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OLD
WEST LEGENDS
The Assassination of Jesse James
- Fact & Fiction
Previewing in
September, 2007 is the movie The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward
Robert Ford. Starring
Brad Pitt as Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert
Ford, the movie is
based on the book The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, written by Ron
Hansen and originally published in 1983 by Alfred A. Knoph, Inc.
The
movie portrays Ford's
resentment of Jesse James after joining the
James
Gang and his plan to
kill the fastest gun in the West. Delving into the private
life and public exploits of America's most notorious
outlaw, it reveals
the charismatic and unpredictable personality of
James as he plans his
next robbery and the conniving and secretive plans of Robert
and
Charles Ford being made right under his nose.
Much like we did with HBO's Deadwood, we'll delve into
the movie to sort out any erroneous facts, pure fiction, and any other
"stretching of the truth" for entertainment value. But, first, the movie
has to come out.
In the meantime,
here is a summary of the cast and characters and other information to whet
your appetite.
Charles “Charlie” Wilson Ford –
In the movie, Sam Rockwell plays the part of
Charlie Ford. In reality,
Charlie was born on July 9, 1857 in Ray County,
Missouri.
He was a member of the
James Gang and participated
in the Blue Cut, Missouri
train robbery in September 1881. The older brother of
Robert Ford, that “dirty little coward” who killed
Jesse James
on April 3, 1882,
Charles was also involved in the conspiracy to kill
James.
Charged with first degree murder,
Charlie was sentenced to hang but was
quickly pardoned by the governor of
Missouri.
Afterwards,
Charlie heard a rumor that
Frank James was searching for both
him and his brother with plans of mortal revenge.
Charlie started running
from town to town for two years, changing his name several times. No
longer able to stand it, he committed suicide on May 4, 1884.
Robert "Bob"
Newton Ford
- In the movie, Casey
Affleck the part of Bob Ford
and the resemblance is remarkable. The a "real" Bob Ford
was born in 1861 in Ray County,
Missouri,
Bob joined the
James Gang in 1879. Mostly a "hanger-on" he did odd jobs and
held the horses for the gang during robberies. When an argument
erupted between gang members
Wood Hite and
Dick Liddell in January, 1882, it quickly turned to gunplay with
Hite shooting
Liddell in the right thigh and
Liddell striking
Hite's arm. Calmly watching,
Ford, a close
friend of
Liddell's, fired a single bullet at
Hite, striking him in the head. But it would be the killing
of Jesse
James on
April 3, 1882, that would gain him the most attention, though not the
kind he wished for. At first, he was charged with murder of both
Hite and James
and sentenced to hang.
However, he was quickly pardoned by the governor of
Missouri.
Though
Ford tried to profit from the
killing of
Jesse
James by taking the stage, he was ostracized as a traitor and
forever took on the moniker "dirty little coward."
Just ten years
later,
Ford himself was shot and killed by
Ed O. Kelly while running a tent
saloon
in Creede,
Colorado on June 8, 1892.
Ford's body was returned to
Richmond,
Missouri where he is interred in the Richmond City Cemetery.
Casey Affleck, who portrays
Robert
Ford
in the
The
Assassination of Jesse James portrays a remarkable resemblance to the real Robert
Ford. Photo
This
image available for photographic prints
HERE!
Jesse
James - Played by Brad
Pitt,
Jesse James
is probably one of the best known of all the
Old Westoutlaws.
Sometimes a controversial historic figure, he is seen by some as a
post
Civil War
hero, and by others as nothing more than a cold blooded killer.
Born in Clay County,
Missouri
on September 5, 1847, he and his brother
Frank were brought up by
their mother, Zerelda, after their father left for the
California
gold fields and never returned. Slave owners, the family
supported the Confederate cause during the
Civil War and when
William
Quantrill established a band of guerilla fighters, both
Frank and Jesse
joined him. After the war, Jesse
became the
famous
outlaw and leader of the
James-Younger Gang, where he robbed banks, stagecoaches and trains
for the next sixteen years. After the
Younger brothers were captured
following the famous bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota,
Jesse
formed a new gang - the James
Gang, who continued on the outlaw trail,
robbing banks and trains.
On April 3, 1882,
Robert (Bob) Ford and his brother
Charles called upon
Jesse at
his home in St.
Joseph,
Missouri. The brothers had joined the
James Gang and while
Jesse was
laying out his plans for the next holdup, he turned to adjust a picture on
the wall. While his back was turned,
Bob Ford shot him from behind.
