Cole Younger the three Youngers (Cole, Bob, and Jim) did not. They and another gang member, Charlie Pitts, waged a gun battle with a local posse in a wooded ravine along the Watonwan River west of Madelia, Minnesota. Pitts was killed, and Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger were badly wounded and captured. Cole, asked about the robbery, responded, "We tried a desperate game and lost. But we are rough men used to rough ways, and we will abide by the consequences." Cole, Jim and Bob pleaded guilty to their crimes to avoid being hanged. They were sentenced to life in prison at
Cole Brothers added in 1911, while the first cash registers arrived in 1916. The store continued to grow with a further two storeys being added to the store in 1920, however in the same year the business was sold to Gordon Selfridge. The business transferred into his Selfridge Provincial Stores Group in 1927. With the advent of the Second World War, Selfridges Provincial Stores group was sold to John Lewis. Luck was on John Lewis's side as the Cole Brothers store was not damaged during the war. The business struggled like many during the early 1950s, but by 1960 the partners at