"We’ve Just Been Down To The Bank…"

Under Quantrill and Anderson, Frank and Jesse learned that even a small band of fighters could score major victories with tactics including advance intelligence work, careful planning, swift and violent strikes, and strategic retreats to pre-arranged hiding places. When the war ended, they would apply these same effective tactics to their new careers – armed robbery.

Before hitting a bank, the James brothers or members of their gang would first case the bank, learning what they could about the men who worked there, the amount of security and the size of the potential take. Then they would strike quickly, counting on the element of surprise. It was certainly a surprise on February 13,1866 when they pulled a gun on a bank clerk at the Liberty Savings and Loan, probably the first American bank robbery ever to occur during business hours.

In that first outing and for years to come, the James brothers’ systematic approach to crime was their standard operating procedure. Before their careers were done, it’s been said that they held up twelve banks, seven trains, and five stages in eleven states and territories, for a total haul of approximately half a million dollars.

One key to their success was Frank and Jesse’s ability to win public support. The banks they held up were, after all, the same banks that foreclosed on farms and denied loans; the railroads were run by wealthy "fat cats." Legend had it that Frank and Jesse were simply modern-day Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. In fact, these stories did not paint a true picture of the situation.

Nevertheless, law officers on the trail of Frank and Jesse often received little or no cooperation from Missouri residents who felt the boys were in the right. If nothing else, their sense of bravado endeared them to many. Whether fact or fiction, the stories show the flare and showmanship of the gang. It’s been said that they robbed a bank in Iowa while most of the townspeople were gathered for a political speech. On their way out of town, Jesse rode up and interrupted the speech, announcing, "We’ve just been down to the bank and taken every dollar in the till."

On September 7, 1876, the James Gang joined with the Youngers and found themselves in a town that had no sympathy for them. Attempting to rob Northfield, Minnesota’s First National Bank, they quickly found themselves in a battle with angry residents. Two members of the gang were killed, and another four were tracked down within days. Only Frank and Jesse escaped, but their glory days were now behind them.

In 1882, Jesse was living under the name J.D. Howard when he was shot and killed by Bob Ford, a young recruit to his gang looking to collect on a $5,000 reward. As Jesse stood on a chair to adjust a picture on the wall, Ford shot him in the back of the head, adding Ford’s name to history. You probably remember that in the "Ballad of Jesse James," he was immortalized as "that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard."

Frank lived on to the age of seventy-two, having been tried and acquitted three times in two states. By all accounts he ended his days as a law-abiding citizen. As a final twist to the legend of Jesse James, rumors persisted for years that Ford had shot the wrong man, and that Jesse was in fact enjoying a ripe old age somewhere under a new name.