Growing up in Missouri in the 1930s, Wilbur Zink loved listening to family legends as he sat at the kitchen table.
The one that most impressed him was the story of his grandfather, David Crowder, who was a teenager when the Pinkertons killed John Younger in 1874. A shopkeeper's son in Roscoe, Missouri, Crowder stood guard over the body. Guarding a dead man? Zink says that's not as strange as it sounds, considering what often happened to the bodies of the infamous: "The custom in those days was to cut off an ear and pickle it, or show off a body at a Wild West show."
Roscoe wasn't far from Zink's own home of Springfield, and that family tie inspired him to study what became his first book, The Roscoe Gun Battle. That research led him to seek out items owned by the Youngers and their partners in crime, Jesse and Frank James. Zink amassed thousands of items, which would ultimately inspire him to save the Younger homestead.
"The first thing I got was Jim Younger's violin," says Zink, from his Scottsdale, Arizona, home, where he and his wife have wintered for the last 28 years before returning to Springfield. As he notes, Jim ended up in prison, where he was visited by an old sweetheart who had gotten married and had a daughter. Jim gave the little girl his violin, the only thing he had to offer as a gift.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FIREARMS COLT WALKER 47
THE LEGENDARY HANDGUN THAT REALLY WON THE WEST
HERITAGE TRAVE
THE AMERICAN WEST IN ALL ITS GLORY OUR ANNUAL FAVORITES LIST CELEBRATES DESTINATIONS ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Wild Turkey, and Not the Drinkin' Kind
The actual bird was a favorite of pioneers.
THE PASSION PROJECTS OF THE MODERN WESTERN
A YEAR OF UNDERRATED EXCELLENCE
WESTERN BOOKS THEN AND NOW
THE STATE OF WESTERN HISTORY AND FICTION PUBLISHING IN 2024 IS ONE OF GRIT AND DETERMINATION.
SAMUEL WALKER VALIANT WARRIOR
While a prisoner at the castle of Perote, Walker was put to work raising a flagpole. At the bottom of the hole, Walker placed a Yankee dime, vowing to someday come back and retrieve it, at the same time exacting revenge on his Mexican captors. In the summer of 1847, when Walker's mounted riflemen returned and routed Santa Anna's guerillas, the young captain kept his promise and got his dime back.
THE BATTLE OF CENTRALIA
ON September 27, 1864, Bloody Bill Anderson and about 80 men took over the small railroad village of Centralia, looting stores and discovering a barrel of whiskey that they hauled out into the street. Wild enough when sober, they soon were roaring drunk.
THE MAN WHO SHOOTS THE WEST
Jay Dusard is a living American photographer who has made Arizona his home for over 60 years, seeing it first in 1960 on a visit, moving here for good in 1963.
A TRUE WESTERNER INDEED PHIL SPANGENBERGER 1940-2024
Spangenberger had Nevada trained to bow by the legendary horse trainer, Glenn Randall, who trained Roy Rogers' Trigger, Gene Autry's Champion, Rex Allen's Koko and the Ben Hur chariot horses, among other great equines.
Where Did the Loot Go? - This is one of those find the money stories. And it's one that has attracted treasure hunters for more than 150 years.
Whatever happened to the $97,000 from the Reno Gang's last heist? Up to a dozen members of the Reno Gang stopped a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis train at a watering station in southern Indiana. The outlaws had prior intelligence about its main load: express car safes held about $97,000 in government bonds and notes. In the process of the job, one of the crew was killed and two others hurt. The gang made a clean getaway with the loot.
