1 00:00:00,932 --> 00:00:10,931 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:10,931 --> 00:00:17,610 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily 3 00:00:17,610 --> 00:00:20,930 the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:21,930 --> 00:00:25,929 Quantrill's Raiders, The Hole in the Wall Gang. 5 00:00:25,929 --> 00:00:30,929 Colorful names for bands of outlaws that roamed the West during and after the Civil War. 6 00:00:30,929 --> 00:00:37,928 No one earned more fame, however, than Jesse James, the Robin Hood of Western Outlaws. 7 00:00:37,928 --> 00:00:53,926 Most historians maintain that Jesse was killed six years after his doomed Northfield, Minnesota raid. 8 00:00:53,926 --> 00:00:58,926 Yet in 1948, J. Frank Dalton claimed he was Jesse James. 9 00:00:58,926 --> 00:01:06,925 Is it possible that Jesse James could have perpetrated a hoax on the entire country for over 60 years? 10 00:01:28,923 --> 00:01:43,921 Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, two children they were brave. 11 00:01:43,921 --> 00:01:55,920 But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard laid Jesse James in his grave. 12 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:03,919 It was on a Saturday night Jesse was alone talking to his family so brave. 13 00:02:03,919 --> 00:02:13,918 Robert Ford came along like a thief in the night and laid poor Jesse in his grave. 14 00:02:13,918 --> 00:02:22,917 Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, two children they were brave. 15 00:02:22,917 --> 00:02:42,915 But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard laid Jesse James in his grave. 16 00:02:42,915 --> 00:02:49,914 On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was straightening a picture when suddenly a gunshot was fired. 17 00:02:49,914 --> 00:02:52,914 Reports said that Jesse James was dead. 18 00:02:52,914 --> 00:02:56,913 Was it really Jesse James who was shot on the head that day in Kearney, Missouri? 19 00:02:56,913 --> 00:03:08,912 By examining his life, we will perhaps find an answer to the question of his death. 20 00:03:08,912 --> 00:03:14,911 Jesse James is the only outlaw whose birthplace has been immortalized as a state monument. 21 00:03:14,911 --> 00:03:18,911 The house's curator is Dr. Milton Perry. 22 00:03:18,911 --> 00:03:24,910 Jesse James is America's Robin Hood in legend. I don't think there's any question about that. 23 00:03:24,910 --> 00:03:30,910 The famous Robin Hood story is the one in which Frank and Jesse were returning from a robbery. 24 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:36,909 And depending upon where you've heard it, it could have taken place in Missouri, or Arkansas, or Kentucky, or wherever. 25 00:03:36,909 --> 00:03:40,909 And they stopped at a farmhouse and asked for lunch. 26 00:03:40,909 --> 00:03:45,908 The farm lady, and there was a customer at the time, consented and was fixing their meal. 27 00:03:45,908 --> 00:03:48,908 And while she was doing this, they noticed she was crying. 28 00:03:48,908 --> 00:03:50,908 And they asked her the reason why. 29 00:03:50,908 --> 00:04:00,907 She said that she was a widow with two young children and that the house was a mortgage and the mortgage would be foreclosed that afternoon. 30 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:07,906 So Frank or Jesse supposedly tell her that they are Frank and Jesse and they would like to help her pay off the mortgage. 31 00:04:07,906 --> 00:04:09,906 And they asked her how much it was. 32 00:04:09,906 --> 00:04:12,905 She named the sum. They gave her the money. 33 00:04:12,905 --> 00:04:16,905 When she left, the banker came, the mortgage was paid, it was burned. 34 00:04:16,905 --> 00:04:22,904 But strangely on the way back, the banker was ambushed by two masked men who stole all the money he had. 35 00:04:22,904 --> 00:04:27,904 John Quantrill led a group of ex-Confederate Raiders of which Frank and Jesse were members. 36 00:04:27,904 --> 00:04:34,903 Frank and Jesse both joined Quantrill Raiders during the Civil War because they were a very popular unit from this area. 37 00:04:34,903 --> 00:04:38,903 And they were directly associated with a number of Quantrill's men. 38 00:04:38,903 --> 00:04:49,901 During that period of their career, as a part of the operation of the guerrillas, they would capture towns and, of course, among the towns, in the town of their banks. 39 00:04:49,901 --> 00:04:54,901 And so they had perpetrated daylight bank hold-ups as a part of their military actions. 40 00:04:54,901 --> 00:04:59,900 But strangely enough, it had never been done in peacetime until it happened here in Liberty. 41 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:07,899 The Liberty Bank raid recreated from eyewitness accounts established a method of operation for Jesse and Frank. 