text: On the morning chosen for the robbery you and your four companions ride into Huntingdon and dismount outside the town bank. While the two Tom's guard the horses you, Frank and Cole walk into the bank, draw your weapons, take the teller hostage, empty all the money in the vault into a sack and lock him inside the vault. Going outside you re-mount your horses and ride out of town. Once more it seems like you have pulled off another straight-forward robbery.
  
  You haven't got far from Huntingdon when suddenly you spot a dozen horsemen riding out of the town straight after you. "Now boys, ride for it," Cole calls out and all of you spur your horses into a gallop. You hear bangs behind you as the posse begin shooting their rifles and pistols at you all, the bullets whistling overhead and between you all. Suddenly Tom McDaniels reins his horse in and turns it about. "Fuck this," he calls out as he pulls his rifle from his saddle scabbard and begins firing back at the posse.
  > keep riding after your companions
  You keep riding but a yell behind you makes you glance back: Tom McDaniels has been shot in the chest and he slowly falls from his horse to the ground. You and your surviving companions concentrate on outracing your pursuers across the prairie and though they follow you all day at nightfall they finally break off the pursuit. Weary and exhausted you stop to count the money you have stolen: though you made off with $10,000 from the bank Tom was carrying some of it when he was shot so your share of the robbery is only $2,000.
  
  "We need to split up in case they keep coming after us," Cole says wearily. "Frank and I will keep going west into Kentucky, Tom you turn south and head into Tennessee. Keep a low profile and we will all meet up together again back in Missouri. This could be desperate work." You consider who you will go with.
  > go west into Kentucky with Frank and Cole
  You continue west with Frank and Cole across Kentucky and into Missouri. On the way you read in the newspapers that Tom Webb has been captured in Tennessee. He is put on trial, found guilty and sentenced to eight years for armed robbery. You and your veteran companions are exhausted by the time you get back to Missouri: this has been your most difficult escape from a bank robbery yet and you spent the winter and spring lying low until the gang reunites in the summer of 1876 in the small Missouri town of Otterville.
  > The Gang reunites
  You and the other nine members of the James-Younger Gang who gather in an empty cabin on the edge of Otterville are the most wanted men in America. Jesse, grinning and carefree sits next to a dour and frowning Frank. Cole, tough and capable sits between his handsome, young brother Bob and his other brother Jim who looks like he is wishing he could be somewhere else. The joker Clell Miller and the tall Bill Chadwell are gazing at Jesse with something like adoration while the silent Charlie Pitts sits with them. Finally you are sitting next to the newest member of the Gang, another former Guerrilla but a bit of a weak link called Hoobs Kerry.
  
  "Boys, we've had a turbulent couple of years but we sure are taking the fight to the Yankees, America's never known bandits like us before," Jesse declares. "My idea for this year is that we rob a train here in Missouri first and then go all the way up to Minnesota and rob one of those fat Northern banks up there. Bill here is from Minnesota and knows the area well and together the ten of us are unbeatable! We'll pull off a crime so audacious all of America will be talking about it!"
  
  "I'm only here to try and stop you from getting my brothers Cole and Bob killed the way you got John killed," Jim Younger says dourly. "You can rob your train here without me."
  
  "Well I'm sorry you feel that way Jim," Jesse says, his smile not even flickering. "What do the rest of you say? You're all in aren't you?" Everyone else agrees and then it's your turn.
  > join Frank, Jesse, Cole, Bob, Clell, Bill, Charlie and Hoobs in robbing a train in Missouri
  Leaving Jim behind you join the rest of the gang in holding up the train outside Otterville. As usual the robbery goes smoothly: after forcing the train to halt you and the James brothers empty the Express Safe while the Youngers guard the train staff and the others hold the horses. Mounting up you ride cross-country, easily eluding pursuit, and once you are well clear of Otterville. You have got away with a good haul: $15,000, which makes your share $1,600.
  
