"While he was alive, Cole Younger visited Bill Anderson at his Salt Creek farm and came away from the meeting certain that William C. Anderson was his guerrilla comrade."

You have repeatedly made this claim, but requests for documentation have gone unanswered.

Shortly after William C. Anderson's fairy tale was published, the following appeared in the August 6, 1924 edition of The Chillicothe (Missouri) Constitution Tribune:

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Is The Man In Texas The Real Bill Anderson?

Quantrill Lieutenant Supposed To Have Been Slain In Fight Near Richmond---Efforts Made To Clear Up Mystery

"Jewell Mayes, secretary to the State board of agriculture, now is attempting to solve the mystery surrounding the identity of "Bill" Anderson of Brownwood, Texas."

"The "Bill" Anderson of Texas claims to be "Bill" Anderson the famous Missouri guerilla in the Civil War, who led the "bushwhackers" in the Centralia, MO, massacre. Missouri historians and many others assert the Missouri guerilla was killed by a force of federal soldiers in Ray County before the close of the war."

"Mr. Mayes has received a letter from Henry C. Fuller of Brownwood (Texas) Bulletin seeking to establish the identity of the Texas "Bill" Anderson."

"'I am sending you the picture of "Bill Anderson,"' wrote Fuller, 'or "Uncle Bill Anderson as he is known." He may not be the Bill Anderson who was alleged to have been killed, but if he is not, who is he? Show this picture to Mr. Cummings, or any other member of the old-time Quantrill band and see if they can identify it. He claims to have been at the Centralia massacre, and yet I am reliably informed that only one Bill Anderson was there, and he was afterward killed, as narrated by Major Cox in Ray County, Missouri.'"

"'The Brownwood Bill Anderson said he was born in Cole CO, Missouri, and he will be 85 years old February 7, next year, and that he came to Brown County sixty years ago. One thing is certain and that is he knew Quantrill and all his lieutenants. His talk shows that. However, he does not talk much, unless drawn out by particular friends. There is a mystery somewhere, let's unravel it.'"

"Mr. Mayes is from a pioneer family in Ray County. He knows Jim Cummings and was well acquainted with Cole Younger. As a boy, he talked with men believed to have been members of the Quantrill and Bill Anderson band of guerillas."

"Writing Mr. Fuller of the facts concerning the death of "Bill" Anderson of Missouri, Mr. Mayes said:
'There was a running fight near Old Albany, in the vicinity of what is now Orrick, Ray County, between the home guards of the federal forces and the southern "bushwhackers," the former being commanded by Colonel Cox and Major John Grimes, the latter supposed to have been commanded by Bill Anderson. Bill Anderson is reputed to have been killed in that fight and the body supposed to have been Anderson's buried in the old cemetery near the city limits of Richmond. I once went with Cole Younger to visit the grave, and Cole thought or took it for granted it was Bill Anderson's.'"

"Mr. Mayes said he would be glad to receive information which may be used to establish the identity of Bill Anderson of Brownwood, Texas."

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I refer interested parties to the source for Jay's claim -- Dr. L. E. Skinner, an optometrist in Tyler, Texas, who wrote this letter that was published in the Kansas City Star on Sept. 9, 1928:

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"Many Texans know that Bill Anderson was not killed; that he escaped, came to Texas and settled in Brown county, where he spent the remainder of his life. I was personally acquainted with him. He was a man that did not confide in everybody. He never did tell me the story of his life, but did others. He died a few years ago on his ranch near Brownwood, Texas and was buried near the spot where he first located after coming to the Lone Star state. 'Uncle Bill', as all called him, was a good citizen and helped to drive the Indians from Central West Texas.

"Uncle Bill knew the Younger boys, Frank and Jesse James, was well acquainted with Quantrill. No doubt he was with all of them on some of their expeditions. This, however, I do not know. I know that Anderson was not killed in this fight. Several years ago Cole Younger came to Brownwood with a carnival show. Bill Anderson met Younger, the latter did not know him, as he thought he was dead as reported. Anderson established his identity beyond question with Younger. It was a great meeting and they spent much time together while Younger filled his engagement.

"Anderson was scheduled to be killed in this ambush, but escaped by exchanging horses with another man. The man riding Anderson's horse was killed, and naturally this hero [Major Cox] thought he had killed the real Anderson and only identified him by his saddlebags."

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The only appearence (that I have been able to find so far) that Cole made in Texas with the carnival was in Honey Grove (about 30 miles due east of Sherman) in 1907. He was with The Great Cole Younger and Frank James Historical Wild West for only about nine months in 1903. He organized a funeral service at Anderson's grave in Richmond, Mo. on June 9, 1908. Perhaps he was back in Texas at a later date. Even giving the story considerably more than the shadow of the doubt, remember that it was at least 44 years since Cole had seen Anderson, and that the imposter would have had access to John Edward Newman's 1877 work, "Noted Guerrillas" and possibly to William E. Connelley's 1910 "Quantrill and the Border Wars", as well as several books and published interviews by some of Quantrill's men by the time he supposedly met with Cole. (I'd like to see solid documentation that he did -- surely it would have been mentioned in the local papers.) The newspapers of the time contained many interviews with former guerrillas. The imposter could have easily learned enough to fool someone who had known him slightly for less than two years some 45 years earlier.

Skinner repeats the ridiculous story that Anderson was identified by the contents of his saddlebags, while the report at the time clearly states which items were taken from Anderson's body.

Note that Dr. Skinner admits that the imposter never told him the tall tales himself -- he got it from others -- a second-hand source at best.

I invite Mr. Longley to provide any documentation that can refute the above.