Dear Jim:
I hear they are making a great fuss about old Dan Askew, and say the James Boys done the killing. It's one of old Pink's lies, circulated by his sneaks. I can prove that I was in Texas, at Dallas, on the 12th of May, when the killing was done. Several persons of the highest respectability know that I could not have been in Clay county, Missouri, at that time. I might name a number who could swear to this, whose words would be taken anywhere. It's my opinion Askew was killed by Jack Ladd and some of Pinkerton's men. But no meanness is ever done now but the James Boys must bear the blame for it. This is like the balance of the lies they tell about me and my brother. I wish you would correct the lies the Kansas City papers have printed about the shooting of old Askew, and oblige,
Yours faithfully,
Jesse.
The date of the murder of Askew, given in the above letter, is wrong. That event occurred on the night of April 12th, and not May, as the writer of the above note assumes.
The following is a characteristic note. It contains several allusions unintelligible to the uninitiated. It was written to an old comrade, who long ago abandoned a "wild life," and is living as a respectable citizen.
Ft. Worth, March 10th, 1877.
Dear ——:
The beeves will soon be ready. As soon as the roads dry up, and the streams run down, we will drive. We expect to take a good bunch of cattle in. You may look out. There will be plenty of bellowing after the drive. Remember, it is business. The range is good, I learn, between Sidney and Deadwood. We may go to pasture somewhere in that region. You will hear of it. Tell Sam to come to Honey Grove, Texas, before the 'drive season' comes. There's money in the stock.
As ever,
Jesse J.