Dr. Crucial came to Fargo, Dakota Territory, in 1877 to begin his medical practice. The remote frontier and booming town suited his energetic mind. He saved lives, delivered thousands of babies, and invented an artesian well device to provide clean drinking water.
Few knew the good doctor was actually James Buchanan Cross, a notorious international criminal whose exploits had filled newspapers in the United States and Europe. Living high on two continents, he acquired and squandered a fortune. His specialty was forgery, and persuasive speech was his key. He often posed as a Frenchman and spoke fluently.
During multiple imprisonments in eastern states, he was a voracious reader and assisted the prison doctor, gaining knowledge of medicine at a time when the profession was not well regulated.
In 1860, one newspaper described J. B. Cross as "a stout, good-looking man who dresses with good taste and has a gentlemanly bearing and prepossessing manners, which aid him greatly in his rascally operations."
A perennial escape artist, he once forged a White House communication that freed him from prison. Using a doctored letter from a member of President Lincoln’s cabinet, he later convinced officials to employ him in the Secret Service for three years, earning the title Colonel J. B. Cross.
Afterward, he resumed his criminal career. In 1900, Bob Pinkerton of the famed detective agency noted, "forgers live rich and die poor."
Yet J. B. Cross, alias Dr. Crucial, reformed and lived a useful life in Fargo for more than 33 years, practicing medicine until old age and infirmity caught up with him.
On this date in 1913, the Fargo Forum reported that Dr. Crucial, nearing 90, was dying at the county poor farm. The story revealed little of his past, saying:
"He had lived a life of varied experiences before coming to this city...His knowledge of medicine was such as he had picked up during his varied career. He did not attempt surgery, but there are a great many of the old settlers of Fargo, and vicinity, who will remember him as a kindly man, who did much for the patients who came into his care. In many cases, he refused to take any money for his services and was very careless about collecting the money due him, so he died a very poor man."
Dr. Crucial was buried in a pauper’s grave at the Cass County farm.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- Checkered Life Draws to Close. FARGO PHYSICIAN, NOW AN INMATE OF THE COUNTY POOR FARM, SAID TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF MOST NOTED FORGERS IN THE ANNALS OF CRIME. The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, March 24, 1913, Page 4
- OLD CROOK DYING. DR. CRUCIAL'S CHECKERED CAREER DRAWING TO A CLOSE. WAS VERY FAMOUS CRIMINAL . The Oakes Times, March 27, 1913, Page 3
- The Pioneer Express, Pembina, ND, March 28, 1913, Page 1
- The Minneapolis Sun, Minneapolis, MN, March 29, 1913, Page 1
- The Bottineau Courant, Bottineau, ND, March 28, 1913, Page 4
- DR. JAS. CRUCIAL PASSED AWAY. UNIQUE CHARACTER, RESIDENT OF FARGO FOR THIRTY-THREE YEARS, DIED LAST NIGHT AT COUNTY HOSPITAL . HAD INTERESTING PAST. The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, October 31, 1913, Page 10
- The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, July 29, 1908, Page 5
- POOR ROAD TO RICHES. Detective Bob Pinkerton Talks About Forgers. EXPERTS MADE MILLIONS. NEARLY ALL OF THEM DIED PAUPERS OR ARE IN JAIL. The Salt Lake Herald, October 1, 1900, Page 2
- COL. J. BUCHANAN CROSS. THE CAREER OF A REMARKABLY SUCCESSFUL RASCAL. A Story Recalled by Jefferson Davis's Charge that Gov. Curtis had offered to Reward Men to Assassinate Davis. From the Philadelphia News. New York, NY. The Sun, July 24, 1887, Page 10
- ARREST OF A NOTORIOUS FORGER. The New York Tribune, May 3, 1867, Page 5
- ARREST OF AN EXTENSIVE FORGER. The New York Times, January 27, 1860, Page 4
- The Romance of Crime: THE ALLEGED FORGER, J. BUCHANAN CROSS. The New York Times, February 14, 1860, Page 1
- COLONEL CROSS, THE FORGER. Washington, DC. The Evening Star, August 14, 1860, Page 1
- Romance of a Forger. The New York Times, August 8, 1861, Page 4
