The James Younger Gang: The Early Years

For many of the guerilla fighters, the Civil War didn’t end at Appomattox. Some, like the James and Younger brothers used the skills learned in the war to continue their war against the hated Yankees. They felt justified in their actions because harsh Reconstruction policies and carpetbagging politicians continued to beat down the defeated Southerners.

The Drake Constitution, imposed upon Missourians declared those who hadn’t signed the Loyalty Oath couldn’t teach, preach, own property or hold public office. So imposing was the law that a Union officer who’d refused to sign the oath was also jailed. To those Missourians who’d fought for the Confederacy, the future seemed bleak indeed. It’s not surprising that some turned to outlawry and were cheered and supported by those citizens who felt the punishment imposed on them by their conquerors was too severe.

The Younger brothers present a classic example of how the war destroyed families. If any family could be called “Rebels with a Cause,” it would be them. Prior to the hostilities they were a prosperous family owning and operating several farms in western Missouri. Their father, a Unionist, was a highly respected judge. He was ambushed and murdered. Their mother, Bersheba, was forced out of her home and it was burned during the winter. She withered and died in 1870, another casualty of the war and its aftermath. Union officers allegedly assaulted two of their sisters and another died in 1865 as a result of trauma from the war. Pinkerton agents killed John Younger. Their farms were destroyed, burned and looted. The authorities continually harassed them. The Younger brothers would strike back in the only way they knew.

Frank and Jesse could register similar reasons to seek revenge. Their stepfather had his neck stretched in a hangman’s noose by Union soldiers. Their eight-year-old half-brother Archie had been killed and their mother’s right arm had to be amputated after Pinkerton agents sneaked up on their farm house in the middle of the night threw a bomb through a window.

It’s not surprising that Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger, along with Frank and Jesse James felt justified in venting their anger on the establishment that had come to rule in post-Civil War Missouri. In doing so they formed the nucleus of America’s most famous outlaw gang.