Prison Puzzle Pieces. Dave Basham

three years. Frank was doing well as a farmer.

      Jesse was restless, eventually recruited a new gang and started up again with his shenanigans. On October 8, 1879, they held up a railroad near Glendale, Missouri. One of the gang was captured by a posse. His name was Tucker Basham.

      Tucker Basham? Was this a relative of mine? My family is from that part of the country. I was always told that my family lineage contained pirates, horse thieves and President Truman. I couldn't find anything on Tucker Basham to verify if I was or wasn't related to him. That's OK though, especially since one piece of information stated he was dim witted. Hey, watch what you think. I didn't have to tell you about that, but it does seem to make sense that he would be the only one captured.

      Frank eventually got sucked back in with Jesse's criminal activities. On July 15, 1881, they robbed a train with a conductor and a passenger being killed. On September 7, 1881, Jesse robbed his last train, probably because he would be killed before he decided to hold up another one.

      On April 3, 1882 Jesse was living with his wife, Zee-who was his cousin, and his kids in St. Joseph, Missouri under the name of Thomas Howard. A somewhat friend of his, Bob Ford, had conspired with the governor of Missouri. Ford was to receive $5,000 for killing Jesse. He shot Jesse in the back of the head in Jesse's own home that he was renting for $14 a month.

      Thus, the chorus from the "Ballad of Jesse James":

      Poor Jesse had a wife, a lady all her life

      And three children, they were so brave

      But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard

      Has laid ol' Jesse James in his grave

      The house Jesse was shot in is a tourist attraction, but it has been moved to a different location two blocks away. You can enter the house if you get there at the right time on the right day as long as the person running the place decides to show up then. I know. I was there. It was impossible to enter.

      Eventually, Frank turned himself in on robbery and murder charges on the condition that he would not be extradited to Minnesota. He was found not guilty.

      Jim and Cole's parole in 1901 was on condition that they stay in Minnesota. Cole was pardoned in 1903 on the condition that he left the state and never return. Both Cole and Frank eventually joined a Wild West show in Missouri.

      TWIN PRISONS BY THE TWIN CITIES

      We were notified that there was an attempted helicopter escape foiled by a snitch on 11-18-00 at the Oak Park Heights super max prison.

      Their plan was to have some people on the inside create a diversion by starting a fight in the chapel. While this was happening, people in a helicopter would take out the officers stationed on the roof and then swoop down and make their pick up. The inmate or inmates they intended to pick up would've been out in the yard at this time for recreation.

      This was significant as the Oak Park Prison is just across the swamp from Stillwater Prison.

      These are pictures that I took of the prisons from a hot air balloon. They show how close the prisons are to each other.

      Oak Park Heights Prison

      Pond between the two prisons

      Stillwater Prison

      1)B-East 2)B-West 3)A-East 4)A-West, South half was seg until the middle of 2008 5)Visiting & Shakedown 6)C-Hall (also called Atlantis) 7)Security Center 8)Health Services 9)Recreation, gymnasium upstairs, weight room and other activities downstairs 10)D-Hall 11)Education 12)Dining Hall 13)Industry 14) Warehouses 15)MSU, Minimum Security Unit 16)Replaced with new segregation unit

      The 7 small circles are towers along the wall.