When I think about the name Jesse James, I must tell you that I do not think about the cheating husband of actress Sandra Bullock.  No, I think about the post-Civil War famed outlaw who stole, killed and made a huge name for himself and his gang.  Prior to his massive celebrity, he and his gang specialized in bank holdups.  But on July 21, 1873 they were shot into the world of train robbery by wrecking, robbing and looting a Rock Island Lines train near Adair, Iowa.  The gang robbed the express messenger of cash and relieved the passengers of their watches, cash and jewelry. It was one of the first recorded train robberies west of the Mississipppi.

At 8:30 am, the train was climbing a steep grade while James and his gang lie waiting in the brush.  They had earlier tied a rope to the rail and when the train engineer saw it, he tried to stop the train but was unable. The Train hit the rope and turned on it’s side.  The James gang came out, guns a blazin’, terrifying passengers and crew.  They took money from the safe as well as everything they could from the passengers aboard.  Then they rode off as fast as they had come.

In a statement made the following day, conductor of the train (William A. Smith) gives this account of the ill-fated day:

“I went forward to see what was up. The first person that I met was one of the masked men, near the baggage car door, who pointed a revolver in each hand toward me and told me to get back, firing at me at the same time. I backed down as far as the sleeping coach before I felt I was out of his way. The passengers were in a hubbub, and the women and children were crying. I told the passengers that I thought the masked men were trying to rob the baggage car and tried to borrow a revolver but failed.

I could still see the man from where I was. I saw another passing up and down the opposite side of the train. I think he was firing at me, also. Some of the passengers asked me to get into the train as these men were firing at me and I would be the cause of some of them being killed. I then went into the sleeping car at the rear, still trying to get a revolver, urging the passengers to keep quiet, as these men were robbing the baggage car. I went out of the ladies’ car, up the back and thence to the engine.

Two balls passed through my clothing while I was on the bank. These shots came from the south side of the train. I did not see a man on the north side then; did not see or hear anything more of the masked men. After the passengers got quiet, I went forward to investigate the cause of the wreck.”