Northfield Bank Robbery Most Daring Work of James-Younger Gang In Southern Minnesota

              ^ Northfield Bank Robbery Most Daring Work of James-Younger Gang in Southern Minnesota l
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(This is the second of a aeries of ar-
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men and ilieir fine horses.    Two of them
went   across   the   Minnesota   river   to   a well-known crooks' resort,  over Sunday
tides   recountingr   the   activities   of   the
James-Young-er   gangr   In   South   Dakota         ^        .
und Southern Minnesota, written by Mr. j On Monday, September 4, they all met - TorBtvlT2\ year.s^uTo"james-i'iu..^.. near'tf.,;''5^nk, they Baw"a gFoup of cltl-lal outlaws   committed   their  crimes   In   re-.
glons well known to them: Missouri, Ar¬ kansas, Texas, Kentucky and a section of Iowa, The robbing of banks and the holding up of railway trains were their specialty. While bank and train robbers are still with us, and ever will be, there are few of these, if any, who have dis¬ played as much cruelty and cunning as, found among the members of the James- Vounger gang.
The mother of the James boys, true to
her    wild    Instincts,    always    Mood    by
them,  and  gave   them  shelter  whenever
she could do so safely.    The thick woods
: oar her home  In  Missouri  became  the
rticJal   rendezvous   of   the   robbers,   and
o place where consultations were held
id   plans   made   for   further   raids.     It
as there that the "Invasion" of Mlnne-
la as a green pasture for renewed ef-
i;ts along tho line of robbery and gen-
al plunder, wa*»flnally agreed upon by
0 bang.    Colo  Younger  was  in  favor r going to Canada, but the James pref-
ence for the North Star State won the
y.
About   August   lo,   1876,   the   outlaws inp near the Samuels home was broken, ifl   the   long  ride  to   Minnesota began. •. Dacus says that when the Minnesota vasiou had been decided, the men trav- lod   in   three   bands,   Jesse   and   Frank anies   being   together   as   usual,   while Mob    Younger    went    with    Pitts,    and James    Younjjer   had   Clell    Miller   for companion.    There is also a story to the effect that the gang met and crossed the Missouri opposite Yankton.    H. N. Coop¬ er,   of  Canton,   who   has   been   of   great assistance in  furnishing data for these articles  w-rites  under  the  date  of Feb¬ ruary 22,  1924:
"We also had another citizen, B. M. Bottallson, who helped to ferry the James brothers and their gang, across the Missouri river at Yankton, at the time they were coming north to make tho famous raid at Northfield. I have talked with him about^^, and he sa3's it was a cold, windy, stormy day, and tlie crew who were managing the boat hesitated, and at first refused to venture across the river on account of the wea¬ ther, b'ut the bandits demanded action, -o they proceeded across the river, and ade   the   landing   on   the   Dakota   side
1 safe and sound."
In  such a case,   the  gang must have ivelled on the Iowa side  most of the
(lay, till they reached Minnesota, as they seemed to be entirely lost when they were   in   Rock,   Minnehaha  and   Lincoln
imties, after the Northtield raid, even the Jowa line, at Belolt, and kept on
king for  directions,  as  will be  stated er.
