Yesterday in the closing chapter of THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NAT LOVE (also known as "Deadwood Dick") by Nat Love (1905), I read of his description of the famous outlaw Jesse James, while he was gamboling, gallanting about in the Old West. He wrote:
"It was my pleasure to meet during the early seventies the man who is now famous in the old world and in the new world, Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody), cowboy, ranger, hunter, scout and showman, a man who carried his life in his hands day and night in the wild country where duty called, and has often bluffed the grim reaper Death to a standstill, and is living now, hale, hearty, and famous.
"Others who were equally famous but in another way are the James brothers, Jesse and Frank. I met them often in the old days on the range, and became very acquainted with them and many others of their band. Their names are recorded in history as the most famous robbers of the new world, but to us cowboys of the cattle country who knew them well, they were true men, brave, kind, generous and considerate, and while they were robbers and bandits, yet what they took from the rich, they gave to the poor. The James brothers stole thousands of dollars; yet Jesse was a poor man when he fell victim to a bullet of a cowardly, traitorous assassin, and Frank James is a poor man today. What then did they do with the thousands they stole? The answer is simple, they gave it away to those who were in need. That is why they had so many friends and the officers of the law found it so hard to capture them.
"And if they were robbers, what name are we to call some of the great trusts, corporations and brokers, who have for years been robbing the people of this country, some of them, I am now glad to say, are now behind prison bars, still others are now piling up the dollars that they have been and are still stealing from the American people, and who on account of these same dollars are looked up to, respected and are honored members of society, and the only difference between them and the James brothers is that the James brothers stole from the rich and gave to the poor, while these respected members of society steal from the poor to make the rich richer, and which of them think you reader , will get the benefit of the judgment when the final day arrives and all men appear before the great white throne in final judgment?
"Jesse James was a true man, a loving son and husband, true to his word, true to his principles and true to his comrades and friends. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank James quite recently on the road while he was en route to the coast with his theatrical company and enjoyed a pleasant chat with him. He knew me and recalled many incidents of the old days and happenings in 'no man's land.'"
P. 156-157.
The above encomium to Jesse and Frank James is similar to another such descriptive encounter of which I have earlier read in a book by Gary Kremer, about James Milton Turner. After the Civil War, Turner established public schools for black children in the state of Missouri. One night, Jesse James is reported to have ridden up to Lincoln High School and delivered some money for "the nigger school," to Turner that he gladly accepted from Jesse James. Such corroboration about the character of Jesse James from independent sources affirm each other and Nat Love's assessment of Jesse James!
"Such was life on the western ranges when I rode them, and such were my comrades and surroundings; humor and tragedy. In the midst of life we were in death, but above all shown the universal manhood. The wild and free life. The boundless plains. The countless thousands of long-horned steers, the wild fleet-footed mustangs. The buffalo and other game, the Indians, the delight of living, and the fights against death that caused every nerve to tingle, and the every day communion with the men, whose minds were as broad as the plains they roamed, and whose creed was every man for himself and every friend for each other, and with each other till the end."
P. 161-162.
Deadwood Dick was quite a man!

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Monday, July 10, 2017
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NAT LOVE, EXCERPT
Yesterday in the closing chapter of THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NAT LOVE (also known as "Deadwood Dick") by Nat Love (1905), I read of his description of the famous outlaw Jesse James, while he was gamboling, gallanting about in the Old West. He wrote:
"It was my pleasure to meet during the early seventies the man who is now famous in the old world and in the new world, Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody), cowboy, ranger, hunter, scout and showman, a man who carried his life in his hands day and night in the wild country where duty called, and has often bluffed the grim reaper Death to a standstill, and is living now, hale, hearty, and famous.
"Others who were equally famous but in another way are the James brothers, Jesse and Frank. I met them often in the old days on the range, and became very acquainted with them and many others of their band. Their names are recorded in history as the most famous robbers of the new world, but to us cowboys of the cattle country who knew them well, they were true men, brave, kind, generous and considerate, and while they were robbers and bandits, yet what they took from the rich, they gave to the poor. The James brothers stole thousands of dollars; yet Jesse was a poor man when he fell victim to a bullet of a cowardly, traitorous assassin, and Frank James is a poor man today. What then did they do with the thousands they stole? The answer is simple, they gave it away to those who were in need. That is why they had so many friends and the officers of the law found it so hard to capture them.
"And if they were robbers, what name are we to call some of the great trusts, corporations and brokers, who have for years been robbing the people of this country, some of them, I am now glad to say, are now behind prison bars, still others are now piling up the dollars that they have been and are still stealing from the American people, and who on account of these same dollars are looked up to, respected and are honored members of society, and the only difference between them and the James brothers is that the James brothers stole from the rich and gave to the poor, while these respected members of society steal from the poor to make the rich richer, and which of them think you reader , will get the benefit of the judgment when the final day arrives and all men appear before the great white throne in final judgment?
"Jesse James was a true man, a loving son and husband, true to his word, true to his principles and true to his comrades and friends. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank James quite recently on the road while he was en route to the coast with his theatrical company and enjoyed a pleasant chat with him. He knew me and recalled many incidents of the old days and happenings in 'no man's land.'"
P. 156-157.
The above encomium to Jesse and Frank James is similar to another such descriptive encounter of which I have earlier read in a book by Gary Kremer, about James Milton Turner. After the Civil War, Turner established public schools for black children in the state of Missouri. One night, Jesse James is reported to have ridden up to Lincoln High School and delivered some money for "the nigger school," to Turner that he gladly accepted from Jesse James. Such corroboration about the character of Jesse James from independent sources affirm each other and Nat Love's assessment of Jesse James!
"Such was life on the western ranges when I rode them, and such were my comrades and surroundings; humor and tragedy. In the midst of life we were in death, but above all shown the universal manhood. The wild and free life. The boundless plains. The countless thousands of long-horned steers, the wild fleet-footed mustangs. The buffalo and other game, the Indians, the delight of living, and the fights against death that caused every nerve to tingle, and the every day communion with the men, whose minds were as broad as the plains they roamed, and whose creed was every man for himself and every friend for each other, and with each other till the end."
P. 161-162.
Deadwood Dick was quite a man!

Image may contain: 1 person, text