Posses of Officers and Citizens Scouring the Country for the Robbers & My Mis-hap/Mis-adventure Continues

Train tracks are still in use today

 Otterville, population 452. There isn't even a Main Street. Just a railroad crossing and a general store. Technically I was trespassing on this AG property that makes Purina chow, but no one seemed to care. I like being invisible.

My favorite coverage of the July 7, 1876 James Gang robbery of the Blue Cut Missouri train line is the Sedalia Weekly Bazoo. The crime is chronicled in excruciating detail with some hyperbolic language thrown in for flourish. If you are too lazy or uninterested, you can just read the headers. THE LATEST IN REGARD TO THE EXPRESS HOLD UP AT OTTERVILLE. RETURN OF THE SEDALIANS WHO ENTERED UPON THE CHASE YESTERDAY MORNING. WHAT A BAZOO REPORTER, WHO ACCOMPANIED THE PARTY LEARNED. CHANCES ARE NOT IN FAVOR OF AN EARLY CAPTURE.

part of the Purina Ag center

What was noteworthy about this robbery is Hobbs Kerry, a brief member of the gang who was captured and ratted out his compatriots in exchange for a 4 year prison sentence. This robbery was to finance the Minnesota bank robbery which took place shortly after.

My stop in Otterville was fortuitous, since besides being invisible, an actual train came providing a great filming opportunity. The light was perfect with lots of clouds and no rain. 

Purina Ag center

Unfortunately like a lot of my trip, a good portion of files were corrupted. However, I was able to retrieve enough for the project. 

Another Bold Railroad Robbery... or Why a Pentacostal Church Makes for a Poor Vantage Point

Love the illustration of the robbery

 December 1874, the James Gang rode to Muncie, Kansas (12 miles outside of Kansas City) to hold up the Kansas Pacific Railroad. The newspaper article says that the masked robbers conduct towards the passengers was rather clever, since they did not attempt to rob them, only securing the contents of the Wells Fargo safe. In a mere 15 minutes, they left with their "booty" consisting of $5000 in gold dust and $18,000 in currency. The bounty for their heads dead or alive--$1000 (worth $22,000 today)

James Gang robbery of Kansas Pacific Railroad

site of James Gang robbery today

 The railroad tracks are no longer there. The site today is a private home. Which proves to be a bit problematic when trying to obtain interesting footage. Given that the area is a meth haven, I did not want to trespass or ask permission to film, so I stood across the street and filmed on the property of a Pentecostal church. The film gods were clearly out to get me, because all but a few clips were corrupted and "disappeared" off my camera. It was the beginning of an ill-fated trip that was ripe with mishaps and misadventures.

my hair offering

Music of Cracking Pistols

Kansas City Exposition Grounds, 1872

From two newspaper accounts 1872--At sundown, just as Exposition goers were leaving the fairgrounds, three masked men road up to the ticket office. "The largest of the three men quietly dismounted, handing the reins of his horse to one of his confederates: and walked up to the ticket-booth, which is a small building located just to the right of the gate as you go in. The till, a large tin box, stood on the counter nearly in front of the arched window through which tickets were sold. The desperado reached through the window, and seizing the box, attempted to make off. Meanwhile his two confederates sat on their horses like statues, holding the horror-stricken crowd paralyzed at bay with their drawn navy revolvers and threatening instant death to the first man that moved a muscle. It was one of those exhibitions of superb daring that chills the blood and transfixes the muscles of the looker-on with a mingling of amazement, admiration and horror. It was one of those rare instances when it seems as though death stood in the panoply of the flesh and exhaled a petrifying terror from his garments. It was a deed so high-handed, so diabolically daring and so utterly in contempt of fear that we are bound to admire it and revere its perpetrators for the enormity of their outlawry.

An occurrence of this kind is a rare and peculiar study. Of course it is a crime and must be reprehended and denounced. But one thing is certain. Men who can so coolly and calmly plan and so quietly and daringly execute a scheme of robbery like this, in the light of day, in the face of the authorities, and in the very teeth of the most immense multitude of peoples that was ever in our city, deserve at least admiration for their bravery and nerve." 

John Newman Edwards, 1872

This romanticized and inaccurate account was written by John Newman Edwards who wrote a follow-up story entitled The Chivalry of Crime the day. An excerpt "...they ride at midday into the county-seat, while court is sitting, take the cash out of the vault and put the cashier in and ride out of town to the music of the cracking pistols. These men are bad citizens; but they are bad because they live out of their time. The nineteenth century … is not the social soil for men who might have sat with Arthur at the Round Table, ridden to the tourney with Sir Launcelot or worn the colors of Guinevere; men who might have … shivered a lance with Ivanhoe or won the smiles of the Hebrew maiden…."

Jesse under the guise of a 17th century highwayman sent a rebuttal which was printed in the paper the following day. The letter read, in part: "Just let a party of men commit a bold robbery and the cry is hang them, but [Ulysses S.] Grant can steal millions, and it is all right. Some editors call us thieves. It hurts me very much to be called a thief. It makes me feel on par with Grant and his party. We are bold robbers. Please rank me with these, and not the Grantites. They rob the poor and give to the rich, we rob the rich and give to the poor." The letter went on to express remorse for the wounding of the little girl and said that they would handle the medical expenses for her injury.

