Though ordered to move South beyond Union lines, they moved north across the nearby state border into Nebraska Territory. [18] Six days later, the entire business district, including Ford's Exchange, burned to the ground in a major fire. [citation needed], On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James went into the living room before travelling to Platte City. Bob Ford operated a tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. But he was forced to leave there too. Although Charles allegedly took part in the James Gangs final train robbery on Sept. 7, 1881, the Ford brothers did mostly odd jobs including holding the horses on raids. It is the latest brush with the law for Dean, who was just ten years old when he got his big break on Home and Away, acting alongside Ada Nicodemou as her on-screen son VJ Patterson from 2007 to 2014. With the saloon out of business, Ford moved on to Creede, Colo. On May 29, 1892, he opened a dance hall but six days later it burned down along with Creedes business district. Ford proved a worthy disciple, staying by Jesse's side as his paranoia worsened. [70] His story did not hold up to questioning from James's surviving relatives.[71]. dead and in coffin, 1882. [Jesse removes a towel, revealing his gun] No one was injured. Some said that Robert Ford killed someone other than James in an elaborate plot to allow him to escape justice. 55 views, 3 likes, 1 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Greenville Bible Church: Wednesday Evening Service Heaton Bowman Funeral Home, 36th Street and Frederick Avenue. From banks to train robb. Jesse James Crime By Christopher Klein is the author of four books, including When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom. When silver was found in Creede, Ford closed his saloon and opened one there. Overheated after moving around, James shed his coat and vest and, after worrying out loud that a neighbor might spot his weapons, also removed his gun belt. His father, Robert S. James, farmed commercial hemp in Kentucky and was a Baptist minister before coming to Missouri. It is thought that he took part in the notorious massacre of some two hundred men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, a center of abolitionists. Sheriff James Timberlake and Marshal Henry H. Craig, who were law enforcement officials active in the plan, were awarded the majority of the bounty. Charles heard that Frank James was seeking revenge on them for his brothers murder. All Rights Reserved. Lewd, cocky and dangerous, the "D-O-double G" and his partner Billy Gunn became one of the most decorated duos in WWE history and an unforgettable part of WWE's Attitude Era during their reign over . Meanwhile, former Union officer Thomas Crittenden began his tenure as Missouri governor in 1881 with a promise to bring James to justice. After Frank and Jesse grew up to become outlaws, the iron-willed Zerelda remained their staunch supporter. In January 1882, two James Gang members, Wood Hite and Dick Liddil, got into an argument while hiding out in the home of Fords sister. It was the first time he was publicly labeled an "outlaw"; Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden set a reward for his capture. Essay On Jesse James. [citation needed] In the 1880s, both U.S. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik. In May 1865, a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lees surrender at Appomattox Court House, Jesse was shot in the chest during a skirmish with Union troops near Lexington, Missouri. Nonetheless, the crime was discovered, and Ford was arrested. He fell ill and returned home soon afterward. Former rebels attacked the railroads as symbols of threatening centralization. When the Civil War came, young Jesse watched his older brother Frank . Rumors of Jesse James's survival proliferated almost as soon as the newspapers announced his death. He was 34 years old. Frank later identified Jesse as a member of the band who had fatally shot Major Johnson. The Cold-blooded Assassination of Outlaw Jesse James By: Oisin Curran Jesse James lies dead in his coffin, cut down in the prime of life by his close friend, Robert Ford. Ten years after James's death, Ford was himself the victim of a fatal shot to the neck by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in Creede, Colorado, dying at only 30 years old. In the case, Daniel Smoote asked for $223.50 from Frank and Jesse James to replace a horse, saddle, and bridle stolen as they fled the robbery of the Daviess County Savings Bank. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Jesse James and his brother Frank served for the Confederate Army before embarking on criminal careers in the Old West. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [11] Frank James joined a local company recruited for the secessionist Drew Lobbs Army, and fought at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August 1861. In 1863, he was identified as a member of a guerrilla squad that operated in Clay County. Both were sentenced to hang. [37], In 1874, the Adams Express Company turned to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to stop the JamesYounger Gang. However, in 1879, Jesse recruited a new set of criminal associates and embarked on a fresh crime spree. Hoping to keep the gang alive, James invited the Fords to take part in the robbery of the Platte City Bank in Missouri, but the brothers had already decided not to participate; rather, they intended to collect the $10,000 bounty placed on James by Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. [93], Old Campsite of Jesse and Frank James: US 380, approximately 5 miles east of Decatur: Texas marker #3700 . John Geoghan The Pedophile Priest Killed By A Molestation Victim In Jail, Children Of God Inside The California Hippie Cult That Encouraged Sexual Abuse Of Kids, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Three days after the fire, on June 8, 1892, Edward O'Kelley entered Ford's tent saloon with a shotgun. Initially, Bob was charged with the first-degree