Transcriber's Note:
Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.
Notice.—These portraits were engraved from late photographs,obtained at some expense and danger; and having been copyrighted forthis book all persons are warned against using them elsewhere.
THE BORDER BANDITS.
AN AUTHENTIC AND THRILLING HISTORY OF
THE NOTED OUTLAWS,
Jesse and Frank James,
And their Bands of Highwaymen.
COMPILED FROM RELIABLE SOURCES ONLY AND CONTAINING
THE LATEST FACTS IN REGARD TO THESE
DESPERATE FREEBOOTERS.
BY J. W. BUEL,
Author of "Life of Wild Bill the Scout," "Legends of the Ozarks,"
etc., etc., and Member of the Editorial Staff of the
Kansas City and St. Louis Press.
ILLUSTRATED WITH LATE PORTRAITS AND COLORED PLATES.
ST. LOUIS, MO.:
HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1881.
———
Copyrighted, 1880, by DAN. LINAHAN.
———
Ryan, Jacks & Co., Printers,
ST. LOUIS.
PREFACE.
The career of Jesse and Frank James has been as checkered as thesunlight that streams through a latticed window, and their crimes area commentary upon the development of intellectual America. No one canafford to ignore the lesson which the lives of these outlaws teach,and therefore a correct history of their desperate deeds becomesnecessary as a part of the country's annals, in juxtaposition with thecommendable heroism of our brightest characters. So many improbableand romantic incidents have been credited to these noted brothers bysensational writers; so many dashing escapades and hair-breadth escapesattributed to them, which they never even dreamed of, that thinkingpeople, especially in the East, have begun, almost, to regard the JamesBoys as a myth, and their deeds as creations of sensational dreamers.
It has been my purpose for more than three years to prepare a truehistory of these noted outlaws, and during that time material has beencollecting which is now given to the public entirely free from fulsomedescription or elaborated sensation. In the main essentials the JamesBoys themselves will confirm the truthfulness of this narrative, whichhas been written with a special regard for candor and indisputablefacts only.
During several years of the most exciting period in the career of thesenoted bandits, I was engaged as reporter for the Kansas City press, andnot only became acquainted with many of their relatives and friendswho reside in that section, from whom were obtained numerous facts and[Pg 2]incidents never before published; but my duties as a journalist gaveme many excellent opportunities to learn the real truth in regard tomany of their most daring adventures, to one of which (the robbing ofthe cash-box at the Kansas City Fair) I was an eye-witness. As timeunfolds the mysteries which have gathered around the names of thesedesperate outlaws, it will be seen that this is the most faithfulhistory of their exploits that has ever been presented to the public.
...