Jesse James

We love history and visiting historical places, so when we realized the Jesse James home was only an hour away in St.Joseph, we had to go check it out. This is the home he was shot in~

Here are a few pictures. At the bottom of the page is the History on the home if you don't know it, or would like a little refresher. **

The Jesse James Home

Reward Poster
Living Room he was shot in.
Scotty by the bullet hole.
In Jesse and Zee's bedroom.
In the living room, by a painting of Jesse James.


**JESSE'S DEATH:
With his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse James thought that he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Robert and Charley Ford. Charley had been out on raids with Jesse before, but Bob was an eager new recruit. To better protect himself, Jesse asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. Little did he know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in the famous outlaw. Crittenden had made capture of the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Barred by law from offering a sufficiently large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $10,000 bounty for each of them.
On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James prepared for departure for another robbery, going in and out of the house to prepare the horses. It was an unusually hot day. James removed his coat, then declared that he should remove his fire arms as well, lest he look suspicious. James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. Robert Ford took advantage of the opportunity, and shot James in the back of the head.[20]
The murder of Jesse James was a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role. Indeed, Robert Ford wired the governor to claim his reward. Crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead bandit, even while the Ford brothers surrendered to the authorities—but they were dismayed to find that they were charged with first degree murder. The Ford brothers were tried and convicted. They were sentenced to death by hanging, but within two hours, each was granted a full pardon by the Governor of Missouri.