The Osceola times., 1880-01-17
JESSIE JAMES HEARD FROM.
Strange Communication from ,hs Missouri
Oatiaw To the New York ssperin- -
tsndeut of Police.
y y Herald

tsndeus of Police.
NY Herald.
Superintendeut Walling yesterday re-
ceiyed the following communication
written on a postal card;
SrxpEoxrus, TEXAS, Dec. q, ls1s.-
Please send me 4 copy Of your paper
THE PoJics Norsi and greatly obllge,
JEssE JAHEs.
The siguer Is one Of the most tesper-
ate members of the James brothers
gang. who tor a long time operated IN
Missouri. numbering Te2ceab!e citizens,
and who subsequently fed to Texas 10
es-ape the uenalty of their crimes, W hlth-
er they were pursued by officers Of the
law The history Of their depredations
would i'll a volume. For couple OF
vears the press Of the entire country
has teeme,i with an almost uninterrupi-
ed rerorl of their ra=caliiies, their blooi-
thirsty exploits, and their hair-hreadth
es ar,es from lynching. On January -,
1875. Jesse and his gang threw a hand
grenade into house in Clay county,
Mo. instantly killing severai persons.
For this they were pursued and over
taken By the deputy marshals- Beng
men Of reckless valor, and being rem
forced, they succeeded in beating on The
officers o; the law, and made good their
escape. This was followed by the BRO al
murder of a citizen named Daniel Ash
land. on April IA, 1875. Following up
these exploits. jesse james and his two
brothers. assisted b. another gang Of
masked burglars, broke into the North
field Bank OF Minnesota, helped them.
selves to a large sum Of money, and
wound up by numbering the cashier. All
these crlmes. and others too numerous
TO chronicle, were perpetrated with i'm
punity. An unsuccessful attempt to take
these freeboo,ers into custody, was made
on October % following, They, however.
eluded their pursuers, but were again
brought 10 bay on the 10Th OF November
with the game result. Another attempt
for their apprehension was made on the
29th, but they seemed to be possessed of
superior strategetieal ability and always
either beat off the pursuing party, or
managed 10 conceal Themselves In some
inaccessible resort, known only 10 them
selves, where they could rest securely,
and defy the approach Of an army.
FLIGHT To IENAs.
After spreading terror and disrnay
throughout the length and breadth OF
Missouri, number Of the gang fled to
Texas. thrilling narrative was teIe-
graphed from Kansas City, Mo, on the
81 OF last November detailing an attempt
TO capture the James brothers, and rec1t-
ing that in the struggle which followed
Jesse was shot dead. The account OF
the affair went on to say that the officials
Of Joplin, Mo, had a short time prev
iously been apprised that the James
brothers, and at least two members Of
the gang were in that vicinity. This in
formation occasioned the widest dis
may. II was feared that sheir presence
boded i'll to the inhabitants. The au-
thorities affirmed that the outlaws medi-
tated raid on the bank at Joplin OF
Short Greek. On that account these in
stitutions were carefully guarded by
number OF armed men whose services
we're suddenly called into requisition IN
anticipation Of such visit. Al o'clock
on the morning Of November 2, George
Shepherd rode excitedly into Short
Creek, suffering from a pistol shot
wound in the thigh, and with sundry
perforations in his saddle which were
caused BY bullets He reported that he
had had desperate encounter with the
James brothers. Shepherds story *
cited more alarm than sympathy. He
was supposed TO have belonged 10 the
James and Younger gang who had pre-
yiously in connection with the Quantrell
band participated in the robbing Of a
Kentucky bank The James brothers
Inistristed hiin, although he was admit
ted to their company, and was aware OF
their hiding-place. He was regarded a.
q SPY in the camp. He and Jesse had
disagreed, and on that account his life
was attempted. lie had met the party
at Short Creek, where they were lurk-
ging. nediiating another raid, at the
time that Shepherd came to grief.
SHEPHERDS STORY.
He told the following story Of his adj
venture: Mike and Tom Casey, another
man and mvself, set out yesterday to
capture the gang. They were to 81 crete
themselves, while was 10 proceed "a
the rendezvous. shoot Jesse James and
retreat. The rest OF the gang, II was ex-
pected, would pursue me, and In that
way be drawn into the ambuscade
where my companions were IN waiting.
| met Jesse and while riding along
said. Jessie, YOU know YOU robbed my
cousin and murdered him Jesse moved
his hand toword his pistol and wheeled
about his horse. | then fired, hitting
him in the back of the head, and he fell
headlong TO the ground. ! then put
spurs to my horse and fled. jim Cum
mings. q member of the gang, pursued
me. During our fight several shots were
exchanged. Cummings mad the tieetest
horse, and he soon caught up with me,
shooting me through the thigh. The
fire from the ristol. 50 near were We to-
gether. burned my clothes. ] returned
the fire, and one Of my shots struck
Cummings in the arm and knocked the
pistol from his hand. With that he
wheeled his horse and went back"
Upon receipt of the above information
there was much rejoicing, as II was sup
posed Jesse james was mortally wound
ed. A heavily armed posse went out
the following morning to scour the Short
Creek district, but without meeting with
success. Jesse james, the wounded
bricand, recovered from his injuries,
and subsequently made his headquar-
tiers IN Texas, where he and his brothers,
with a small following, still remain, med
ita,ine fresh mischief They are out
laws and a large reward has been offered
for their capture, but few are so bold,
even in Texas, as to earn blood money
at such a personal risk. Since their
fight 10 Texas they have remained com
paratiyely quiet In fact the officials
- 4. -. .st fI.ztr .aFs