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The Life, Times, and Treacherous Death of Jesse James (Legends of the West)

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This book was written during the post-assasination hype following Jesse James' death. The author claims to have gotten much of his material from Jesse's wife and mother. They deny they contributed yet apparently did receive royalties. The author writes a good story and quotes many good first-hand sources, though make allowances for hype-driven inaccuracies. It's good reading.

This version of the life and death of Jesse James is a reprint of the controversial compilations of newspapers' opinions in the St. Joseph (MO) publication in 1882, just seven weeks after the death. Written by Frank Triplett who had clipped articles from the Kansas City 'Times' almost verbatim, he edited the stories and inserted them into his manuscript. He "borrowed" from other newspapers and various authors. In the 1883 city directory of St. Louis, he listed himself as an author. From 1884 to 1891, he was listed as a mining engineer. He brought out two editions, most of which disappeared. He was interested in history and his most prominent publication appears to be a campaign biography of Grover Cleveland.

"Thousands of other Confederates returned peacefully to Missouri...and lived successful lives." The Civil War, in particular the Home Guard who tortured the young Jesse, the carpetbaggers and groups like White Hats & Blue Gills we had in East Tennessee, turned him into "an outlaw in spite of himself. His Civil-War-engendered career of crime included robberies of banks and trains which took place five years after the war had ended. He and his brother Frank made themselves known as Southern bushwhackers and, at the time of his death, they'd become legendary gun fighters.

After he married his cousin, he lived for a time in Kansas City. Nashville, Tennessee, seated high among bluffs and covered with roses and lilacs, had given him "long and needed shelter." He appeared to lead a charmed life. However, he trusted the wrong people. He foresaw his demise before he was shot (as Lincoln did his own assassination) in his own home in St. Joseph. Charlie Ford had been staying as a guest and his younger brother, Bob, worked for a ransom of $2500 to kill their "friend."On April 3, unarmed Jesse James met his fate by turning his back to Bob Ford who fired the fatal shot. Ten years later, his fate caught up with him and he suffered the same treatment, shot and killed in Colorado. A funeral train transported the body from St. Joseph to Cameron, Missouri, to his childhood home to be buried. And thus, the legend began. To all classes of society, even to those who took no part in the horrors of the Civil War, a certain amount of demoralization fell upon the masses where robbery and murder ran riot. No one came out unscathed.

This is a limited account of the exploits of Jeese James. The book is biased from family and pro James sentiments of the newspaper editor, and author. It is a revisionist work to place Jesse in a positive light. If you have one book to read on Frank and Jesse, get Frank & Jesse James, The Story Behind the Legend by Ted P. Yeatman. You won't be disappointed.