by G. Moritz, Editor
South Dakota Author and Historian Wayne Fanebust has written a new book called “Chasing Frank and Jesse James.”
Fanebust has written several books on early South Dakota History and the Civil War, and is best know for his books on the early history of Sioux Falls “Where the Sioux River Bends” and the definitive biography of R.F. Pettigrew titled, “Echoes of November: the Life and Times of Senator R.F. Pettigrew.”
His newest historical non-fiction, is focused on the infamous outlaws of the James-Younger gang, and their escape from justice after the bungled robbery of a Northfield, Minnesota bank.
“I’ve always been intrigued by the great escape of Frank and Jesse James,” he said. “It’s improbable, some would say it was even impossible that they managed to escape from Minnesota, through Dakota Territory, down to Iowa and back home to Missouri. Both had injuries, we know for certain that Frank had been shot in the leg and Jesse was at very least bruised and battered from hard travel. There were literally thousands of men chasing them. So I wanted to investigate the facts of how they managed to do it.”
Fanebust was kind enough to give the Gazette a copy for review purposes along with a follow up interview. If you want to read this book spoiler free, then this is your warning because this article is going to talk about it in depth.
From the outset, Fanebust makes it clear that this is a historical treatise based on research, not a fan-boy love letter to Jesse or Frank James. Fanebust tells it like it is, and isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade.
“I’m ok with calling someone who commits a crime a criminal,” Fanebust said. “Frank and Jesse James were criminals, as were the Younger brothers and everyone who rode with them.”
Fanebust tells the story of young Frank and Jesse James. A strong willed mother, an absent then deceased father, they like so many Americans were caught up in the horror of the Civil War when Union soldiers, looking for the rebel guerilla fighter, the infamous William Quantrill, tortured their stepfather and scourged young Frank with a whip up and down the cornrows of his family farm to gain information about the wanted man’s whereabouts. Missouri was a Union state, but Quantrill conducted guerrilla warfare, raiding, murdering and plundering behind the lines, hitting civilian targets as well as Union troops. Young Frank James, quiet, reserved and well read thereafter joined Quantrill’s cause. Jesse James, always close to his older brother, wanted to join up with his brother, but he was not allowed to until he was 16. Under Quantrill and the infamous “Bloody Bill” Anderson, the James boys learned the business of the worst kind of warfare, and also first met their partners in crime, the Younger brothers.
In his book, Fanebust said that though what happened to the James boys was a crime certainly, it did not in any way justify the crimes the two would go on to commit. Sadly, it is the truth of our existence that violence usually begets more violence, and the James brothers, Jesse in particular, were noted during the war for their brutality and cruelty. (Continued on Page 10)
