What was the name of the 1870s outlaw gang led by Jesse James and his brother Frank?

The James–Younger Gang was the 1870s outlaw gang led by Jesse James and his brother Frank.

The gang formed after the American Civil War from former Confederate guerrillas and associates in Missouri. Jesse and Frank James were its best-known members, while Cole, Jim, Bob, and John Younger also became prominent participants. The group robbed banks, trains, and stagecoaches across several states.

Many early raids were directed at banks and railroads associated with Union interests, giving the gang a political image that later writers exaggerated. Newspaper coverage and dime novels turned Jesse James into a romanticized folk hero, even though the gang’s robberies involved violence and fatalities.

The gang’s most disastrous operation was the 1876 bank raid at Northfield, Minnesota. Local citizens resisted, several gang members were killed or captured, and the organization effectively collapsed. Jesse James continued robbing with new associates until Robert Ford shot him in 1882.