The Legend of the Bell provided by Donna Ottley

Sorry that I have not posted for so long. Robert and I went to Boston and then it took a week to get back to rights.

Here is an interesting story.....provided by Donna Ottley

Many tales of daring desperadoes have come out of the West. But none can equal the abduction of "the bell" in Elba, Idaho.

The Bell, about 500 pounds of cast iron, had hung in the school house belfry for years. It summoned scholars to 'larnin' and announced emergencies and fires, and clanged its way as a permanent fixture of the small mountain community.

The school had been closed. Rumors were that the school district personnel were coming to claim the bell.

Word was conveyed to local outlaws who planned in whispers to save the bell. Tension mounted as the striking hour drew nigh.

In the gathering dusk and darkness, Jesse James, (alias Orvil Beecher) and his cousin Frank, (alias Orvil Sears) aided by Belle Star (Debra) and Calamity Jane, (Marilyn) met for the rendezvous.

They scaled the school house walls armed with ropes and a hacksaw, sawed the bolts and loosened the bell from its moorings, and removed the frame and clapper. Then they met the first obstacle. The bell wouldn't slide. It had to be dragged down the steep roof, angled over the south portico and lowered with ropes to the get-away car, Jessie's pickup.

Where to hide it? Suggestions came from a nearly sawmill operator to hide it in his sawdust pile. Choices were few and decisions must be hasty.

It was taken to Frank's house, toted up the stairs by way of crowbar and groans, and deposited in the 'everything' room.

Midnight was nigh and Jesse, Belle, and Calamity stealthily departed. School officials came the next morning and climbed to the roof, but NO BELL!

Speculation ran rampant. Neighbor accused neighbor. One local patron argued that he didn't want to be a part of it and be considered a thief.

Reverberations of "the bell" still linger in this valley and in wild imagination one can detect a clanging of its clapper. "THE BELL, WHERE IS THE BELL?"

But to this day no one has "for sartin" solved the mystery. "The Bell" has never been seen, but by those who were in "the gang!"