
OF the csvalrymcn, and the guerril!as
killed twenty nine of the thirty-,wo.
jesse James disposing with his ,wn hand
of the Captain, Goss. and the Chaplain
of the 13 h Kansas. Rev. l.. p. Gardner.
Joining Bill Anderson, another guer-
r'lIa ehiet, QuAn'rtll's men with the
James toys and the Youngers, for ;he
latter joinch the band rs fast rs they be-
came old enough to carry a weapon. they
were at Centralia, Missouri, when train
was stopped. The cars w.se. full Of sol
dier>, most OF tn'm n"arlucu.- 1u1y
and the guerrillas led them
off and shot them down till no: man was
left. Then they burn.d d the town, and |
turning on full h. ad of steam. sent the
train I. ari,.g down the track toward Stur
geon. the next STATEN. A detachment of |
ahree hundred Federal troops, under Maj.
johnson, came to avenge the outrage, and |
fell into an ambush and were slaughtered,
barely score .scaping. Jesse James to
this day claims that he killed Maj. John
son and seven Others with his own hand.
Two years ago Congress passed an act |
granting pensions to the widows and
dependent mothers AMI fathers,
or orphan brothers and sisters of those
soldiers murdered by gncrrillas at Cen
tralia in 1864. -
At Lexington. Mo-, at the very close OF
the war, Jessc James received minnie
ball through the right lung, which nearly
killed him. He suffered r'pcated hem
Drrhages, and fingered along until 1867.
when one of the bands Of vigilantes who
were picking up the retiring guerrllas
and Iynching them on general pr ncip's.
visited the Samutls's farm house. They
demanded entrance. jesse, with pistol
10 each hand. crept down to the door,
and. firing through the panel. dropped
the leader; then, flinging open the door,
he wounded three more. and fled in this
condition through the snow. Strange as
i may seem. the poor wounded men were
taken into the Samuels farm house and
nursed until they conld he remove
Finding no relief from his wound, Jesse
James wen: to New York in the spring of
1868 to take sea voyage. 1t was just
after the Russellvil!e Bank robbery. the
initial one in this series, AMI it il believed
that robbery was planned and executed
by the comrades of James to furnish him
Lhe meaLs for the trip. He went by the
Santiago de Cuba in June 1865, and on
board mace the acquaintance Of United
Sta, es officer. named Major Gregg. who.
upon reaching California. introduced the
vut rrllla to Halleck. with whom he had
. long conversation respecting the border
warfare and the deeds OF Quantrell and
his men.
Jesse spent some weeks at the San
Luis (Obisro County, Sulphur Springs. in
aud then came back to Mis-
souri, healed. Ills is the leading mind in
the bandit gang. and he will probably be
,h- last m ~ captured. In personal sp-
pearance these outlaws are all tall, muscu.
lar men. with c0untenanc's expressive of
great determination. and bearing no evi
dences Of dissipation. They very seldom
drink anything, but are gamblers.