murder of both Wood Hite and Jesse James, while Charles was charged as his accomplice. Ford never told the audience that he had shot James from behind. By the spring of 1882, with his gang depleted by arrests, deaths and defections, James thought that he could trust only the Ford brothers. [51][52], With his gang nearly annihilated, James trusted only the Ford brothers, Charley and Robert. Robert was not yet well acquainted with James, but Charley had worked his way into the outlaw's good graces. The outlaw's legend continues 135 years later in history books, novels, music, and movies. We strive for accuracy and fairness. The Ford Brothers Indicted, Plead Guilty, Sentenced To Be Hanged, And Pardoned All In One Day", "Jesse James's Assassination and the Ford Boys", "Bob Ford's Narrow Escape. [13] Soon afterward, Robert Ford and Dick Liddil relocated to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they opened a saloon. [14] At the age of 17, Jesse suffered the second of two life-threatening chest wounds when he was shot while trying to surrender after they ran into a Union cavalry patrol near Lexington, Missouri.[16][17]. Rather than dying in a hail of gunfire during a heist, the legendary Jesse James met his end on April 3, 1882, shot in the back of the head while dusting a picture on the wall of his rented home in St. Joseph, Missouri. The robbery quickly went wrong, however, and after the robbery only Frank and Jesse James remained alive and free. He stormed into Fords tent saloon armed with a 10-gauge shotgun. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Directed by Andrew Dominik. Among the deputies was Jefferson B. Snyder, later a long-serving district attorney in northeastern Louisiana. Popular portrayals of James as an embodiment of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, are a case of romantic revisionism as there is no evidence his gang shared any loot from their robberies with anyone outside their network. The Ford brothers also enjoyed a brief taste of celebrity as the killers of the notorious outlaw, even reenacting the experience in a stage show. While they later tried to justify robbing the banks, most of their targets were small, local banks based on local capital, and the robberies only penalized the locals they claimed to support. Robert Ford : Used to be nobody could sneak up on Jesse James. Bob remained at the cottage and slyly migrated from room to room. Frank and Jesse James mother, Zerelda  Allen Pinkerton (left) with President Abraham Lincoln and a Union general during the Civil War, Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Getty Images / GraphicaArtis / Contributor, https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-jesse-james, 7 Things You May Not Know About Jesse James. Founded in Chicago in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant who had served as the first full-time detective on the Windy Citys police force, the private agency was experienced in capturing train robbers. Shortly after midnight on January 25, 1875, a group of Pinkerton agents, acting on an outdated tip that Jesse and Frank were at their mothers farm, carried out a raid on the place. [19][20][21] O'Kelley was subsequently killed on January 13, 1904, while trying to shoot a policeman. The gang targeted the bank after learning that Adelbert Ames, a former Union general and Republican governor of Reconstruction-era Mississippi, had recently moved to Northfield. This sentiment clashed with the general public opinion at the time of James's death that it had been time for James to be stopped by any means. [72] During his lifetime, James was celebrated chiefly by former Confederates, to whom he appealed directly in his letters to the press. The high tensions in politics accompanied his outlaw career and enhanced his notoriety.[30][33]. Furthermore, James was no longer surrounded by men he could trust. [11] Allowed to vote and hold office again, former Confederates in the legislature voted to limit the size of rewards the governor could offer for fugitives. He and his brother Charley, both members of the James-Younger Gang under James's leadership, went on to perform paid re-enactments of the killing at publicity events. [54], On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and Jameses went into the living room before traveling to Platte City for a robbery. [67], The theme of survival was featured in a 2009 documentary, Jesse James' Hidden Treasure, which aired on the History Channel. As promised, Governor Crittenden quickly pardoned the Fords, though the swiftness of his act produced bad optics for everyone involved. Published in 1993, this book by T.J. Stiles is about how the Civil War made Jesse James the man that he was. [4] Clay County in particular was strongly influenced by the Southern culture of its rural pioneer families. He put together a new gang that included his cousin Wood Hite and an associate named Dick Liddil, and proceeded to reel off a string of railroad hold-ups. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. Over the three-day event, thousands of spectators learn of the documented James Gang's stopover at Hazel Dell and of their connection with ex-Confederate Fulkerson. The public was transfixed by Jamess murder, and the Fords soon began reenacting the event in a traveling show. Following the raid, public support for Jesse and Frank increased, and the Missouri state legislature even came close to passing a bill offering the men amnesty. By age 16, Jesse followed Frank as a marauding bushwhacker, with both joining a ruthlessly violent gang led by William Bloody Bill Anderson. After the train robbery, Jamess brother Frank James had also decided to retire from crime and moved East, settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.[4]. