Bank Robber Jake Fleagle:
shot in Branson on October 14, 1930
Notorious bank robber Jake Fleagle, living ten miles south of Hollister in a rented cabin, was one of several renowned outlaws who hid out in Taney County. Fleagle was shot on Oct. 14, 1930, receiving wounds that he would die from after unsuccessful emergency surgery in the Springfield Baptist Hospital. His story has fascinated young and old for nearly seventy years.
In May 1928, Fleagle and three other men, including his brother Ralph, robbed a bank in Lamar, CO, escaping with $290,000 and killing four men. They killed two men who resisted the robbery, bank president A.N. Parrish and his son F.J. In addition, they took two hostages, one of whom they left outside of town; the other--E.A. Kessinger--they kept for awhile but later killed. A fourth man, Dr. W.W. Wineinger was also shot after he was called to treat one of Fleagle's men who had been shot in the jaw during the robbery.
In 1929, the band struck again, this time robbing the Southern Pacific mail train in Hay Point, CA. They got $17,000 from this heist.
Within six months, however, all of the band had been captured and returned to Colorado--except for Jake Fleagle. Fleagle had moved to Taney County, assuming the alias Walter Cook. He and another man presented themselves as brothers to area residents, renting a cabin and taking up chicken farming. Though Fleagle kept to himself, Lee--the second man--had an amiable reputation around town.
In July 1930, Fleagle sent a letter to Colorado Governor Adams that would lead to his arrest. The letter requested leniency in the sentencing of Fleagle's brother Ralph, one of the original bank robbers who had been apprehended. Authorities traced the letter to the White River Division train--servicing the area from Aurora, MO, to Cotter, AR. The distinctive curl of Fleagle's "D"s was copied and circulated to postal employees in the southwest area. A letter believed to have been written by Fleagle was found on the Carthage to Newport mail train, addressed to a man in California. Authorities delivered the letter, but forced its recipient to open it in their presence. Fleagle wanted to arrange communication through the classified ads in the Wichita Eagle. The friend placed the ad and ultimately made plans to meet Fleagle in Yellville, AR, on Oct. 14. Authorities, of course, were in on the plans.
Lawmen rallied to capture Fleagle upon his departure from Branson. Using the White River Hotel as a central location on Oct. 13, they passed a tense night. The next day they executed the plan: five police officers and three postal inspectors were on the passenger train at the Branson depot. When Fleagle boarded the train and started to sit down, lawmen were upon him.
Allegedly reaching for his gun, the lawmen opened fire. Fleagle was shot during the capture and later trasported to the Springfield Baptist Hospital in Springfield, MO. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. C.W. Russell obtained permission from Fleagle to perform an operation to try to save his life, but to no avail. Fleagle died that day.
All three of the other men who helped rob the bank at Lamar were hanged in Colorado. Fleagle's body was shipped back to Garden City, KS, and buried beside his brother Ralph's. The incidents were preserved in a ballad by Bud Billings, and residents of Taney County continue to this day to recount the events of the notorious bank robber's stay in the area.
The photo above appeared in The Springfield News Leader in October 1930; clipping courtesy of Gaye Lisby, Branson Living magazine
Work Consulted
VanBuskirk, Kathleen. "Outlaw for My Neighbor: The Jake Fleagle Story." White River Valley Historical Quarterly Fall 1979: 4-11. The Springfield-Greene County Library. Shepard Room. <http://198.209.8.166/scripts/wrvq/v7/n1/f79e.htm> (June 1999)
