From: "Jesse James and the Lost Cause" by Jesse Lee James, Published
by Pageant Press, New York, 1961, pages 34 & 35.
Here is the quote I have been wanting to quote on this board for
months ever since it jumped off the pages at me as I was reading the
book. I remind our members that I already knew about the KGC Tunnel
Network under the downtown area of Brownwood long before reading
about them in "Jesse James and the Lost Cause" and some of our
members have known about them even longer ! Then, when Betty Duke
shared the video of "underground city" at Leavenworth, Kansas with
our members awhile back, I knew immediately what this video
represented. I am happy to report to you that
progress on locating and re-opening the Brownwood Tunnels is coming
along very well. I expect to have some solid information I can share
with you by the first of the New Year.
***
"Yet another branch of our secret army was a corp of engineers that
could build bridges, build rock buildings, and do most anything.
They could and did construct secret underground passages right under
bustling cities. They built secret tunnels down under Nashville and
Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri,
Lawrence, Kansas and under Pueblo and Colorado City, Colorado, and
other towns; too many to name right now. These secretly constructed
tunnels, rooms, escape routes and storage rooms underneath the
surface of the ground were built without Yankee troopers and Federal
detectives ever finding out they were being made by well trained and
experienced workmen.
"Even in that day, when men were working for a dollar or a dollar and
a half per day for ten and twelve hours labor, we were paying our
men, for mining and tunneling, a wage rate of ten dollars per day.
"How did we do it?
"Well, I'll tell you how. Most generally, we would start tunnels
which would connect some of our business houses, such as our own
saloons, gambling houses, livery stables and even the jailhouses
would connect. Because our men were in the offices of public
officials, such as mayors, sheriffs, marshals, congressmen, senators,
school teachers, and principals, tunnels were down and under our
breweries, distilleries, and schools, and with the excuse that beer
needed to be aged, we had to age our whiskey in charred kegs.
"Some of our relay stations and even ranch and farm houses were
almost built like forts, and had tunnels down and under them
connecting the houses underground to the barns and escape routes, or
hatches in and out. We had to have at least two entrances, or means
of entry, or escape.
"So many places advertised across the country, `Jesse James' Cave'!
That is bunk! Yes, we may have had to use a few caves here and there
to hold our horses, or even to sleep in occasionally, that would be
true enough, but if there was only one entrance, and we were stupid
enough to get ourselves cut off, that would have been bad. If we
used a cave with only one entry, you could be sure that we kept a
constant guard posted around outside all the time. If the cave
should have two or more entrances, then we would feel safe, and use
it over and over again," said Jesse.
***
To view the recently discovered "underground city" under Leavenworth, Kansas, go here:
Here is a message I posted recently on our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group that I want to share with the members here.
~Texas Jay
***
Brownwood KGC Tunnel Project !
Hi members. I'm taking this opportunity to announce that I am looking for a
member of our group who is qualified and would like to form a team to search
for, locate, and explore the Knights of the Golden Circle tunnel network under
downtown Brownwood. I wasted a lot of valuable time last fall and winter trying
to convince television professionals to undertake this project with no success.
One group, History Detectives, showed interest at first but, for some reason,
never would give me a definite answer. So now, I am going to follow the tried
and true method of "if you want something done right, do it yourselves."
My own schedule for this fall and winter is quite full and so I'd like to find
someone in our group who will not be satisfied with failure and who is willing
to do what it takes to open at least one of these tunnels for the first time in
many years and has leadership qualities. The team needs to include at least one
experienced caver, someone with photography equipment who can document the
search and discovery on video, someone with at least basic knowledge of the KGC,
a writer who can document the process on paper and later write articles or books
on the tunnel network, and the group must have use of whatever ground
penetrating instruments are needed.
Whoever wants to take on the job of team leader will be responsible for the
effort and he/she will create the team themselves and choose the team members
based on their abilities to successfully locate and open this network.
Whoever takes this on will not be starting from scratch, however, because I will
give you all the information and contacts that you will need to be successful.
