(“Jesse James Biography 1). He was notorious for bank and train robbing and participation in guerilla warfare and gang leadership. His work with others worked well for him when robbing, but his work with others may have been the reason for his death. Let’s explore all the theories that have been created over the death of Jesse James.
Jesse James was a very reckless, dangerous, man. In the 1860’s, he went on multiple bank robberies with his brother and some ex-bushwackers. He became known as a “Robin Hood” and a vicious murderer for robbing trains and banks with his gang.
James had a rough childhood growing up. He was born on September 5, 1845 but his father ran off in 1945, two years after his birth. (Outlaw Jesse James is born in Missouri” 1). His father disappeared into the California gold fields, probably in search of gold and money (1). Jesse’s mother was named Zerelda and she got remarried very quickly after the disappearance of her husband (1). Luckily, Jesse had a brother named Frank to keep him company, but apparently the step-father treated them both with disrespect (1). A third father figure soon followed after the second one left (1). Having a widowed mother and different father figures fluctuating through the house was probably very hard and difficult emotionally for young Jesse.
This lifestyle that young Jesse had was most likely the reason for his future of crimes and killing. The many problems with his mother remarrying multiple times and his father leaving for gold probably gave him the emotions of hatred and bitterness towards life. It is one thing if your father dies from natural causes such as old age or sickness, but knowing that your father is gone because he chose money over his own family is emotionally destructive, especially at his young age. When Jesse’s mother brought in another man, Jesse probably had high hopes of having a second chance at having a father to be there for him. When he realized he was highly disliked by his new step-father, that probably gave him doubts that he was not good enough and probably gave him more emotions of depression and hate. The same situation happened again. Jesse’s mother brought in a third man. For the third time, Jesse had an opportunity to have a father.
When Jesse was a teenager, him and his large farm was raided by Union military men and they also hung his step-father, luckily he survived. (1). This was probably the last straw for Jesse. Later that year in August, Frank, Jesse’s brother, participated in the raiding of a town in Kansas where about 200 men were killed and multiple buildings were destroyed (1). The last possible influence Jesse had was his brother Frank and he saw what he was doing and followed in his footsteps and joined the guerillas as a bushwacker (1). He joined not only from the influence of his brother, but also to get back at the Union soldiers that destroyed his farm and the last bit of will he had left. When he was in this group of violent men, Jesse went on multiple raids on houses, towns and villages. The most gruesome raid was the raid on Centralia, a town in Missouri (1). During this raid, the guerillas forced about 20 unarmed Union soldiers on a train and they were violently slaughtered and executed by the guerilla group (1). After that incident, their killing spree was not over, they then killed over 100 federal troops that were trying to hunt them down and then mutilated their dead bodies (1). This raid is the most brutal out of them all, but to Jesse, this the best. This raid was exactly what hate-filled Jesse needed to get some of his anger out. The killing of over 100 men and destroying of buildings most likely gave Jesse the rush he had been looking for. Jesse’s future of stealing and killing snowballed from this raid. When the raid was over, he quickly realized he needed more.
During the year of 1865 in May, Jesse was shot by Union soldiers in the chest during a skirmish between the guerillas and Union militiamen (1). His cousin nursed him back to health (1). When he recovered, Jesse and his brother Frank, along with a few ex guerillas, left the guerilla group and set off on their own to rob any bank, houses, or trains (1). When Jesse was shot, he probably thought that if he is going to get into any more skirmishes with the Union, he might not survive another bullet wound. He most likely thought that it would be best to be on the run, hiding from any federal troops or Union men.
Throughout Jesse James’ life of robbing, stealing, and running from the law, he accumulated some conspiracy theories of his death. You would think that Jesse James might have died in a legendary or epic gunfight but with this conspiracy, he was sneakily assassinated. Jesse, his wife and kids, and Bob Ford were in a rented home in St. Joseph in Missouri (Nix, Elizabeth) (1). Bob Ford was one of his trusted recruited members (1). Jesse and Bob were in one room and Jesse’s wife and kids were in another (1). Supposedly, Jesse stood up to dust off and old picture and Bob quickly saw his opportunity (1). Bob quickly pulled out a gun and blasted Jesse in the back of the head (1). There was supposedly another man in the room by the name of Charley, who was Bob’s older brother and one of Jesse’s recruit members (1). Earlier that year, Bob and the governor of Missouri hatched a plan to kill Jesse (1). Bob would get the reward and the Missouri governor would no longer have to deal with a convict roaming around his town (1). The two brothers quickly explained to the authorities that they took down the wanted Jesse James (1). Instead of obtaining a reward for the kill, they were both sentenced to hang (1). Luckily for them, the governor stopped the hanging to let them live (1). Jesse’s corpse was supposedly buried on a family member’s piece of land in 1902 (1). Recent studies have taken DNA tests of the outlaw’s remains and have concluded that the body was that of Jesse James (1).
