In 1869, they didn't have computer, or bloggers, or crime blogs.

If they did, surely someone would have picked up on this one:  an impressively unsuccessful bank heist, resulting in mistaken identity, very little profit, and loss of horse-twice.

Accoridng to an article in the March 2008 American BAr Association Journal, the above mentioned crime may have been pulled off in splendid dumb criminal style by Jesse James- yes, that Jesse James.

Outlaw legends Jesse and Frank James had a simple plan: to kill a former Union colonel working as a cashier at the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Mo.,  robbing the bank while they were at it.

The murder was believed to have been a revenge killing,  to avenge the death of the Jameses' Confederate guerilla leader, "Bloody Bill Anderson."

Witnesses said Jesse James shouted, "this is for the death of Bloody Bill Anderson!" before firing the fatal shot, according to the ABA report.

Only one problem: Anderson's killer was a former colonel named Samuel P. Cox.

Jesse James shot a man named John W. Sheets, a cashier at a different bank than the one Cox worked at.

There are also accounts of the James boys leaving the bank empty handed, having forgotten the cash they asked Sheets to change to distract him.

Also, James lost his horse in the debacle, proving that even legendary criminals have their bad days.

And, he lost a civil suit to a local farmer in Daviess County.

Oh, yes, this would have made quite a blog entry.

According to a news release from Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office, the recently unearthed documents chronicling the only civil case on record against the Brothers James are now available online as part of the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative.

Images of the original arrest warrants, witness subpoenas, and pleas for bail from all of the indictments for murder and grand larceny leveled against Frank and Jesse James are now available at www.missouridigitalheritage.com.

The civil suit was brought against the James Brothers by Daniel Smoote, a farmer out riding his horse in Kearney, Mo., on Dec. 7, 1869.

He encountered the notorious bank robbers, thought to be fleeing the savings association.

They were sharing a horse at the time, because Jesse James had been thrown from his own and jumped onto his brother's mount to avoid being dragged.

At gunpoint, Jesse James requested the use of Smoote's horse.

The farmer quickly acquiesced, but later filed an attachment suit against Frank and Jesse James, seeking full value of the horse, saddle, and bridle, according to the court documents.

Ever the cunning criminal, Jessse James carefully avoided admitting the horse belonged to him-knowing it was the first piece of physical evidence connecting him to the robbery and murder.

At first blush, the case didn't appear to be going anywhere, and was dismissed once because the Clay County Sheriff was unable to personally serve the papers to the two outlaws.

Still the implication apparently rankled Jesse James, and though they may not have had crime bloggers, he did the next best thing: he attempted to try the case in the newspaper.

In a letter to the Kansas City Times, he declared his innocence of the crime and said he'd sold the animal sometime before the robbery to some "jayhawkers," and would be happy to stand trail for the killing if Daviess County could guarantee him a fair one.

Since the letter showed that Jesse James clearly read the paper, they were able to serve notice using an ad in the classified section-and it worked.

Smoote was awarded the amount of $223 in the judgement, and to collect, he took possession of horse James left behind- an animal descended from Kentucky racing stock, and believed to be worth more than twice the amount of the settlement-the same amount as about 50 acres of Missouri farm land back then.