  You are all ready now to make the trip up to Minnesota and even Jim joins you to help protect his brothers. At the last moment Hoobs gets cold feet, he has been nervous ever since the train robbery and he insists on staying behind at his farm in Missouri. You and the other outlaws are not impressed but since you can't force him to go with you if he doesn't want to you all agree to let him back out of the planned robbery and make preparations to head up to Minnesota without him.
  > join Frank, Jesse, Cole, Jim, Bob, Clell, Bill and Charlie in robbing the bank in Minnesota
  You and your eight companions begin scouting towns in Minnesota for good banks to rob and settle on one in the town of Northfield. While you are in Minnesota you learn that Hoobs Kerry has been identified and arrested and has promptly identified each of the Gang including those who took part in the Otterville Train Robbery in exchange for a reduced sentence of two years imprisonment. You are all furious at Hoobs's betrayal but decide to go ahead with your plans anyway.
  
  As usual it's Jesse who makes the plans. "Folk in Minnesota will be on the lookout for nine men acting suspiciously so we won't all go in at once tomorrow," he declares. "Frank, Bob and myself will go into the bank while Cole and Clell hold the horses outside. Bill, Charlie and Jim, I want you to wait on the edge of town and if you hear any shooting come riding in like hell firing your pistols into the air to get those Yankee townsfolk off the streets. I know it's a big town boys but this is a rich bank and the money we should get is worth the risk. Bill, which group do you want to join?"
  > join Frank, Jesse and Bob in entering the bank
  You and your friends ride up to the bank, leave your horses tied up outside and go in. There are three tellers but no customers inside the bank and drawing your pistols you approach the tellers. "We're robbing this bank," Jesse declares. "Don't any of you holler, we've got forty men outside." The tellers raise their hands and Frank wanders inside the vault to look at the safe inside. As he does one of the tellers suddenly grabs the vault door and starts pulling it shut. Frank darts back and jams his arm forward as the teller slams the door on it, running forward Bob hits the teller with his pistol and knocks him to the floor.
  
  You all approach the fallen man, Frank angrily rubbing his crushed arm, and drawing a small knife from his pocket Jesse holds it to the injured teller's neck. "Open the safe or I'll cut your damn throat from ear to ear," Jesse snarls. "You'll have to cut my throat because I can't open the safe," the man replies bravely. A shot from outside makes you all glance at the door. As you do another of the tellers springs into action, and dashes away, through a back door and out into the street. "Get him," Jesse shouts.
  > chase after the fleeing teller and shoot him
  Racing to the backdoor you point your pistol at the fleeing man and fire. The bullet hits the teller in the back of his shoulder, though the man stumbles he makes it to the edge of the street and vanishes round a corner. As you shut the door and go back inside the bank you can hear shots outside and suddenly Cole's voice yelling "Hurry up, they've given the alarm!" "God damn you, open the safe," Jesse barks at the teller on the floor and fires his pistol at the floor next to the man's head.
  
  You and Bob quickly scoop all the loose notes you can find off the counter while Frank and Jesse continue to threaten the fallen teller who bravely refuses to help them in any way. Dozens of gunshots are ringing out on the streets outside now and again you hear Cole's voice shouting "They're killing our men! Get out here!" "Fuck you," Jesse snarls, hitting the teller in the face again with his gun and then he and Bob give up and run out of the bank. As you are about to follow them you notice Frank massaging his wounded arm and eyeing the teller. "We should kill that son of a bitch," Frank says to you.
  > shoot the man in the head
  Going up to the teller you place your pistol against his head and squeeze the trigger, killing him instantly. You and Frank run outside to be greeted by a scene of utter pandemonium. Clell, Bill and a third man who looks like a citizen of the town are lying dead in the street; the rest of your Gang are riding their horses up and down firing their pistols up at the buildings where several men seemed to have armed themselves and are firing back. Bob's horse has been killed and Bob himself has taken shelter under a wooden staircase near the bank.
  
  You and Frank make it to your horses and scramble on top of them, as you do someone starts shooting at both of you, hitting Frank in the leg and you in the left forearm, both fairly minor wounds. "It's no use boys, lets clear out," you shout and spurring your horses into a gallop you concentrate on riding your horse out of time, quickly catching up with Charlie and Cole, the latter bleeding from several gunshot wounds. As you reach the edge of town you hear a scream behind you "Don't leave me boys, I've been shot!"
  
