Signed "Jesse James" By G.C. Stevens

   

The Nebraska photo: Signed "Jesse James" From the author collection

On December 7, 1869, Frank and Jesse James robbed the bank in Gallatin, Missouri. The target was the Daviess County Savings Association, a modest one‑story bank on the southwest corner of the town’s business square. The robbery began shortly after twelve noon in dense winter fog, which enveloped the small town of about 1,000 people Inside the bank were the cashier, Capt. John W. Sheets, and a lawyer, William McDowell. One of the robbers, possibly Jesse—asked to have a $100 bill changed. As the cashier wrote a receipt, the robber drew his revolver and fired two shots: one into the cashier’s chest and another into his forehead, McDowell, fleeing through the doorway, was shot. Jesse James grabbed a portfolio of bank paper and escaped outside. He and Frank rode away, pursued by a posse, but they escaped. Taken the transcripts the Liberty Tribune newspaper dated: June 24th, 1870, tells the harrowing tale of what occurred that day and about a letter written by Jesse James. 

G.C. Stevens 

Monument in front of the Court house that tells the story of the Trial of Frank James on the charges stemming from both the Gallatin bank robbery ang the train robbery in Winston Missoui on July 15th 1881 Photo by the author

The Gallatin courthouse photo by the author

The train depot at Winston Missouri photo by the author 

   

From the Kansas City Times.

More of the Shooting at Gallatin.

A LETTER FROM JESSE W. JAMES.

It will be remembered that on the 7th of December, 1869, the cashier of a bank at Gallatin, Missouri, was shot and instantly killed by some unknown parties. This cashier was named J. W. Sheets, and he was well known throughout that portion of Missouri. A horse belonging to the men who did the shooting, was captured in the town, and this horse was identified as one that had belonged to the two James' brothers, of Clay county—Jesse and Frank. Straightway it was declared that these two young men done the killing, and a great hue and cry were raised against them. The citizens of Gallatin offered a large reward for their apprehension; the Governor of Missouri added an additional sum to this one, and militia were ordered to be made ready to hunt down the brothers.

They were come upon at their home in Clay county, by a squad of men headed by the Sheriff and his deputy. A fight ensued, the Sheriff's horse was killed, the two James brothers escaped untouched, and from that day to this they have not been heard from.

Yesterday, however, we received the following letter from Jesse W. James, the eldest brother. It had neither postoffice mark nor was it dated upon any day, but had evidently been enclosed to us by some one else. It is addressed to Governor McClurg, and is as follows:

June, 1870. Governor McClurg: DEAR SIR: I and my brother Frank are charged with the crime of killing the cashier and robbing the bank at Gallatin, Mo., Dec. 7th, 1869. I can prove, by some of the best men in Missouri, where I was the day of the robbery and the day previous to it, but I well know if I was to submit to an arrest, that I would be mobbed and hanged without a trial. The past is sufficient to show that bushwhackers have been arrested in Missouri since the war, charged with bank robbery, and they most all have been mobbed without trials. I will cite you to the case of Thomas Little, of Lafayette county, Mo. A few days after the bank was robbed at Richmond, in 1867, Mr. Little was arrested in St. Louis, charged with being one of the party who perpetrated the deed. He was sent from St. Louis to Warrensburg under a heavy guard. As soon as the parties arrived there, they found out that he (Mr. Little) could prove, by the citizens of Dover, that he was innocent of the charge—as soon as these scoundrels found out that he was innocent—a mob was raised, broke in the jail, took him out and hanged him.

Governor, when I think I can get a fair trial, I will surrender myself to the civil authorities of Missouri. But I never will surrender to be mobbed by a set of blood-thirsty poltroons. It is true that during the war I was a Confederate soldier, and fought under the black flag, but since then I have lived a peaceable citizen, and obeyed the laws of the United States to the best of my knowledge. The authorities of Gallatin say the reason that led them to suspect me, was that the mare left at Gallatin, by the robbers, was identified as belonging to me. That is false. I can prove that I sold the mare previous to the robbery. It is true that I fought Deputy Sheriff Thomason, of Clay county, but was not my brother with me when we had the fight. I do not think that I violated the law when I fought Thomason as his posse refused to tell me who they were.

