Corydon, Iowa

First time here and are curious what this is about?  Check out “About Landing.”

Dan –  Well, no record today, as I landed in one of the border-WBers.   Hmmm, that could be Minnesota, or it could be . . . IA; 34/30; 4/10; 15; 164.7.  I landed in the W Jackson Ck watershed, on to the Jackson Ck, and then, for the second time, the S Fk Chariton R; on to the Chariton (also 2nd hit); on to the MO.  

 In the S-Cen part of IA, I landed just a whisker outside of Corydon, a town with a pop of about 1600 in 2000.   Here’s a map:

The most interesting thing I can find out about Corydon is that the James brothers, Jesse & Frank, along with Cole Younger and Clell Miller robbed the Ocobock Bank in Corydon back in 1871.

The Day the James Gang Held Up the Ocobock Bank

June 3, 1871 – spirits ran high as Corydon citizens flocked to the Methodist Church for a big town meeting. No one wanted to miss hearing the renowned orator, Henry Clay Dean, extol the virtues of a railroad coming through town.  The town square was deserted as the crowd gathered in the church yard one block west of the square.

Earlier that week, four “cattle buyers” had arrived in the Corydon area.  On the day of the meeting, people paid little attention to the four men, clad in linen dusters, as they rode into town from the south.  The riders approached the northeast corner of the square and the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office.  The office was full of money from recent tax collections.  As a ploy to get into the safe, the leader of the group asked the lone clerk if he could get change for a $100 bill.  The junior clerk informed him the safe was locked and the treasurer was gone to the town meeting. 

Trying to be helpful, the clerk directed them one block west to the Ocobock Bank.  (Today this is the site of Citizens Bank).

Quietly mounting their horses, the men rode down the street to the Ocobock Bank.  The bank was empty except for an unfortunate clerk.  Forcing him into the safe, the gunmen helped themselves to about $10,000! Finding their heist too easy, the gang rode to the town meeting and interrupted the speaker with taunts of “You better check the bank!” and “Someone robbed the bank!”  The crowd thought it was a hoax.

Several minutes passed before the crowd realized the truth.  They quickly formed a posse and pursued the bandits into Missouri, but were forced to end their search when the trail became too hard to follow.

Townsfolk soon realized the bank had been robbed by the infamous James-Younger Gang.  Eyewitness descriptions of the bandits indicated they were Jesse and Frank James, Cole Younger and Clell Miller.  The treasurer’s clerk had given Jesse James directions to the bank!

Here’s a picture of the bank:

Here’s a picture of handsome Jesse:

So, there’s quite the story about Jesse’s death in 1884.  Here ’tis –  (kind of long, but a very interesting read):

In November, 1881, Jesse moved his wife and family to St. Joseph, Missouri, renting a house in the name of J.D. Howard. Acting as a member of the respected community, Jesse had plans of taking up a straight and narrow life. However, he wanted to pull off one last bank robbery of a bank in Platte County, Missouri, in hopes of making enough money to retire and become a gentleman farmer.

 

But, the State of Missouri had had enough and put up a reward of $10,000 for any information leading to the capture of Frank or Jesse James.

 

In January 1882, a James Gang member, Bob Ford, murdered another James Gang member, Wood Hite.  This killing, coupled with Ford’s greed and desire for notoriety, would be a death sentence for Jesse James.

 

When word of the shooting reached authorities, Ford was arrested, but when he informed detectives that he had access to the much-wanted Jesse James, he was released. Next, Ford secretly met with Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden, who told him that if he killed the notorious outlaw, he would receive a full pardon for the Hite murder as well as the killing of James, and also receive the reward money. Ford agreed to perform the deed and next met with the Sheriff of Clay County, where the two formulated a plan to get Jesse James.

 

In March of 1882, Jesse was planning the aforementioned bank robbery with Charlie Ford and Bob Ford.  Though he instinctively distrusted Robert Ford, he was having breakfast with the brothers in his home.  After breakfast, the men went to the parlor, to continue discussing the robbery plans. When Jesse noticed that a framed needlepoint picture, done by his mother, was hanging crookedly on the wall, he stood on a chair to adjust the picture. Suddenly he heard the sound of Bob Ford cocking his pistol and turned just slightly. Bob then shot Jesse just below the right ear and Jesse toppled to the floor dead. Jesse was 34 years old.

 

Initially, Ford was charged with murdering both Wood Hite and Jesse James, but true to his word, Governor Crittenden pardoned him while he stood trial for the murder.

 

Charles Ford, when he heard that Frank James was searching for them and planned to kill them in revenge for his brother’s death, began to move from town to town. For the next two years he ran like a scared rabbit, changing his name several times, until finally he could take it no more and committed suicide in 1884.

 

In the meantime, Bob Ford was capitalizing on his betrayal of Jesse James, taking to the stage, appearing in an act entitled Outlaws of Missouri. Night after night, Ford retold his story, carefully omitting that he had shot James in the back. But, this charade was short lived as he was greeted with catcalls, jeers, hoots and challenges. Ford later took off to Las Vegas, New Mexico where he operated a saloon for a time before moving on to Creede, Colorado.

 

Sometime after arriving in Creede, he opened a dance hall he called Ford’s Exchange. But luck was not with Ford, and just six days later, on June 6th, the entire business district, including Ford’s dancehall, burned to the ground. Wasting no time, Bob quickly reopened another saloon just a few days later in a make-shift tent.

 

The very next day, June 8th, in walked a man by the name of O’Kelley said “Hello, Bob,” and as Ford turned around to see who had addressed him, O’Kelley shot him with both barrels, killing him instantly.

In the meantime, O’Kelley was arrested and tried for murder.  He was convicted and given a twenty-year sentence in the Colorado Penitentiary. However, after serving ten years, he was released in 1902. Two years later, in January, 1904, Kelly was shot down in the streets of Oklahoma City.

 

Here’s a picture of Bob Ford, posing with the gun he used to kill Jesse.

 

 

Wow.  A life of crime does not pay!!  So, Jesse James, murdered.  Charles Ford, committed suicide.  Bob Ford, murdered.  O’Kelley, murdered.

 

KS

 

Greg

 

 

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