Historical Account
SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1876
Northfield, Minnesota
The Raiders Enter the Bank
On a bright and sunny Thursday in September of 1876, eight bandits rode into Northfield intent on rob-bing the First National Bank. The date was September 7 and the time was 2pm. Later it would be called “a textbook James-Younger bank robbery,” and it began with three of their number entering the bank and announcing that this was a holdup. The desperadoes ordered the three bank employees to open the safe but were told that the door was locked and couldn’t be opened.
The Scene on the Street
Meanwhile, out on the street, local citizens began to arm themselves when one of their merchants dis-covered the robbery in progress. Upon this discovery, two of the gang members sprang to their saddles and began firing their pistols and yelling for all to leave the area or be shot. This forced the three remain-ing robbers to enter the fray. The first to fall was a Swedish immigrant named Nicholas Gustafson, who remained on the street, not understanding English. Gustafson was wounded in the head and died several days later.
Defeat Comes Swiftly
It lasted but seven minutes and when it was over, two of the robbers lay dead on the street with two more badly wounded. As the remaining six ruffians fled to the south and west, the largest manhunt in the his-tory of these United States was being organized. Frank and Jesse James were not caught after the botched raid, but the Younger brothers were captured and Charlie Pitts was killed after a furious gun battle near Madelia, Minnesota, two weeks later.
The Heroes Were Many
The heroes that day were many: J.S. Allen, the merchant who first sounded the alarm; A.R. Manning, who shot a horse, wounded Cole Younger and killed William Chadwell using only a single shot rifle; Henry Wheeler, who killed Clell Miller and wounded Bob Younger with an old Army carbine he found in the lobby of the Dampier Hotel; and the one who gave the most that day, Joseph Lee Heywood, who died because he wouldn’t open the bank vault and betray the trust of the owners of the bank. It is the extraordinary courage of these ordinary men that we honor on the weekend after Labor Day each year.
Upcoming reenactments
Each year the weekend after labor day Northfield, Minnesota celebrates the Defeat of Jesse James Days.