S. R. Van Sant, Governor.
Chas. M. Start, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Wallace B. Douglas, Attorney-General.

A few days later I filed with Governor Van Sant the following: "I, Thomas
Coleman Younger, pursuant to one of the conditions upon which a pardon has
been granted to me, do hereby promise upon my honor that I will never
exhibit myself, nor allow myself to be exhibited, as an actor or
participant in any public performance, museum, circus, theater, opera
house, or any place of public amusement or assembly where a charge is made
for admission."

37. THE WILD WEST

The "Cole Younger and Frank James' Historical Wild West Show" is an effort
on the part of two men whose exploits have been more wildly exaggerated,
perhaps, than those of any other men living, to make an honest living and
demonstrate to the people of America that they are not as black as they
have been painted.

There will be nothing in the Wild West show to which any exception can be
taken, and it is my purpose, as a part owner in the show, and I have put
in the contracts with my partners, that no crookedness nor rowdyism will
be permitted by attaches of the I show. We will assist the local
authorities, too, in ridding the show of the sort of camp-followers who
frequently make traveling shows the scapegoat for their misdoings. We
propose to have our show efficiently and honestly policed, to give the
people the worth of their money, and to give an entertainment that will
show the frontiersman of my early manhood as he was.

I had hoped if my pardon had been made unconditional, to earn a livelihood
on the lecture platform. I had prepared a lecture which I do think would
not have harmed any one, while it might have impressed a valuable lesson
on those who took it to heart.

I give it herewith under the title, "What My Life Has Taught Me."

38. WHAT MY LIFE HAS TAUGHT ME

Looking back through the dimly lighted corridors of the past, down the
long vista of time, a time when I feared not the face of mortal man, nor
battalions of men, when backed by my old comrades in arms, it may seem
inconsistent to say that I appear before you with a timidity born of
cowardice, but perhaps you will understand better than I can tell you that
twenty-five years in a prison cell fetters a man's intellect as well as
his body. Therefore I disclaim any p