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Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by majoun
If the word "terrorist" had been in use in the US in his time, he would've been labelled one - given that he committed his bank robberies in the name of the Confederacy.
Many folks at that time thought of him more as a Patriot, they hid them, fed them and provided fresh horses for them....
Missouri was tore up by the Civil War, The James/Younger boys were thought to have ridden with Quantril, and were not offered amnesty like regular Confederate Soldiers.......
Many folks at that time thought of him more as a Patriot, they hid them, fed them and provided fresh horses for them....
Missouri was tore up by the Civil War, The James/Younger boys were thought to have ridden with Quantril, and were not offered amnesty like regular Confederate Soldiers.......
As Moshe Dayan said, "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".
Jess James lived and operated between SW MO and Kansas when the west was still wild. He hid in the underground caves, rode horses and used six-guns and rifles.
Capone, on 5he other hand oived in Chicago and was a member the mob. He rode in a car and had a old tommy gun. It's been said the reason he was difficult to catch was because he was going out the door on the lower level onto Wacker Driver when the cops were coming in the front door- which faced a main street in Chicago - on the upper level. I don't know if it is true or not, but I always laughed. .
I don't know the old Chicago stories out of the '20s and '30s like IrishTom, does, but that is one of the big differences between Capone's Mob and the James Gang. They were both cold-blooded killers. .James was one or two generations earlier than Capone - and of course CApone never lived in a cave. He ran the booze, and gambling racket and put 30 boats on the IL River.
City History tells us he had grand ideas of turning Havana into Little Reno until the cops staged a wholesale raid and shut down all the girls, the booze and the gambling dens at the same time throughout the city and county one night. It put Capone out of bvusiness downstate.
James is believed to have had ties to men of significant political power in the Confederacy. A hard look at the secret society James is believed to have had ties with that in turn helped fund the Confederacy through James's robberies and guerilla tactics of the infamous bushwacker gangs of James/Younger, Quantrill, and Starr gangs (Belle Starr). The support of James by a co-owner of the then Kansas City Times newspaper. The pardon of Frank James by Gov. Crittendon after a putting a price on Jesse's head. The discovery of buried stashes of gold from the immediate period and locations along the route that James contucted his train/stagecoach robberies. What most people know of the James/Younger gang is the stuff of wild west mythology. All are evidence that Jesse James was more than a two-bit outlaw who "lived in caves". There is a much deeper story of greater historical significance than the more high profile Capone offers.
Better? I guess that all depends what the criteria is for "better". They are different, apples and oranges. Different time, different circumstances, different long term goals/ideologies. Different places in history. One has risen to the level of a folk hero, the other infamy as a gruesome murderer with no cause other than greed and arrogance.
Of course, were it not for Capone and his ilk average citizens (law abiding collectors/investors) might still be able to own "Tommy Guns" at an affordable price today. If nothing this is a reason to despise Capone...he ruined it for the rest of us!
Of course, being from Missouri I might be just a bit biased.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 07-05-2010 at 02:08 AM..
James is believed to have had ties to men of significant political power in the Confederacy. A hard look at the secret society James is believed to have had ties with that in turn helped fund the Confederacy through James's robberies and guerilla tactics of the infamous bushwacker gangs of James/Younger, Quantrill, and Starr gangs (Belle Starr). The support of James by a co-owner of the then Kansas City Times newspaper. The pardon of Frank James by Gov. Crittendon after a putting a price on Jesse's head. The discovery of buried stashes of gold from the immediate period and locations along the route that James contucted his train/stagecoach robberies. What most people know of the James/Younger gang is the stuff of wild west mythology. All are evidence that Jesse James was more than a two-bit outlaw who "lived in caves". There is a much deeper story of greater historical significance than the more high profile Capone offers.
Better? I guess that all depends what the criteria is for "better". They are different, apples and oranges. Different time, different circumstances, different long term goals/ideologies. Different places in history. One has risen to the level of a folk hero, the other infamy as a gruesome murderer with no cause other than greed and arrogance.
Of course, were it not for Capone and his ilk average citizens (law abiding collectors/investors) might still be able to own "Tommy Guns" at an affordable price today. If nothing this is a reason to despise Capone...he ruined it for the rest of us!
Of course, being from Missouri I might be just a bit biased.
You had civil war raiders that could make more money in a day than they could in years of laboring. So the war ends and a number of them basically found it a better occupation than staring at the back end of a horse for 50cents a day.
I think James just basically found it to be easy money for doing what he was good at. I think that he certainly had some motivations carrying over from the war and also knew that playing to the populace fed both his ego and provided him some protection....but at the end of the day, it was just too good of money to pass up.
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