Another conspiracy theory is that Jesse was not killed or hunted for a reward but ended his criminal career and lived a simple and peaceful life to the age of 103 (If Jesse's Not Shot, What? Theory Says Outlaw Died of Old Age).(1) . A man by the name of Bud Hardcastle claims that the outlaw faked his death (1). Hardcastle claims that Jesse used a man by the name of Charles Bigelow to stage his death (1). Hardcastle says that Jesse used Charles death because the two outlaws were enemies and supposedly looked very similar (1). Hardcastle also uses pieces of evidence to further prove his conspiracy (1). He states that Jesse’s own brother and supposed killer of Jesse, Robert Ford opened a saloon together in Colorado (1). Hardcastle uses this piece of information and claims that it would not make sense for Jesse’s brother and Jesse’s supposed killer to end up being friends and then to go and open a saloon (1). Hardcastle also says that it would make sense that he would kill Charles and use his body because they were hated enemies but coincidentally looked nearly the same (1). Hardcastle says that Jesse thought it would benefit to kill Charles because he was a “scrounge of a person (1).” Hardcastle believes that after the killing of Charles, Jesse went by the name of J. Frank Dalton (1). After a very long period, Jesse James or J. Frank Dalton was spotted and accused of being the real Jesse James (1). Later that year, J. Frank Dalton died of old age and was buried in Granbury, Texas (1). On his tombstone was labeled Jesse James, his real name (1). The tombstone also stated his birth and death day, September 5, 1847 – 1951. These dates say that Jesse lived to see over 100 years of life (1).
The last conspiracy sounds somewhat similar the first conspiracy. This theory is that Jesse and his brother Frank were working with two men, the Younger brothers (Jesse James Is Murdered).(1). While they were escaping one of their many criminal acts, one of the Younger brothers was shot and injured (1). Jesse and Frank split away from the Younger brothers and escaped the law once again (1). Unfortunately, the Younger brothers were captured and sent to prison for life (1). After Jesse and Frank Escaped, they fled to Tennessee and hid there for a few years (1). After a few years of farming and letting their names be forgotten, Jesse thought it was time to reorganize another gang (1). Jesse and his brother found two men named Robert and Charlie Ford (1). They thought that these two men would fit right in, but little did they know, the two men would tear the gang down (1). Jesse organized a meeting for a first heist with the new gang (1). The part that sounds similar is that Jesse supposedly stood up to fix a tilted picture on the wall and Bob Ford blasted Jesse in the back (1). The two brothers wanted to join the gang just to kill Jesse for the money, just like Bob Ford in the first conspiracy theory (1). Jesse’s supposed tombstone quotes “Jesse W. James, Died April 3, 1882, aged 34 years, 6 months, 28 days, murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here (1).”
1. Jesse James was murdered by Bob Ford in 1902 for a reward.
2. Robert Ford shot Jesse in the back of the head during a meeting.
3. Jesse used the death of a man as a decoy to fake his own death and lived to 103.
After carefully reading all the evidence and looking at the survey, evidence shows that Jesse James faked his death and lived to age 103.
Works Cited
“If Jesse's Not Shot, What? Theory Says Outlaw Died of Old Age.” Oklahoman.com, Oklahoman, 25 Mar. 1991, klahoman.com/article/2351717/if-jesses-not-shot-what-theory-says-outlaw-died-of-old-age
“Jesse James Is Murdered.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jesse-james-is-murdered.
Nix, Elizabeth. “7 Things You May Not Know About Jesse James.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 8 Dec. 2014, www.history.com/news/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-jesse-james.
Nix, Elizabeth. “7 Things You May Not Know About Jesse James.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 8 Dec. 2014, www.history.com/news/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-jesse-james.
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