Photo Investigation; Cantey Collection, The James Gang in Tipton Missouri; By Gene Stevens

 

                                             

           Photo from the Gunfighters by Lea F. McCarty

The following is information was compiled by the author and gives some information about a photo from the Cantey Meyers Collection, (photos permission of Emory Cantey) though not exact, the investigation points to evidence to suggest that Jesse James and company might have been in the area of Tipton Missouri when the photo was taken.

Rocky Cut Robbery

On the evening of July 7, 1876, eight members of the gang captured the night guard at Rocky Cut and used his lantern to flag down a train. Once stopped, the gang boarded the train, robbed both safes, then disappeared into the night. Not far from there, the gang stopped to split up the money before riding off in separate directions. Today, that location is marked by a stone in a roadside park just east of Otterville Missouri James Gang Railroad Robbery - Otterville, MO - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

Ref TRAIN ROBBERIES | Cooper County Historical Society

                              

Tipton Missouri is 14 miles from Otterville Missouri. Could the photo below have been taken before or after the Rocky Cut Robbery? It's worth noting that the men in the mystery photo, are clothed only in their vests and shirts. A good Indication that the temperature was quite warm on the day that this photo was taken.                                                                                                                                                    

This "controversial image" is from the Cantey Meyers collection and is purported to be of Frank James, Tom Sparks, Bob Younger, Cole Younger and Jesse W. James at the Tipton Train Depot during the 1870's. A basic search of the internet revealed some possible photos of the depot. But further investigation is needed.                                                                                                                                                          

                       Said to be (Left to right) Frank James, Tom Sparks, Bob Younger, 

                            Cole Younger and Jesse James Photo said to be from 

                                     the Grand Daughter of Tom Sparks

THE ROCKY CUT TRAIN ROBBERY.

"Seven months elapsed after the Muncie robbery before the desperate brigands, under the leadership of Jesse James, made another attempt to increase

[Pg 88]

 their ill-gotten gains. But in the meantime the band of highwaymen was increasing and organizing for another bold stroke. Many outlaws who had found safety in the Indian Nation were anxious to attach themselves to the James and Younger brothers, but very few were received. The noted bandits were excellent judges of human nature, and they were exceedingly careful not to repose confidence in any one who did not possess indisputable evidence of cunning and bravery; men who, in the event of capture, would not betray their comrades at any sacrifice. In July, 1876, arrangements were completed for rifling another treasure-laden train and the Missouri Pacific Railroad was chosen as the line for their operations.

About one mile east of Otterville, a small station in Pittis county, is a place called Rocky Cut, which is a deep stone cleft, from which the train emerges only to strike the bridge across Otter creek. On the

[Pg 89]

 south side of the cut is a heavy wood, and in this the robbers concealed themselves to await the train which was not due there until nearly midnight. A watchman was stationed at the bridge, whom Charlie Pitts and Bob Younger arrested and, after taking his signal lantern and placing it in the track at the bridge approach, they securely tied the helpless fellow and then joined the main party. Hobbs Kerry and Bill Chadwell were detailed to watch the horses and keep them prepared for sudden flight.

As the train came dashing through the cut the engineer saw the danger signal and at once concluded something was wrong with the bridge, and he lost no time in having the brakes set and the engine reversed. The train came to a stop directly in the cut, and as it slowed up seven of the dare-devils leaped upon the cars and with one at each door, the robbers had no trouble in so intimidating the passengers as to prevent attack. Jesse James, the boldest of the bold, was the first to enter the express car, followed by Cole Younger. At the mouth of two heavy navy pistols the messenger was forced to open the safe, which contained fifteen thousand dollars in bank notes. This money was hastily thrown into a sack, and the shrill whistle was given by Jesse, which was the signal for the bandits to leave the train and mount. No effort was made to rob or harm any of the passengers, the single purpose of the bandits, agreed upon before the attack, was to secure only the valuables of the express.

[Pg 90]

When the train reached Tipton, report of the robbery was telegraphed to every station along the line, and also to St. Louis and Kansas City, and from these points all over the country."

-From The Border Bandits by J.W. Buel

Thursday, October 1, 1885

"The Clarksburg (Ohio) Sun has published a long statement to the effect that Jesse James had been seen in that city by parties who were personally acquainted with him during the war. They claim that the corpse buried on the Samuels’ farm was not Jesse James, but that the Fords were induced to kill a substitute. The whole affair reads like fiction, and the average Missourian will be loathe to believe that the outlaw, Jesse James, has not been in his grave the past three years. The fact that these old friends, who recognized him, did not have the courage to step up and speak to him, is evident proof that their reputed recognition was deceptive and that the job put up on the reporter was a signal success."

-Compiled by Becky Holloway "A Glance at The Past"

From the James Birthplace Museum

In late April 1884 Tipton, Missouri gave a “grand demonstration & rousing reception” to Frank James, his wife & son, who arrived by train accompanied by Sheriff Rogers of Cooper County, MO. A Tipton Times reporter noted that Frank, although “very weary from long travel was very kind & polite, answering questions with an obliging courtesy.” The family & sheriff then checked in at The Tipton House for an overnight stay.

-Jesse James Birthplace Museum

                            

                                               

                               

For a town which had been surveyed only a few months earlier, Tipton, Missouri, began life with a creditable little bang on October 9, 1858. That was the day the first Overland Mail stage arrived, twenty-three days and four hours out of San Francisco—a day that marked the beginning of regular mail service across the continent. Tipton was 160 miles west of St. Louis at the end of the Pacific Railroad, and from this tiny dot on the map, mail and passengers from the West were put aboard the trains to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and New York, completing a transcontinental journey in approximately four weeks. What had once been a fantastic dream was now a reality, and the occasion did not go unnoticed in the press -https://www.americanheritage.com/great-days-overland-stage

The first train arrived in Tipton on July 26, 1858. By September, Tipton was the western terminus of the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage to San Francisco. Population quickly grew and Tipton became the site for hotels, livery stables, grocery stores, dry goods stores, a restaurant and saloons. - https://tiptonmo.org/history/

An aerial photo of Tipton Missouri    

Railroad history fans celebrate this month about not only Missouri but the small town of Tipton and their role in our national intercontinental railroad system.

On this date, July 26th: “......1858 the Pacific Railroad was completed at Tipton, Missouri.” What does the Pacific Railroad have to do with Missouri? Everything, because these were the last 160 miles of the Pacific Railroad coming from St. Louis making Tipton the “end of the line" in western Missouri. Tipton had also emerged as the eastern terminus of the Overland U.S. mail by stagecoach from San Francisco. For a time, both mail and passengers transferred from stagecoach to the Pacific Railroad at Tipton for the run to St. Louis by rail. The Pacific Railroad was the former company that became the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Ground was broken in 1851 and the first section of track, the first five miles, completed in 1852. But St. Louis investors began completing their vision of not only the first railroad west of the Mississippi, but also one that would extend all the way to the Pacic Ocean. The company was reorganized by 1872 as the Missouri Pacific Railroad, also known as the MoPac.

The legacies that the MoPac has left in national shipping is extensive. These include being rail for the Amtrak passenger route between Kansas City and St. Louis. Notable investors and engineers are important namesakes. John O’Fallon was an investor in the 1850 partnership, and is the namesake for both O’Fallon, Illinois and O’Fallon, Missouri. In addition, James P. Kirkwood, was a renowned engineer for the MoPac and is the namesake for Kirkwood, Missouri.

-Missouri State Museum

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Photo courtesy of HMdb.org 

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