Jesse James brothers took part, although an eyewitness who knew the brothers told a newspaper seven years later "positively and emphatically that he recognized Jesse and Frank James ... among the robbers." In 1868, Frank and Jesse James allegedly joined Cole Younger in robbing a bank in Russellville, Kentucky. Jesse James did not become well-known until December 7, 1869, when he and (most likely) Frank robbed the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri. The robbery netted little money. Jesse is believed to have shot and killed the cashier, Captain John Sheets, mistakenly believing him to be Samuel P. Cox, the militia
Gallatin, Missouri burned and looted much of Gallatin, Millport and Grindstone Fork, consecrating the stolen goods to the bishop's storehouse. The skirmishes were part of the 1838 Mormon War. Gallatin is important in the Latter-day Saint religion; nearby is a place known to its members as Adam-ondi-Ahman. They believe it to be the site where Adam and Eve lived after they had been expelled from the Garden of Eden. In 1892, Grand River College moved from Edinburg, Missouri to Gallatin, where it operated for a period under the auspices of William Jewell College before it closed permanently in 1910 after a fire.