author
Cole Younger
1844–1916
A Confederate guerrilla turned member of the James–Younger Gang, he became one of the most recognizable figures of the American outlaw era. After years in prison, he reentered public life and even told his own story in print and on the lecture circuit.
1 Audiobook
The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself
by Cole Younger
About the author
Born Thomas Coleman Younger in Jackson County, Missouri, on January 15, 1844, he grew up in a family shaped by the violence of the Missouri–Kansas border conflict. During the Civil War, he rode with Confederate guerrilla groups, including fighters associated with William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, experiences that tied him to some of the most brutal fighting of the era.
After the war, he became a leading member of the James–Younger Gang, taking part in robberies that made the gang nationally notorious. He was captured after the failed 1876 Northfield bank raid in Minnesota and spent many years in prison before being released on parole.
In later life, he tried to build a more respectable public image. He lectured, wrote about his experiences, and lived long enough to become a figure of legend as well as controversy, dying in Lee's Summit, Missouri, on March 21, 1916.