Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Jesse James Conspiracy Theory by Connor Murphy



            Jesse James was a very well known outlaw in the mid to late 1800’s.  He was also very popular for his big heists and gang activity.  Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847, and mysteriously died on April 3, 1882.  Jesse James died on the 5th, but he might have staged his death.  Jesse James was supposedly killed by Bob Ford, a fellow member of Jesse James’ “Younger Gang”, yet there are many theories and stories of how Jesse James lived on to be one of the slyest outlaws of the West.  Did Jesse James actually get killed by one of his gang members, or did he stage his death to get a break from the law?  These are some of the questions that will get answered through this paper.
Jesse James was pretty normal when it came down to his personality.   Jesse James lived off of his hyperactiveness (“Jesse James Personality Profile”).  Because of this, Jesse James was always very fidgety and led to him always being on the go (1).  Whenever Jesse would think of something to do, this hyperactive trait would fuel Jesse James into doing whatever he believed was right (1).  Jesse James loved physical exercise as well as a good dose of mental exercise here and there (1).  Because of this, Jesse James loved being outdoors to explore the wilderness, and enjoyed eating wild game from hunting and other outdoor activities (1).  Jesse James always required a lot of extra curricular activities, yet just taking a break from everyday, life like walking, around was a power house for Jesse James (1).
            Jesse James always strived to be the best in all circumstances (“Jesse James Personality Profile”).  Jesse James was Entrepreneurial and progressive, which made him very good at enterprising (1).  Jesse James was also very ambitious, and this led to him to be a very good leader over his followers (1).  Jesse James was also known for overcoming any dilemmas that came before him (1). All of these traits combined sometimes led to stubbornness, which led to problems because Jesse did not want to try to make fixes or make compromises (1).  Because of these traits and personal qualities, it made it hard for anyone to try to convince Jesse to think outside of his mindset or his plan that he has in mind (1).  It would have made Jesse’s life a lot easier if he would have just listened to other people's opinions.  Jesse James also was very interested in truth, or whatever question or problem that he wanted to solve (1).  Jesse James, given any question of something going on, or even questions to life, always tried to figure things out by piecing together things like a puzzle, or going straight to the source are some examples of what Jesse James would do to try to solve mysteries (1).
            Another thing that Jesse James always acquired was time alone to think and reflect upon what was going on currently in his life (Jesse James Personality Profile).  Jesse James required this alone time, because it gave him time to hypothesize (1).  Because Jesse required this time alone, it was very hard for him to be able to keep a personal bond with anyone that he cared about or wanted to be friends with (1).  This made marriage very hard for Jesse James because he required a lot of time away from his wife to be able to think about his future ideas and current problems (1).  Being a “lone wolf”, was something that Jesse wanted to be, not what he had to be.  This led to Jesse James being even more stubborn than he had to be, because this led to him making ideas that were never overlooked by anyone else, making him very passionate and overall stubborn (1).
            Jesse James was also very popular with the people around him (Jesse James Personality Profile).  Jesse James was a lot of the time known as the life of the party (1).  Using his wit and knowledge, Jesse loved to perform in front of an audience to make people laugh and overall just have a good time (1).  When Jesse balanced his stubbornness with his outgoing character traits, Jesse could actually be very enjoyable to be around, making the people really enjoy themselves and the others around them (1).  Even though Jesse could be the life of the party, being around other people often reminded Jesse of the comfort of being alone has given him (1).  Jesse’s social life was kind of like a cycle, swapping from being alone to wanting to be around people to laugh and have a good time (1).  Even though Jesse liked being alone from his social life, it often led to him wanting relationships, which led him into being lonely (1).  Many people would also often feel uncomfortable around Jesse because he was such a loner (1).
Jesse James also feels as if he needs to control and run the world (Jesse James General Characteristics).  Jesse James has what most people would call atlas syndrome (1).  Jesse James feels as if he has the whole world on his shoulders, and that it is his fault for the things that happen around him (1).  Jesse takes his relationships very seriously in the sense that he worries about everyone else's problems, which make his life a lot more difficult (1).  Because Jesse worried about everyones problems, he overcame adversities very easily from all of the practice received by helping other people, which led to Jesse becoming a good leader (1).  Because Jesse loved helping others, he saw the good that came out of it, making him emotionally tired as well as being physically tired (1).  Because Jesse was such a nurturer, he didn't have enough time to really take care of himself physically and emotionally (1).