MaaJtato First Objscti^e
Mankato, the official seat of Blue .arth county, on the Minnesota river, was the first town the gang intended to •nb. About September 1, 1876, the out¬ laws were in that city. The band was then compo.sed of the following: Jesse and Frank James; Thomas C.—("Cole") —James and Robert Younger: Clel Mil¬ ler, William Stiles, alias Chadwell, and Charles Pitts, alias Geo. Wells. All of them had taken assumed names, of course. It Is said there was a ninth man, but this was never proved. All of tho'Se men were hardened criminals to whom murder and robbery were almost a second nature. They did not travel together, but took different roads, and entered the city at different times, studying carefully the topography of the county, so. they would know how to escape on the return trip if closely pur¬ sued, whatever route they might have to follow. Stiles had been a resident of Rice county, separated from Blue Earth only by one county, LeSueur, and he was able to act as guide.    Northfield, by
I the way, is located in Rice county. On Saturday, September 2, all the out¬ laws were In Mankato; they went to a store to make some purchases, and then to the First National bank where they had a $50. bill changed. They stopped at different hotels and lodging houses so as not to attract too much attention, as some residents had  already  noticed  the
zens on the sidewalk, and some of them hc^ V,xoInfed to the horsemen. The robbers, ; thinking they had been discovered, • turned back and left Mankato In a hurry. As a matter of fact, no one In tho city had suspected them. A meeting of the Board of Trade, and repairs on a build¬ ing near the bank had attracted a num¬ ber of men there, and they had no idea ! who the strangers were. Once more the old saying was exemplified, that "the wicked flee when no man pursueth." The Northflold Bobbery and Ifftirder Having spent,, the night of Wednes¬ day, September' 6, In the vicinity of Northfield, the gang ctarted out early ; Thursday morning for that town, wear- | ing linen dusters, which were common then, and served for the purpose of con¬ cealing their weapons and ammunition. Two of them had made a previous visit to the town to see how the bank could be robbed. About two o'clock, Thurs¬ day, September 7, three of the men en¬ tered the town, dismounted near the First National bank, on Division street, the only bank in the community, and lounged around with an Indifferent air. Then two more came along, and stopped close by. When these two came, the other three men went into the bank. By that time, several of the citizens began to suspect there was something wrong. I. S. Allen, a hardware store owner, tried to follow the men Into the bank; but Miller seized him and compelled him to go bank at the point of his revolver. It. M. Wheeler, then a medical student at the University of Michigan, was close by and was one of the first to give the alarm, and later took an active part in the fight  that ensued.
In the bank were the following: A. E. Bunker, teller; Joseph Lee Heywood, bookkeeper and acting cashier, and P. J. Wilcox, bookkeeper. The cashier, G. M. Phillips, was a visitor at the Centennial Exposition In Philadelphia then. The bank was occupying temporary quar¬ ters, and an easy prey for such robbers as the James boys and their pals. The lobbers tried to make Mr. Heywood open the safe, but failed, and when he shout¬ ed, "Murder! Murder! Murder;" one of the men gave him a terrific blow on the head with a revolver, and he fell to the floor. Then they turned to Mr. Bunker and Mr. Wilcox and told them to unlock the safe. They replied they could not, wlhich was true, as it was already un- locked.but the door was closed. Threats of death had no effect on the two brave young men, and the robbers again turned to Heywood and fired at him at close range, but the bullet did not touch him; he was then partly unconscious. The robbers obtained but litle money, and seeing that the people had gathered outside, felt it was timo to leave. As they left the building, one of them shot Heywood dead. This act was denounced even by some of the gang as "a fool act." But it was perfectly in harmony with tho former deeds of the James Younger band of cutthroats. The fol lowing is taken from a letter to the writer from Mrs. F. J. Wilcox, 116, S Eighth Ave., Yakima, Washington, dated Aug. 24.  1924:
"Mr. F. J, Wilcox died Dec. 21, 1921 At the time of the James-Younger raid, September, 1876, he was a young man just out of college, and was filling th. place of an absent member in the bank, but later he took the place of Mr. Hey¬ wood who was killed by the raiders, and this place he held for 33 years, until 1909. . . . Mr. Wilcox was held In a cor¬ ner on his knees with a revolver at his head."
Mr. Bunker, later on, was for several years auditor and general manager of the Western Newspaper Union, with headquarters at Chicago. In the official organ of that organization, dated Oc¬ tober 17, 1876, and In subsequent issues he published an account of the North field tragedy, in which he says:
"When James and Pitts released Hey¬ wood, the latter got on his feet and was supporting himself by leaning on a ta¬ ble In the middle of the room, when James   climbed   upon   the   desk   between
^r-»  aesK  and  teller's  window and turning, reached back as near Hey¬ wood  as possible,  and  deliberately shot I  down into his head, killing him.    There was   no   provocation   whatever   for   the act, as he was offering no resistance, and could   not  have  defenled  himself,  after j the cruel treatment he  had already re- I celved   at   the   hands   of   the   assasslna 1 I'oiled in their undertaking,  and with a i fiendish   passion   rsLging   in   his   heart ¦ James  murdered poor  Heywood In cold blood. After committing this deed, James leaped over the high railing to the floor and joined his companion.s.    Wilcox was threatened  many times,  but on  account of his location, or because he kept quiet was not injured." ^u^ei,
Mr. Bunker now live.^ at 3808 Ine-a ham street, Los Angeles Cal ' j The only two surviving witne.sses who took an active part in the affair—wrltP« Mr. Bunker under date of Sept 'l7 iaoq. are Dr. H. M. Wheeler, now of Gr^^ .^orks,  N.  v., and himself. ^'T^