The Butler weekly times., 1882-10-11
At Jefferson City on Thursday
October 5th.
The Outlaw OF Twenty Years ut
Last Subdued.
Taken to independence, Jackson
County, Missouri.
Jackson
LAST OF THE ROBBER BAND.

| 1Ouf o CiCCh r rank James came DOIO
ly into Jefferson City and surrender
ed himself to Gov. Crlttenden. A
reporter Of the Sedalia Dfsffach wa.
early npon the ground and had .
hreif but satisfactory interview witt
the redoubtable outlaw. He = in per
feet health for one who has beer
wounded seventeen times. Shot
three times IN the mouth, there is a
slight scar on the lower lip, which i
long, fair moustache hides, and he is
minus some eight or nine teeth. He
is little bald, but not from age, be-
ing now only thirtv-eight. AS has
been always truly said of his great
physical endurance, he can to-day,
he says, ride further and faster, and
do with less food and sleep than any
other man in Missouri. He is soft
spoken, very. interesting and INTEL
ligent in conversation, a good listen
er, quite d,fferential, cool and calm
as statue, and the quickest, dead
liest man in personal encounter
between the two oceans.
Seated in the Governors office, a
watchful and interested spectator of
everything which went on about
him, Dispatch reporter said to
him:
"And SO you are the noted Frank
James
81 am Frank James. 1t does not
become me tc say whether l am no
ted or nOt. -
"Why did you surrenders None
knew where you were hiding, nor
could any one find OUT
.'What of that ?. was tired of an
outlaws lite. l have been hunted
for twenty-one years. I have liter
ally lived in the saddle. ] have
never. known day of perfect peace.
1t was one long, anxious, inexora-
Bile, eternal vigil. When | slept 1t
was literally IN the midst Of an ar
senal. If heard dogs bark mole
fiercely than usual, or the feet OF
horses in a greater volumn of sound,
than usual, stood to my arms.
Have you any idea of what a
man must endure who leads such
life?. No, you cannot. No one
can unless he lives for himself"
s'What do you expect?''
: IA fair trial. In coming as l
have directly to Governor Crittcn-
den have acted IN perfect accord
with my summing up of the man.
| have always declared and do now
declare that he alone Of all who
engaged in the hunt for the outlaws
was the one single man actuated by
principle. The balance hunted
tor gain or fame. Governor Crit
tentien hunted to vindicate the law
and extripate train and bank robbery
from the State
''Has Governor Crittenden made
you any promises?''
'None. You have read his let
ter in reply to nlne, and except
what that contains, he has never
said another word. / do not want
HIM to make me any promises.
Wait until the courts decide wheth-
er l am guilty or not guilty. do
not deny that l want one single
chance to prove my surrender is In
good faith, and that can become
once more a good citizen. Cover
nor Crittenden can afford to give me
that chance. He has already done
what has never been done before in
this State. he has made highway
robbery impossible.
ssWill YOU tell me something of
your past l1te -
kSNJ@'
to tell you. The present is mine
and the future. Let the past go,
but this can say truthfully and
without boasting. that am not near
ly so bad as l have been represen-
ted to be, and that there Is not
drop of blood on my hands except
that shed in open and honorable
war. was guerrilla. l fought
the best l knew. how with QUAINT
rell. Anderson ard Todd; but
never in all my life slew an unarmed
man or a prisoner. Ask any OF mY
comrades in Clay. Jackson, Lafav-
cite, Howard. or Randolph coun-
ties If this is. not SO. You may
think that TELL you this to soften
my fate, and strengthen my case be-
tore the people, but do not Itell
it to you because it is the truth, and
because I have been described IN
some newspapers as monster of
cruelty who delighted in bloodshed
and murder"
'sWhere do you go from here I"
Directly to independence. in