June 5, 2020 ▸ History, People, War & Conflict

Episode 487: Jesse James: Guerilla, Cowboy Style

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we take a look back in time and explore the life, crimes, and assassination of Old West Outlaw, Jesse James. He was forged in the middle of the Civil War, and at the young age of 16, a brutal attack on his family farm made him join a confederate guerilla army along with his brother Frank. While there, they scalped, murdered, and mutilated the Northern forces. This gave them a very particular set of skills, skills which they turned to a life of crime. They joined or formed several of the most notorious gangs of the time, robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches, murdering, warring with the Pinkertons, and living on the wrong side of the law.

Jesse James was born to a wealthy preacher and plantation owner along with his brother Frank and a sister. They lived in a part of the border between North and South that was critical in the Civil War. Their county was rich with slaves, and when the war officially started, both sides committed horrible acts of savagery in this part of the nation. It was here that Frank and Jesse learned to shoot, ride, and be otherwise badass.

When the days of the militia and the war wound down, they did not. They started to rob and kill everyone who was associated with the North. Northern trains and banks owned by the “enemy” were the targets. This and a very successful public relations campaign with the newspaper editor named John Newman Edwards gave Jesse James a massive reputation. He was seen by his community to be not a murderer and outlaw but a Robin Hood who was righting the wrongs of the war.

But in spite of this public opinion, he did murder. He admitted to killing a little girl and shot people in the head or the back while robbing banks. Eventually, he married his cousin Zee and kept the crime train rolling. Eventually, Jesse and Frank formed the James-Younger Gang, and they became a national sensation. They became so famous that the founder of the Pinkerton Agency came after them directly. Eventually, they tried to retire, but Jesse kept going back to crime. Eventually, he formed a small gang with Charlie and Robert Ford. The Fords were offered a major bribe by the Governor to capture of kill Jesse James, and one day, Robert Ford shot Jesse in the back of the head, assassination style.

So, what became of the Ford Brothers after this killing? How much money were they offered? Did Jesse know this was coming? What came of Frank James? How does the modern day car guy tie in to the Jesse James lineage? How did a bomb blow off Jesse James’s mother’s arm? Listen, laugh, learn.

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jesse-james

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James

https://www.wbur.org/npr/212374395/what-drove-wild-wests-jesse-james-to-become-an-outlaw

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/james-jesse/

https://www.whizzpast.com/25-little-known-facts-about-the-outlaw-jesse-james/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James_(customizer)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Capehart_O%27Kelley