THE DEATH OF AN OUTLAW
The day they shot down Jesse James.
Today, we remember the assassination of a true American outlaw. In a century—the nineteenth—that saw the emergence of many social villains, this man ranks near the top, if not at the pinnacle. This guerrilla robbed banks, trains, and the sense of peace and security for many law-abiding citizens. He also excited the imagination of others and inflamed their curiosity about the great American Wild West. On this day in weird Gadfly history, April 3, 1882, Jesse James was shot in the back by a fellow gang member while, believe it or not, adjusting a picture on the wall of his Missouri home. While the infamy he shot out of his life burst through every generation that succeeded his passing, it has overshadowed his life, for better or worse. Everyone thinks they know Jesse James, but behind his antics and notorious reputation, most of us can actually recall little.
Jesse James was born in Missouri to slaveholding parents. The larger community he grew up in also sympathized with this unholy institution. As he entered his teenage years, the dawn of the Civil War arose, and the debate over whether to allow slavery spread across his homeland. The James family was decidedly pro-slavery. However, nothing really establishes Jesse’s concern for the secessionist cause until he and his family were harassed and attacked by Union forces. This led Jesse to jump into the Southern guerrilla camps and launch various assaults on Northern armies. He also took part in atrocities himself, including the famous Centralia Massacre of 1864. Like claims he made later in life, objective observers found it difficult to separate his complaints from his own acts of violence.
Following the war, James and his brother, Frank, formed various gangs and began attacking and robbing trains, banks, and other establishments, some tied to former Union leaders. Historians even surmise that they probably conspired and executed the first daylight robbery of an American bank, Clay County Savings Association, on February 13, 1866. Their assaults in general featured violent acts on innocent bystanders as well as a wave of terrorism across the affected areas.
As his notoriety emerged, and was aided by political letters he wrote to prominent newspapers and the people running those papers (especially the Kansas City Times), many began to see this bandit on the run as a Robin Hood figure. Yet, historians point out substantial fallacies in that comparison because Jesse robbed small, local establishments, did not distribute the proceeds beyond his cadre of criminals, and typically involved reckless violence.
While some continued to admire Jesse James, state and federal authorities did not. They posted bounties for his capture. They sent forces to bring him to justice. This drove the James gang on the run for the better part of ten years from Missouri to Texas, Minnesota to Iowa, Mississippi to West Virginia, and all sorts of other places in the United States. Along the way, Jesse and his brother lost most of their fellow rebels in different skirmishes with local militia groups.
Eventually, they were forced by necessity to bring in conspirators with less experience and even less familiarity with the James brothers. Jesse began to doubt the faithfulness of his new gang members towards the end of the 1870s. He had good reason not to believe their criminal intentions. In fact, some of them (including Robert and Charley Ford, the former of whom would later be Jesse’s executioner) were already colluding with government authorities to bring him to justice. Several politicians and even many large corporations had offered rewards for their death or capture for a long time. Now, Jesse had men in his midst without loyalty to him and enticed by these offers.
On April 3, 1882, the Ford brothers were eating breakfast with Jesse James in their home in Missouri. James had invited Robert and Charley to live with him out of concerns for the safety of him and his family. Though over time, he began to suspect they were going to stab him in the back because they did not tell him another co-conspirator had confessed. Unfortunately, on the day in question, his fears had not yet reached a boiling point.
If they had, maybe Jesse James might have been more careful and watched his back. He did not. The trio were set to rob a bank on April 3rd. After breakfast, they rose to exit. Jesse went to clean some dust off a picture en route as he left. Fearing Jesse knew of their deceitfulness (and justifiably because the pair had been negotiating with Governor Crittenden about apprehending him for a reward), Robert drew his gun and fired into the back of the famous outlaw.
And that’s the way Jesse James has stayed ever since that day. His notorious life still erupts debate over its meaning, just like during the days in which he was alive. Today, on the anniversary of his death, we should reconsider that topic.