  Glancing back you realize you have all forgotten Bob who has sprung out of his hiding place and is sprinting down the street after you. "Shit," Cole mutters and glances at you and Charlie. "Cover me boys," he orders. Cole then does the most incredible thing you have ever seen someone do in real life: he spurs his horse directly back down the street towards his injured brother. Several men are shooting at them and though you and Charlie are firing your pistols at the buildings you might as well be throwing stones at them for all the good it does.
  
  Cole and Bob seem to be moving through a virtual rain of bullets. Bob stumbles as one shot hits his leg. Two more graze Cole's horse making it scream and rear but he keeps it under control. Reaching down he helps Bob climb onto his horse. As he does three more bullets hit Cole, the dust exploding from his clothes in small puffs as each bullet hits him. Gritting his teeth he turns his horse around and gallops straight back towards you and Charlie. The gunfire is directed at you two now: one bullet grazes Charlie's arm and another bullet whizzes right past your right ear. As Bob and Cole reach you both you turn horses around and gallop out of town after Frank, Jesse and Jim.
  
  Behind you leave the dead bodies of your two fellow outlaws and the shattered myth of the invincibility of the James-Younger Gang.
  > flight
  By the time you and your surviving companions make it out of Northfield you are in a pretty bad way: Bill Chadwell and Clell Miller are dead and everyone except Jesse (and possibly you) has been wounded: Charlie and Frank have both been shot once, Bob twice, Jim three times and Cole a remarkable five times, though all his wounds are minor. The most serious wounds are Jim's and Bob's the latter of whom has had his right elbow completely shattered. Altogether you have managed to steal less than $27 dollars from the bank in Northfield.
  
  Perhaps worst of all your only guide to Minnesota, Bill Chadwell, is dead leaving all of you stranded in a hostile state with only the knowledge that you have to head in a generally southern direction to reach safety. You don't have a single friend in Northfield and within days thousands of men in hundreds of posses are combing Minnesota for you. The first week after your escape from Northfield requires all the knowledge that all of you (except Bob) gained during your four years as Guerrillas during the Civil War and your eleven years as outlaws since.
  
  Performing basic medical care for your injured and stealing a horse for Bob you manage to get the drop on one posse of several men who are hunting you, swiftly disarm them and ride off with their guns. Exchanging shots with another posse you escape during a rainstorm you pass yourselves off as a posse hunting the Northfield Robbers which goes well until one night when you camp on a small island and wake to find the island surrounded by hundreds of men. You only escape by unleashing your horses in one direction and swimming off in another, somehow escaping in the fog and the storm. After this narrow escape you spend a few days resting in an abandoned farmhouse before continuing, stealing horses along the way.
  
  By the 14th things are serious. Both Bob and Jim have become feverish from their untreated wounds and can only travel very slowly. Finally Cole turns to you and the others.
  
  "It's no good, we'll never get out of Minnesota going at this speed," he admits to you all. "Bill, it's better that you, Frank and Jesse ride ahead. You'll be moving faster, attracting more attention from the posses and meanwhile me, Jim and Bob can keep going in our own slow way and hopefully slip out of Minnesota unnoticed while all the posses are busy chasing you."
  
  You all consider the idea but Charlie shakes his head and declares that he wouldn't feel right abandoning the badly injured Younger Brothers. The James brothers have no problem with the plan and take all the Youngers money and personal possessions to give to their family in case the worst happens. Frank and Jesse decide to ride directly west towards the Dakotas and try to draw posses after them while the Youngers and Charlie continue south towards Iowa. You need to choose which group you will join. 
  > accompany the James Brothers west
  You decide to split off with Frank and Jesse and after a week of riding you have covered a lot of distance. That night you approach a bridge over a lake and unfortunately a posse of men are sleeping on the bridge. Dismounting you all try to lead your horses quietly across the bridge but something wakes up one of the posse members. Sitting up he fires a rifle shot which passes through Jesse's thigh to hit Frank in the leg. A moment later he fires another shot which hits your left leg just below the knee.
  
