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The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself
The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself is a classic American West outlaw autobiography by Cole Younger. Many may wonder why an old "guerrilla" should feel called upon at this late day to rehearse the story of his life. On the eve of sixty, I come out into the world to find a hundred or more of books, of greater or less pretensions, purporting to be a history of "The Lives of the Younger Brothers," but which are all nothing more nor less than a lot of sensational recitals, with which the Younger brothers never had the least association. Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger (January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916) was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw leader with the James–Younger Gang. He was the eldest brother of Jim, John and Bob Younger, who were also members of the gang. During the American Civil War, savage guerrilla warfare wracked the state of Missouri. Younger's father was a Union supporter, but he was shot dead anyway by a Union soldier from Kansas. After that, Cole Younger sought revenge as a pro-Confederate guerrilla or "bushwhacker" under William Clarke Quantrill. By 1862, the Confederate Army had been forced to withdraw from the state, and most of the fighting involved pro-Union and pro-Confederate partisans rather than regular armies. However, the bushwhackers held a special hatred for the "red leg" Union troops from Kansas who frequently entered Missouri and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. Younger rode with Quantrill in a retaliatory raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, during which about 200 citizens were killed and the town looted and burned. Younger later claimed to have eventually left the bushwhackers and enlisted in the Confederate Army. He claimed he was sent to California on a recruiting mission, and returned after the war's end to find Missouri ruled by a militant faction of Unionist Radicals. In the last days of the war, the Radicals had pushed through a new state constitution that barred all Confederate sympathizers from voting, serving on juries, holding public office, preaching the gospel, or carrying out other public roles. The constitution freed all slaves in Missouri in advance of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It enacted a number of reforms, but the restrictions on former Confederates created disunity. Most of the former bushwhackers returned to peaceful lives. Many left Missouri for friendlier places, particularly Kentucky, where they had relatives. Most of their former leaders, including Quantrill and William "Bloody Bill" Anderson, had been killed during the war. But a small core of Anderson's men, led by the ruthless Archie Clement, remained together. State authorities believed that Clement planned and led the first daylight peacetime armed bank robbery in U.S. history when he held up the Clay County Savings Association on February 13, 1866. The bank was run by the leading Radicals of Clay County, who had just held a public meeting for their party. The governor posted a reward for Clement, but he and his band of outlaws conducted further robberies that year. On election day of 1866, Clement led his men to polling places in Lexington, Missouri, where they intimidated Radical voters and secured the election of a conservative slate of candidates. A state militia unit entered the town shortly thereafter and killed Clement when he resisted arrest. It is uncertain when Cole Younger and his brothers joined Clement's gang. The first mention of his involvement came in 1868, when authorities identified him as a member of a gang who robbed a bank in Russellville, Kentucky. Former guerrillas John Jarrett, Arthur McCoy, and George and Oliver Shepard were also implicated. Oliver Shepard was killed resisting arrest and George was imprisoned. Once the more senior members of the gang had been killed, captured, or quit, its core thereafter consisted of the Younger brothers and Frank and Jesse James
104 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 1903
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 17, 2025
A nice read if you're a fan of Jesse James and his posse. A nice lie too. No way the Northfield raid was Cole's only bank job. Lots and lots of lies to paint himself innocent and good, while I get it because he was a prisoner and he had high hopes of his family name and what he'd leave behind.
What's interesting is that he's not mentioning Jesse and Frank James on that day at Northfield. I liked the whole code of conduct, how he kept silent even after Jesse's solution to escape was to leave his brother behind.
What I didn't like was the lies, and the ending were he tried to be all philosophical about everything, and have his own TED talk by just telling us that he basically read a lot in prison. We get it Cole.
Even if the whole robbery and what he said was true or not, or half of it, it was a fun read nonetheless.
What's interesting is that he's not mentioning Jesse and Frank James on that day at Northfield. I liked the whole code of conduct, how he kept silent even after Jesse's solution to escape was to leave his brother behind.