I want to make one thing very clear and that is that we KNOW the basic layout of
this KGC network and will provide you with a map of where we know the tunnels
went and where some of the entrances were located. It will be the team's job to
obtain the permission from building and property owners to explore their sites
for these openings. This is not a guessing game but it will require some time
to finish this project so team members need to be able to finance themselves so
that they can stay in the area as often or for as long as necessary.
Any member who is interested in either being the team leader or a team member
for this historic project needs to contact me via private email. Once I choose
who the team leader will be, I will immediately give him/her the names of all
those who have written to me wanting to be team members so that the leader can
decide who can benefit the team the most then the team leader can take it from
there.
Thank you,
~Texas Jay jay_longley@yahoo.com
Hi TW. Here is a photograph of a large copper bat waterspout cover that is on the back wall of the old Coggin, Ford and Martin Bank building here in Brownwood, Texas. The one on the south side is missing so it disappeared sometime since 1876 when the building was constructed by KGC stonemasons from Europe. Many oldtime residents believed that our Henry Ford was Jesse W. James although he never claimed that he was. It is known that he was a Knight of the Golden Circle and that one of the entrances to the KGC tunnels under our downtown area is underneath this building.
~Texas Jay
Since you argue against every piece of documentation of the KGC that anyone contributes, SWR, I will not waste my time furnishing you with any proof of KGC activity in Brownwood, Texas. Most of the documentation is in the vast archives at our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group. I have knowledge of other information that I will share only with the team who takes on the project I mentioned above. Our members have spent thousands of combined research hours locating and confirming much of this information and I will not waste my time or theirs repeating it for naysayers. I'll let you do your own research and form whatever conclusions you like.
~Texas Jay
Texas Jay, on this particular point you hold the winning hand. You never
said the stonemasons who immigrated from Europe were "unnaturalized".
On a wider point Jesse Lore is filled with preposturous claims. The book
you sited that was printed in the '60s abounds with contrived postulations.
I wish that Ambrose Bierce was around to post a "book review". Or Samuel
Clemens. J. Frank Dobie was able to weave a tale with horsefeathers in lieu
of facts but this Jesse Lee character simply had an axe to grind. IMHO
Hi lastleg. You are an astute card-player. Most members of our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group know what some of my "hole cards" are while others must only guess. One important job our researchers have been involved in has been separating the facts (what J. Frank Dalton actually said and knew) from fiction (what Orvus Lee Howk - aka Jesse James III and Jesse Lee James embellished the true stories with.) Some of our members actually knew Howk and so we have access to many of his handwritten letters to others during the time he spent with Dalton/James. It appears to me, based on our work, that Howk really did care for Dalton/James when no one else would but Howk was also in it for the fame and money so he added many fantastic tales to Dalton's story in order to sell books and get people to invest in his (not Dalton/James') schemes.
~Texas Jay http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
Jay, well OK that clears up the identity of the author/Lost Causes.
Orvus was the grinder and was constantly trying to learn the location
of various depositories. What a cad.
Hi lastleg. After spending several months studying Jesse James and everything I can find about "J. Frank Dalton", who I believe was Jesse Woodson James, I have learned that one has to do his best to separate what Dalton/James actually said from what Orvus Lee Howk (aka Jesse Lee James and Jesse James III) and what his co-author Del Schrader ("Jesse James Was One of His Names) added to his story so it would be more sellable to the public. This is not easy as one must be able to access some of Howk's personal letters in order to determine some of his motives for changing the story. I've been fortunate in that regard because I have been able to meet, through my Yahoo group, some people who actually knew Howk and others who are great researchers and genealogists. Of course, traditionalist writers and historians like Carl Breihan, in the years after Dalton/James's death, have cherry-picked the lies told by Howk, attributed them to Dalton/James and, thereby, easily disproved some of Howk's allegations while totally ignoring the facts about Dalton/James's life including the many sworn statements signed by people who knew that the man known as J. Frank Dalton was, in truth, the Jesse Woodson James that they had known in his outlaw days. Oh yes, and they also never mention Dalton/James's role in or intricate knowledge of the Knights of the Golden Circle.
