After the assassination of Jesse James, Charley Ford went downhill fast. By May 1884—two years after the killing—he was living with his parents at...
Remembering Larry McMurtry
The life and times of the legendary Western writer and the legacy of Lonesome Dove. “Sometimes Sonny felt like he was the only human creature in...
Jesse James Guns
Jesse James was assassinated on April 3rd , 1882 at his home in St. Joseph Missouri by two members of his gang, Bob and Charlie Ford. There are...
How Many Men Did Jesse James Kill Trying to count Jesse’s kill total isn’t really possible.
A question came in a few days ago from a reader wanting to know how many men did Jesse kill? Trying to count Jesse’s kill total during the war – it...
Burn ‘em Out Bloody Bill Anderson avenged his father’s death.
In 1862, William T. Anderson lived up to his “Bloody Bill” nickname. Anderson’s father had been shot dead by a judge in Council Grove, Iowa. Bill...
Birth Of The Social Bandit The best example of a social bandit came in the latter days of the Old West, was Butch Cassidy...
By the latter part of the nineteenth century train robberies had become big business among western outlaws. During one period trains were being...
Bullion? What Bullion?
Jesse James missed out on a big score because of semantics.
A Bad Marriage Zerelda James’ second union was a disaster.
Zerelda Cole James is best known as the mother of Frank and Jesse James. The boys’ father Robert died when he went to California in 1850. Two...
A Coincidence Of Crime Nimrod Long ran into the James family twice.
March 20, 1868. A group of robbers—which would evolve into the James-Younger Gang—hit the Nimrod Long Bank in Russellville, Kentucky. Bank...
Unworthy Jesse James quit the church as his outlaw career took off.
Jesse James was the son of a Baptist minister, but he obviously took a wrong path. In September 1869, Jesse basically accepted that his faith was...
Brothers in Blood: Jesse James and Billy the Kid
“One of the most brutal things in the world is your average 19-year-old American boy.” —T.J. Stiles, from Jesse James
Jesse James: The Birth of a Killer
Born into the Missouri-Kansas border war over slavery, teenaged Jesse James was destined to live a violent life.