What I didn't like was the lies, and the ending were he tried to be all philosophical about everything, and have his own TED talk by just telling us that he basically read a lot in prison. We get it Cole.
Even if the whole robbery and what he said was true or not, or half of it, it was a fun read nonetheless.
October 23, 2020
So wait... one of the most notorious bandits in western history only robbed one bank, and it just happened to be the one he was caught for? Amazing he could even find the time to rob it in between being framed for other crimes and carrying out selfless deeds from the mere goodness of his heart.
Likely story, Cole Younger! 🤠
Likely story, Cole Younger! 🤠
March 12, 2023
Not a big fan, couldn't even get through the whole things. Much of what Younger says is known to be untrue, in the end it was too exhausting to try and figure out what was true and what was not.
November 12, 2024
Cole describes himself as more of a saint than a sinner. By his account, he was framed for all the bank robberies except for the one that he got caught. Even though he masterminded the robbery and was able to solicit the help of several known criminals, this was his only bank job? He did have some good thoughts on life and country but didn’t follow his own advice.
September 20, 2025
Properly, this book’s title seems to be The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself, which produced some confusion whenever I tried to explain to someone what I was reading. He doubtless wished to emphasize the reliability of his tale, as told by the (presumably) most qualified person. Like the rest of the book, the proper reading of the title is in line with the idea of “he doth protest too much.” The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself, is an outlaw’s memoir in which he attempts to convince us he definitely had nothing to do with about a dozen robberies to which he’s linked, and that he was entirely justified and noble in participating in the one on which he was caught.
Before Younger was an outlaw who may have run with Jesse James (though his memoir claims they were not on good terms), he was a teenage guerilla in the Civil War. Though his writing style is straightforward, his approach to storytelling is not, and The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself suffers from a thoroughly confusing chronology, especially for the early events of his life. A casual reading will have people you thought were dead popping up again later in the text, as he’ll often mention someone’s eventual fate long before it actual happens, but not clearly delineate that information from the story he’s presently relating. Some of this may be deliberate obfuscation, as Younger was determined to present himself in the best possible light, providing alibis, excuses, and justifications for anything of which he was accused or could be accused in the future, but to say all of it is intentional is probably lending him too much credit. Which would be inadvisable, as he’s apt to run off with it, the contents of your bank account, and your horses, too.
If you’re thinking an outlaw’s memoir, even one in which said outlaw attempts to provide alibis, excuses, and justifications for all his outlawry, will be full of excitement an adventure, Younger’s entry in the tiny subgenre will fall far short of your expectations. There are a few vividly described “action scenes,” including a few that took place during the Civil War, and his abortive flight from the robbery gone wrong which ended with him in prison (wrongfully, of course, and he was at all times a model prisoner), but the thrust of the book is political. Not politics with a big “P,” but the kind of politics that you might think of associated with the phrase “small town politics” or even “workplace politics.” A plurality of the book consists of Younger citing various references with whom the reader is expected to be impressed, who are quoted as vouching for his character – notably, they rarely are quoted directly contradicting a charge of which Younger was accused.
Grasping all the nuance in this semifictional autobiography requires an intimate familiarity with the events of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era and their effects on, and relevance to, a specific area of southern Missouri, near the border with Kansas (though if you’ve read Chernow’s Grant you should have plenty to understand the important parts). In this case, you’re reading the Confederate perspective, which is an interesting experience if you’ve not done it before. When I was in the seventh grade, I did a book report on the Memoirs of Robert E Lee, which was a fascinating insight into one of the war’s great generals. Reading those Memoirs, Lee’s return to Virginia, rather than fighting for the Union, seems a noble sacrifice and a decision about which he was continuously torn, and the validity of the southern cause will rarely seem more justified and reasonable. Grant helps put Lee’s Memoirs in context, and Chernow makes a compelling argument that their very reasonableness and articulateness, coming when it did, did significant damage to the cause of Reconstruction and reconciliation, in part helping to create the foundation of the myths which parts of the south continue to perpetuate about the Civil War and its aftermath. The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself is not that – not so articulate, not so reasonable, not so noble – but it is arguably part of the same tradition, and Younger contrives to make him and his southern allies appear the aggrieved and abused party, slaves as willing servants, Union soldiers as especially violent and exploitive, and so forth. There may be a grain of truth to some of this (a section about the provocations of Kansas settlers against Missouri, along Union/Confederate lines of sympathy, reads as reasonable for my knowledge of the politics and passions of the time), but most of it, like his assertions of innocence of a highly specific list of bank robberies, falls under the “he doth protest too much” heading.