~Texas Jay http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
Not all "treasures" are found underground. I discovered this fascinating Royal Arch Masonry token online recently and purchased it for my collection. I think it will help shed some light on our secret KGC history in Brown County, Texas.
~Texas Jay http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
I happen to know for a fact that J.Frank Dalton was NOT Jesse James. I have information and pictures from Joe Hunter and his partners that deal with Dalton and their efforts to scam the public to make a few bucks. Howk and Dalton both were nothing more than scam artist. Dalton during his life claimed to be Frank Dalton the uncle of the Dalton Boys, Bob Dalton, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and one of Quantrills riders. He was proved a fraud in 1948 and is still a fraud today. It was Houk who came up with the KGC stuff. He was claiming to be Jesse James III long before he hooked up with Dalton. If you want to bank your research and claims on information provided by Dalton/Howk have at it, but I prefer to go with honest, reliable sources.
Sorry to break this to you Jay, but I know more than you think I do! I can prove that Dalton being Jesse was nothing more than a scam. I did the interviews. I have the photos. I have the letters.
What do you have that can prove he was? You're pretty quick to say that I don't know much when you don't even have an idea of what I know. Please educate me on how you can prove J Frank was Jesse. I went to as close to the original sources as you can get some 60 years later and what I got was it was all a money making scam. Here's the kicker! The guys doing the scam were trying to scam each other. That's why Houk and Hunter had such a falling out. Each of them were committed to keeping to the story though, or they were going to lose face nation wide. Oh what a tangled web we weave.
I have collected every book there is about J. Frank Dalton along with newspaper articles and nothing in any of them will prove that he was Jesse James. Most of the stuff they used was recycled from when John James was trying to be Jesse. This would even include John's faked death story. Just like so many others you are using Houk's books to prove your KGC theories. You might as well be using Dr. Seuss. KGC I am.
Jay look at my work so far proving Houk,Howk, Hawk, Hawks, Jesse Lee James, Jesse James III, etc, etc for what he was. Just a scam artist. This is only a small amount of what I have, so if you want to get into "I can prove this kind of match" let's do it. I welcome a challenge of seeing who knows more about Houk and Dalton and can show proof of what they claim. You claim J. Frank Dalton was Jesse James and I claim he wasn't. We each have our corner, so is the bell going to ring to signal round one?
"Oh yes, and they also never mention Dalton/James's role in or intricate knowledge of the Knights of the Golden Circle."
Do you have any actual proof that Dalton was KGC? I know that the papers at the time that Dalton came out as JJ said he used a special code to communicate with Joe Hunter about the treasures but since Joe and Dalton were in on the same con this would make that information pretty suspect wouldn't it?
I don't beleive anyone has ever proven JJ was even part of the KGC, much less had "intricate knowledge" of the group. I for one would think that the real JJ had a little too much attitude to be part of a group like the KGC. JJ didn't seem like he was an all for one and one for all kind of guy. More like a murdering psychopath out to do what he wanted and only for him.
You can read a whole series that was written in the Paris News during the middle of 1941. This is a Paris Texas newspaper that J Frank Dalton told one whopper after another about him and the Dalton gang. Now if he is the uncle of the Dalton boys how can he be Jesse James? Jay, do you care to explain this? I have him traced back to 1912, so pony up some of your info that will prove I don't know as much as I think I do.
okietreasurehunter, I suggest you research the genealogies of Jesse and Frank James' mother Zerelda and you will learn what members of our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group already know.
~Texas Jay http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
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Most members of our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group know what some of my "hole cards" are while others must only guess. One important job our researchers have been involved in has been separating the facts (what J. Frank Dalton actually said and knew) from fiction (what Orvus Lee Howk - aka Jesse James III and Jesse Lee James embellished the true stories with.) Some of our members actually knew Howk and so we have access to many of his handwritten letters to others during the time he spent with Dalton/James. It appears to me, based on our work, that Howk really did care for Dalton/James when no one else would but Howk was also in it for the fame and money so he added many fantastic tales to Dalton's story in order to sell books and get people to invest in his (not Dalton/James') schemes.
