K
Kentucky Kache
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James Gang retreat
On March 20, 1868, Jesse James, Frank James, Cole Younger, and four other James Gang members held up the bank at Russelville in Logan County, Kentucky. The take was $17,000. $5,000 of this was in bank notes and the bulk of the rest in gold coins. But their escape was not easy; in spite of being both beaten and shot, banker Nimrod Long escaped to spread the alarm. Before the sound of their hoofbeats faded a 50 man posse was riding in hot pursuit of the James Gang. The outlaws were tracked to Allen County where the gang split up. With a posse on their trail, it is not likely that there was any chance to divide the loot before this.
Some of the tracks led away toward Red River County, but the trail petered out before the possemen could catch up with the riders. The trackers had no way of knowing it, but those tracks belonged to Frank and Jesse who were working their way back towards Adairville, 15 miles from the scene of the crime. This was the home of Jesse's cousin, George T. Hite, an arthritic grocer said to be one of Jesse's closest friends in the whole world. The Hite place soon became a frequent stopover for the James Gang who used it as a place to unwind after many train and stage hold ups. There has long been speculation that some of the gang's loot was hidden there.
On March 20, 1868, Jesse James, Frank James, Cole Younger, and four other James Gang members held up the bank at Russelville in Logan County, Kentucky. The take was $17,000. $5,000 of this was in bank notes and the bulk of the rest in gold coins. But their escape was not easy; in spite of being both beaten and shot, banker Nimrod Long escaped to spread the alarm. Before the sound of their hoofbeats faded a 50 man posse was riding in hot pursuit of the James Gang. The outlaws were tracked to Allen County where the gang split up. With a posse on their trail, it is not likely that there was any chance to divide the loot before this.
Some of the tracks led away toward Red River County, but the trail petered out before the possemen could catch up with the riders. The trackers had no way of knowing it, but those tracks belonged to Frank and Jesse who were working their way back towards Adairville, 15 miles from the scene of the crime. This was the home of Jesse's cousin, George T. Hite, an arthritic grocer said to be one of Jesse's closest friends in the whole world. The Hite place soon became a frequent stopover for the James Gang who used it as a place to unwind after many train and stage hold ups. There has long been speculation that some of the gang's loot was hidden there.
