The Fleagle Gang

Betrayed by a fingerprint

 

Book Signing reports from the first year

 

July 22, 2006 ­ It has been more than a year since The Fleagle Gang hit the book market, and we continue to get great feedback from people who have read it. We are pleased that people have found it interesting to read. Many of the people we have heard from have a personal or family interest in the book, and the events from those exciting days. It has been 78 years since the Lamar robbery, but I get a thrill about the forensic science every time I hear a story about someone being caught by a fingerprint. Of course, DNA has become as important in catching criminals, but the first thing the criminal scene investigators look for are fingerprints.

I traveled to Lamar on July 1, 2006, to watch The Great Race come through town. It was great to see the old 1927 blue Buick that began the whole story for me 39 years ago when it was put on display in Prowers County. It sent a chill up my spine to see the car sitting on a Lamar street surrounded by other classic cars.

March 24, 2006 ­ Book sales continue to add up. The Christmas season was the best, but that was to be expected. We check the online sites pretty regularly, and the book seems to do better through Barnes & Noble than through Amazon. On Barnes & Noble the book has been in the top 10 bestsellers a few times under the true crime/robbery and burglary category. The bestseller list changes frequently, and the other day the book was listed at No. 23 of 169. I am surprised by how the book moves up and down on the Amazon.com list. On Amazon the book has fallen nearly to the bottom of their list, but suddenly it will pop up into the top 10 percent. Sales through Authorhouse have been the slowest, but then I think both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the book listed at a cheaper price. I have been pleased with the total sales which are nearing 1,000 books in the first year ­ for a self-publish and self-promoted book that is pretty good. We continue to hear good comments about the book, and hope some of the more outlying areas where the Fleagle Gang operated find it helpful.

There was a good crowd at the joint book signing at the Fick History and Fossil Museum in Oakley on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005. The first part of the program was a presentation by Mike Everhart about his new book "Oceans of Kansas," which is about the prehistoric fish and birds found fossilized in the Smoky Hill River area of western Kansas. Switching from prehistoric animals we followed with a presentation about the Fleagle gang. There were about three dozen books sold and more than 40 signed, and again some nice compliments. One question that seems to come up is whether there is any evidence that the Fleagle gang buried loot after bank robberies. Sadly, I have found no evidence that they buried anything. In most cases the evidence is they would burn up anything that was not negotiable, and there is evidence the two Fleagle brothers put their money in banks throughout western Kansas under aliases. Old man Jake Fleagle is the only family member who seemed to have a penchant for burying loot or storing it in hidden places in his home.

Over 75 people turned out for the Scott County Historical Society membership meeting on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2005, and they sold all 39 books they had on hand and were taking orders for 16 more. The audience was quite complimentary, and we met a number of people who remembered the Fleagle family members who have lived in the area. The El Quartelejo Museum is well worth seeing as Tom Graham gave us a quick tour before the program began. It is wonderful to have people enjoying the book, and we hope they are sharing the story with their family and friends. This is a story that has no ending, and we expect other people to publish more books with other parts of the story of this professional gang of bank and train robbers.

There was a good crowd for the fall picnic at the Finney County Museum on Oct. 2, 2005. They sold about 25 books, and I signed about a dozen that had been purchased previous to the picnic. One man had sent the book to his brother in Florida for his birthday. He read it and sent it back to his brother to have me sign it. At the same time the museum had the "Fleagle Family" car on display. It is a green 1929 Model A, I believe Ralph was driving when he was arrested in Kankakee, Ill. We know that Eleanor Fleagle Hooker and Walter Fleagle drove the car for many years. The car was given to the museum by Kenneth Hooker, and they are raising money to have it restored. It looks better today than when I fist saw it. The car has new tires all around, and the wheels have been cleaned, greased and repainted black