after the train robbery the highwaymen separated, some going to texas and others to kentucky. in april, 1876, frank james, cole younger, tom mcdaniels, a brother of bill, and a small black-eyed fellow called jack keen, alias tom webb, confederated together for the purpose of perpetrating another bank robbery. keen had been raised in the eastern part of kentucky and was well acquainted with the mountainous regions of west virginia and his native state. it was decided to attack and plunder the bank in huntington, a town of 2,500 people, on the ohio river, in west virginia.
about the 1st of september the four bandits rode into the town under the leadership of frank james and proceeded directly to the bank, which they reached at 2 p. m. frank james and mcdaniels dismounted, leaving younger and keen standing guard on the outside. when frank and mcdaniels entered the bank they found only r. t. oney, the cashier, and a citizen who was making a deposit; these the robbers covered with their pistols and compelled the cashier to open the safe and deliver up all the money in the bank, amounting to $10,000. having secured the booty the four outlaws rode rapidly out of town, not a single person in the place having the least suspicion of what had occurred until mr. oney spread the news.
a posse of twenty-five citizens, headed by the sheriff, set out in pursuit of the bandits at three o'clock, one hour after the robbery was consummated, and followed the trail with the greatest persistency. the officers in other counties were notified by telegraph, and armed bodies of men were sent out from a dozen towns. one hundred miles south-west of huntington the robbers were sighted and in an exchange of shots mcdaniels was killed. this encouraged the pursuing party, who pressed the bandits so hard that they were forced to abandon their horses and take to the mountain fastnesses of kentucky. the pursuit continued unabated for four weeks, and at length the outlaws were driven out of kentucky and into tennessee; here keen was captured and taken back to huntington, where he made a confession and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in the penitentiary. frank james and cole younger eluded pursuit and returned to the indian territory, where they met jesse james and his band of highwaymen, and forthwith new plans were laid for another big robbery.
