Cole Younger Makes a Friend
The Original Angel & the Badman
Before the James-Younger gang attacked Northfield, Minnesota, they made a pitstop in nearby St. Peter.
Their fine horses drew attention everywhere they went, and St. Peter was no exception. Indeed, no sooner had they arrived than a flock of admiring children surrounded them, begging for rides.
Cole Younger scooped a six-year-old girl up on his saddle. Years later, he recalled the incident in his book, The True Story of Cole Younger.
A little tot then, she said she could ride a horse, too, and reaching down I lifted her up before me, and we rode up and down. I asked her name and she said it was “Horace Greeley Perry,” and I replied: “No wonder you’re such a little tot, with such a great name.”
“I won’t always be little,” she replied. “I’m going to be a great big girl, and be a newspaper man like my pa.”
“Will you still be my sweetheart then, and be my friend?” I asked her, and she declared she would, a promise I was to remind her of years later under circumstances of which I did not dream then.
Days after giving Perry a ride, Cole and his buddies struck Northfield.
Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell were killed as Cole and the others fled town in a hail of gunfire. Two weeks later, Cole and his brothers were shot to pieces and locked in jail.
They’d eventually plead guilty and receive a life sentence in Minnesota’s Stillwater prison. So far as the law was concerned, the Youngers would never again breathe free air. Ah, but Horace G. Perry had other ideas.
By the way, Horace G. Perry was named after the newspaper editor Horace Greeley. Her father, also a newspaperman, greatly admired the famous editor. Legend has it that Mr. Perry was expecting a boy, but when his firstborn turned out to be a girl, he named her after Greeley, anyway.
True to her namesake, Perry would go on to become the owner and editor of The St. Peter Journal. She also never forgot her promise of friendship to the kind man who gave her that ride.
Several years later, she’d visit Cole in prison and use her influence to secure his release in 1901. Or, as he put it: “To the hour of my pardon, she was one of the most indefatigable workers for us.”
So there you have it. I reckon it pays to be kind.
UPDATE
There will NOT be a new episode of The Wild West Extravaganza this week. Unfortunately, the audio file was corrupted, so I’ll have to re-record it.
Don’t despair because we still have a LOT more ground to cover on Jesse James! And yes, we will be looking into whether or not he really jumped Devil’s Gulch.
If you’re new to The Wild West Newsletter, welcome! The Wild West Extravaganza is a history podcast (hosted by me) that covers all things Old West: gunfighters, outlaws, lawmen, Native Americans, frontiersmen, etc. We’re currently knee-deep in a series on Jesse James. If you haven’t already, feel free to give it a listen.
I hope to return next week with the fifth installment.
Till then, adios!