  Yelling in pain the three of you throw yourselves onto the backs of your horses and spur them into a gallop, rapidly escaping as the posse fire at you. Riding west non-stop for more than forty-eight hours you finally cross into South Dakota and safety three days after your injury. Turning south you escape back to Missouri. En-route you learn that a week after you parted with them your companions were discovered and surrounded by a posse in Minnesota. Cole, Jim and Bob were all wounded again and captured while Charlie Pitts was killed. All three of the Younger Brothers later draw a twenty-five year sentence in the state penitentiary, refusing to the last to name who took part in the Northfield Robbery with them.
  
  Your incredibly narrow escape and the complete destruction of the James-Younger Gang have persuaded you, Frank and Jesse that it is time to retire from crime. While Frank and Jesse go into hiding with their wives and children while you travel east all the way to New York and live anonymously for a long time. Finally three years after your escape from Minnesota a letter arrives from Jesse James. He has formed a new gang and would like you to join him in returning to the outlaw life. After a long internal struggle for reasons you don't, and perhaps never fully will, understand you find yourself on a train heading back to Missouri and your old outlaw life.
  > The James Gang
  Returning to Missouri you meet your old friend for the first time in many years. Jesse hasn't changed at all, though he is now in his thirties and has grown a beard he maintains all his old enthusiasm, high-spirits and carefree attitude. Apparently Frank wants nothing more to do with crime and is enjoying his retirement in Tennessee but Jesse has formed a new gang of five men, making you the seventh member of the new James Gang.
  
  The new recruits don't impress you and are nowhere near as high quality as the Youngers or the other former members of the James-Younger Gang. The most reliable of the lot seems to be Wood Hite, Jesse's cousin and a former Guerrilla. Dick Liddil, a clever young man seems reliable enough while Bill Ryan, a hard-drinking admirer of Jesse also seems fairly dependable. The last two members of the Gang, Clell Miller's younger brother Ed Miller and a farmer called Tucker Bassham strike you as idiots and the absence of Frank James concerns you.
  
  Despite your worries your first robbery in three years goes very well: Jesse has decided to concentrate on trains rather than banks after his experience at Northfield and one winter's night you hold a train outside Glendale, using a red light to stop the train. You and Jesse quickly empty the Express Safe while the others guard the driver and passengers before you all mount your horses and escape cross-county. After several hours you pause to count the money, you have stolen $6,000 which makes your share $800.
  
  Jesse is pleased with the success of the robbery but cautions his new recruits. "This will get the law on our trail and when the papers learn I am behind it the whole state will be looking for us. It's best if we split up, Tucker you back to your farm at Jackson. Wood, Dick and Bill, you head up to Wood's family's place in Kentucky. Ed, you come with me, we'll go and hole up at your farm outside Norborne. Where you going to go Bill?"
  > join Tucker at the Bassham Farm
  You go with Tucker back to his farm, all the while having to endure his inane conversation conveying how excited he is by the amount of money you have made. He takes a shopping trip into Jackson and apparently brags loudly about taking part in the Glendale train robbery because the next morning there is a knock on his cabin door. When Tucker answers it you hear a man declare "Tucker Bassham, you are under arrest for train robbery." You spring to your feet and glance around, you are in your bedrrom a short way away and though there is only one door that leads into the kitchen where Tucker is there is a window. You could try jumping through the window to escape but it would make a loud noise and could be dangerous.
  > try jumping through the window
  You start running and crash through the window, glass shards raining down as you hit the grass below. You hear a shout of alarm in the building behind you but you are on your feet in a moment and don't stop running, reaching the safety of nearby trees in an instant and sprinting through them as you hear more shouts behind you. You make it to Jackson, steal a horse and keep going until you reach the Hite Farm in Kentucky where you join up with Dick, Bill and Wood. There you read that after his arrest Tucker promptly named all of you who helped rob the Glendale train. Soon after this you read that fellow gang member Ed Miller's body has been found in Missouri, allegedly killed by Jesse James. Soon after Jesse himself turns up at the Hite Farm.
  > more Robberies
  The new James Gang has not had a good start with Tucker Bassham arrested and Ed Miller killed by Jesse for threatening to betray the Gang, that just leaves you, Jesse, Jesse's cousin Wood Hite, the cunning Dick Liddil and the alcoholic Bill Ryan. The murder of his old friend Clell's brother seems to weigh heavily on Jesse's conscience and the usual energy and cheerfulness of his younger years seems to be fading from your friend as Jesse enters his thirties. He remains as decisive as ever though.
  
