Volume 18 , Issue 17

Walking With Sweet Silly Sadie

In 1948 Joe Hunter, of Lawton, Oklahoma, found a brass bucket in the Wichitas where the James brothers allegedly buried their treasure. we went searching through old newspapers archives for information concerning the James brothers and found the following in The Lawton Constitution, lawton, Oklahoma, 19 May 1948, Wednesday, from frontage to page eight and beyond.

Found on Newspapers.com

Some youth might get the impression it was smart to operate outside the law. Jesse James wanted him to know that it is a trail of thorns, a perilous route to be avoided.

Even at the age of 100, when most men have been in their graves for 40 to 60 years, "Old Man Jesse" had the intellect of a young man and a sense of humor car junior to his years.

Lawton and Comanche county remember Frank James as one of its own people. Frank resided near Fletcher, the seat of his operations while he searched for the treasure which he and his outlaw brother hid in the Wichitas.

Jesse, who had no desire for riches, was not in this section of the country while frank searched so frantically for the millions hid under the ground. He could not appeal to his brother, who had been so close to him in many an operation.

Jesse James, the centenarian of 1948 recalled his dreams of more than half century ago when the gang planned to migrate to South America to establish an empire of their own. With them would go their gold.

But that dream was blocked by a streak of bad fortune for the gang when it unsuccessfully attempted the robbery of a banking Northfields, Minn., on Sept. 7, 1876.

The band and planned for several days to rob the bank. They were planning as usual to stage the holdup in the most strategic manner, which if carried out would have been successful.

But the entire gang had been drunk, celebrating jesse's birthday on Sept. 5, and still had not sobered up. The robbery was staged prematurely, and as a result the gang was not to pieces.

Jesse, riddled with bullets and bleeding, accompanied by Frank who, likewise, was near death with bullet wounds, escaped. But several of their companions were killed. Three of the Younger boys were captured. One of them, Bob, never recovered from his wounds and died in prison without ever getting out of bed.

Jim Younger served his time and was released at the end of 30 years to die of an accidental bullet wound soon after his pardon by a governor elected by the influence of the James gang.

The third Younger was Cole. His name was mentioned on the famous brass bucket of the Wichitas. It was a name linked with the legends of the Wichitas, the Missouri hideouts and the black Hills of the Dakotas.

Cole was pardoned along with Jim through the same influence of the James gang. And ironically enough, Jesse was behind the play which released them from prison.

Old timers in this section who knew Frank James, recall that while he was at Fletcher in the early 1900's, he kept a horse saddled constantly. daily, he would mount and ride at full speed into his old haunts, hoping he would recall some of the familiar landmarks which would lead him to the mother lode of treasure. Some claim he found part of the gold, but the main cache had escaped his memory. Even though his name was on the bucket which bore the strange contract of the bandits, eh could not recall the keys to the hiding place.

Jesse's real life began when "the ornery little coward shot Mr. Howard and laid Jesse James in his grave." It was then a mere lad of 35, he decided to acquire some of the world's culture.

Jesse departed for parts unknown, namely Texas. There he joined the Texas rangers for a period until he was convinced by his colonel that he should obtain an education.

He accepted the colonel's recommendation, went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he first completed his elementary education before taking up the study of medicine. Soon he realized that his was not the temperament for a doctor and switched to the study of law. In near record time he completed the degree, although he never practiced the profession in the normal manner.

While the James gang was rampant on the trail in the Wichitas they took by force an estimated $36,000,000 in gold and silver. Admittedly, much of it was taken from trains and stage coaches. But still a large share was wrestled from the wicked hands of other outlaws who had pillaged the loot from their victims.

Jesse declared that there still were many of those caches untouched by human hands since they were buried years ago, but he is an old man and money no longer means anything to him. Besides, too much blood has been spilled over the inglorious gold which sets the very blood of mankind racing with greed. Leave it for the individuals who are capable of working out its puzzles and solving the secrets of nature's most sever problems.

Good Night! Good Luck!
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