            Jesse always took safety first (Jesse James General Characteristics).  Because of this, Jesse always liked to stay consistent with everything that he did, making sure that nothing could happen that he was unsure of (1).  Whenever a new way of doing something came about, Jesse would be very cautious when starting to do these things, for Jesse had a huge urge of security (1).  He is also very retentive, not changing from his ways once he starts a pattern or project (1).  Though Jesse was cautious, he did not always choose the most productive way to do things, because he was too worried about everyone's security and personal needs (1).  There is a point to where Jesse needed to forget about being so worried about something happening and really worry about what is going on to make something better or more efficient.  These traits led to Jesse James being kind of lazy sometimes, because Jesse never wanted things to change (1).  Jesse James was very passionate to get things done his own way, but sometimes he lacked the little bit of initiative that he needed (1).
There are a few of conspiracy theories that have come about Jesse James’s questionable death.  The first theory comes up with a theory that Jesse James staged his own death so that he could get away from the law and his friends (David Meyer).  A man that went by the name of John James, claimed to be Jesse James in 1931 (1).  Once arriving to the town of Jesse James’ residency, he started to spread word to people in the town that he was in fact the man who the people thought had died in 1882 (1).  He said he had returned to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, to come visit his family and his old friends (1).  Actually, John James, did the best he could to try to stay away from anyone who was related or even a friend of Jesse (1).  He seemed as if he was only in the town for the fame and attention (1). 
John James’s stay consisted of himself pretty much just trying to make friends with the media (1).  The media started to ask John James questions about who was actually killed by Ford(1).  John explained how he had made the plot to kill Charlie Bigelow as a cover up for himself, because Charlie looked very similar to Jesse James (1).  Once the James family got wind of what was going on, they instantly tried to track down who they thought was an imposter(1).  John James said John was just a cover up name and how he didnt mean to make them upset by faking his own death (1).  Jesse James’s daughter in law talked to John, and she refused to believe that he was actually Jesse James (1).  Stella James even continued to ask questions about the James family that John was unable to answer (1).  To find out the true answer if John James was really the man, Jesse James, Stella produced one of Jesse James’s old boots and asked John to put on the boot as proof of being Jesse (1).  The boot did not fit, and the Theory was called off as just a man who was an imposter (1).
This next theory is very similar to the previous theory with a kind of twist.  A man by the name of Bud Hardcastle claims that Jesse James lived to the age of 103 and lived a long peaceful life after faking his death in 1882 (Jim Etter).  Hardcastle thinks that Jesse also used Charlie Bigelow as someone to sacrifice in place for himself dying making Jesse James’s escape seamless (1).  Hardcastle believed that it wouldn't be a hard decision to use Bigelow as someone to take the spot for Jesse, because he was an enemy of Jesse and would be someone who also looked like Jesse James (1).  He also claims that this is true because Frank James, Jesse’s brother, and Robert Ford, Jesse’s opposed killer, went on to start a saloon business in Colorado (1).  Hardcastle claims this is good evidence, because if Robert Ford actually killed Jesse, then why would him and Jesse’s brother be good friends and be able to run a saloon business in Colorado (1).
This conspiracy is very different from other theories because there is actually very good evidence to believe that Jesse James actually did fake his death.  Even Hardcastle himself states, "People can say what they want to, but I know about what I know, and I've checked it out. And I've probably put more research into this than anybody else ever has” (Jim Etter).  Hardcastle believes once Jesse James got out of town and secured his getaway, he went by the name of J. Frank Dalton (1).  After a long time of peace and alone time,  J. Frank Dalton was spotted in Lawton, Texas and proclaimed to be Jesse James (1).  Dalton later died in Granbury, Texas, and he was buried there with his tombstone labeled Jesse James (1).  He also states that to this day that you can go visit this tombstone in Granbury, Texas, where it even says Jesse’s birth of September 5, 1847, as well as his death in 1951, making Jesse James 104 years old.  Even the name on the tombstone says Jesse Woodson James (1).

The story that many people consist to believe in is what is historically stated by most news medias of that time.  This is that Jesse James was actually killed by Robert Ford (Jesse James is Murdered).  Many people believe that during a major robbery, a good amount of Jesse’s men were either injured or captured (1).  This led to Jesse James having to find a new group of gang members (1).  This is what people think led to Robert Ford, Jesse’s cousin, to doing what what most people think he did (1).  This theory states that Jesse James was hosting a meeting, involving his new personnel, planning to make another robbery, when Robert James shoots Jesse James in the back while fixing the position of a painting hanging on the wall (1).  People say this is the most accurate theory, because everyone is selfish when it comes to money.  If you didn’t necessarily like someone, it would be very easy to kill the and get the reward money if you didn’t really care about them anyway (1). 
Many people were not comfortable with believing this, so in 1995, under court order, Jesse James’s body was exhumed to see if it was really Jesse James buried in missouri (Exhuming Jesse James for DNA).  The people who exhumed the body compared the DNA of two maternal family members of Jesse James’s sister’s great grandson, and great great grandson (1).  However, when they exhumed the body in 1995, the body was poorly preserved and the observers said there was not enough acceptable DNA to be examined (1).  But this is not the only time the body has been moved or dug out of the ground (1).  This was actually the second time that the body was taken out of the ground (1).  The body was dug up in 1978 from the original gravesite and was moved to where it is today (1).  In 1978, 4 teeth were collected and a few hairs from the opposed Jesse James’ remains (1).   First off, they had to make sure that the teeth and hair collected in 1978, actually came from the body exhumed in 1995 (1).  The teeth and hair matched the HV1 samples from the body, meaning that they belonged to the body that was exhumed in 1995 (1).  Once the teeth and hair were confirmed to be collected from the body exhumed in 1995, they tested the DNA to the maternal family members (1).  The results came back to be a match (1).  Twenty-six out of thirty people that I randomly sampled, believe that the body was in fact the body of Jesse James.  Did Jesse James actually fake his death, or did he make an incredible escape that the world will never forget?

Jesse James was a very well known outlaw in the mid to late 1800’s, and he is thought to be one of the greatest outlaws of the west.  To this day, he is also very popular for his big heists and gang activity.  Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847, and mysteriously died on April 3, 1882.  Jesse James died on the 5th, but there is still a chance he staged his death.  Jesse James was claimed to have been killed by Bob Ford, a fellow member of Jesse James’ “Younger Gang”, yet over many years people have created ideas that have become full conspiracy theories about one of the best outlaws of the west.  Did Jesse James actually get killed by one of his gang members, or did he stage his death to get a break from the law?  All of previous theories just talked about are things that the reader can decipher what is true in their own opinion.



Works Cited
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.
“Exhuming Jesse James for DNA: DNA Extraction to Find Out If a Body Belongs to Jesse James.” Bright Hub, 30 Aug. 2009, www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/47093.aspx.
“Jesse James Is Murdered.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jesse-james-is-murdered.
Meyer, David. Did Jesse James Fake His Own Death? - Guerrilla Explorer. 12 Nov. 2015, www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/guest-post-did-jesse-james-fake-his-own-death/.

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