Cole Younger

With his brothers Jim and Bob Younger, he joined with Jesse and Frank James to form and lead the feared and ruthless James-Younger outlaw Missouri desperado gang.

Cole Younger and Frank James began their "outlaw" career with William Clarke Quantrill's Missouri militia as guerilla warriors,Bushwhackers, during the Missouri-Kansas border wars caused after the 1857 Dred Scott decision. Cole joined to avenge the death of his father Henry Younger by Kansas Union soldiers. They took part in the infamous devastion of the Kansas town of Lawrence on August 21 1863 which Quantrill and his men killed over 150 towns people including women and children. This was in direct retaliation for the September 23 1861 raid and sacking of Osceola Missouri and the family farms by Kansas militia ,Jayhawkers and RedLegs, under General Jim Lane. The Clint Eastwood movie "Outlaw Josey Wales" is based on these events.

After years of debilitating discontent, devastating raids, horrific battles, being driven from their homes and land the Youngers and the James refused to surrender and take the "Oath of Loyalty" to the Union after the Civil war. They feared that trial by carpetbaggers would result in their hanging. Jesse James was shot attempting to surrender in 1865. He plotted revenge against all Union interest and dicussed the idea of a gang with his brother Frank.

In the winter of 1865—66 Frank, James, and Cole Younger, along with a tight-knit group of former confederate guerillas, formed the James-Younger gang to get back at those who had won the war. This included Cole's brothers Jim,John and Bob. On Tuesday February 13 1866 the first daylight, peacetime bank robbery in the history of the United States occurred in Liberty, Missouri was carried out by the James-Younger gang.

The James-Younger gang robbed their way across the Western frontier,using hit and run guerillas tactics learned in the Civil war, targeting banks, trains, stagecoaches, and stores from Iowa to Texas. Eluding even the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the gang escaped with thousands of dollars.They were hidden and protected by relatives and supporters in Missouri,Arkansas,Tennessee and Texas through out their 20 year crime spree.

Then on July 21, 1873 the James-Younger gang pulled off the first successful train robbery in the American West by taking US$3,000 from the Rock Island Express in Adair, Iowa.

Despite their criminal and often violent acts, the James and Youngers were much adored. Journalists, eager to entertain Easterners with tales of a wild west, exaggerated and romanticized the gang's heists, often casting Jesse James as a contemporary Robin Hood. While the James-Younger gang did harass railroad executives who unjustly seized private land for the railways, modern biographers note that they did so for personal gain -- the gangs humanitarian acts were more fiction than fact.Later Cole Younger would down play the actual events and stated it was a hard and unglorious life style( being hunted and living uncover for years not able to return home for fear of capture and death).

On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger gang attempted to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, killing several townspeople. The townspeople returned fire, Frank and Jesse James escaped and the wounded Younger brothers were captured by a large posse in a wooded ravine along the Watonwan river just south of La Salle, Minnesota. Cole ,Jim and Bob Younger were taken back to Northfield. Cole had eleven bullet wounds and Jim had five. Bob had a elbow and chest wounds.Two other gang members where killed during the failed robbery attempt and one other during the capture at La Salle. Cole asked why they had robbed the bank at Northfield responded "We tried a desperate game and lost. But we are rough men used to rough ways and we will abide by the consequences"

The 1980 movie " The Long Riders" depicts this era of the James-Younger gang exploits.

Cole,Jim and Bob pleaded guilty to their crimes to avoid being hung. They where sentenced to life in prison at the Minnesota State Prison at Stillwater on November 18, 1876. This would be the end of the James-Younger gang.

Frank and Jesse James fled to Nashville Tennessee. Jesse was murdered on April 3,1882 after returning to Missouri.. Frank James surrendered on October 4 ,1882 fearing his own murder.After 4 years of legal battles Frank James would be acquitted of all charges.

Bob Younger died in Stillwater prison on September 16, 1889 of tuberculosis.Cole and Jim were paroled on July 10, 1901 with the help of the prison warden.

Jim Younger, unable to cope with the death of his brother and freedom, took his own life on October 19 ,1902.

Cole wrote a book,lectured and toured the south with Frank James in a wild west show - The Cole Younger and Frank James Wild West Company in 1903.

On August 21,1912 Cole became a Christian and repented of his violent and criminal past.

Frank James died February 18, 1915. A year later,the last of the great outlaws Cole Younger died March 21, 1916 in his home town of Lee's Summit Missouri.

Submitted by : William Mark Younger

Source -The Outlaw Youngers "A Confederate Brotherhood" A Biography By Marley Brant@1992