James was
34 years-old.
Ford was forever after known as “that dirty little coward.” His
brother
Charles, so feared for his life by retribution by
Frank James, that he
committed suicide just two years later.
Bob Ford, was himself, shot in 1892 in Creede, Colorado.
More ...
Frank James -
Played by Sam Shepard
in the movie,
Frank's full name was
Alexander Franklin James and he was also
known as "Buck"
Frank.
He was the older brother of
Jesse
James and rode with the
James-Younger Gang gang on most of their robberies. Born in Clay
County,
Missouri on January 10, 1843,
he and his brother
Jesse
were brought up by their mother after their father left for the
California
gold fields and never returned. Slave owners, the family supported the
Confederate cause during the
Civil War and when
William
Quantrill established a band of guerilla fighters, both
Frank and
Jesse
joined him.
Frank was with
Quantrill's Raiders on August 21, 1863 when they ransacked and
burned the town of
Lawrence,
Kansas,
killing 150 people.
Afterward the war he and
Jesse
began their rampage of thievery and murder.
After
Jesse was
killed, he surrendered to authorities in 1882. He was tried
and acquitted by a sympathetic
Missouri
jury. The last thirty years of
Frank James' life saw him not as an
illustrious
outlaw
but as a farmer, shoe salesman, race track starter, and directed a Wild West
show.
Frank died quietly in 1915 and is buried at Hill Park Cemetery
in
Independence, Missouri.
Zeralda
"Zee" James - Character played by Mary-Louise Parker in the movie. Zee was
Jesse James first cousin, but
this did not stop the pair from courting. The couple
was engaged for nine years while the
James-Younger Gang was in full swing, before they finally married on
April 24, 1874.
The couple had two children before the
James-Younger Gang ceased to exist with the capture of the
Younger brothers
during the Northfield, Minnesota raid in 1876. Jesse
then started the "new" James
Gang
continuing to rob trains, the
last of which occurred on September 7, 1881 near Glendale,
Missouri. When
Bob Ford killed
Jesse James on April 3, 1882, he did so in
Jesse's home, with
Zee and her children nearby in the kitchen.
Though most would have thought that the outlaw left a wealthy widow, that
was not the case, and in fact,
Zee had to sell most everything in
the household in order to pay the creditors. After his death, she suffered
from terrible depression and donning entirely black clothing, she never
changed out of her "widows weeds." More
...
Wood Hite -
Character played by Jeremy Renner
in the movie.
Robert
Woodson "Wood" Hite was first cousin of
Frank and Jesse James,
Wood rode for
"Bloody Bill" Anderson during the violent
Kansas-Missouri border war. Later, both he and his brother,
Clarence, joined the
James Gang, where he was thought to have participated in the Blue Cut,
Missouri
train robbery on October 8, 1879, the hold up of the Riverton, Iowa bank
on July 10, 1881, the Glendale,
Missouri
train robbery on September 7, 1881. Just months later, in December,
Wood, who had a romantic attachment to
Bob Ford's widowed sister, Martha Bolton, argued with
Dick Liddel over her affections.
When the disagreement escalated,
Robert Ford sided with
Liddel and
Hite was shot and killed.
Liddel turned himself in for
the killing and Ford
was arrested. The entire affair would lead to
Jesse James
death, when
Ford made a deal with
Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittendon that he
would be pardoned for the murder of
Hite if he were to capture or kill
James.
Ed Miller -
Miller is played by Garrett Dillahunt in the movie.
Edward "Ed" T. Miller
was born around 1856, the younger brother of
Clell
Miller. He rode with Quantrill's
Raiders during the
Civil War.
Afterwards, both he and his brother joined the
James-Younger Gang. He is thought to have participated in the Muncie,
Kansas
train robbery in 1874 and the Glendale,
Missouri
train robbery in 1879. However, he somehow got on the bad side of
Jesse James,
who killed him in December, 1881.
Villains and Outlaws is a unique reference featuring over one hundred
profiles of notorious characters from antiquity to the present. Read
about gangsters, dictators, war criminals, assassins, murderers, pirates,
Old West
outlaws, traitors, and turncoat spies. Every articled includes a
description of the subject's life and times, as well as quotations,
definitions, and a time line. Presented in easy-to-find alphabetical
format. Hardcover, 361 pages.
Please report
broken links, missing pictures, or other problems online by clicking
Ed Miller
Villains
and Outlaws, by MacMillan Profiles