When Shepherd left Kansas City he was mounted upon a sorrel horse and his weapons consisted of a thirty-two calibre single-barrel pistol and a small pocket-knife. He rode directly to the Samuels residence, which he reached at dusk, and tied his horse in a thicket about two hundred yards from the house. He found Mrs. Samuels and the Doctor at home just preparing to sit down to supper. The story that any enmity existed on the part of Jesse James against Shepherd is untrue; reports of this kind may have been circulated but there was not a semblance of truth in them. Shepherd was warmly received by Mrs. Samuels and her husband, and at their invitation he took supper with them. While they were eating, Shepherd explained that his life and liberty were in great jeopardy and that owing to reports, false as they were, of his connection with the Glendale robbery, he had been forced to flee, and for mutual protection he wished to join Jesse James and his confederates; thereupon Shepherd produced the apparently newspaper clipping already referred to, which Dr. and Mrs. Samuels both read. After finishing supper Dr. Samuels told Shepherd to ride to a certain point in the main highway where he would meet Jesse and some of his associates. The Dr. went out into the woods where he knew the bandits were concealed, while Shepherd mounted his horse and rode to the spot indicated, where, after waiting for less than five minutes, he was met by Jesse James, Jim Cummings, Ed. Miller and another party whom Shepherd did not know. Shepherd repeated his story to Jesse James and showed him the clipping, after which he was immediately received into the full confidence of Jesse and the band. Why should Jesse have entertained suspicions? Shepherd had been his intimate comrade for many years; the two had ridden and fought together in a hundred terrible conflicts, and were associated together in the Kentucky bank robbery. Shepherd was the very man of all others whom Jesse wanted for a companion in his daring deeds and it was unnatural, under the circumstances, for any of the bandits to doubt Shepherd's story.
The party remained all night at the Samuels residence and on the following day they proceeded to a spot in Jackson county called "Six Mile," which is eighteen miles from Kansas City, and spent the day at Benjamin Marr's. It was here a plan was laid for robbing the bank at Empire City, in Jasper county. After the scheme was fully understood Shepherd told Jesse that it would be necessary for him to procure a better horse and some effective weapons, which he could do at a friend's near Kansas City. Jesse urged Shepherd then to return at night to the friend's place, get a good horse and at least two heavy pistols and meet the party at Six Mile on the third night following.
Shepherd then rode back to Kansas City and imparted the information of his meeting and arrangements with Jesse James to Maj. Leggitt, who provided Shepherd with a splendid horse and three large-sized Smith & Wesson pistols. But in order to prevent any possibility of deception, Maj. Leggitt took Shepherd to Independence and placed him in jail, and then sent three trusted men to Six Mile for the purpose of ascertaining if Jesse James and his party were really rendezvoused at that point. Maj. Leggitt soon learned that Shepherd had reported nothing but facts and he was then sent out, splendidly armed and mounted, for the meeting place. Shepherd did not reach the trysting spot until the morning after the time agreed upon, and he found Jesse and his followers gone, but the party at whose house the meeting was to occur—Benj. Marr's—gave Shepherd the following letter, which is herewith copied verbatim.
Friend Georg.
I cant wate for you hear, I want you to meet me on Rogs Iland, and we will talk about that Business we spok of. I would wate for you but the boys wants to leave hear, dont fale to come and if we dont by them cattle I will come back with you. Come to the plase whear we meet going south that time and stay in that naborhood untill I find you.
Your Friend.
J—— ——
Thus instructed Shepherd started for Rogue's Island, but met Jesse James at the head of Grand River. This fact furnishes one of the proofs of Jesse's anxiety to have Shepherd as a comrade, for he was so anxious lest Shepherd would not meet them, or fail to get the letter he left with Marr, that he returned to find him. Jesse and Shepherd returned to the camp, where they found Cummings, Miller and the unknown, and then the party rode directly for Empire City, the vicinity of which they reached about noon on Saturday, November 1, 1879. They went into camp on Short Creek, eight miles south of Empire City, and at four o'clock in the afternoon it was agreed that Shepherd should ride into the town and learn what he could respecting the surroundings and location of the bank. It was after dark when Shepherd reached the place, and, pursuing his story, he was astonished at finding the bank lighted up and a close inspection revealed to him a dozen men inside the bank armed with double-barreled shot-guns. Shepherd stated to the writer that Maj. Leggitt must have notified the bank officers of the intended raid, by telegraph, but Maj. Leggitt denies having done so, and says that Shepherd must have told some person who communicated with the bank. Anyhow the arrangement was that Maj. Leggitt was to be in Empire City with a good force of assistants and was to be aided by Shepherd in capturing the outlaws when the attack on the bank should be made. Circumstances prevented Maj. Leggitt from appearing in Empire City at the time agreed upon, but he sent word to the town authorities.
Finding everything in readiness to meet the intended attack, Shepherd went into a restaurant and while eating his supper, Tom Cleary, an old acquaintance, came in and greeted him. After supper the two went to Cleary's house and remained all night, and Shepherd told his friend the part he was acting in the effort to capture Jesse James. Ed. Cleary, a brother of Tom's, was also informed of the scheme and Shepherd asked their assistance, or to at least follow him the next morning to the camp of the bandits. The understanding was at the time Shepherd left the outlaws that he should return to the camp by nine o'clock Sunday morning and, if his report was favorable, the raid on the bank would be made Sunday night.
Shepherd kept the appointment and returned to the place where the bandits had encamped, but found the camp deserted. He thought this strange, but soon found the old sign of a "turn-out" had been made to let him know where they were. It is well known that the James Boys and their comrades frequently separate. They have a sign, however, by which it is not difficult for them to find one another. This sign is the crossing of two twigs along the highway, which indicates that one or more of the parties, according to the number of twigs, has turned out of the highway at that point. Shepherd saw the twigs and after riding about half a mile in the direction the branches lay he found the party, all of whom were slightly intoxicated. He knew they had no whiskey with them when he left on Saturday afternoon, and at once concluded they had been in town. Cummings was the first to speak. Said he: "The bank is guarded; how is this?" Shepherd responded: "Yes, and I think the best thing for us to do is to separate and get out of this."
Cummings had ridden into Galena on Saturday-night, where he had purchased some whiskey and there heard rumors of the intended bank raid.