Three different statements have been published in reference to the fight that I had with Thomason, but they are all a pack of falsehoods. Deputy Sheriff Thomason has never yet given any report of the fight, that I have seen. I am personally acquainted with Oscar Thomason, the Deputy's son, but when the shooting began, his face was so muffled up with furs that I did not recognize him. But if I did violate the law when I fought Thomason I am perfectly willing to abide by it.

But as to them mobbing me for a crime that I am innocent of, that is played out. As soon as I think I can get a Just trial I will surrender myself to the civil authorities of Missouri, and prove to the world that I am innocent of the crime charged against me.

Respectfully, JESSE W. JAMES.

Copyright (c) 2026 

The full article

refs

daviesscountyhistoricalsociety.com+1.

PBS

Hunting For Jesse James, With a Metal Detector By G.C. Stevens

 

On May 09th, 2026, a group of metal detector enthusiasts converged on the site of the Jesse James 1873 train robbery in Adair Iowa. The train robbery site which is located along the famed "white Pole Road" is a very significant historic location because it marks the spot of the first train robbery in the American west, an event that would send shockwaves across the nation. This robbery also solidified the reputation of Jesse James as a controversial post-civil war figure, and feared outlaw whose escapades would lead to many large scale man-hunts to try to arrest the outlaw and his gang. The location is also important to railroad history because the Rock Island and Pacific railroad line that ran through here would pave the way west and the rails would contribute to the growth of small towns along the tracks leading to Omaha Nebraska. 

 The event was coordinated by historian, author and blogger Gene Stevens. The objective was to locate and recover any possible artifacts at the site to be given to local museums. Approximately thirty people from the Iowa Metal Detecting Group attended the event and assisted with the expedition. Many items were recovered that revealed the rich railroading history of Iowa in this region. Of particular interest was the presence of narrow gage railroad track and smaller railroad spikes which indicated the presence of a possible connected narrow gauge rail operation or spur in this location. 

Many thanks to all the great people who came out to help! Photo courtesy of Sandy Riley, Adair News.

NEWS ARTICLES,

CRESTON IOWA NEWS ARTICLE ARTIFACTS FOUND

Narrow Gauge Rail Service in Iowa

The Rock Island logo was in the shape of a beaver pelt!

Photo courtesy of wikimedia

                             Frank James and Jesse James photos from the authors collection

                                      Flyer courtesy of the Adair County Conversation Board

 Flyer courtesy of the Adair County Conservation Board

Part of the initial of items included the expected roadway and construction debris, but in the debris was found many significant railroad related items.

An American Style engine of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

Photo courtesy of Black Hawk Railway Historic Society

Railroad items recovered, railroad spikes, track bolts, track plates and one track rail anchor

Historian Gene Stevens showing a railroad track bolt that was recovered from the site.

Of particular interest was the large pin at the top of this photo. The pin is part of a "link and pin coupler" which dates between 1873 and 1900. The link and pin was the coupler of the day. Photo by the author

A close up of the pin, photo by the author

                                                       Photo from Voices of Harvey County 

"Historically, the Brakeman held the most dangerous job on the train. They had to walk atop moving cars and manually apply the brakes.  The brakeman was also in charge of coupling the cars.  He stood between the cars while holding the link in position to slide into the receiver of the car being coupled as it was pushed by an engine. The brakeman held the link in one hand an a second pin in the other while the next car is pushed into position. At exactly the right moment, he must let go of the link and insert the second pin into the pocket of the oncoming car. Early cars had no means of cushioning the impact so if the brakeman's timing was off, he could lose fingers, a hand, or even be crushed completely between the two cars. Links were kept short to reduce slack."

ref Tools from Our Collection: The Link and Pin Coupler

By Kristine Schmucker, Curator

                 READ OTHER ARTICLES ON JESSE JAMES

Members of the group spread out across the area in search of artifacts. Photo by the author

