How to Read a Wanted Poster

Copyright 2019 by Gary L. Pullman

Wanted posters were issued by both government law-enforcement agencies and by private companies or other organizations—whoever had the money and the motive to put a price, in the form of a “reward,” on the outlaw's head.

Bounty hunters hunted such prey, as did sheriffs, U. S. marshals, and other lawmen, any of whom was eligible for the reward.

The fugitive from justice was often represented by a sketch; less often, by a photograph; and occasionally by nothing more than a description.

Although, thanks to Hollywood, we often think that rewards were issued for tens of thousands of dollars, most were considerably less. Of course, money went a lot further in the latter half of the nineteenth century than it does today. Five-hundred dollars was a good reward; today, it would be equivalent to $11,162. Only the most notorious outlaws would fetch $5,000 or (rarely) $10,000. The Jesse James poster's reward, equal to about $111,623 today, indicates he was “wanted,” indeed.

Above the photograph, sketch, or description of the outlaw, the word “WANTED” would appear, centered. Government agencies and organizations were not permitted to offer rewards for the return of dead fugitives, so the Jesse James poster offering its $5,000 reward for the outlaw, “DEAD OR ALIVE,” was issued not by federal, state, or local authorities, but by a private organization, as the text at the poster's lower right side informs us: “Pinkerton's Detective Agency and Union Pacific Railroad.”

Most likely, the railroad issued the reward; the Pinkertons were probably hired by the railroad to effect the arrest, to take charge of James following his apprehension, or to pay the reward on behalf of the railroad.

Interestingly, the Jesse James poster isn't really a Jesse James poster at all, for it advertises a reward for the apprehension of either Jesse or his brother Frank: “WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: JESSE OR FRANK JAMES.” Therefore, it's actually a Jesse-and-Frank-James poster.

To the left of Jesse's portrait, the poster identifies the reason for the reward (and the criteria for its payment): “$5,000.00 for the capture of the men who robbed the bank at NORTHFIELD, MINN.” The text to the right of Jesse's photograph identifies the suspected robbers as either “JESSE JAMES AND HIS BAND OR THE YOUNGERS,” and warns that “THESE MEN ARE DESPERATE,” meaning, of course, dangerous. (The poster, it seems, now becomes a Jesse-and-Frank-James-AND-Younger-brothers poster!)

At the bottom of the poster, the Pinkertons and the Union Pacific Railroad explain, further, that Jesse and Frank are “notorious” robbers “of trains and banks.”

Previous rewards were offered by the same party or parties, but these previous offers are superseded, the poster declares, by the current offer, which was issued on July 26, 1881 (the same year, incidentally, that Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan shot it out with the Clanton-McLaury gang in Tombstone, Arizona). 

Apparently, Jesse and Frank have been “wanted” for quite some time, and the reward offered for their apprehension has increased along with their notoriety.

Finally, at the very bottom of the poster, another contact, besides the Pinkerton's Detective Agency, is identified: the sheriff of Daviess County, Missouri, the James boy's home stomping ground.