The Treasure of Frank & Jesse James

About the Book

The book opens with the book's main character, Nat Wallace who is now in his latter years of life and has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He decides to write all his memories down in book form before he gets to the point he could no longer remember very well. Imagine if you will a thirteen year-old blond headed boy spending a great deal of time growing up on his grandparent's farm. His grandmother's maiden name from his mother's side of the family was James. A great deal had been rumored that the James boys spent some time at grandma's home back during their heyday. It was also rumored that my grandmother was distantly related to the James boys in some way. The old homestead has now been torn down and they have long been deceased. The only thing left of the old homestead was the old chimney and fireplace. Since still had a lot of memories of the old place, he visited it as often as he could. On one of his visits he leaned against the fireplace and a brick loosened showing an old "Wanted Poster" about the James boys. On the back was a treasure map. He later finds the gold treasure in the James boys grave. He was later kidnapped for a ransom. There is a murder, there is a trial to show if Nat could keep the treasure, which he does. Much later on he sells the treasure to a wealthy coin collector group for 7 million dollars. Some reference is made about Frank and Jesse's involvement in the civil war, their looting and killing, but before they died, they left the treasure to a younger brother named William who ended up burying it in the grave. William died shortly thereafter.

About the Author

The author, Dr. Nathan R. Walley, was born in a very small community in southern Mississippi called Sand Hill. He was born in this rural farm community on March 16, 1934. His parents, Nathan and his two younger sisters, eventually moved to the adjacent town of Richton, Mississippi, a small town of about 1600 people. The family moved away for a short time but later returned to Richton.

The author finished high school at Richton High School and later attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated in 1956 with a B.S. degree in Biology. His interest in science and being adept with his hands led him to the University of Tennessee Dental School in Memphis, Tennessee where he graduated in 1959.

While in school he met and married a beautiful girl by the name of Donna Johnson. After graduation they were sent to Fort Benning, Georgia where he served two years as a Dental officer.

Moving back to Memphis in 1961, he entered full-time practice for thirty-five years retiring in 1996.

His hobbies range from photography, to all types of creative art work, collecting valuable dental statues, hunting and fishing and of course writing poetry and books of fiction.