The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-03-04

Frank James, from daguerreotype taken in |
Texas in 1866. He surrendered to Governor
has since led an exemplary life. He IS now a
farmer at Kearney, Mo s.
the shadow of a foundation for that lie.
How we'll treated prisoners can be told
by many men still living. 1t could have
been told by the old union veteran that
died in my arms six years ago while |, was
a nurse at the prison hospital IN StillWa-
ter. L had saved this mans life after
his capture during the war. even took
him beyond our lines and made it easy
for him to get away. He was sent to
prison for a technical offense against the
federal laws, and his pardon, signed by
the president arrived a few moments
after the old man had passed away
Before the war closed I went down
through Mexico and up to British Column
bia by way of San Francisco. I had let
tiers Of marque for privateers that the
Confederacy expected to send out.
II returned from California in the fall
of 1865, and tried to settle down on my
mothers farm near Lees Summit. She
was already "a hopeless invalid from the
exposure and sufferings she had been com
PEELED to endure throughout the war. But
the border was now afflicted with So
called vigiant- committees. They were
hunting out Confederates, accusing them
falsely of crime and adopting any excuse
to take their lives. Neither l nor my
brother Jim could remain at home. We
were practically outlawed from that time.
During the next eleven years we could
never visit our home except by stealth.
Everywhere we went armed, everywhere
we were on the lookout for enemies, es-
pecially for detectives. Again and again
we were charged with offenses committed
at places that we never had seen. If
bank was robbed anywhere in the middle
west if a, train or a stage coach was
held up, the, Younger, brothers. were &C
cused--either they: or the James sbrothers-
Jesse and Frank-,and usually all OF US.
"Once made an effort to convince the
public that we were by no means the uni
versal villains we were painted. On the
26th of November. 1874, I wrote a letter
which was printed in the Review of Pleas
ant Hill, Mo. Through that letter I de-
MED that I took any part in the robbery
of the state fair. cash box at Kansas City
Sept. 2e,~1S72: the robbery of a train near
Des Moines on Jan. 81, 1878; the robbery
Of the St. Genevieve, Mo-, bank May 81,
1878; the robbery Of the Hot Springs
stage Jan. Is, 1874; or the holdup of the
Iron Mountain train at Gads Hill: Mo-,
! Jan. 81, 1874. More than that I gave the
names of reputable men who knew OK
actly where was when these robberies
took place. The editor of the Review
communicated with the parties and proved
every word wrote. But those same old
headlines kept looming up, 'The Younger
Gang Again at Work. r.. '-a
Opposed the NorthfieId Raid. %4s
"At last came the Mortified raid in
September, 1875. dislike very much to
speak Of it. But I have been often asked
to tell the real facts. Twill say this much.
In the first place decidedly opposed the
laid into Minnesota, but 1 was overruled.
| We did not get horses in Missouri and
ride north through Iowa. The eight of us
| took the same train at ST. Joseph, or
points south, and went by rail to Mankato
and then to st. Paul and Minneapolis.
We stayed a week in each of the twin
cities. Ny brother Bob got two horses
at St. Paul, I bought two at st. Peter,
and the other men secured their animals
at Red Wing.
IT never shall tell who shot Cashier