AUTHOR FAVOURITES: NORTHFIELD by JOHNNY D. BOGGS

I’ve corresponded with many award-winning novelists, but none can beat the awards tally of Johnny D. Boggs, who has won seven Spur Awards. Only the late ELMER KELTON has equalled that! Johnny also has a Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He’s been called by Booklist magazine ‘among the best western writers at work today.’

He tells me NORTHFIELD is ‘probably the best novel I've written; I think I accomplished what I wanted to do.’ The subject matter is of course perhaps the most famous bank heist in American history, when the James-Younger gang, also perhaps the most famous outlaw band in U.S. history, unwisely ventured into Minnesota.

To complete a ‘most famous’ trio: JESSE WOODSON JAMES (1847-1882) is perhaps the most famous western outlaw, alongside BILLY THE KID. I’ve touched on aspects of his career in other blogs, particularly http://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/author-favourites-while-angels-dance-by.html

So in this one I thought I’d focus on COLE YOUNGER.

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger (1844 – 1916) was born in Missouri, the son of a prosperous farmer. He was the eldest brother of JIM, JOHN and BOB, who also became outlaws.

During the American Civil War savage guerilla warfare wracked Missouri. Younger's father was a Union supporter, but he was shot dead anyway by a Union soldier. After that, Cole Younger sought revenge as a pro-Confederate guerrilla or ‘bushwhacker’ under WILLIAM CLARKE QUANTRILL. Younger rode with Quantrill on the raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, during which about 200 citizens were killed and the town looted and burned.

Younger later claimed to have eventually left the bushwhackers and enlisted in the Confederate Army. By his account he was sent to California on a recruiting mission, and returned to Missouri after the war's end.

Female outlaw BELLE STARR claimed Cole was the father of her daughter PEARL, born in 1868, something he always denied.

It’s uncertain when Cole and his brothers turned outlaw. The first mention of his involvement came in 1868, when authorities identified him as a member of a gang who robbed a bank in Russellville, Kentucky.

Witnesses repeatedly gave identifications that matched Cole Younger in robberies carried out by what came to be known as the James- Younger gang over the next few years. These outlaws robbed banks and stagecoaches in Missouri, Kansas and West Virginia. On July 21, 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing a locomotive and looting the express car on the Rock Island Railroad in Adair, Iowa. 

The James-Younger Gang c. 1874

From 1874 onwards the Pinkerton National Detective Agency began to pursue the so-called James–Younger Gang. John Younger was killed by them in a gunfight on a Missouri road on March 17, 1874.

The James and Younger brothers survived capture longer than most Western outlaws because of their strong support among former Confederates.

On September 7, 1876, the gang attempted to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Cole later said that they selected the bank because of its connection to two former Union generals and Radical Republican politicians. But the robbery went badly wrong. Two gang members were killed in the town, alongside two townspeople, including the acting cashier of the bank, and the gang fled empty-handed.

Northfield, Minnesota bank 1876

A manhunt ensued, in which another outlaw was slain and Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger were badly wounded and captured. Cole, asked about the robbery, responded, "We tried a desperate game and lost. But we are rough men used to rough ways, and we will abide by the consequences."

COLE YOUNGER after his capture

Cole, Jim and Bob pleaded guilty to their crimes to avoid being hanged. They were sentenced to life in prison at the Minnesota Territorial Prison. Bob died in prison in 1889. Cole and Jim were paroled in 1901. Jim later committed suicide. Cole wrote a memoir that portrayed himself as a Confederate avenger more than an outlaw, admitting to only one crime, that at Northfield. He lectured and toured the south with FRANK JAMES (Jesse’s brother) in a Wild West show. In 1912, Cole declared that he had become a Christian and repented of his criminal past. He died in 1916, in his hometown of Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

COLE YOUNGER in old age

The Northfield debacle features in most Jesse James-related movies and TV, from JESSE JAMES (1939) to LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE!

Cole has been portrayed by actors such as James Best in ‘Kansas Raiders’ (1950) Alan Hale Jnr. in ‘The True Story of Jesse James’ (1957) and David Carradine in ‘The Long Riders’ (1980.)

David Carradine in ‘The Long Riders’ (1980)

In THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID (1972) it’s argued that Cole (played by Cliff Robertson) was the real brains behind the James-Younger gang.

In the TV movie ‘The Intruders’ (1970) Cole is played by Gene Evans.

Amongst many rave reviews for NORTHFIELD:

‘Great read!’

‘A Compelling Historic Work by author Boggs… Extraordinary… undoubtedly the most thorough, well-researched and informative of the many books written about this historic event.’

‘Wonderful… a superior book.’

https://www.amazon.com/Northfield-Johnny-D-Boggs-ebook/dp/B002FDLO7I/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1494367273&sr=1-1&dpID=51wcabSKU3L&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Northfield-Johnny-D-Boggs-ebook/dp/B002FDLO7I/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535891337&sr=1-1&keywords=northfield+johnny+d.+boggs