The Outlaw Jesse James
dalia, Minnesota, where they shot their way out of a gunfight. During this fight, another gang member was killed and three more were wounded. They were jailed at Faribault, Minnesota. They pled guilty and were sentenced to life imprisonment at Stillwater State Penitentiary. Jesse and Frank made good their escape, but had to lay low for over three years. Jesse lived under the name of Howard during this time. He kept moving and took up residence across the country in Tennessee, California, and Colorado. For awhile he worked a rich strike in California Gulch in Colorado with Frank and the Ford brothers.
In October 1879, he was back to his old tricks with a new gang. They robbed a Chicago and Alton train. They robbed four more trains in 1881, the last one at Glendale, Missouri. Two of their gang members were captured after that one. After that the James gang was never heard from again. Jesse was killed by Bob Ford, a gang member, on April 3, 1882, reportedly for the reward money. They made sure it was really him by identifying war time wounds on his body.
After Jesse was killed his guns and gunbelt were auctioned off for fifteen dollars. He had owned a Colt .45 Peacemaker and a .45 Smith and Wesson Schofield. For years afterward, Jesse's mother sold many other guns claiming that they belonged to Jesse. They were obviously old relics she bought by the dozens to sell at outrageous prices. Frank turned himself in after Jesse's death. However, he was never convicted of anything.
For a long time there were rumors that Ford did not kill Jesse, that it was somewhere else. Jesse was thought to be living in Guthrie, Oklahoma as late as 1948 and that he died at Granbury, Texas. The real recipient of Ford's bullet, claim some stories, was a crook named Bigelow, reported to have been living with Jesse's wife at the time.
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