its rider, forcing the two to escape on a single
mount. During their flight through the country,
the robbers boasted to more than one person
they met how they had slain Gallatin resident
Maj. Samuel P. Cox. Cox was the commander
of the militia that had killed Bloody Bill Ander-
son, and he was targeted so as to avenge their
former leader.
Unfortunately for the dead cashier, it was a
case of mistaken identity. Instead of Cox, the
robbers had killed John W. Sheets. There was no
mistake, however, in identifying the fine mare
abandoned by the bandits: It was a champion
racehorse named Kate, and its owner was one
Jesse James.
A grand jury indicted both Jesse and Frank
James for the murder of John W. Sheets the fol-
lowing May, prompting Jesse to write to the
state’s governor to defend his case. In his letter,
Jesse denied that he or Frank had anything to
do with the holdup, and he assured the gover-
nor that he could prove his whereabouts on the
day of the robbery by “some of the best men of
Missouri.” “Governor,” he continued, “when IFEW MEN IN POSTWAR Missouri had as much popular influence
as newspaperman John Newman Edwards (1839-1889). A
former Confederate officer and staunch Democrat, Edwards
made the James and Younger boys heroes to Missouri’s pro-
Southern population chafing under the bitterness of defeat.
“They are outlaws, but they are not criminals,” Edwards wrote.
Without naming names, he described the perpetrators of oneJohn Newman Edwards
Creates a Legend
robbery as “men who risk
much, who have friends in
high places, and who go riding
over the land, taking all the
chances that come in the way,
spending lavishly tomorrow
what is won today at the
muzzle of a revolver.” Exactly
when and how Edwards’s
relationship with Jesse
James began is unknown,
but Jesse’s first public letter
proclaiming his innocence
appeared in the Kansas City
Times, the newspaper whereEdwards was an editor. The
Times published subsequent
missives from the outlaw as
well, all of which Edwards
enhanced to a certain extent,
if not penning some outright.
His crowning achievement
as the James brothers’ chief
apologist was negotiating
Frank James’ headline-
grabbing surrender six months
after Jesse’s death. He then
served as Frank’s PR man while
Frank awaited trial for murder
for which he was acquitted.JOHN NEWMAN
EDWARDS
MARK LEE GARDNER COLLECTION86 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019