The 1869 killing of a bank cashier in Gallatin, Missouri, has long been considered the first in a long line of robberies by Jesse and Frank James. But in a discussion of his new book, lawyer and author James P. Muehlberger maintains that it wasn’t a robbery attempt at all. Rather, as documents that Muehlberger discovered show, it was a carefully planned execution meant to avenge the death of Confederate guerrilla leader “Bloody Bill” Anderson during the Civil War.

Muehleberger is a partner at Kansas City’s Shook, Hardy & Bacon law firm. His articles on legal history have appeared the National Law Journal, For the Defense, and Wild West Magazine.

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