Cole Younger
Cole Younger ( Thomas Coleman Younger ; born January 15, 1844 in Lee's Summit , Missouri , † March 21, 1916 ibid) was an outlaw of the Wild West .
Life
Cole grew up as one of fourteen children on the farm of his parents Henry Washington Younger and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe at Lee's Summit. After a raid by the Jayhawkers on his parents' farm, he joined the Quantrill's Raiders , the partisan force of William Clark Quantrill . As their member he took u. a. participated in the famous Lawrence massacre . In 1863 he met Belle Starr , whose first child is said to be his.
After the end of the American Civil War he founded together with his brothers Bob , Jim and John , the James brothers Frank and Jesse as well as Clell Miller, Arthur McCoy, Charlie Pitts, John Jarrette (who married Cole's sister Josie), and Bill Chadwell (alias Bill Stiles) the James Younger gang that subsequently unsettled Missouri for years.
On September 7, 1876, the gang raided the First National Bank in Northfield , Minnesota . Cole took up a position in front of the bank while three members went inside. When the cashier defied the bandits' demands, his throat was cut. Shots rang out, making Cole nervous outside and killing a man. As a result, the gang members were attacked by the angry citizens of the city; however, they were able to shoot their way out of the way, injuring Bob Younger and being dragged along by Cole. According to legend, Jesse James wanted to leave or kill the injured Bob, whereas Cole fought fiercely, so that the James brothers fled alone and finally escaped, while the Younger brothers, braked by Bob, all injured and arrested after a two-week chase were.
At the trial, the Younger brothers pleaded guilty to avoid the gallows and were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Cole was pardoned in 1903, led an honorable life and died of natural causes at the age of 72.
Younger was a cousin of the Dalton brothers .
Publications
- Cole Younger: The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself . The Henneberry Company, Chicago 1903 ( The Story of Cole Younger in Project Gutenberg ( currently not available to users from Germany ) )
filming
- 1949 - I Shot Jesse James
- 1957 - The True Story of Jesse James
- 1972 - The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
- 1980 - Long Riders ( David Carradine as Cole Younger)
- 1986 - The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
- 1994 - The James Gang
- 2001 - American Outlaws
literature
- JW Buel: A Personal Interview With Cole Younger . In: The Border Outlaws. An Authentic and Thrilling History of the Most Noted Bandits of Ancient or Modern Times, the Younger Brothers, Jesse and Frank James, and their Comrades in Crime . Historical Publishing, St. Louis 1881, pp. 234-242
- Bill O'Neal: Gunfighter. All gunslingers of the Wild West. An encyclopedia. 7th edition. Oesch, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-0350-2013-2 .
Web links
- Cole Younger in the database of Find a Grave (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Younger, Cole |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Younger, Thomas Coleman |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American gunslinger |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 15, 1844 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lee's Summit , Missouri |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 21, 1916 |
| Place of death | Lee's Summit |