The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James

Relying on rigorous research into Missouri court archives, Kansas City, Mo., lawyer Muehlberger tells the fascinating story of the murder that landed Frank and Jesse James in the headlines long before the latter’s ignominious end. In December 1869, the bandit brothers walked into a bank and shot the cashier at point-blank range. Initially considered the big bang that kicked off the Jameses’ spree of bank and train robberies, the murder was instead, according to Muehlberger, a premeditated and misdirected act of retribution in response to the killing of the brothers’ Confederate guerilla leader, “Bloody Bill” Anderson, during the Civil War. In the ensuing manhunt, the editor of the Kansas City Times, a Rebel sympathizer, tried to paint the brothers as defenders of the old Southern guard, while a young lawyer, the governor of Missouri, and the legendary Pinkerton detectives sought to present the men as they really were—thieves and murderers. All the front-line players receive Muehlberger’s close attention, and his history works well as both a thrilling Wild West drama and an insightful portrait of a country trying to rebuild under the burden of still-simmering resentments and conflicting loyalties. Photos, illus. & maps. (June)