James-Younger Gang (in brief) 1866-1882

 

 

 

They robbed twelve banks, five trains, five stagecoaches and an exposition ticket booth.

 The James brothers Jesse and Frank teamed up with the Younger brothers: Cole, Jim, John and Bob. Potentially they did the first daylight armed robbery in US history . They robbed every two months on average, they were aided in hiding by sympathisers and they used maps and compasses to avoid main roads.

 In 1874 after a railroad company had experienced heavy financial losses due to the gang they decided to hire the "Pinkerton Detective Agency" made famous through the Sherlock Holmes story "The Sign of Four." The Pinkerton Detective Agency sent Joseph Whicher at first to pursue Jesse James, but Whicher was found dead the day after he had left. Pinkerton then sent an entire gang of his top detectives after him, but they only ended up killing his brother and wounding his mother when an incendiary device failed to go off properly. Pinkerton then withdrew.

 The Younger brothers were arrested in 1876 whilst attempting to rob a bank. The James brothers escaped. They hid for three years then came back as the James Gang, fellow gang member Robert Ford then betrayed Jesse and shot him in the back inside Jame's house in St. Joseph, Missouri. He collected a bounty for the murder. 

 People travelled from far and wide to see a glimpse of the infamous Jesse James's dead body which morbidly went on tour around the USA.