Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1876 — The Escape of the James Brothers from Minnesota. [ARTICLE]

The Escape of the James Brothers from Minnesota.

From a gentleman direct from Minnesota, and who lives right jn the neighborhood of where the Youngers were captured, we yesterday obtained some interesting incidents connected with the escape of the James brothers,'never before published. , He states that if the robbers had had a good knowledge of the country, there is no d«ubt but what they all would have made their escape as easy as they ever did after one of their transactions in Missouri. After tbe gang got into a thicket they pushed ahead until they found themselves upon a peninsula entirely surrounded by lakes and marshes, from which there was no escape except by a narrow neck connecting with the mainland. This neck was guarded by the pursuers, and, consequently, they were hemmed in the trap into which they had unwittingly walked. While In the thicket, composed of sumac and prickly ash, where it was impossible see a man ten feet, the James boys left the Youngers and proceeded to strike out on their own hook. They followed up a small creek or branch for a considerable distance, and finally tracing it to its head, came out upon the prairie in the direction of Garden City. Here they were in a quandary. To prpceed was dangerous; to turn back was doubly so, for they knew they had escaped the thicket just in time to prevent being surrounded.

There was but one course to pursue, and that was forward. And forward they went. Straight to Garden City, and straight through the town while It was wild with excitement. With a defiant, easy nonchalance they boldly passed by the armpd groups who were preparing to take the field, who little dreamed that the dreaded objects of their search—the famous Missouri bandit chiefs —were right at their elbows and listening to their conversation and plans. With indomitable nerve and iron will Frank James concealed the lameness occasioned by the ball in his leg, and strode along with all the elasticity of the step of a youth. Fortune, 'it is said, favors the braye, and this very boldness was their safeguard. *lhe people who thronged the streets and sidewalks did not dream that any of the band dared to approach a country road, much less passthrough the heart of their town. Consequently no attention was paid to the two stalwart men, who wound their way amid them and safely gained the outskirts of the village. Here they drew a long breath of relief, and congratulated each other on their good fortune. Although the whole coun-

try was alive, and armed parties guarded every road, thqy yere out on the broad prairie where they could see for miles,- and not in a treacherous thicket where they could be surrounded and shot down like dogs. The next step was to procure horses, and once well mounted, armed as they were, they could bid defiance to the hosts who were on their trail w ith the keen scent of sleuth-hounds. • »> Here again fortune favored them. After stopping at a farm-house and procuring dinner they proceeded on their way westward. Nearly all the farmers in that portion of the State who were not in pursuit of the robbers had their stables securely locked, and it was some time before they came to anything that looked like horseflesh. At last, just as they were about to despair, they suddenly came upon a pair of magnificent iron-grays. They were beauties and the best horses in that part of the State, having taken tbe premium at the fair the year before. They belonged to a gentleman who was off busy electioneering, little dreaming that while he was congratulating his expected constituents upon the capture of the robbers, two of their leaders were at that very moment appropriating his idolized horseflesh! As may well be imagined, the bandit brothers soon secured their prize. They coolly entered the stable, took two empty sacks and filled them with hay, strapped these on their horses in lieu of saddles, and in the next instant were at home—in the saddle!

They took to the high road and pursued their course unmolested. They frequently met parties, who, recognizing the horses, thought of course they were sent out by the owner on the same mission as themselves. When not in sight of these fiarties they struck into a long, swinging ope, which carried them over the ground at an astonishing rate of speed, and soon put them ahead of their pursuers, who by this time had discovered that the two men who had sauntered so carelessly through the throngs of Garden City were no less personages than Frank and Jesse James. Two hours after the,Jameses had left the house where they had taken dinner, a party rode up in great haste after them; and learning that two men answering their description had been there and were on foot, they sped away on their track confident of overtaken them. When they came to the place where the horses were taken, the pursuers know the speed, bottom ana endurance of the animals, which, united with the charactt r of their riders, made their bright prospects of contemplated capture very slim. The gallant grays bore their riders to safety, and the reader knows the rest. — Sedalia (Mo.) Bazoo.