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the relationship between Jesse , The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, More The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford quotes, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford's quote. [34] They robbed banks, stagecoaches, and a fair in Kansas City, often carrying out their crimes in front of crowds, and even hamming it up for the bystanders. Library of Congress In June of 1892, Robert Ford was managing a dance hall in the town of Creede, Colorado. "Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri,", White, Richard. Luckily Governor Crittenden stepped in two hours after the trial and as promised granted the brothers a full pardon. Another less glamorous claim is that Robert Ford was a pariah, and the few customers that did turn up, only did so to pick fights. James himself wrote letters to newspapers in which he defended his actions. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876, when as a result of their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, several members of the gang were captured or killed. Pelican Publishing, 1987, p. 27. massacre of some two hundred men and boys, "Jailer Henry Bugler, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Missouri", "Deputy Sheriff Frank S. Griffin, Ray County Sheriff's Department", "Civil lawsuit against Frank & Jesse James", "Frank and Jesse James Court Documents from Daviess County", "Original reference: Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition, August 25, 2001, Page F2", "An Inventory of the Northfield (Minnesota) Bank Robbery of 1876: Selected Manuscripts Collection", "Skillful Detective Work; Another of the James Gang Captured in Missouri", "One more shot at the legend of Jesse James", "Jesse James Wanted Poster Goes Up for Auction", "10 of History's Most Notorious Traitors", "Jesse James Shot Down. Edwards, his old enabler, no longer responded to his mail, seemingly content that many old Confederate colleagues had risen to positions of power around the region. The year 1876 was busy in the American West. And while he soon had the second elusive James in custody, Frank managed to avoid conviction at three separate trials and lived out his life as a free man and a celebrity. In the spring he returned in a squad commanded by Fletch Taylor. They were brought into a meeting with Crittenden, as they had been around James's cousin Wood Hite the day Hite was murdered. After Charley committed suicide in 1884, Robert hopscotched from town to town, before opening a saloon in Creede, Colorado. The James gang had been greatly reduced in numbers by that time; some had fled the gang in fear of prosecution, and many of the original members were either dead or in prison after a botched bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota. James's turn to crime after the end of the Reconstruction era helped cement his place in American life and memory as a simple but remarkably effective bandit. Jesse James remains a controversial symbol, one who can always be reinterpreted in various ways according to cultural tensions and needs. The James brothers made a name for themselves as bank and train robbers,. The Chicago-based agency worked primarily against urban professional criminals, as well as providing industrial security, such as strike breaking. Following Jamess passing, speculation lingered that hed faked his own death and that someone else was buried in his grave. Jesse James: The Death of the Wild West Outlaw, Jesse James dead in coffin; Photo: Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. By this time, the Klan had been suppressed in the South by President Grant's use of the Enforcement Acts. Missouri was a border state, sharing characteristics of both North and South, but 75% of the population was from the South or other border states. None of James's biographers accepted them as plausible. Three men entered the bank, two guarded the door outside, and three remained near a bridge across an adjacent square. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Six months after the Gallatin robbery, Edwards published the first of many letters from Jesse James to the public asserting his innocence. This extended a measure of protection over the JamesYounger gang by minimizing the incentive for attempting to capture them. Hoping to conceal the crime, he buried Hites body a mile from the house. Two weeks later, following a gunfight near Madelia, Minnesota, the Younger brothers were captured and another gang member killed. Over time, the letters gradually became more political in tone and James denounced the Republicans and expressed his pride in his Confederate loyalties. Jesse James : [last words] Don't that picture look dusty? Jesse is believed to have shot and killed the cashier, Captain John Sheets, mistakenly believing him to be Samuel P. Cox, the militia officer who had killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson during the Civil War. In the course of a single day, the Ford brothers were indicted, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to death by hanging, and were granted a full pardon by Governor Crittenden. Jesse Woodson James( April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw and trainrobber brought forth into the world on September 5, 1847, in Near Kearney, Missouri. [23] Historians believe that the James brothers were involved in this crime. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the relationship between Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), focusing on the events that lead up to the titular killing. Frank seemed to settle down, but Jesse remained restless. [22] On June 13, 1866, in Jackson County, Missouri, the gang freed two jailed members of Quantrill's gang, killing the jailer in the effort. [citation needed]. The robbery was the first in a spree of crimes, including the holdup of the federal paymaster of a canal project in Killen, Alabama, and two more train robberies. [73] Some historians credit James's myth as contributing to the rise of former Confederates to dominance in Missouri politics. After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the Midwest, gaining national fame and often popular sympathy despite the brutality of their crimes. [31] This was the beginning of an alliance between James and