How much time did Jesse James spend in OK. and the Wichita Mt's. Collectively.

[monkeymann]

Just curious if anyone had any idea how much time it is thought that Jesse James and Company spent collectively in Oklahoma and the Wichita Mt.'s.
How much gold do you think there is still out in the Wichita Mt's to find...Jesse James or otherwise.

[Timberwolf]

MM,

I don't know how much time Jesse spent in Oklahoma, but I do know that he did spend some time in North Central Oklahoma. My Mom's Aunt use to fix supper for the "boys" when they were in the neighborhood. I have actually been to the cave that they hid out in, and posted some pics here on TNet.

TW

[Gypsy Heart]

Prior to Jesse's death ....Not much....and most of the time spent there was at full gallop.....

Frank James, who died in 1915, couldn't find the money in Lost City when he returned after the turn of the 20th century and headed to the Lawton area to search there. He bought a ranch in the Wichita Mountains and spent years in a futile search for treasure the gang had buried there before finally giving up.

When the loot was buried near Lawton, the area was a hunting ground for American Indians; but after Jesse was killed and Frank returned, the land had been homesteaded, plowed and fenced.

Cole Younger, who had been a member of the James gang, told residents of Pryor in the early part of the 20th century that he had helped hide their booty in Robbers' Canyon but the landmarks also had changed there and he couldn't find the loot.

The James-Younger gang tried to rob a bank in Northfield, Minn., where some were killed and others were injured and captured by a posse several days later. The Youngers pleaded guilty, and it was 25 years before Cole was paroled -- no doubt thinking of the hidden loot during the entire period.

But Cole discovered that the landmarks near Sand Springs also had changed when he tried to find $63,000 in gold and silver he had buried along the south bank of the Arkansas River south of Sand Springs.

He told friends when he tried to retrieve the money after being released from prison that he couldn't find it, apparently because it had sunk in the soft sand of the river's bank.

Younger said he buried the gold and silver while he and his gang were being chased by a posse as they rode toward Missouri. When they came to the Arkansas River, the heavy gold and silver they had liberated from a stage coach slowed them down as they started to ford the shallow water. They jumped off their horses, dug a hole and dumped the sacks of precious metal in, planning to return for it later.

[okietreasurehunter]

Frank and Jesse spent time in Oklahoma during the war while riding with Quantrill. After the war they spent more time here than history gives them credit for. Frank did find a number of the caches that the gang had put in the ground. His place was actually between the Wichita Mountains and the Keechi Hills. It was just a couple of miles from Fletcher on the Caddo/Comanche County line. They weren't in a hurry while they were here. I've spent a bunch of time doing research on their activities here. I think they were most active here during the early to mid 1870's.

[RGINN]

Y'all pay attention to 2late2dig, as he has done some research. There is documentation for Frank and Jesse James spending time in NE Texas. The shortest and best trail was through the Indian Nations. My family settled in that area many years ago, and were very much aware of the James boys. That's why I have so many uncles, great-uncles, etc. named Jesse and Franklin. My brother is named after Frank James. Not to say that they were heroes, but they did make an impression because they spent time in that area, and everyone followed their exploits through the papers or dime novels. By the way, ya'll can check into it, but I can tell you that Frank was the far more cold-blooded of the two and not a guy to be messed with. There could be some historical evidence that these boys worked as cowboys on the cattle drives up the Chisholm and Great Western cattle trails. If so, they would have had a pretty good familiarity with the Wichita Mountains. I don't know how much hidden treasure Frank recovered when he bought a place down by Fletcher, but he did have a reason for moving down there. Cole Younger...I can't say much about him. Cole Younger was Cole Younger and he had to make a living somehow, that's all I was told. 2late2dig, you're dead right on one thing, J. Frank Dalton was not Jesse James.

[RGINN]

Well I guess that killed this post.