Jesse James and the First Missouri Train Robbery - Softcover

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Ronald H. Beights is a member of the James-Younger gang, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and the Friends of the James Farm. In his long career as a freelance commercial artist/illustrator, he has worked with such prestigious clients as Southwestern Bell, Great American Life, and Rexall. He has published articles in the (Poplar Bluff, Missouri) Daily American Republic and the James Farm Journal . He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

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"A great war leaves the country with three armies--an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves."
--German proverb

Trained on horseback in the handy and swift use of a revolver in the Confederate guerrilla bands of the Civil War, Frank and Jesse James were cut loose from their cause and legally, along with other ex-Confederate Missouri fighters, stripped of their right to vote, seek public office, attend college, or serve as ministers or deacons. While most of these men settled down to quiet lives, others did not.

The first daylight, peacetime bank robbery in 1866 was the beginning of an era for the James-Younger gang. By 1873, they were the most hunted outlaws in the country. In 1874, they made history by robbing the Little Rock Express train at Gads Hill, Missouri. In time, the excitement died, but the raid at Gads Hill had a lasting effect on the lives of the James and Younger brothers.

Here, told largely by trainmen, passengers, farmers, detectives, news reporters, and others who were directly or indirectly involved in the crime, is a true, documented account of Frank and Jesse James, the Younger brothers, and Missouri's first train robbery.