the pursuit of the glendale robbers did not cease after a week's efforts, as previously, but maj. leggitt was determined to accomplish his purpose. he resolved upon an expedient which evidences his cunning and strategy: living in kansas city, at the time of the robbery, was george shepherd, one of the most courageous men that ever faced danger. he was one of quantrell's lieutenants and fought in all the terrible and unmerciful encounters of that chief of the black banner. he was at lawrence, and rode beside the james boys in that dreadful cyclone of remorseless murder. he had run the gauntlet of a hundred rifles and fought against odds which it appeared impossible to escape. after the close of the war jesse james accepted geo. shepherd as a leader and followed him into texas, and would still be following his counsels had not circumstances separated them.
maj. leggitt evolved a scheme out of his hours of study looking towards the capture of jesse james. he sent for shepherd, who was working for jesse noland, a leading dry goods merchant of kansas city, and to the ex-guerrilla he proposed his scheme. it was this: shepherd, being known to have formerly been a comrade of jesse james, it was to be reported that undoubted information had reached the [pg 101]authorities establishing shepherd's connection with the glendale robbery. a report of this was to be printed upon a slip of paper having printed matter upon the reverse side, so as to appear like a newspaper clipping. shepherd was to take this printed slip, find jesse james and propose to join him, saying that he was being hounded by detectives, and, although innocent, he felt that his only safety was in uniting his fortunes with jesse and his fearless band. this being accomplished, shepherd was to find an opportunity for killing jesse james, and the reward for him, dead or alive, was to be divided. in addition to this, shepherd was to be provided with a horse and to receive $50 per month during the time of his service.
the conditions and terms were satisfactory to shepherd, and in the latter part of october, about two weeks after the glendale robbery, he started out in quest of jesse james.
the plan of shepherd's operations and the manner in which he accomplished his hazardous undertaking is herewith detailed just as he related the story to the writer, and other corroborative testimony establishes its truth:
when shepherd left kansas city he was mounted upon a sorrel horse and his weapons consisted of a thirty-two calibre single-barrel pistol and a small pocket-knife. he rode directly to the samuels residence, which he reached at dusk, and tied his horse[pg 102] in a thicket about two hundred yards from the house. he found mrs. samuels and the doctor at home just preparing to sit down to supper. the story that any enmity existed on the part of jesse james against shepherd is untrue; reports of this kind may have been circulated but there was not a semblance of truth in them. shepherd was warmly received by mrs. samuels and her husband, and at their invitation he took supper with them. while they were eating, shepherd explained that his life and liberty were in great jeopardy and that owing to reports, false as they were, of his connection with the glendale robbery, he had been forced to flee, and for mutual protection he wished to join jesse james and his confederates; thereupon shepherd produced the apparently newspaper clipping already referred to, which dr. and mrs. samuels both read. after finishing supper dr. samuels told shepherd to ride to a certain point in the main highway where he would meet jesse and some of his associates. the dr. went out into the woods where he knew the bandits were concealed, while shepherd mounted his horse and rode to the spot indicated, where, after waiting for less than five minutes, he was met by jesse james, jim cummings, ed. miller and another party whom shepherd did not know. shepherd repeated his story to jesse james and showed him the clipping, after which he was immediately received into the full confidence of jesse and the band. why[pg 103] should jesse have entertained suspicions? shepherd had been his intimate comrade for many years; the two had ridden and fought together in a hundred terrible conflicts, and were associated together in the kentucky bank robbery. shepherd was the very man of all others whom jesse wanted for a companion in his daring deeds and it was unnatural, under the circumstances, for any of the bandits to doubt shepherd's story.
the party remained all night at the samuels residence and on the following day they proceeded to a spot in jackson county called "six mile," which is eighteen miles from kansas city, and spent the day at benjamin marr's. it was here a plan was laid for robbing the bank at empire city, in jasper county. after the scheme was fully understood shepherd told jesse that it would be necessary for him to procure a better horse and some effective weapons, which he could do at a friend's near kansas city. jesse urged shepherd then to return at night to the friend's place, get a good horse and at least two heavy pistols and meet the party at six mile on the third night following.
shepherd then rode back to kansas city and imparted the information of his meeting and arrangements with jesse james to maj. leggitt, who provided shepherd with a splendid horse and three large-sized smith & wesson pistols. but in order to prevent any possibility of deception, maj. leggitt[pg 104] took shepherd to independence and placed him in jail, and then sent three trusted men to six mile for the purpose of ascertaining if jesse james and his party were really rendezvoused at that point. maj. leggitt soon learned that shepherd had reported nothing but facts and he was then sent out, splendidly armed and mounted, for the meeting place. shepherd did not reach the trysting spot until the morning after the time agreed upon, and he found jesse and his followers gone, but the party at whose house the meeting was to occur—benj. marr's—gave shepherd the following letter, which is herewith copied verbatim.
friend georg.
i cant wate for you hear, i want you to meet me on rogs iland, and we will talk about that business we spok of. i would wate for you but the boys wants to leave hear, dont fale to come and if we dont by them cattle i will come back with you. come to the plase whear we meet going south that time and stay in that naborhood untill i find you.
your friend.