$998 was stolen, the equivalent of $17, 000 today. 

View from my hotel window down the street from City Hall,
former Exposition site

Stop! It's folly to proceed

Strange, but quirky sculpture outside
the police precinct across from City Hall

My lock of hair

What Do Hair Wreaths Have To Do With The James Brothers and Independence?

Frank and Jesse James with their formidable mother Zerelda

This past month marked the 2nd performative adventure filming at the sites where my notorious ancestors outlawed. For those newbie readers, Frank and Jesse James were 1st cousins of my great great grandmother's 2nd husband. This journey included site visits to Western Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota.

My first stop was Independence, Missouri, where Frank is buried.

Frank and his wife Ann's tombstone

Frank in his later years

Independence is also the home of Leila's Hair Museum. That might sound a bit weird and creepy to some of you, but I wasn't about to miss a chance to see over 600 hair wreaths and jewelry. Hair wreaths flourished during the Victorian era, but the tradition of keeping a lock of hair from loved ones dates back many centuries. Leila rediscovered this lost art and is now teaching the art of hair wreaths in workshops and published a book. I would love to learn, but fear my tiny motor skills do not have the patience for such intricate work.

Often times, the wreaths had notes inside indicating whose hair
was woven together. Here the tag is actual written in hair. 

This wreath had a special shadow box. A funeral home
lined it with fabric to resemble a coffin.

It was difficult to get good pics. The museum didn't allow
any photos inside and the lobby area had too much reflective
glare from the windows and lights. 

You might be wondering what in the world this has to do with my James adventure. If you read last summer's blog entries, you know that I leave a lock of my hair after filming at each site. As a memento of my DNA lineage. Although a hair wreath would be way cooler. However, if I spent that much time making one, I wouldn't want to leave it somewhere.

It was gay pride week during the time I visited and there was a lot of press about whether the rainbow flag should be hung. City council voted no on hanging the flags on city buildings. However the mayor  showed her support by hanging the flag on her office door. A part-time custodian made news when he blasted the mayor saying that if she could hang the rainbow flag, he should be able to hang the confederate flag. He also said some other nasty stuff that I won't repeat, but you can read the article here.

It's darkly ironic that Independence is not true to its name. Coincidentally or not, it also happens to be the meth capital of the country. Missouri still ranks #1 in meth labs per capita. 27.6 meth labs per 100K people.

The Last Train Robbery and the Decline of the James Gang

The James gang was in decline after the Minnesota debacle. Frank had gone the straight and narrow and wasn't interested in outlawing any longer. Jesse had to put together a new crew including a horse thief, an alcoholic gunfighter and some slow-witted farmers (as the account reads)

These tracks were robbed not once, but TWICE by the James Gang. On October 8, 1879, the Chicago & St. Louis Train was held up and robbed. It was supposed to be a lucrative day--$60,000 in loot. But they only found $6000 in the bank. The Daily Evening Herald from Stockton, California covered the trial on October 7, 1881. (Ironically or not--just 1 month after the 2nd Glendale train robbery). Apparently even back in the Wild West days, preparing for trials took a couple of years.

Ironically, that is not the only similarity in the court system past to present. One bandit--Tucker Basham pled guilty and received 10 years, only to be pardoned a year later as the major witness in the State's case against outlaw William Ryan.

After Tucker Basham's testimony, his house was burned down. The unidentified perps did remove his household belongings from the house before torching it. Here is an excerpt from that account. "There is no positive clue as to the identity of the scoundrels, who perpetrated the dastardly deed. But the officers feel positive that they will be able to capture the right parties." Sounds just like law enforcement press conferences today.

What really caught my attention was a completely different story underneath the dastardly deed paragraph. The story is titled, He Should Have Procured the License. "Mary L. Noffsker is the name of a young woman living on the east side who created a sensation last night by trying to commit suicide in her wedding dress."  But then the story is cut off. We don't find out HOW she tried to kill herself or WHY she tried. The title of the story is quite insensitive even by journalists' standards.

I've spent all this time writing about the first Glendale train robbery and not about the LAST train robbery--also near Glendale, MO. The Blue Cut train robbery is the one fictionalized in the famous songs. The last train robbery was even more of a bust than the 1st--only $3000 in loot.

The governor of Missouri put a $10,000 bounty on Jesse's head. Lawlessness was no longer tolerated in the West and anti-Union sentiment which fueled Jesse's supporters was fading. Only 7 months later, Jesse would be assassinated by one of his trusted insiders--Bob Ford.

 After the railroad scenic vistas of Gad's Hill, Glendale was a bit disappointing visually. Until I spotted some animal bones on the tracks.

