Here are a couple close versions of the Jesse James story.
From the Rock Island Lines News Digest 100th anniversary special, October, 1952
Rock Island Had its Troubles With the James Boys - But Good
Highlighted in the 100-year career of the Rock Island Lines, is an epic of the James Boys.
Jesse James, fabled outlaw of post-Civil War days, cut his teeth in the business of train robbery by wrecking, robbing, and looting a Rock Island Lines train on July 21, 1873, near Adair, Iowa.
The swarthy Robin Hood-like bandit robbed the express messenger of some $3000, then methodically relieved the 200 passengers of watches, cash and jewelry. It was one of the first recorded train robberies in history, and the first in the West.
Jesse James and his gang of Missouri outlaws had expanded their operations. Previously, they made a specialty of bank hold-ups.
-Train Holdup-
It was 8:30 at night. Darkness was beginning to gather on the lush, green and rolling countryside of Western Iowa. The train, made up of two Pullman sleeping cars, five coaches and an express-baggage car, was about four miles west of Adair, east-bound. It was moving slowly upgrade, approaching a sharp curve.
At this moment in the bushes near the far end of the curve lay the James gang, six-shooters cocked and ready. Further off the right-of-way were the horses of seven robbers, nervously sensing the drama of the chase about to begin.
Engineer John Rafferty, alert but unsuspecting, was at the throttle. The fireman, unknown, was throwing the fuel into the boiler to spur on the hard pressed engine.
As the engine came into the curve at the top of the grade, Engineer Rafferty spied a ropw tied to a rail. The rope was being pulled from the bushes; the rail, its spikes removed, was being jerked out of line.
Mr. Rafferty immediately reversed his engine in a desperate, vain effort to avert a wreck. He couldn't stop the heavy train. the engine ran into the gap, turned on its side killing Rafferty instantly and fatally injuring his fireman.
The bandit gang ran from its hiding place. Then outlaws fired their guns in the air, causing panicn among crewmen and passengers.
The express messenger found himself looking into the barrel of a .44, held in the hand of a calm, self-assured bandit. He quickly gave up the contents of his safe, was tied and thrown into a corner.
The gang moved into the passenger cars, brandishing guns and yelling threats. Women screamed and children cried. Men tried to hide their valuables. But it was no use; every passenger was carefully searched.
-Ride off into the Night-
Jesse James and his brother Frank directed the operations. They took their time. After dunping the loot into bags, the gang rode off into the night, uttering the Rebel Yell, so well known to many of the passengers who had seen service in the war which had ended just eight years before.
The James boys and some of their cohorts had thoroughly learned their lessons of surprise as members of guerrilla gangs which operated in Western Missouri and Kansas during the "border wars."
Besides Jesse and his brother, Frank, the gang included Jim and Cole Younger, brothers; Robert Moore, whose home was in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma; Comanche Tony, a Texan, and one Cell Miller.
It is believed that the James gang usually worked with the aid of an "inside" man; however, this could not be proved. The gang obviously had been looking for a $75,000 gold shipment, scheduled to move on the train which they robbed, but at the last minute was changed to a later train.
The outlaws had been in Council Bluffs for sometime before the robbery, and it was there that they learned of the planned gold shipment.
The robbers vanished as quickly as they had come, headed for their hide-out in the hills of Western Missouri which they knew so well and where they were comparatively safe from the law among friends.
(Jesse James boarded one more Rock Island train - in a casket bound for burial.)
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From W.E. Hayes' Iron Road to Empire, 1953
Chapter 16 - "The great train robbery"
The year 1873 was a year of crisis for John F. Tracy in the pursuit of his plans for the merger of the Rock Island and the Chicago and Northwestern. He made frequent trips to New York to talk with Eastern financiers. He began speculating heavily on his own account, and he urged Henry Porter to renew his efforts to wrap up the merger project.
Meanwhile, the new Union Passenger Station (now known as the LaSalle Street Station) was completed. Tracy's drive in getting this new structure ready for a public opening was an incentive to many business leaders of Chicago in the trying days of reconstruction. The effects of the great fire had been far-reaching. Almost a third of the city's population had been left homeless - more than 100,000 people - and the failure of insurance companies to pay out on the property loss had greatly retarded rebuilding. It was estimated that of the total property loss incurred - $196,000,000 - only $50,000,000 in insurance had been collectible.
The Rock Island annual report for 1873 described the new depot "as of the same dimensions and occupying the same site as that destroyed by the late fire." The report went on to say, "Some changes in the style of the building and interior arrangements add much to the beauty and convenience, and it may truly be said to be the finest depot building in the West, and second to none in the country for elegance of design and adaptation for the use intended."
The dedication took place with a notable ceremony that lasted two days. No expence was spared in hiring the best bands for the entertainment of guests. Civic leaders gave themselves over to lauditory orations in which they cited the railroad management for its vision and directness of purpose in transoforming the ruins and rubble that the fire had left into something "glorious to behold."
Newspapers reported that the thousands of people who visited the station were inspired by the ingenuity of man to overcome what, only a few months before, had seemed a most hopeless situation. This enterprise, according to the writers, had a profound and far-reaching effect in building up public confidence in and even greater future for Chicago and her citizens.
Where Tracy had succeeded in gaining public acclaim for his new station he faced failure in his consolidation scheme - a failure that struck deep.
Despite all Henry Porter's efforts the merger of the Northwestern could not be accomplished. That system had slumped off on earnings, while the Rock Island continued to gain in financial stability. But the rank and file of Northwestern people and its officers vigorously opposed the plans, and Porter, at last, had to tell Tracy that it was no use.
On June 19, 1873, Tracy had to step down as president of the Northwestern, and for him a dream of empire was over.
