Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010
Jesse James
The Missouri-born bandit Jesse James and his older brother Frank took up the Southern cause during the Civil War by joining a Confederate guerrilla. Their exploits included looting a train in 1864, killing 22 of the 23 unarmed Union soldiers on board and scalping several. After the war ended, the brothers roamed with less of a purpose. In 1881 Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden offered a $10,000 reward for their capture, dead or alive. Soon after, Robert Ford, another gang member, shot and killed Jesse and claimed the reward. To this day, Jesse James remains a folk hero to many on account of his unyielding allegiance to the South.