  "There are lots of stagecoaches in Kentucky and the authorities won't be expecting one of them to be robbed," he declares. "Bill Ryan, you and I will ride out and hold up a stagecoach over by Mammoth Caves, they are always packed full of rich tourists. Dick and Wood, I want you to stay here in case I need you. Bill Grey, you can join us if you want or you can stay here and lie low with the boys."
  > help Jesse and Bill rob a stagecoach in Kentucky
  You and your two companions ride out to Mammoth Cave, a popular tourist destination. You all wait by the side of the road and when a stagecoach full of tourist approaches you all surround it, pistols in hands. Forcing the unarmed driver and passengers to disembark you relieve them of their money and valuables before riding cross-country back to the Hite Farm. Counting your loot there you find you have made off with $2,000, making your share $600.
  
  Back at the Hite Farm Jesse is not content with your takings and having learned there is a large sum of money held in a store in the nearby town of Mercer he decides to rob that as well. Again he chooses to take Bill with him and also Dick while Wood will remain at the Farm making sure the place remains safe and keeping a watch out for lawmen. Again Jesse offers you the choice of whether to join him and the others in the robbery or remain at the Farm.
  > join Jesse, Bill and Dick in robbing the payroll
  Riding into Mercer with the others you leave Dick and Bill outside with the horses and enter the store with Jesse. The pair of you draw your pistols and demand that the lone storekeeper hand over the payroll. "My son has taken it to the bank already," the nervous man tells you with his hands in the air and sure enough the safe is almost completely empty. Jesse is very annoyed but there is nothing you can do except leave the store, mount your horses and ride away.
  
  Jesse is very put out but after a winter spent exploring various states he learns that a similar payroll is being transported to the town of Muscle Shoals in far-off Alabama, a long way from your usual operating places. Jesse is determined to get the money and decides to take the ever-loyal Bill and Wood Hite with him this time, leaving Dick Liddil at the Hite Farm. Again he offers you the choice of accompanying him or staying at the Hite Farm.
  > join Jesse, Bill and Wood in robbing the payroll
  Traveling south to Alabama with your friends you make your way to Muscle Shoals and learn what route the man carrying the payroll usually takes into town. Making your way to a lonely part of the road you all hide in some trees until the paymaster comes into sight. Emerging with pistols in your hands you all relieve him of the sack of money he is carrying before riding off across the countryside. When you stop to count the money you find you have stolen $5,000, making your share $1,200.
  
  You and your companions are pleased by the easy job, especially Bill. "I think I'll go back to Adairville in Kentucky to celebrate with some of my old friends," he says. "Don't be there too long," Jesse says. "I think I'm going to go and talk to Frank and some other boys to get them to join the boy. This summer I think we should start hitting trains in Missouri." Agreeing to meet up at the Hite Farm Jesse and Wood part ways with Bill leaving you free to choose who to join.
  > go with Jesse and Wood to talk to Frank
  That summer you accompany Jesse and Wood to Tennessee where Frank is living a peaceful life in retirement as a farmer. Jesse manages to persuade his brother to return to the outlaw life while Wood also recruits his younger brother Clarence Hite. As you are all traveling back to the Hite Farm you learn that Bill Ryan has been arrested in Adairville after being recognized as a wanted outlaw. Despite this setback the five of you rejoin Dick Liddil at the Hite Farm where Jesse discusses his latest plans.
  > The James Gang return to Missouri
  The loss of Bill Ryan, his favorite gang member, has hit Jesse hard but despite looking more tired than ever Jesse's ambition remains as boundless as always. As well as you, Dick Liddil and Wood Hite Jesse has persuaded his brother Frank to rejoin the gang and also his cousin Clarence Hite, Wood's younger brother who is dying of tuberculosis and is so emaciated you are not certain he'll be up to the rigors of outlaw life. Jesse remains confident though.
  