Tracy began driving himself harder in the development of new traffic for the Rock Island. The new Government bridge across the Mississippi was now in full operation, and its completion in October, 1872 had had a noticible effect on traffic. Schedules had been stepped up and, as the annual report pointed out, there was "a considerable savings ... in expense of crossing trains as compared with the old line."
This report accounted for "the completion of the bridge in a most substantial manner, iron superstructure resting on abutments and piers of first class masonry, the whole erected under the supervision of experienced government engineers, and it may be justly regarded as among the finest works of its class in America, and an attractive feature to the traveler."
The removal of the old bridge took time and patience, and during the summer of that year it was necessary to rearrange the yard tracks at Rock Island. Additional land was purchased near the east end of the new bridge and three miles of side track was laid.
It was indeed a busy program that the railroad had laid out for itself to rehabilitate its terminal facilities. Industry was expanding all along the line between Rock Island and the area east of Moline. Payrolls increased and new housing proceeded at a satisfactory pace to take care of the influx of new residents.
Prior to the great fire at Chicago, Tracy had seen the railroad's revenues climb to the then record-breaking figure of $6,028,287 for the year ending March 31, 1871. He and his associates had been fearful that, as a result of the fire and its effect on traffic, there would be a sharp decline. but the decline had been small indeed. Revenues for the year ending March 31, 1872 dipped to $5,900,000 and then resumed their steady climb. At the end of the fiscal year, March 31, 1873, they stood at $6,419,231.
About the time Tracy was finding that his dream of aquiring financial control and consolidation of the Northwestern was shattered, a rather cunning and observant gentleman of questionable character was taking more than curious interest in the prosperous Rock Island. His associates were particularly concerned with certain packages that were being handled in the express cars aboard Rock Island passenger trains. Information obtained in devious ways indicated that on certain days these shipments amounted to many thousands of dollars.
The gentleman from Missouri, Jesse James by name, was an earnest believer in the doctrine that institutions entrusted with funds should share the wealth. A very convincing way of enforcing such a program was at gun-point.
Mr. James, and his brother Frank, and others of his bearded and unwashed band, had gained considerable reputation around northern Missouri for their sporadic banditry, striking mostly at small banking institutions, vanishing into the hills with their loot.
Jesse's interest in the Rock Island increased when his agents reported that it would be much simpler to hold up and loot a train than to take thier chances with solidly planted institutions such as banks and stores. Jesse had visions of lonely places where trains had to pass in the night - no citizens around to observe the plan of attack or to follow him and his riders as they made off with their takings.
That stretch of the Rock Island between Council Bluffs and Des Moines had some very lonely segments of track. Jesse and his men scouted it and found everything in their favor a short distance from the small town of Adair, Iowa. There were many curves and grades, and near the summit of one of these hills, just beyond a curve, would be a pretty good place to try their luck.
Just how the James band got their information on money shipments by express has never been determined, but there have been many references to "inside" plants.
Word reached Jesse about a shipment of $75,000 that would move out of Council Bluffs in train No. 2's express car on the afternoon of July 21. Having picked a spot for the holdup, the James band proceeded to set the stage. They carefully loosened a length of rail on the right-hand side of the track to an engine running east. They removed some of the spikes and disconnected the rail from the next one ahead. They then fixed a rope around the rail so that, from their hiding place in the bushes, they could begin moving the rail outward toward the tie ends They figured that the engineer, puffing up the grade, would see the phenomenon and bring his engine to a halt.
With everything in readiness the James boys waited out of sight. They heard the exhaust of the locomotive as it labored up the grade, and hard fingers tightened on the rope. The engine came in sight with its oil headlight flickering. It straightened on the short tangent toward the top of the grade and the rail started to move.
Inch by inch the pull on the rope brought the rail out of line.
In the cab of the locomotive Engineer Rafferty saw the rail and yelled to his fireman. There were no air brakes in those days for quick emergency. There were only hand brakes which were applied by members of the train crew when the engineer whistled for them.
Engineer Rafferty made two quick moves. With one hand he whistled for brakes and with the other he reversed his locomotive. He could do nothing else. The stack belched smoke and fire with the reversal of the valve gear. The wheels slid. But the long, pointed pilot and the engine plunged down the fill on the right-hand side and turned over.
Engineer Rafferty died in his cab and his fireman was critically injured.
The James boys cared little about that. They didn't have to spare a man now to guard the engine crew.
Guns barked. And as the passenges rushed to the exits they were lined up beside the track. Two of the band made quick work of the express car, then stood guard while the others went through the passengers and collected jewelry and cash.
Within an incredibly short period the whole thing was over. The passengers were left trembling and gaping. The sound of horses moving into the brush told them of the bandits' departure.
The express-car haul amounted to $3000. since there were 200 passengers, the jewelry and money loot was estimated at about $3000 more. The $75,000 that had been the James goal had been held over to move on a later train, a last-minute switch. Had there been an inside man on the job to inform Jesse James of this movement, the switch had been made too late for word to be sent to the bandits.
The James gang annoyed the Rock Island at other times, but the affair near Adair that July night set a new pattern for the Western bad men. It was the West's first holdup of a railroad train, and it was to be duplicated many times thereafter in various parts of the Western country. It had been quick and simple, with virtually no risk of being caught in the act of being chased by a sheriff's posse without first having the opportunity for a long getaway. In the case of the Adair robbery it took hours for a crew member to walk to a telegraph office and call for help.
Following the Adair robbery, Hugh Riddle took all possible precautions to prevent a recurrence. He overhauled the police methods then in use on the railroad by placing armed guards on certain vulnerable trains and by arming train and engine crews as well as express messengers.
