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Jesse James: Hot Topic In Life And DeathR' SCOTT KRAFTPrr« WriterST JOSEPH. Mo AP A handful of historians carefully dug into an abandoned grave last fall What fhev found re vived a century old debate about the life and death of Jesse JamesIs a 38-caliber bullet they unearthed the slug that “laid poor Jesse in his grave'’ Or was it a 44-caliber slug, as the man who pulled the trigger had claimedJesse James has been immortalized in song, prose film But the true story behind the legend may never be known It literally has been whittled awav by tourists, fraught with con flicting accounts and glossed over by the prospect of a quick buckWas he an American Robin Hood A greedy murderer Whatever he was, this outlaw who pioneered the davlight hank holdup and perfected the art of train robbery isn’t forgottenAlltRT IKA TRIBUNC, Utff, JwwTourists by the thousands flock to his stomping grounds in Nor thwest Missouri, and debate over his death on April 3, 1882 still ragesThe grave of Jesse Woodson James was still fresh when his grieving but practical mother, Zerelda. started selling tours of the family log cabin for a quar ter For another two bits, she’d take your picture nest to the gravemarker or let you have a pebble from the gravesite When the pebbles ran low she’d send a neighbor’s kid to the nearby creek for moreToday, the Jesse James busi ness is booming “He’s become bigger than life. says one his torianThe 20th century team sifting the empty plot on the farm near Kearney Mo . was mindful of misadventures there more than 75 years before Jesse's ornate iron casket with glass sides fell apart when his family tried to move it. and some bones fell back into the grave The17,1f7f_Nf »remains were moved to a cemetery But what had been left behindThe recent excavation turned up pieces of coffin, bone frag ments. a tuft of hair and the bullet No major archaeological find, but enough to aaswer a few historical questions and raise many more Some 700 books have been written on the James Gang, most of questionable accuracy I’m amazed at the lack of scholarly research on Jesse James, says Milton Perry, a Clay County historian “Only now are we beginning to know more about the real Jesse James The real person and the folklore hero aren't much alike The greatest Jesse James legend is that he robbed fromthe rich to give to the poor, but, Perry says, there's noevidence that the James Gang ever gave to the poor Folklore depicted Jesse as lashing out at hated institutions of the day Banks were a target because they took property from farmers, trains because they ran roughshod over farmers when track was laid “The James Gang was innovative. it attacked institutions rather than individuals. Perry savs People sort of applauded and envied anyone who could rob those hated institutions But the evidence indicates that James, like other outlaws, was interested only in loot, and he personally killed Ifi persons Until recently, it was general ly accepted that Jesse was killedby a 44-caliber bulletA police firearms expert in Independence. Mo . says the 38-caliber slug found in the James Farm grave could be the fatal bullet It was old enough, he said, and its condition wascon sistent with other slugs which have passed through a victim's skull The Pony Express Historical Association in St Joseph, owner of the murder site, assails that conclusion A spokesman. Gary Chilcote, claims a hole in the wall at the murder scene is proof that the fatal slug exited Jesse’s headThe hole certainly is proof enough for tourists Over the years they have managed to widen it to the size of a large potato by collecting keepsake splinters Chilcote believes oneof the early tourists probably retrieved the bullet for a souve nirA newspaper story published four days after the murder says an autopsy showed the bullet lodged in Jesse’s head Autopsy records haven't been found, however Until all the evidence is in, history buffs in these parts will continue the controversy And controversy means tourists Jesse James’ life and death are depicted in sequence near St Joseph and Kansas City today The farm near Kearney where he grew up, the Liberty bank 10 miles away where the gang staged its first holdup, and the St Joseph house where Jesse met his death The cabin where Jesse James was bom, reared and later hid from authorities rests on rolling farmland overlooking a shallow creek Its wood planks, brittle after 120 years. n«*d repair A $50,000 restoration is underwaj there, and Parks Director Stmhetvj, Davis says, I’m still hoping hell find a bag of loot stashedtynewhere.”The scAk* of Jesse’s first bank robbery, the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, has been Stored Visitors can buy Jame^Gang souvenirs in the gift shfA and their dollars are beginnlfc to replace the $80,000 Jesse lames carried out of town in 1885More than 20.000 annually visit the site in v Joseph where Jesse was murdwedOn the day of ^s death. Jesse James was discu^ing bank robbery plans in his Ufcjse with two new cohorts ChuJey and Bob Ford During the conversation. Jesse noticed a Yarned inscription on the wall. “God Bless This Home. wt| crooked He stood on a chair to itraighten it.The Ford brothers drtw their guns they had been waiting for such a moment Bob. t babyfaced man of 21. pulled the trigger ending the James Gang's l^year reign The gang had been blamed for nearly every robbery in the country — no matter that some were pulled off at nearly the same time hundreds of miles apart Historians give this final toll 11 banks, seven trains three stagecoaches, one county fair and a payroll messenger At the grave. Jesse's mother erected the gravestone bearing these words Murdered by a traitor and coward whose name is not wor thy to appear here ”Thomas Kvammg Writes The Sports Scope Tuesdays and Thursdays
Newspaper Details
Albert Lea Sunday Tribune
Albert Lea, Minnesota, US
Sun, Jun 17, 1979
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Joplin P.
MO, USA 19 Sep 2024
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