 

black gold on the tracks.
actually I think it is tar, but looked sparkly

lock of hair left on tracks

The Most Daring Robbery on Record

 How the Robbers Swooped Down on the Train and Carried Off Pockets of Plunder--headline from St. Louis Dispatch February 2, 1874.

The James & Younger gang put a flag in the middle of the tracks and started a brush fire to get the train to stop. After looting the safe, the robbers inspected the passengers. Anyone found with unworked hands was robbed of money and jewelry. One person suspected of being a Pinkerton agent was strip searched. Two bankers were led outside and forced to strip to their underwear. As the outlaws galloped off, Jesse tossed the engineer a piece of paper. It was a newspaper article Jesse wrote himself--what we would call a press release today.

"The most daring robbery on record. The southbound train on the Iron Mountain Railroad was robbed this evening five heavily armed men and robbed of _______dollars. The robbers arrived at the station a few minutes before the train arrived and arrested the Agent, put him under guard and then threw the train switch. The robbers are all large men, none of them under six feed tall. They were all masked and started in a southerly direction after they robbed the train, all mounted on fine blooded horses."

Here's the part I really like--"There is a hell of excitement in this part of the country."

 Not only was Jesse a thief and murderer, he was a good PR marketer. He understood the fine-art of spin.

In media lingo--he had the boiler plate bio--describing who he was and how he did things without giving away too much info. He knew his audience demographic who enjoyed reading about adventure and pitched them an engaging concept story. Most importantly, he made the journalist's job easier by writing the story for him. I can't help but smile reading details about large masked men mounted on fine horses. And the account of only robbing the upper class--thus perpetuating the Robin Hood myth. The plunder totaled around $12,000--not bad for a few hours of work in 1874. That roughly equates to about $250,000 today. 

Gad's Hill is 6 miles outside of Piedmont, MO. Unlike some of the other locations,  this was very rural and remote. No cell service. At first I just saw the road sign and while it is strange, it doesn't provide a lot of creative filming opportunities. So I was super excited when I saw stairs leading down to the tracks. The desolate landscape...silent but for the rustling wind, insects and ghost sounds of a train engine.

Devoid of human presence--just the flag billowing in the breeze

lock of my hair left on the tracks

The Last Ride of Jesse James--Muscle Shoals, Alabama

no one like this was hanging out on a shoal or anywhere else

 When I think about the name Muscle Shoals, I envision guys in muscle T's lifting weights on a board walk, spitting tobacco in-between sets listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd singing Sweet Home Alabama. Or a guy taking his python for a walk along the shoal. As if Venice Beach was transplanted to Northern Alabama. (I had no idea what a shoal was--google says it is similar to a sandbar).

Although I didn't see any muscle guys or muscle cars or pythons or even a shoal for that matter, Muscle Shoals was a highlight of the week-long road trip. I stopped and took a tour of the famous Muscle Shoals Music Studio, where so many gold records were recorded, including Lynryd Skynryd's Muscle Shoals Album. Sweet Home Alabama isn't on it, but the original Freebird is. One of the session musicians was there when I visited. He hijacked our tour and told lots of stories about the musicians, making history come alive. A documentary about the studio came out in 2013, putting Muscle Shoals back on the map. The film is available on Netflix and you can watch the trailer here

Cher and the crew outside of the studio. Her 3614 Jackson Highway
album released in 1969 was a commercial failure. She sings
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

The Rolling Stones recording at the studio. Brown Sugar
was one of the songs from their session

After all the musical excitement, the Jesse James site was a bit underwhelming, but the weather cooperated--giving me ominous storm clouds for my photos.

Ruins of a Bible Church across from the Jesse James robbery site.
Storm clouds added to the apocalyptic atmosphere.

Site of the robbery is now a bank

site of the robbery--front of the bank

Jesse James' final robbery occurred on March 11, 1881. "It was a rainy, windy Friday when Alexander Smith from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers returned from Florence, Alabama with $5240.18. The money was payroll for laborers in the blue Water Camp on the nearby Tennessee River." (I appreciate the precision of the monetary amount).  "When Smith stopped between Shoal Creek and the camp to open a gate, Jesse James, Wood Hite and Whiskey Head Ryan brandished their weapons and quickly unarmed Smith. They took the payroll out of the inner pocket of his coat, and the goal and silver coins in a bag hanging from the pommel of his saddle. The gang forced Smith to ride nearly 20 miles in a rainstorm before releasing him and generously allowed him to keep his horse, his own money and his gold watch." The dispatched posse lost the James' gang tracks because of torrential downpours.

How serendipitous that Divine Providence produced storm clouds and torrential downpours for my evening in Muscle Shoals.

No surprise that "Whiskey Head" was the one who got caught after eating a dozen oysters and drinking a bottle of extremely potent Tennessee Whiskey. A drunken brawl led to the local lawman discovering the large amount of gold he carried and Whiskey Head was arrested. I question Jesse's judgment in hiring anyone with the name Whiskey Head, but as usual Jesse escaped, leaving Nashville with his family and traveling to Missouri.

my lock of hair--
buried next to the tree at the former robbery site