Cole Younger

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger (January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916) was an American Confederate guerrilla and later an outlaw leader of ex-Confederates.

The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself (1903)

 * Political hatreds are always bitter, but none were ever more bitter than those which existed along the border line of Missouri and Kansas during my boyhood in Jackson county in the former state from 1856 to '60.


 * In May 1864, Col. George S. Jackson and a force of about 300, myself among the number, were sent across the staked plains into Colorado to intercept some wagon trains, and to cut the transcontinental telegraph line from Leavenworth to San Francisco. We cut the ine and found the trains, but empty, and on our return were met at the Rio Grande by orders to detail a party to cross the continent on a secret mission for the Confederate states.


 * One of the richest mines for the romancers who have pretended to write the story of my life was the fertile imagination of Belle Starr, who is now dead, peace to her ashes.

Quotes about Cole Younger

 * During his absence from Franklin County, Thompson Scroggin lived in Kansas where he worked on a ranch and became acquainted with the James brothers and Cole Younger. ... One night, while Thompson was staying at a hotel, a man entered the room to share it with him. A tall slim man in a dress suit with a long, pin-striped coat, he introduced himself as Cole Younger and warned Thompson not to startle him during the night. He was a hunted man and would shoot at the slightest provocation.
 * William G. Scroggins,