The only crematorium west of the Mississippi was located in St. Louis. On this day the body of Frank James was cremated there so it could be kept in a bank vault until the eventual burial with his wife in Independence.
the James gang
“Bloody” Bill Anderson, Jesse and Frank James, Cole Younger, and other Bushwhackers took 20 Union soldiers off a train and executed them in what became known as the Centralia Massacre. Anderson’s gang was later attacked by an inexperienced Union force and more than 120 Union troops were killed in a battle outside Centralia. Missouri Life …