John Newman Edwards, editor and founder of the Kansas City Times. Many people from Missouri migrated to Kansas to try to influence its future. [15], After "Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed in an ambush in October, the James brothers separated. Web. The James brothers then joined the bushwhacker group led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson. They brought slaves with them and purchased more according to their needs. Robert Ford was born in 1862 in Ray County, Missouri, to James Thomas and Mary Bruin Ford as the youngest of seven siblings. [33], Jesse and his cousin Zee married on April 24, 1874. And while Hite, Liddil and the newcomers were enamored of the chance to join a legend in action, their expanded circle of associates brought in even more people who held no personal loyalty toward James, including fellow Missourians Charley and Robert Ford. [73] During the Populist and Progressive eras, James became an icon as America's Robin Hood, standing up against corporations in defense of the small farmer, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. The brothers were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War and, for approximately a decade after the war's conclusion, led the James-Younger gang that infamously robbed banks and murdered throughout the Midwest, their actions glorified by Kansas City Times editor James Newman Edwards. On April 3, 1882, the Ford brothers met James at his home in St. Joseph, Mo. Because the gang received support by many former Confederate soldiers in Missouri, they eluded the Pinkertons. According to the National Park Service, Jesse James has a historical connection to Mammoth Cave National Park, having reportedly occupied some of the cave's inner areas during his escapes from the law, and having committed a stage coach robbery between Cave City and Mammoth Cave. To carry out the robbery, the gang divided into two groups. He turned around and noticed a dusty picture above the mantle, and stood on a chair to clean it. [89], Jesse James's boyhood home in Kearney, Missouri, is operated as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous resident. The gang left with $2,000 cash from the second robbery and took shelter in abandoned cabins on the Kemp Plantation south of St. Joseph, Louisiana. After a brief failed marriage to a wealthy, older man, Zerelda returned for good to her first husbands farm with her children, married again in 1855, and proceeded to have four more children. [5] After Robert's death, his widow Zerelda remarried twice, first to Benjamin Simms in 1852 and then in 1855 to Dr. Reuben Samuel, who moved into the James family home. [60][61][62], After receiving a small portion of the reward, the Fords fled Missouri. The county counted more slaveholders and more slaves than most other regions of the state; in Missouri as a whole, slaves accounted for only 10 percent of the population, but in Clay County, they constituted 25 percent. After conducting DNA testing, the researchers concluded the exhumed remains were almost certainly those of the infamous 19th-century outlaw. Much of the dramatic build-up to the Civil War centered on the violence that erupted on the KansasMissouri border between pro- and anti-slavery militias. For a period, Robert earned money by posing for photographs as "the man who killed Jesse James" in dime museums. He was of English and Scottish descent. [28], James claimed he was taking revenge, and the daring escape he and Frank made through the middle of a posse shortly afterward attracted newspaper coverage for the first time. Ford was also promised the $5,000 bounty placed on James head. Historians have speculated about the identity of the shooter but have not reached consensus. The Ford brothers surrendered to the authorities and were dismayed to be charged with first-degree murder. With Brad Pitt, Mary-Louise Parker, Brooklynn Proulx, Dustin Bollinger. By reading the daily newspaper, James had just learned of gang member Liddil's confession for participating in Hite's murder and grew increasingly suspicious of the Fords for never reporting this matter to him. Jesse James was an outlaw, bank and train robber, Confederate guerrilla during the Civil War, and James- Younger Gang leader. On July 21, 1873, infamous outlaw and American folk figure Jesse James robbed his first train in Adair, Iowa with the help of his posse, the James-Younger Gang. Ford was buried in Creede. Robert Ford wired the governor to claim his reward. The Governor of Colorado pardoned him on October 3, 1902.[66]. Jesse James: [last words] Don't that picture look dusty? They may have suspected Askew of cooperating with the Pinkertons in the January 1875 arson of the James house. An Admirer Of Jesse James Tries To Cut His Throat", "The man who killed Jesse James, Descendant of Robert Ford visits the area bringing answers about the past", "The Horror Hams: Laird Cregar, John Carradine and Basil Rathbone", "Introduction: The Dark Cowboy Rides into Town", "The Missouri outlaws of the late 1800s who terrorized the nation", "Casey Affleck's First Run-In With 'Oscar', "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Ford_(outlaw)&oldid=1148015898. [17] Frank, however, decided to move to safer territory and headed east to settle in Virginia. A law enforcement posse attacked and killed two of the outlaws but failed to capture the entire gang. .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Jesse James was no hero, despite what the dime novels depicted, nor did he have a charitable Robin Hood complex as some may have suggested. "Outlaw Gangs of the Middle Border: American Social Bandits,", This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 23:39. Violence that erupted on the KansasMissouri border between pro- and anti-slavery militias Colorado. His act produced bad optics for everyone involved was murdered by T.J. Stiles is about how the Civil War Jesse. They moved north across the nearby state border into Nebraska Territory pro- and militias... 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