On September 27, 1864, Bloody Bill Anderson and about 80 men took over the small railroad village of Centralia, looting stores and discovering a...
The Battle of Centralia
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Jesse James
Shooting Back
Killer Kids Oh, the troubled faces of these killer kids on the cover of the current issue of True West reflect the horror and madness of war. You...
Listen to Your Elders
A James-Younger Gang holdup has a weird ending. August 30, 1874. Frank and Jesse James and one of the Youngers rob a stage outside North Lexington,...
Killer Kids of the Civil War
Close to a half million boys under the age of 18 were involved in both the Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. Some historians...
The Man Who Killed the Man Who Killed Jesse James
Ed O’Kelley blows away Bob Ford. June 8, 1892. Ed O'Kelley blasts Robert Ford into eternity in Ford's tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. O'Kelley...
The Making of a Legend
Why did Jesse James become so famous? Why was Jesse James one of the most famous outlaws of the Old West? Well, for starters, he had a great name,...
Northfield, Minnesota
The James-Younger gang met its match in a frontier bank. At the centennial of the nation’s founding, Northfield, Minnesota, was a bucolic river town...
The Death of a Legend
They laid poor Jesse James in his grave. April 3, 1882. Outlaw Jesse James is gunned down in a rented home in St. Joseph, Missouri. The culprit? ...
An Act of Terror
Pinkertons bomb the home of the James boys. January 25-26, 1875. Pinkerton agents attack a farmhouse outside Kearney, Missouri. It is owned by the...
A Pinkerton Plan Blows Up
Detectives bomb the James farm and have a p.r. nightmare. January 25-26, 1875. Pinkerton agents attack a farmhouse outside Kearney, Missouri. It is...
An Outlaw Give-Back
A woman shames members of the James-Younger Gang. August 30, 1874. Frank and Jesse James and one of the Youngers rob a stage outside North...
Blood Money, Time Zones and Old West Jails
Did the Ford Brothers ever get the reward money on Jesse James? Joe Manriquez (Whittier, California) Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden raised...