As usual, I am not a historian, and I did not read this with an eye towards its historical veracity. Someone with more time and interest than me could probably go in and try to parse if Younger could actually have been in all the different places he claims he was at various times, but I read this as-is, in a sense, without worrying myself too much about where Younger is telling the truth and where he’s not. And yes, Younger was quite the traveler, if his memoir is to be believed, crisscrossing the country, as well as parts of Mexico, Latin America, and Cuba. I wish he would have spent more time describing some of his adventurous travels, instead of trying to convince us he only robbed one bank (and the owner had it coming, don’t you know). Reading The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself was interesting, and the fact it’s still around is one measure of the book’s success. As an attempt to convince me of his innocence, though, it falls far short. In that, it’s what you’d expect from an outlaw’s memoir.
December 25, 2013
I give this one three stars, because I feel it was full of lies. I grew up in Lee's Summit, MO, where Cole Younger was from. We learned about him in school. I find it hard to believe that he committed only one robbery and it happened to be the one where he was caught. We'll never truly know, but he was quite boastful about his life, when he was clearly a criminal. I guess when you write a book about your life, you can write whatever you want. He certainly tooted his own horn, a lot. Maybe he really was a victim of being guilty by association, but I highly doubt it.
March 1, 2011
I expected much more mention of the James brothers in a book written by a "Survivor of the Jesse James Gang".
I did not think this book was very well written and, after reading, question how open the author really was about his life. (My opinion only!)
I did not think this book was very well written and, after reading, question how open the author really was about his life. (My opinion only!)
January 1, 2018
We happened upon this book at the Stillwater Prison/Warden House historical site, and it was a worthwhile read. I didn't really know anything about the Youngers, or the gang that had committed the infamous Northfield robbery, so I didn't come into the book with the tall tales and exaggerations that Younger seeks to dispel. As it is, it reads as a lucid account of a young man led into civil war through uncivil circumstances - a southern boy whose post-war wandering led him to the north, and the place of his quarter-century incarceration.
It's hard to read the book and not see it, in part, as an indictment of the racism deeply embodied in Younger's narrative. For him, the Civil War seems to have almost nothing to do with the rights of slaves. African-descended slaves are spoken of as dispassionately as though they were cattle. Younger recounts the many understandable reasons for the south's long-lasting enmity, but glosses right over the central concern regarding the full humanity and liberty of those who were enslaved by southern practice.
On the other hand, Younger is also articulate, thoughtful and comes across in many ways as credibly honorable. Throughout his chapters, he attaches comments and letters of support from governors, senators, and wardens. If the letters are genuine, Younger appears to have risked his own life to protect Northern prisoners of war and honor rules of engagement that other soldiers preferred to ignore. And he was apparently a model prisoner, too - even being given a pistol and the obligation of overseeing female inmates during the Stillwater Prison fire.
It's really the last chapter that brings the book together. In it, Younger details a presentation in which he seeks an audience to recount the reflected meaning of his experiences. It's filled with some general platitudes about living a good, faithful and within-the-law life, sure, but it also contains stirring passages that are at once both conservative in their rhetoric and progressive in their meaning. At times, these moments stretch across the decades since the words were written, and seem to speak fairly directlty to the world we live in today, where the poor are imprisoned regularly while a billionaire politician turns the highest office of the nation into a self-serving business venture and mouthpiece for bigotry:
"I have learned that politics is often mere traffic, and statemanship trickery; I have learned that the honor of the republic is put upon the plains and battled for; I have learned that the English language is too often used to deceive the commonwealth of labor; I have learned that the man who prides himself on getting on the wrong side of every public issue is as pernicious an enemy to the country as the man who openly fires upon the flag; and I have seen the mute sufferings of men in prison which no human pen can portray." (p. 110)
It's short, it's worth a read, and there's a lot of history in it from the ground level.