  "It is time we went back to Missouri and reminded the governor there that are fifteen years the James boys are still going strong," he declares, grinning at Frank. "The Civil War may be over but we haven't stopped fighting it! We'll hold up a few trains and then clear out of the state."
  
  On the chosen day Dick, Wood and Clarence camp outside the town of Winston while you, Frank and Jesse ride into town. Boarding the noon train you make your way to the driver's carriage where you take him hostage and have him stop the train close to where your friends are waiting. After the train stops you, Frank and Jesse make your way down the passenger carriages towards the express carriage, Jesse leading the way. "This is a hold up," he barks to the passengers. "Remain in your seats."
  
  Without warning a uniformed conductor suddenly springs forward and grabs at Jesse's pistol. Startled the two men wrestle over the weapon while you and Frank stand by startled. "Shoot him," Jesse yells.
  > shoot the conductor
  You raise your pistol and shoot the conductor in the head. As the man falls to the ground Jesse regains control of his pistol and shoots him again in the chest. While the conductor lies on the floor bleeding and gun smoke rises in the carriage another passenger springs to his feet, gun in hand. "Jesse," Frank yells out in warning as he aims his pistol at the man.
  > shoot the armed passenger
  The man staggers as your bullet hits him in the chest and dropping his pistol he falls to the ground. "Quickly boys," Frank calls out and the three of you hurry down the passenger carriage, leaving the two dead men behind you. Reaching the Express Carriage you find the safe contains very little money but you throw what little it does contain into a sack before making your escape from the train. Running to where you left your horses you escape cross country and count the money, finding you have made it away with $700, making your share $100.
  
  The robbery and it's accompanying double-killing make national news and the reward for, you, Frank or Jesse reaches a record $5,000 each to be brought in dead or alive, making the three of you worth $15,000 altogether. Jesse is completely unperturbed and recruits another gang member, a young friend of Dick Liddil's called Charley Ford. Together the seven of you plan your next train robbery to take place on the fifth anniversary of the disastrous Northfield Bank Robbery.
  > The Blue Cut Train Robbery
  Five years to the day since the James-Younger Gang was destroyed at Northfield you and the rest of the James Gang rob a train at Blue Cut, Missouri. Together with the wary Frank and gregarious Jesse you halt the train with lanterns and climb aboard. "I'm Jesse James," Jesse declares to the frightened passengers. "You might have read about me in the papers. Stay calm and no one will get hurt." Making your way to the Express Carriage you empty the safe of a small amount of money and hastily disembark. Escaping on horses you find that you have made away with $1,000, which split seven ways makes your share $100.
  
  "We need to split up boys," Jesse declares. "Wood, Dick and Charley, you go and hide out at Charley's sister's place near Kansas City. Clarence, I want you to hole up in Adairville and get some medical treatment. I'm going to rent my own place in Kansas City. What are you going to do Frank?"
  
  "I reckon anywhere near Missouri is too dangerous at the moment," Frank says. "I'm going back to my farm in Tennessee."
  
  Jesse glances at you. "What are you going to do Bill?"
  > go with Wood, Dick and Charley to the Ford Farm
  You accompany Dick, Wood and Charley back to Charley's Farm where you meet his sister Martha and his brother Bob, a nervous young man who seems to regard you all with awe. Your stay at the Farm isn't a happy one: Dick and Wood both like Martha and become increasingly hostile towards each other. The argument escalates one evening when you, Dick, Wood, Charley and Bob are all sitting upstairs. Screaming insults at each other Dick and Wood promptly pull out their pistols, spring to their feet and start shooting at each other.
  > join in the gunfight
  Drawing your pistol you take Wood's side in the argument and fire a shot, hitting Dick in the leg. Dick returns fire, hitting Wood in the arm and suddenly Charley's kid brother Bob unexpectedly joins the gunfight, shooting Wood in the head. As you turn towards him Bob fires a second shot, hitting you in the throat. Gasping and choking you sink to the floor, your life's blood pouring from you as Bob coldly steps closer to you and executes you with a final shot. The same man who will kill Jesse James has just killed you.