Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri

Jesse James and Robin Hood

Jesse James and Robin Hood Jesse James is one of the most famous outlaws in American history. Many people tnink of him as an outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, a hero like Robin Hood. But was Jesse James really a "Robin Hood"? The popular stories about Robin Hood are set in England in the thirteenth century. In the stories, Robin Hood does not like the way the poor people in England are treated by the king. Robin Hood and his "Merry Men" set poor people free when they are put in jail for hunting the king's deer. They also steal back money and property taken from the poor by the evil sheriff of Nottingham. The stories make Robin Hood a hero rather than a bad man, and many songs were made up about him. What about Jesse James? Was he a hero? Or was he just a common thief and a cold,blooded killer? How did he become such a famous person? Livin' in Missouri was a bold bad man Known from Seattle down to Birmingham From Denver, Colorado, right across the state From Boston, Massachusetts to the Golden Gate. -Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs (University of Missouri Press, 1980), vol. 2 Jesse James was born in 1847 on a small farm near the town of Kearney, in Clay County, Missouri. He grew up during the 1 2 Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri Jesse James (1847-1882). (State Historical Society of Missouri) troubled years just before and during the American Civil War. When the Civil War began in 1861, Jesse was fourteen years old. He left home to fight in the war when he was sixteen years old. When the war ended in the spring of 1865, Jesse was seventeen years old. That was when he and his older brother, Jesse James and Robin Hood 3 Frank, along with some of the men who fought with them during the Civil War, became outlaws. Between 1866 and 1882 the James gang robbed banks and trains in Missouri and several other states. Most of the banks and railroads were owned by people who had been on the Northern, or Union, side during the Civil War. The banks charged high interest rates on loans to people trying to rebuild their farms and businesses after the war was over. People were forced to pay taxes to support the railroads. Then the railroads charged high freight rates to farmers trying to ship livestock and crops to market after the war. People living in Missouri were unhappy with the way they were treated by the banks, the government, and the railroads. Many of these people had been on the Southern, or Confed, erate, side during the war, so they were not very upset when the James gang robbed a bank or a train. Some people even helped the gang hide when they were being hunted by law~ men. Because of the James gang, Missouri was called the "Rob, ber State" or the "Outlaw State." Missouri's governor, Thomas T. Crittenden, a former Union officer, did not want the state to have a bad name, so in 1881 he offered a big reward for Jesse's capture. Finally, in 1882, Jesse was killed by one of his own men. Jesse was thirty,five years old when he was shot in the back of the head by Robert Ford in St. Joseph, Missouri. Not long after Jesse was killed, his brother Frank surrendered and the career of the James gang ended. But this was not the end of the James legend. Soon after Jesse's death, songs were written about him. The songs spread all over America. Many different songs were sung, and many stories about Jesse James were told. Many magazine and news, paper articles, as well as books, have been written about Jesse James over the last hundred years. Movies and TV shows have been made about him. People in rural areas of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee still tell Jesse James sto, 4 Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri PRoellMIIIO OFTHE IOVlllOI OF 11110URI! REWARDS FOR Tlm A,RBZST OF Izpress aid Trail lobln. == .. , ' ~ ,.".... . MI ....t. ....... ,.~~ . . ... 1 . ,~t " ". " _" .10• ....,,~J ....I ..''''", "1'"' ' ""."•., I.·",~ . . .. ,,·.1 ",." ..., ..,.1 I'"",,," Jot.,o,I....d..... r W'...'''... I. Ib.- ' ...."" •.f I I,....·." 1M ... 1 "', .,••".1 ... "I, , .." • .•"., " ..I.·'.'.I' ~' _10_.1 . . ...1. .." ~..."~ ",.."", .bo.~.....1...