It's hard to read the book and not see it, in part, as an indictment of the racism deeply embodied in Younger's narrative. For him, the Civil War seems to have almost nothing to do with the rights of slaves. African-descended slaves are spoken of as dispassionately as though they were cattle. Younger recounts the many understandable reasons for the south's long-lasting enmity, but glosses right over the central concern regarding the full humanity and liberty of those who were enslaved by southern practice.
On the other hand, Younger is also articulate, thoughtful and comes across in many ways as credibly honorable. Throughout his chapters, he attaches comments and letters of support from governors, senators, and wardens. If the letters are genuine, Younger appears to have risked his own life to protect Northern prisoners of war and honor rules of engagement that other soldiers preferred to ignore. And he was apparently a model prisoner, too - even being given a pistol and the obligation of overseeing female inmates during the Stillwater Prison fire.
It's really the last chapter that brings the book together. In it, Younger details a presentation in which he seeks an audience to recount the reflected meaning of his experiences. It's filled with some general platitudes about living a good, faithful and within-the-law life, sure, but it also contains stirring passages that are at once both conservative in their rhetoric and progressive in their meaning. At times, these moments stretch across the decades since the words were written, and seem to speak fairly directlty to the world we live in today, where the poor are imprisoned regularly while a billionaire politician turns the highest office of the nation into a self-serving business venture and mouthpiece for bigotry:
"I have learned that politics is often mere traffic, and statemanship trickery; I have learned that the honor of the republic is put upon the plains and battled for; I have learned that the English language is too often used to deceive the commonwealth of labor; I have learned that the man who prides himself on getting on the wrong side of every public issue is as pernicious an enemy to the country as the man who openly fires upon the flag; and I have seen the mute sufferings of men in prison which no human pen can portray." (p. 110)
It's short, it's worth a read, and there's a lot of history in it from the ground level.
January 20, 2023
A interesting look into 1903 language and 19th century outlaw history. Full of details of his family's tragic life story, The author does well insisting he was a man of great integrity and only justifiable minimal criminal activity Everyone is quilty except him.
His point is clear. He is innocent of the tabloid accusations. Indeed, it may be true that his reputation was an exaggeration, only God knows. In addition the crimes by Northern sympathizers and Southerns alike were atrocious.
However, the last chapter of philosophy was completely unbelievable After writing 27 chapters in simple English in 106 pages, all of a sudden he drops a 17 page college essay quoting multiple poets and Shakespeare? I don't think he even wrote the last chapter, and I don't believe he was at all truthful.
His point is clear. He is innocent of the tabloid accusations. Indeed, it may be true that his reputation was an exaggeration, only God knows. In addition the crimes by Northern sympathizers and Southerns alike were atrocious.
However, the last chapter of philosophy was completely unbelievable After writing 27 chapters in simple English in 106 pages, all of a sudden he drops a 17 page college essay quoting multiple poets and Shakespeare? I don't think he even wrote the last chapter, and I don't believe he was at all truthful.
July 1, 2018
Bantits
There was a time when I worked in a prison. Cole Younger gives a pretty good description and Metaphysical interpretation of what it is to be an inmate. Also provides some insight into the Kansas vs Missouri contention. As in many auto bios, he does his best to put his best foot foteward.
There was a time when I worked in a prison. Cole Younger gives a pretty good description and Metaphysical interpretation of what it is to be an inmate. Also provides some insight into the Kansas vs Missouri contention. As in many auto bios, he does his best to put his best foot foteward.
October 5, 2019
The Truth is likly somewhere in the middle.