Photo by the author

                                 Another large iron casting now believed to be 

                                a part from a Caterpillar D8 tractor photo by the author

                                                             

                                           WILD WEST MERCHANDISE

                                          

           DUSTY TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST ANTHOLOGY

                         DUSTY TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST BOOKS

                                                   250 YEARS OF AMERICAN HISTORY
  

 

In Search of Jesse James in Adair Iowa: G.C. Stevens

 

Photo permission of the Adair News

I now come down to the Iowa train robbery, which occurred the 21st of July, 1873, and which filled all western Missouri with spies, detectives and armed men in search of us. The newspapers made me out the leader of the band. With me, according to the papers, were Frank James, Arthur McCoy and the two Youngers. You remember the outlines of the robbery. A rail was removed from the track resulting in an engineer killed and a general rifling of an express car thought to contain money belonging to the United States. An Iowa sheriff named Bringolf came down to Kansas City with a pocket full of requisitions. He made some magnificent promises, not a few threats, hunted everywhere except in the right place, and, as far as I'm informed, is still in Kansas City waiting for something to turn up. 

- Jesse James

- A Terrible Quintet by John Newman Edwards from Jesse James: The Best Writings on the Notorious Outlaw and His Gang by Harold Dellinger.

  

11/23/2025,

 During my recent presentation at the James Farm, in Kearny Missouri, I met a member of the Friends of The James Farm, Dennie Anderson. He told me he was from Iowa and, I later learned that he was an avid genealogist and a descendant of Jesse James. He was very interested in Jesse James connection to Iowa. So, I gave him my information, and he reached out to me via email. We decided to meet at the site of the 1873 Adair Iowa Train Robbery. I also wanted to get back to Adair to take a look around to see if I could locate the old railroad section house that was mentioned in the history. As the story goes the James Gang went to the section house (see photos below) commandeered some tools from the house to use in the train robbery.

 I met Dennie and his wife Vonda at the location and we walked the site. We did a closer examination of the remnants of the train bridge, took photos, and did some minor metal detecting, though nothing of any value was located as a result of the metal detector scan. And due to conditions only a small area was examined.  The terrain there is rough and overgrown with vegetation. So, it's a fairly difficult site to detect at. Before I went out to the site. I went online and located some satellite photos of the train robbery site on Google earth (see photo below). 

The Train Bridge

It was observed that it appeared that several sections of rail were embedded in the large pile of debris that is now on top of part of a section the old railroad bridge. Several decent photos of the rails were taken of sections of track.  And I was able to snap clear photos of the ends of the rails, which is very important, because the configuration of train rails is well documented, and can give us a fairly good time frame on when the track was manufactured. I sent the photos to Mike Wendel who is the Director of the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad Museum in Boone Iowa. They examined those pictures and returned this response:

Our track person here said the track is old, probably 1870s. Phil said that you would need to measure the height of the rail and look on its sides for printing. Very interesting photos Gene if you find yourself out there again in the future and try to see more of the sides of the rail it may help. Really appreciate you sending these. 

-Mike Wendell Museum Director

 

A monument dedicated to the famed robbery located at 

Melvin Memorial Park Adair Iowa

Photo by the author

A photo of the section house that appeared on 

the facebook page "Abandoned Iowa" posted by Andrew Haus.

The information stated that this house which once housed a

 "Jesse James Museum" had been torn town

Photo google earth. A direct look at the old bridge site

noting an unusual gouge in the terrain adjacent to bridge area

An overview of the entire site

The old railroad bridge looking east down Turkey Creek. 

Photo by the Author

Track can be seen buried in the mound of dirt and debris 

photo by the author

Pilings from the bridge. Actual age unknown

A very old an pitted section of rail or track plate photos by the author

A very clear picture of the very end of a piece of track. The photo 

is very important, and the configuration of railroad tracks 

are very documented and can determine that age 

and manufacturer of the track.

Photos by the Author

Same as above. Though its worth noting that this particular track

is very different and has a flare in the bottom of it. 

Bottom picture courtesy of 

https://drrajivdesaimd.com/2017/10/28/derailment/

Copyright 2025