Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross are fictional characters, but Cole Younger and Frank James were very real, and they did indeed operate a Wild West show for a brief time in 1903, long after the death of their infamous gang leader, Jesse James. The Younger-James gang's exploits have been depicted on film many times, from Walter Hill's "The Long Riders" to Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." As the American frontier era came to a close at the end of the 19th century, many famous Western figures took advantage of audiences' newfound nostalgia for the cowboy days by forming touring companies and stage shows (most notably "Buffalo" Bill Cody, who began his famous Wild West show in 1883).
When Mattie journeys to the Memphis fairgrounds to reunite with Rooster, she is met by Younger (Don Pirl) and James (James Brolin in an uncredited cameo). Unfortunately, the two aged outlaws have bad news for her: Rooster died while they were on tour in Arkansas, and was buried there. Mattie thanks Younger, who stood up to greet her, for the information; she looks James, who remained seated, up and down and remarks, "Keep your seat, trash."