This is filled with facinating details about the times during and after the American Civil War. A must read for those with an open mind and who are also truth seekers.
This is filled with facinating details about the times during and after the American Civil War. A must read for those with an open mind and who are also truth seekers.
October 3, 2022
Absolutely love reading about the ‘outlaws’ and especially the Youngers. Even visited their graves this year. This book was a very different account from what I’ve read previously so I’m inclined to believe that the real truth is a mixture of both. I enjoyed the last chapter the most.
January 29, 2023
Younger tries to set the record straight, so the book is mostly a listing of crimes he did not commit. No one sees himself as a bad guy. So it's not very entertaining. The facts are interesting, but I think I'll find me a book of lies now . . .
February 18, 2019
this is the best (auto) biography I've ever read.
April 21, 2020
Good book. I enjoyed reading it a lot.
March 23, 2024
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October 19, 2025I did not read or post this rating. Someone added it to my account.
March 28, 2022
History as he lived it
I expected this book by Cole Younger to show a renegade with little education, little respect for the law, and bitterness for alleged mistreatment of him and his family during/after the war. Instead I thought it showed the author as intelligent, with writing skills and info and facts that seemed verified/verifiable. Book was interesting and included action-packed presentations.
I expected this book by Cole Younger to show a renegade with little education, little respect for the law, and bitterness for alleged mistreatment of him and his family during/after the war. Instead I thought it showed the author as intelligent, with writing skills and info and facts that seemed verified/verifiable. Book was interesting and included action-packed presentations.
November 1, 2025
Unreadable garbage.
Cole spent half of the book halting the story just to tell us how much of a good boy he was and that he totally did nothing wrong and wasn’t cruel to animals (doubt) because his teacher from many decades earlier said so. Despite it being a small book I couldn’t finish it, simply due to how terrible it is.
Avoid this book at all costs.
Cole spent half of the book halting the story just to tell us how much of a good boy he was and that he totally did nothing wrong and wasn’t cruel to animals (doubt) because his teacher from many decades earlier said so. Despite it being a small book I couldn’t finish it, simply due to how terrible it is.
Avoid this book at all costs.
September 8, 2020
Very impressive!
Reading this book will give a greater understanding of the man and his times. I especially like his reflections at the end of the book. I think he had a lot of wisdom, and, yes, integrity.
Reading this book will give a greater understanding of the man and his times. I especially like his reflections at the end of the book. I think he had a lot of wisdom, and, yes, integrity.
November 6, 2015
At first it was a bit confusing as he was jumping back and forth in time and sometimes took up the same incident more than once, but then i got into the story and it was very different from what I had heard or read. According to him there was no James-Younger band, he only met Jesse James 2 times and almost got into a fight with him the last time. The documents and testimonies he put forth is very interesting and gives him alibi for a lot of the robberies that he was accused of. And the last 2 robberies he was accused of, he could not have done, as he was in prison at the time. Anyway, he was a tough guy, otherwise he would not have been alive after 11 bullet wounds in his last robbery and still be able to evade the posses for 2 weeks. The story he tells is quite tragic, and possibly true. One line he said stuck with me and it is: "God can't be everywhere, so he made women." Well, I don't know about that, but it is an interesting view.
February 24, 2020
Very Interesting
I only knew about Cole Younger from tv and the movies so it was with surprise that most of all I had known was false. Cole Younger was a soldier when he was a teenager. The James boys were not with him at the Northfield raid in Minnesota. He spent 25 years in prison for it.
I only knew about Cole Younger from tv and the movies so it was with surprise that most of all I had known was false. Cole Younger was a soldier when he was a teenager. The James boys were not with him at the Northfield raid in Minnesota. He spent 25 years in prison for it.
April 24, 2009
This was actually surprisingly well written. Not an action story, but truly intriguing anyway. Better than any other 'factual' book about Jesse James (because most of those are written by super dry historians)
October 12, 2015
2.5 stars. Fascinating from a historical stand point but sort of a dull read.
November 23, 2012
The real untold story.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews