Jesse James - Folklore Hero or Cold Blooded Killer?

Jesse James

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Initially, Ford was charged with murdering both Wood Hite and Jesse James, but true to his word Governor Crittenden pardoned him while he stood trial for the murder. As to the money, he received only a fraction of the reward. Returning to their hometown of Richmond, Missouri, Bob and Charles were not greeted kindly and residents found the killing of Jesse James so distasteful that they made life unbearable for the two brothers.

Charles Ford fled Richmond when he heard that Frank James was searching for them to kill them in revenge for his brother’s death. Charles kept running from town to town for the next two years, changing his name several times. He finally committed suicide in 1884.

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Bob Ford wasn't the only one to capitalize on

Jesse James death. This poster is from an 1880's

production, courtesy Library of Congress.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

In the meantime, Bob Ford was capitalizing on his betrayal of Jesse James, taking to the stage, appearing in an act entitled Outlaws of Missouri. Night after night, Ford retold his story, carefully omitting that he had shot James in the back. But, this charade was short lived as he was greeted with catcalls, jeers, hoots and challenges. Ford later took off to Las Vegas, New Mexico and then Creede, Colorado, where he was shot down in his own saloon on June 8, 1892.

During their fifteen year crime spree, the James-Younger Gang committed 26 holdups making off with more than $200,000 and killed at least seventeen men.

On October 4, 1882, Frank James surrendered to Missouri Governor Thomas Crittendon. The 39-year-old bandit marched into the governor’s office and took off his gun belt, placing it before Crittenden and saying: “Governor Crittenden, I want to hand over to you that which no living man except myself has been permitted to touch since 1861.” Frank was tired of the outlaw life – of being hunted for over twenty years, of living in a saddle, of knowing no peace.

Frank James

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Universal sympathy for Frank James and his family was exhibited by the public. After a number of long trials Frank was acquitted on all counts. Returning home to the James Farm, he took up a number of peaceful pursuits, working as a horse trainer and a racetrack starter.

Jesse's mother, Zerelda, allowed tourists to view the grave of her son for 25 cents and sold rocks from his grave. Legend has it that when the rock supply ran low, she simply restocked from the river. She also gave paid tours of the farm shortly after Jesse’s death, a practice that was continued by Frank in later years.

Zee James, who had suffered from deep depression after her husband’s death, died in 1900. Later, when Zerelda could no longer live alone, her son’s body was moved to the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri and placed next to his wife on July 29, 1902. Frank James was present at the re-burial of his brother.

In 1903 Frank James appeared in a small Wild West show with his friend Cole Younger, who had been released from prison in 1901.

On February 10, 1911 Zerelda Samuel, after visiting Frank and Annie at their home in Oklahoma , suffered a heart-attack on the train back to Kearney at the age of eighty-six. She is buried at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery next to sons Jesse and Archie, husband Reuben, and daughter-in-law Zee.

Frank James, at the age of 72, died from natural causes at the James Farm on February 18, 1915. His wife Annie Ralston James spent her widowhood at the farm.

Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, © August, 2006

See Jesse James Timeline Next Page

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The tombstone at the site of the original grave has been replaced. The original stone inside the museum was chipped away from souvenir hunters. February, 2004, Kathy Weiser

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Jesse James was reinterred in 1902 next to his wife Zee in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Keaney, Missouri. February, 2004, Kathy Weiser.

Also See:

The Assassination of Jesse James Movie - Fact & Fiction

Jesse James Timeline

Jesse James Missouri Attractions

Haunting of the James Farm

Robert Ford - Jesse James' Killer

William Quantrill - Renegade Leader of the Missouri Border War

Zee James - Jesse's "Poor" Wife

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