In 1873 Jim, John and Bob Younger joined their brother Cole, who along with Frank and Jesse, had formed the James-Younger gang. John was described as the coldest and fastest gunman in the gang. Unlike his brothers, who generally abstained from alcohol, John also liked to drink and raise a ruckus.
The first train robbery attributed to the James-Younger gang was the Chicago Rock Island Line, near Adair,

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows