Outlaw Jesse James: Secrets Of The Legendary

Secrets of the Legendary
Outlaw Jesse James

When we think of the American West, we often envision a cowboy saving the day and riding off into the sunset. Wistfulness often sets in, and we begin to wish for simpler times when the good guys and the bad guys were distinguishable, when everything was so simple. Unfortunately, those times never existed; what remains in our minds is the romanticized version of the American West, synthesized by Hollywood. John Henry, Paul Bunyan, and Pecos Bill are a few examples of these manufactured myths, however, not all of them were tall tales. One of the true legends of the American West was famous outlaw Jesse James. He conquered the hearts of many through his chivalrous deeds as well as his disobedience towards the law. With being involved in so much during a time of great chaos and deception, it is no wonder that even a legend such as his is full of mysterious myths and secrets.
Jesse Woodson James was the second son born to a Baptist minister named Robert James and
his wife, Zerelda Cole Mimms ("Legend"1). The couple's first-born son was Alexander Franklin James, better known as Frank James ("Legend"2). Frank entered this world on January 10, 1843, and Jesse followed on September 5, 1847 ("Legend"1). His birthplace has become a popular tourist attraction, as well as a state monument. It is the only monument ever given to an outlaw ("Legendary"1). Robert James died when the boys and a younger sister were still very young; Jesse's mother remarried soon after to a wealthy doctor, landowner, and slave owner named Rueben Samuels ("Jesse"1). Reports state that Zerelda was a tall woman, having blonde hair, blue eyes, and beautiful looks. It was said that she was a woman who wasn't afraid to let people know her thoughts and views as well as her determination and willingness to do what she believed in. They said she was fearless ("Legend"1). Frank and James learned to ride and shoot extremely well growing up. They knew everything there was to know about their surrounding countryside, every deer trail, road, and river crossing, which eventually came in handy in the future. Many sources give an account of how the boys had no fears, a trait they obviously inherited from their mother ("Legend"3). All in all the boys had what most would consider a normal childhood. They were part of a loving and caring family living peaceful lives. The Civil War would soon change all of that. At the onset of the war, Frank James joined an elite Confederate military unit known as Quantrill's Raiders, and brother Jesse, who wasn't yet 18 when the Civil War ended, soon followed suit ("Jesse"2). The 200-man force, "led by the homicidal schoolteacher William Quantrill" ("William"3), included an elite sub-group that was led by an even more homicidal William Anderson. Most knew him as "Bloody Bill" Anderson ("William"3). Anderson once reportedly lined up a group of captured Union soldiers and personally executed all twenty-six of them ("Jesse"2).
Included in this elite unit were the Cole brothers and of course the James brothers ("William"3). These men, and the rest of the Raiders, made a name for themselves during the war by constantly perpetrating massacres of both soldiers and civilians. The Raiders' most notorious act was the Lawrence Massacre. On August 21, 1863 they burned and pillaged Lawrence, Kansas, and left over 150 unarmed civilian's dead ("William"2).
After the war, the James brothers and various others embarked upon a life of crime in the Wild West, robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches. As a result of their actions the Governor of Missouri put an unprecedented $10,000 reward on the James brothers' heads ("Legendary"1). Soon Jesse was allegedly shot in the back of the head by the Ford brothers, Charles and Robert, on April 3, 1882 ("Legend"18). Frank later then surrendered to authorities and stood trial for his crimes. He was acquitted after promising to never again take up arms against the Federal government. He died from old age in 1915("Legend"8).
All of that, alas, can be found in most official retellings of the legend of the larger-than-life Wild West outlaw known as Jesse James. But that isn't quite the whole story, or at least not according to several different authors and historians. Many believe that the official retellings of his tale are false and that we have been lied to. Those who believe in what most consider being a myth believe that Jesse James faked his death, and that he belonged to a top secret society that was in control of the "Underground Civil War" ("Secret"1).
According to the historical book Jesse James Was One of His Names written by Del Scharader, "The American Civil War did not really end in 1865, but continued to be fought underground for 19 more years. It's highly sophisticated spy network, operated by the Knights of the Golden Circle, continued for even longer and was involved in many subversive activities" ("Secret"1). The Knights of the Golden Circle was considered to be one of the deadliest, wealthiest, most secretive and efficient spy and underground organizations the world has ever known. They operated around the globe for over sixty-five years, and had several dozen front organizations. Only a few of them received any publicity, like the original Ku Klux Klan, which was one of the military arms of the Knights of the Golden Circle (Scharader 186).
Historians believe that the Golden Circle was founded in 1859 by a man named George Bickley. He believed that Americans should establish colonies in Latin America, with an idea of taking control over all of Central and South America (Scharader 188). He is responsible for establishing strong inroads in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He claimed membership of at least 100,000, with 48,000 in Indiana (Scharader 188-189).
The Knights of the Golden Circle functioned very openly from its headquarters in Nashville during the Civil War. They did many things which included collecting espionage data. The South's top men, majors through generals, were considered for membership in the Circle, but only the really gung-ho guys were allowed in (Scharader 190). Jesse was allegedly a key member of this occult-based secret society. Other key members included the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, Albert Pike, the notorious occultist who is known for playing a key role in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan, and Captain William Quantrill, whose Raiders were in essence an early version of an elite, Special Forces, unit ("Secret" 1).
The James Gang's train and bank robberies, it is claimed, were fundraising operations to finance the activities of the Knights of the Golden Circle, as well as wreak general havoc with the plans of the Northern Reconstructionists. Jesse is also said to have been involved in supplying weapons and training to the Plains Indians, as a means of waging proxy war against the Union Army ("Secret" 1). To Jesse any Indians that were at war with the north were Confederate allies ("Jesse James" 4).
In 1861, at the onset of the Civil War, populist Benito Juarez had been legally elected president of Mexico ("Secret" 2). Western powers were not so fond of the way Juarez was running his country. In 1864, French forces dispatched by Napoleon III disposed Juarez and installed Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico. Maximilian, the brother of Austria's Emperor, Frank Joseph, had previously been the Archduke of Austria ("Jesse James" 3).
After the Civil War ended, Maximilian's unstable regime continued to be threatened by forces loyal to Juarez ("Jesse James" 3). According to the Scharader book, a force of 2000 Missouri cavalrymen and a regiment of Confederate-led Red Bone Indians were dispatched to Mexico in support of Maximilian. When this force ran into stiff resistance, an elite force was sent to the rescue. That force was led by none other than Captain William Quantrill and Colonel Jesse James ("Secret" 2). While in Mexico, James was ordered to help Maximilian smuggle his treasure out of Mexico. Included in the treasure were some jewels and heirlooms of both the House of Hapsburg and the House of Rothschild, as well as Aztec gold that had been hidden, long ago, from the Conquistadors ("Jesse James" 3).
History books say that Maximilian was executed by a firing squad, after being captured by Juarez loyalists. Scharader claims that Juarez was rescued by the James/Quantrill team and transported back to the States, where he lived out the rest of his life under the name John Maxi ("Secret" 2). Since the James' Team allegedly transported such a vast amount of Maximilian's wealth back to the States, they were richly rewarded by him. For their assistance, he rewarded the Knights of the Golden Circle $12.5 million in gold, and Jesse received $5 million ("Secret" 2).
Legend has it that Jesse James now had enough power, influence, and wealth to fake his own death, which was undoubtedly a wise move since the Law was so hot on his trail ("Secret" 2). Rumors of the survival of Jesse James proliferated. Some said that Ford did not kill James, but someone else ("Jesse" 4). According to Jesse James historian, Bud Hardcastle, the man identified as James was in fact a man named Charlie Bigelow. "‘Bigelow was robbing things and using Jesse's name, and that's one of the reasons they probably identified him as Jesse…Bigelow was buried as Jesse James'" ("Secret" 2). Hardcastle also states that several of the men who identified Jesse's body were members of Quantrill's Raiders or relatives. All of these men had ridden with Jesse and each had taken an oath to protect each other. By saying it was Jesse James; they were essentially setting him free ("Secret" 2).
