1876: A Cashier’s Refusal Dooms the Jesse James-Younger Gang at Northfield, Minnesota
On September 7, 1876, the Jesse James-Younger Gang rode into Northfield, Minnesota, intending to rob the First National Bank. Inside, cashier Joseph Lee Heywood refused to open the safe even as a revolver was pressed to his head and he was pistol-whipped; he was shot dead at his desk for his defiance, having falsely claimed the safe was on a time lock.
Outside, armed townspeople grabbed rifles and shotguns and opened fire from doorways and windows along the main street. Two of the raiders, Clell Miller and William Stiles, were killed in the street, and several others were wounded before the surviving gang members fled empty-handed.
A massive manhunt followed through the Minnesota countryside. Jesse and Frank James eventually broke away and escaped, but Cole, Jim and Bob Younger were tracked down two weeks later, badly wounded, and captured. The disastrous raid effectively destroyed the gang as a fighting unit and ended its run of successful robberies.
