Jesse James Conspiracies by Alexander C. Estes

Was Jesse James assassinated, or did he die of natural causes?  On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was supposedly assassinated, ending his admirably long career of crime (Mann).  However, some theorize that Jesse James did not die that day, but rather lived on under an alias.  Let’s delve deeper into the character of Jesse James and some conspiracies on how he lived out the rest of his life to figure which conspiracy could be fact, and which conspiracies are fiction.

To help us better understand the conspiracies surrounding the death of Jesse James, we must first understand his personality.  The most prominent characteristic of Jesse James was his guile.  This is obvious for a few reasons.  One way Jesse’s guile is evident is due to the length of his crime spree in the nineteenth century (Mann).  Most of the crime sprees in that era on average only lasted a mere two to three years; however, Jesse James’ legendary crime spree spanned a lengthy sixteen years, just over five times longer than most (1).  Another piece of evidence pointing towards Jesse James’ guilefulness was his ability to elude the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (1).  The Pinkertons were basically a small private army for hire and existed before any national law enforcement agencies, making them seem like the perfect group to stop the James-Younger gang (1).  The Pinkertons had sent two agents undercover to try and get into the gang, but both of the agents turned up dead (1).  One last piece of evidence that truly proves Jesse James’ guilefulness was his ability to blend in with the populace whenever the pressure of the life on the run was becoming too much (1).  Soon after a massive manhunt that got the Younger brothers caught - the other half of the James-Younger gang - Jesse James managed to assume the alias of Thomas Howard for a few years while living in Tennessee (1).  The only thing that brought him out of hiding was the need for more money (1).  He tried hiding again in 1881, in Missouri (1).  This time the hiding was less successful because, according to most historians, Jesse James was assassinated (1). However, some believe that Jesse faked his death, but that will be talked about later.

            An interesting characteristic of Jesse James was his incredible popularity among Confederates, especially in Missouri (Editors).  The primary reason for Jesse’s support among the post-Civil War Confederates was because all of the banks, trains, and stagecoaches he robbed had strong Union ties, all of which was intentional (1).  In the Civil War Jesse James was a Confederate guerrilla soldier(Editors).  Jesse was not pleased with the post-war laws and decided to take matters into his own hands by turning to a life of crime, thusly why all of his targets were directly related to the Union (1).  Another reason for Jesse James’ popularity among Confederates was a man by the name of John Newman Edwards(Mann).  John was an editor for a newspaper, the Kansas City Times, who was an advocate for putting Confederates in power (1).  Jesse James wrote editorials on how he felt he was waging a war on the Unionists in power, and John tried to publish as many of these as he could (1).  John also wrote his own articles to make Jesse and his gang look like the Robin Hoods of the Wild West (1).  However, the thing that gave Jesse James the most popularity out of anything was the Pinkertons (1).  Along with the attempted infiltration stunt mentioned above, the Pinkertons also firebombed the James’ family farm (1).  Unbeknownst to the Pinkertons, Jesse was not there at the time, but the firebomb did kill Jesse’s half-brother and caused his mother’s arm to be removed (1).  These two moves were more effective than all of John Edwards’ articles put together at creating sympathy for the James brothers (1).  As a matter of fact, because of the Pinkertons actions, a bill was almost passed in Missouri that would have given the James brothers amnesty (1)!

Now that we know a little about Jesse James’ personality, we can now use this information to prove that there is a high probability that Jesse James’ death was staged.  Most conspiracists can agree that his death was staged, but there is still dispute over where Jesse lived out the rest of his life and under what alias he did so.

            A few conspiracists believe that after staging his own death, Jesse James moved to Granbury, Texas, and lived under the alias of J. Frank Dalton (Etter).  J. Frank Dalton first hit conspiracists’ radars when in 1948 he started claiming he was Jesse James (1).  Dalton was eventually buried under a tombstone on which the name and birthdate of legendary bank robber are engraved, along with a death date saying he died in 1951(1).  However, the only validification of this particular variation of the theory is the support of people who lived in the nearby area and were merely believed to be relatives of Jesse James, which gives the theory very little credence among most conspiracists (1). 

            Another theory that is much more plausible and popular than the one above is that after staging his own death, Jesse James instead moved to Kansas where he lived under the alias of Jeremiah M. James (Mann).   Jeremiah M. James was put on many conspiracists’ radars when Jeremiah’s daughter discovered pictures of Jesse James and his mother hidden in a secret closet along with other valuables that possibly belonged to Jesse James (1).  Another strong piece of evidence that points to Jeremiah James being Jesse James is that whenever facial recognition software compared photos of the two men it was discovered that they shared many facial features (1).  However, some conspiracists believe that Jesse James ended up elsewhere, despite the strong and clear evidence that Jeremiah James was most likely Jesse James (1).

         

Supposed Corpse of Jesse James

   Of course, there are some people who do not believe the conspiracy theories and take what history books feed them as fact(Mann).  But, according to a survey of twenty-five people, the people who believe that Jesse James died in 1882 are in the minority because only nine of the people surveyed said that they believe Jesse died in 1882(1).  There is also strong evidence against Jesse being assassinated in 1882(1).  For instance, the corpse that was supposedly the body of Jesse James did not match Jesse’s weight or even his height (1).  Some even believe the dead man was actually a personal enemy of Jesse, Charlie Bigelow (Etter).  It was also quite peculiar whenever the Sheriff of Clay County - the county in which Jesse James was born - took possession of the corpse under mysterious circumstances, despite lacking the authority to do so (Mann).  Things got even more intriguing when said sheriff obtained the help of former James Gang members to assist him in moving the body to its final resting place (1).  Another interesting fact that helps to disprove history as it has been written is that Frank James, the brother of Jesse James, and Bob Ford, the man who is said to have assassinated Jesse, went into the saloon business together(Etter).  This would be incredibly strange if Bob really had murdered Jesse James (1).

            As it stands, it is very easily believable that Jesse James faked his own death, though it is hard to discern what he did with his life after that.  Some say he moved to Texas while others say he only went as far Kansas, but we can never be certain on which theory is right.

The mystery of whether or not Jesse James was murdered or his assassination was faked still stands to this very day.  History states that on April 3, 1882, Jesse James was killed by assassination, the act that ended his legendary career of crime (Mann).  Yet, despite what history may say, it is believed that April 3 was merely the day on which Jesse James went into permanent hiding until he died (1).  However, it is still up to the individual to determine whether or not they believe history or the conspiracies, and possibly which conspiracy fits the evidence best.

Works Cited

 Editors, Biography.com. “Jesse James.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/jesse-james-9352646.

Etter, Jim. “If Jesse's Not Shot, What? Theory Says Outlaw Died of Old Age.” NewsOK.com, NewsOK, 25 Mar. 1991, newsok.com/article/2351717/if-jesses-not-shot-what-theory-says-outlaw-died-of-old-age. 

Mann, Rick. “Jesse James – His Life and Death.” History in an Hour, WordPress, 4 Apr. 2014, www.historyinanhour.com/2011/04/03/jesse-james-summary/.