It is said that James lived out the rest of his years in Granbury, Texas, under the name J. Frank Dalton ("Jesse" 4). "The name "Dalton" was his mother's maiden name. The initials "J" stood for "Jesse", and "Frank" was his brother's name" ("Secret" 3). J. Frank Dalton died in 1951 at the age of 103 ("Secret" 3).
The most fascinating part of the Jesse James story concerns another rather notorious figure in American history whose death has been called into question by numerous researchers; John Wilkes Booth ("Secret" 3). An inconvenient and therefore unmentionable fact is that Booth was not acting alone when he shot President Lincoln, and that there was an original plan that involved kidnapping the president. The northern part of the Confederate underground wanted to outright kill Lincoln while Booth along with most of the south wanted to kidnap him and use him as leverage to get Confederate prisoners of war released (Rivera 1).
A fact that is generally over looked and left out of the history books is that Booth attempted twice to capture President Lincoln and failed both times.
Eventually he ended up shooting him at Fords Theater because of his failed attempts (Rivera 1). Booth, of course, never stood trial. He was allegedly killed by agents who were attempting to capture him. Scharader, and numerous others, say that Booth's death was faked, and that he, like Jesse, was an agent of the Confederate intelligence service ("Secret" 3).
The story goes that after killing Lincoln, Booth was given safe passage to Texas by the Confederate underground ("Jesse James" 5). Once there he adopted the name John St. Helen and worked as a bartender ("Secret" 3). A problem arose, however, when Booth developed a drinking problem, and with it a tendency to shoot off his mouth about the life he used to lead ("Jesse James" 5). Booth in other words became a liability that needed to be dealt
with.
Sent to deal with the problem was none other than Jesse James, accompanied by William Lincoln, a distant cousin of the former president ("Secret" 3). The pair tracked Booth to Enid, Oklahoma, where he was poisoned ("Jesse James" 5). Strangely enough though, that claim can be backed up with a sworn statement from William Lincoln himself: "‘Our branch of the Lincoln family was never satisfied with what really happened to Booth, and I have spent fourteen years of my life running down the true story. Strangely enough, I learned it from Jesse W. James, head of the Confederate underground. I was present at Booth's real death"' ("Secret" 3).
James is said to have been one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in America, even before being rewarded by Maximilian. He is said to have invested heavily in the Texas oil boom, and to have provided financial backing for the Hughes Tool Company, founded by Howard Hughes, Sr., and the Ford Motor Company, founded by Henry Ford ("Secret" 3).
Jesse is what some would call a moral paradox. He was said to be a good father and family man, and was, in his own way, a religious man ("Legendary" 1). Because of his extreme wealth, attitude towards his fellow countrymen, and his dislike of the law, it is no wonder that many referred to him as a modern day, American, Robin Hood. Of all the world's legendary characters, few have attracted such fascination from around the world like Jesse James ("Legendary" 1).
Whether he really was a Robin Hood and stole from the rich and gave it to the poor, or just kept it for himself has never been decided. The facts say that Jesse James died in 1882, but his legend continues more than a century beyond his death. Today Frank and Jesse James are among the best-known Americans in the world ("Legendary" 2).
If this account is accurate, and much of it does have a ring of truth to it, then it illustrates once again the extent to which the official history of this country is nothing but a tangled web of lies. But how much of this story is true? That, unfortunately, is difficult to determine. When the lies run so deep, when they have been repeated so frequently as to become an artificial reality, a collective figment of the imagination, then it is a daunting task finding anything close to the truth. Whether true or not, the Jesse James story is a story that is too good to not pass along.
Work Cited

"Jesse James Biography" 21 April 2006 p. 1-4 www.answers.com/topic/jesse-james?method=22 Retrieved at: Wikipedia

"The Legend" 24 April 2006 p. 1-18 www.theoutlaws.com/outlaws6b.htm

"William Quantrill" 4 May 2006 p. 1-4 www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&tname=william-quantrill.com Retrieved at: Wikipedia

"Jesse James" 26 April 2006 p. 1-2 www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/jessejames.cfm

"Jesse James Was One of His Names" 4 May 2006 p. 1-6 www.shout.net/~bigred/JesJames.htm

"The Secret Life of Jesse James" 5 May 2006 p. 1-6 www.bisonbill.com/Bison8.html

Rivera, David. "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865)" 1994, View From the Wall Retrieved at:

Scharader, Del. "The Knights of the Golden Circle" 19##, Jesse James Was One of His Names Retrieved at: