Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-04-12

| InIce Vi lutiH leNoueu luelT ItNOlNcIs
! upon the occupants of the room, while
/ the other three unceremoniously com.
menced to open the safe. They gath.
cred together all the money in sight,
and, after shooting the cashier, who
made an outcry, they mounted their
horses and rode away. An alarm was
Immediately given, and they were pur-
sued by the Sheriff and large posse OF
men, but they reached the Cumberland
Mountain in safety, and there disap-
peared.
On the 26th of September, 1872,
they committed one of the most daring
and amazing exploits in the history OF
crime. They attended the Missouri
State Fair at Kansas city, where it is
said 80, 600 people were gathered, and,
of course, the receipts at the gate were
correspondingly large. They remain
ed through the day; took dinner on
the fair grounds, attended the races,
and about O'Clock in the afternoon,
while the attention of the crowd was
drawn to a famous contest between
Ethan Allen and another noted horse,
they rode up to the Office of the fair as
sociation, where they found Mr.. Hall,
the treasurer of the fair, counting up
the receipts Of the day, which amount
ed to nearly $4,000. Mr.. Hall sat in
the Office with young man.
The gang put revolvers to their
heads, pocketed the money, and made
their escape.
In the spring of 1873 they raided a
bank at st. Geneyieve, Mo. During
the fight, the outlaw who had the bag
Of money in charge dropped it, and the
abandon the booty. 1t was while they
were smarting under this disappoiDt-
ment that their first train robbery was
planned, which took place on the Rock
Island road in June of the same year.
About seventy-fve miles east of Coun-
ell Bluffs they took up rail in sharp
curve. An express train was thrown
off the track The engineer and fire.
man were killed and number Of pas
sengers badly wounded. The gang
robbed the express car, carrying away
gold bricks, specie, and notes to a very
large amount. A large reward was Of
fered for their apprehension. but they
found safe refuge in Indian Territory.
After this affair they committed a
number Of stage robberies, one of them
on the route to Hot Springs, Ark. In
January, 1874, the gang made its ap-
pearance at Gads Hill, flag station
on the Iron Mountain road in Wayne
county, Mo. They tagged the. train,
robbed the express car Of 81 l 900, and
plundered a number of the passengers.
The railroad and express companies
now determined to hunt the gang
down at any expense Pinkerton's
agency took the case, and corps of
detectives were semitic, Missouri lnder
the command of Louis L.. Lull, for
merly Lieutensnt on the police force
of Chicago. One of his detectives by
the name of Weicher went to the rem
devious of the desperadoes in the garb
of german immigrant and applied for
labor On the morning after he was
found dead. with several bullet holes
in his body, tied to a tree near the
road, few miles from Mrs. Samuels'
house, and also upon his person was
found a card, saying:
This shall be the fate of all of Pinkerton's
detectives who come into Missouri.
Soon after this Lull had desperate
fight in the Monigan wood, in south
western Missouri, with the Younger
brothers, in which John Younger, the
acknowledged leader of the band,
was killed, and James Younger his
brother, was seriously wounded. Dan
iels, the Sheriff of st. Clair County,
was also instantly killed, and Lull was
mortally wounded, dying a few days
afterward. The pursuit was 80 hot
that the James and Younger boys
sought refuge in Texas.
In January, 1875, Mr.. Pinkerton
learned that Jesse and Frank James
had returned to their mothers resi-
dence, and an attempt was made to
capture them. A large body of men,
well armed, proceeded to the residence
of Mrs Samuels about midnight. The
house was surrounded, and a hand
grenade was thrown into one Of the
rooms. A little son OF Mrs. Samuels
was killed by the explosion, and she
had one Of her hands torn of. Meth
er Of the outlaws was at home. They
believed that a man named Daniel Os-
key, living at Liberty, Mo, was con-
cerned in the visit, so they rode over
to his house, called him to the door,
and shot him.
In the spring of 1875 the gang per-
petrated another train robbery, this
time on the Kansas Pacific road, at q
small station near Kansas City. The
passengers were not troubled, but mon
ey and gold dust to the amount Of
$25. 900 was taken from the express
car. The trail of the robbers was fol-
owed to Indian territory. where they
again cluded capture. Following this
came the robbery Of a bank at Hunt
ington. w. Va. Then came another
train robbery. On July 7, 1876, the
gang stopped train in the Missouri
Pacific road in n rocky cut in Pettis
County, Mo. Jesse James and Cole
Younger entered the express car, and
compelled the messenger to open the
safe. which contained $4,000. AS
usual, the robbers escaped capture.
The country was one that they were
familiar with, and which abounds in
hiding places. The valley of Grand
River is a region thickly covered with
timber and underbrusb, annd full OF
swamps and bayous, furnishing the
outlaws with safe retreat so long as
their depredations were carried on in
this region. When they left it to go
into an unfamiliar country for their
next great enterp rise they met with a
reverse.
They planned u raid on bank in
Mortified, MINI. On Sept. 7, 1876,