j—— ——
thus instructed shepherd started for rogue's island, but met jesse james at the head of grand river. this fact furnishes one of the proofs of jesse's anxiety to have shepherd as a comrade, for he was so anxious lest shepherd would not meet them, or fail to get the letter he left with marr, that he returned to find him. jesse and shepherd returned to[pg 105] the camp, where they found cummings, miller and the unknown, and then the party rode directly for empire city, the vicinity of which they reached about noon on saturday, november 1, 1879. they went into camp on short creek, eight miles south of empire city, and at four o'clock in the afternoon it was agreed that shepherd should ride into the town and learn what he could respecting the surroundings and location of the bank. it was after dark when shepherd reached the place, and, pursuing his story, he was astonished at finding the bank lighted up and a close inspection revealed to him a dozen men inside the bank armed with double-barreled shot-guns. shepherd stated to the writer that maj. leggitt must have notified the bank officers of the intended raid, by telegraph, but maj. leggitt denies having done so, and says that shepherd must have told some person who communicated with the bank. anyhow the arrangement was that maj. leggitt was to be in empire city with a good force of assistants and was to be aided by shepherd in capturing the outlaws when the attack on the bank should be made. circumstances prevented maj. leggitt from appearing in empire city at the time agreed upon, but he sent word to the town authorities.
finding everything in readiness to meet the intended attack, shepherd went into a restaurant and while eating his supper, tom cleary, an old acquaintance, came in and greeted him. after supper the[pg 106] two went to cleary's house and remained all night, and shepherd told his friend the part he was acting in the effort to capture jesse james. ed. cleary, a brother of tom's, was also informed of the scheme and shepherd asked their assistance, or to at least follow him the next morning to the camp of the bandits. the understanding was at the time shepherd left the outlaws that he should return to the camp by nine o'clock sunday morning and, if his report was favorable, the raid on the bank would be made sunday night.
shepherd kept the appointment and returned to the place where the bandits had encamped, but found the camp deserted. he thought this strange, but soon found the old sign of a "turn-out" had been made to let him know where they were. it is well known that the james boys and their comrades frequently separate. they have a sign, however, by which it is not difficult for them to find one another. this sign is the crossing of two twigs along the highway, which indicates that one or more of the parties, according to the number of twigs, has turned out of the highway at that point. shepherd saw the twigs and after riding about half a mile in the direction the branches lay he found the party, all of whom were slightly intoxicated. he knew they had no whiskey with them when he left on saturday afternoon, and at once concluded they had been in town. cummings was the first to speak. said he:[pg 107] "the bank is guarded; how is this?" shepherd responded: "yes, and i think the best thing for us to do is to separate and get out of this."
shooting of jesse james
cummings had ridden into galena on saturday-night, where he had purchased some whiskey and there heard rumors of the intended bank raid.
the party agreed with shepherd that it would be wise for them to get out of that section, and they mounted their horses and divided, riding southward. ed. miller's position was one hundred yards to the right while cummings and the unknown rode at the same distance to the left of the center which was taken by jesse james and shepherd. the woods were open enough for all parties to remain in sight of each other.
when they reached a point twelve miles south of galena, all parties maintaining their respective positions, shepherd gave a smart jerk to the bridle rein which caused his horse to stop while jesse rode on. it was the work of an instant, for as jesse's horse gained two steps forward shepherd drew one of his large pistols and without speaking a word fired, the ball taking effect in jesse's head one inch behind the left ear. only the one shot was fired, for shepherd saw the result of the shot, and jesse plunged headlong from his horse and lay motionless on the ground as if death had been instantaneous. shepherd says he viewed the body for nearly one minute before either of the other outlaws made any demonstration.[pg 108] ed. miller first started toward him in a walking pace, and then cummings, and the unknown drew their pistols and rode swiftly after him. shepherd's horse was swift and he put him to the greatest speed, soon distancing the unknown, but cummings was mounted on a superior animal and the chase for three miles was a hot one. each of the two kept firing, but the rapid rate at which they were riding made the shots ineffectual. seeing that he was pursued only by cummings who was gaining on him, shepherd stopped and wheeled his horse and at that moment a bullet struck him in the left leg just below the knee, producing, however, only a flesh wound. as cummings dashed up shepherd took deliberate aim and fired, and cummings reeled in the saddle, turned his horse and retreated. shepherd says he feels confident that he struck cummings hard in the side, and that he killed jesse james. he rode back to galena where he remained two weeks under a surgeon's care, and after recovery returned to kansas city.
that shepherd told the truth there is no room for doubt, and he had the best reasons for believing that he had killed jesse james; but two parties, at least, whose word is reliable affirm that they have seen jesse james since the shooting and that cummings has also been met by them, who stated that shepherd did shoot jesse, and that the bullet did strike him just behind the left ear, but instead of [pg 109]penetrating the brain it had coursed around the skull partially paralyzing the brain and spine. cummings further stated that while jesse james was still living his career as a bandit was ended forever by the bullet from shepherd's pistol. in other words, jesse's mind has been totally destroyed. how much truth there is in this report is left for conjecture. mrs. samuels says she believes that jesse is dead, and a meeting which she had with shepherd since the shooting was such as caused those who witnessed it, to believe the woman was earnest in that opinion.
