Reviews for The Border Outlaws: An Authentic and Thrilling History of the Noted Bandits of Ancient or Mo...

The average rating for The Border Outlaws: An Authentic and Thrilling History of the Noted Bandits of Ancient or Mo... based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-11-27 00:00:00 Gregory Nibling This book was originally written and published in 1880 while Cole Younger was still incarcerated in a Minnesota prison and Jesse James and Frank James were still alive and presumably continuing their criminal careers. Therefore it provides an interesting perspective in time when the mythical Robinhoodesk aspects of their exploits were in their early formation. The book allows what is probably a too generous hearing of Cole Younger's version of his life since he was in prison and accessible for interviews. From Cole Younger's position he and his associates were veterans of the American Civil War who fought heroic guerrilla style battles against occupying Union forces in the Missouri-Kansas border region. Cole Younger pretty much denied participating in any crimes after the war, but of course he couldn't deny being involved in the September 7, 1876 Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery for which he was hunted down, captured, and convicted. One could make a case that the actions of the Younger and James brothers during the Civil War were military actions. However, the Union Army considered them to be criminals and terrorists, and they went so far as to issue an order saying that the members of the Quantrill gang were not eligible for prisoner of war status if apprehended. ... guerrillas captured would not be treated as ordinary prisoners of war, and that all parties found bearing arms against the United States of America, in the district specified in the proclamation, would be regarded as guerrillas and punished as such. The inference gained from reading the order was that thereafter all guerrillas or armed forces opposing the United States would, in case of capture, be executed.At one point during the war Quantrill requested a commission in the Confederate Army so he could be recognized as a military combatant, but the Confederate States declined to do so. The book makes no specific reference to "General Order No. 11" by name, but describes it and its results as follows:After Lawrence came the famous order of Gen. Ewing, requiring all the men in Bates, Vernon and Cass counties to abandon their property and report at once to the nearest military headquarters for service. The force of Federals increased rapidly through the instrumentality of this order, and Quantrill found himself in desperate quarters, day and night. The warfare became even more cruel than before; revenge was not satisfied by the mere killing, but extended frequently to the mutilation of the victims. Squads were massacred almost daily, and life went for naught wherever found.Reading this book is similar to reading a book of short stories because it is a collection of descriptions of a number of separate incidents. The first third of the book is comprised of the description of various guerrilla attacks—half of which are incidents where the guerrillas were attacked and the other half where they were the attackers. The rest of the book is filled with post-war accounts of various bank and train robberies—the identity of the perpetrators being uncertain in many cases. It is possible that the Younger and James brothers are given credit for more robberies than they actually committed. However, they probably relished their notorious reputation. While leaving one of their robbed banks the gang rode past a crowd listening to a politician giving a speech. Jessie James stopped next the crowd and interrupted the speaker by shouting to the crowd that if they went down to the bank they would learn that it had just been robbed. It was so audacious that the crowd didn't take it seriously at first, but of course they eventually learned the truth.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-08-16 00:00:00 Ken Mcgee I was not prepared for the book that author James Buel put together, detailing the adult lives of Cole Younger and his brothers as well as Frank and Jesse James. I had thought it was going to be just another history book, but it turned out to be much more. Subtitled as “The Younger Brothers, Jesse and Frank James, and Their Comrades in Crime,” the book appears to be well-researched if we are to believe the author. My gut tells me I should. The book centers around Cole Younger, beginning with a short history of his father before jumping into Cole’s years with Quantrill during the Civil War. Almost the first half deals with his war exploits, and we begin to get a sense of the kind of man Cole Younger had grown up to be. This part of the book is extremely important, because the war and how his family was affected were influential on Cole’s life after the war. Indeed, many of the outlaws had fought in the war, and having been anesthetized to violence, they carried on in the same manner (in fact, some of the incidents described during the war were much more coldblooded than many of the outlaws’ acts). Having set the scene, the author then moved on to the different train and bank robberies that Cole Younger has been accused of committing. Mr. Buel was extremely careful, and attempted to have justification before adamantly accusing Younger (or any of the outlaws) of being present at a robbery. However, Cole and his brothers were easily recognizable and many folks knew them on sight, so the author was able to corroborate his stories with eyewitness accounts. It was very interesting to read some of the letters written by Cole Younger as well as read the conversation he had with the author while in prison. I now have a different understanding of who Cole Younger was, based upon everything the author shared in the book. Mr. Buel published the book in 1881, and it is a fascinating piece of history itself. The author writes in the style of the times, and I had to wonder at times whether he was serious or if he was spicing his words with a bit of sarcasm. For instance, when describing a lynching by vigilantes: “They only decorated Andy with a new grass rope and hauled him skyward over the branch of a big oak, with the usual manifestation of sympathy.” Admittedly, the author appears to have a level of respect for Cole Younger. I am not sure if this is due to their correspondence or from meeting. Some of the other characters, such as Jesse James, are painted as being nothing but mean and vile. Readers will have to judge for themselves on some of the incidents and personalities. All things considered, this was a great book, allowing me to learn while having a bit of fun at the same time. Four stars.