42 00:05:07,899 --> 00:05:13,899 Jesse, the more aggressive, would charge forward while Frank held bank personnel at bay. 43 00:05:17,898 --> 00:05:24,898 On their very first hold-up, they managed to secure more than $70,000, a small fortune at that time. 44 00:05:27,897 --> 00:05:34,897 The gang was probably originated with Frank and probably at Frank's instigation along with other people. 45 00:05:34,897 --> 00:05:38,896 Jesse seems to have joined the gang more as an afterthought than anything else. 46 00:05:38,896 --> 00:05:47,895 But he gradually became the leader of the gang, probably because he was more of a team person and was probably a more popular person and convinced people to his ways. 47 00:05:47,895 --> 00:05:50,895 Jesse was much more outgoing than Frank. 48 00:05:50,895 --> 00:05:58,894 He was very friendly, had a very strong sense of humor, and was a very easygoing person and had a lot of friends and knew a lot of people. 49 00:05:58,894 --> 00:06:11,893 Frank was just the opposite. Frank was very quiet, very do-or, great haste to turn, probably never told a joke in his life, liked to read, could quote Shakespeare, and was a very, very private person. 50 00:06:11,893 --> 00:06:18,892 It's an interesting story that they managed to stay in business for 16 years and they were never caught. 51 00:06:18,892 --> 00:06:27,891 Jesse, of course, was killed and Frank surrendered, partially because of the fact that they were very popular in the way they operated. 52 00:06:27,891 --> 00:06:34,890 You have to remember that they concentrated on banks and railroads. They didn't hold up the corner grocery store. 53 00:06:34,890 --> 00:06:39,890 They didn't mug people for the milk money and they didn't burglar people's homes. 54 00:06:39,890 --> 00:06:47,889 They became very popular in that banks and railroads were among the most hated institutions by the average people in the country. 55 00:06:47,889 --> 00:06:51,888 So they had lots of friends and these friends would hide them out. 56 00:06:51,888 --> 00:07:05,887 By 1876, the strain of outlaw life was taking a toll on Jesse and the gang. Jesse was forced to tour saloons looking for members who had been drinking. 57 00:07:05,887 --> 00:07:27,885 The risk of being seen in town before a job cut the odds of getting away. Jesse was afraid that someone might recognize them and set up an ambush. 58 00:07:27,885 --> 00:07:46,883 September 7, 1876. Jesse and his seven followers carefully prepared for their raid. No pistol or horse went unchecked. 59 00:07:46,883 --> 00:07:53,882 The gang had established a reputation for being nearly fanatical in the way they readied themselves for holdups. 60 00:07:54,882 --> 00:08:02,881 Little did anyone know that this would be the last raid for the entire gang. They donned their infamous white dusters for the holdup. 61 00:08:02,881 --> 00:08:08,880 By now, after so many successful bank raids, they were almost arrogant in their approach. 62 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:14,880 Some two miles out of Northfield, they set their plan in motion. Now they were ready. 63 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:22,879 Jesse had decided that they would split into two groups, each entering town from opposite directions. 64 00:08:23,879 --> 00:08:38,877 Northfield was a small community of 500 people. It was a center for agriculture, industry and banking trade. 65 00:08:38,877 --> 00:08:43,877 Their target bank was in fact the point of deposit for a number of smaller area banks. 66 00:08:43,877 --> 00:09:11,874 While Jesse was not known to the Northfield people, the gang came under instant suspicion because of extremely fine horses they were riding, 67 00:09:11,874 --> 00:09:14,873 and the startling appearance of their linen dusters. 68 00:09:29,872 --> 00:09:35,871 As the group rode in, they warily inspected the town, looking for anyone who would spell trouble. 69 00:09:35,871 --> 00:09:41,870 Little did they know that this raid would be the end of their long string of successful bank robberies. 70 00:10:36,865 --> 00:10:45,864 As always, Jesse James leaped over the counter, demanding that the money be handed over. 71 00:10:45,864 --> 00:11:06,861 Several of the bank employees grappled with the bandits. In the confusion, one of the tellers escaped, yelling, murder, murder. 72 00:11:06,861 --> 00:11:10,861 Jesse fired at the fleeing man, but missed. 73 00:11:15,860 --> 00:11:33,859 At the town been warned, it seemed so. Within minutes, armed townspeople began shooting at the gang. 74 00:12:16,854 --> 00:12:31,852 Killed instantly were Clee Miller, Charlie Pitts and another member of the gang, Bill Edgewood. Jim Younger and his brothers Bob and Cole Younger were wounded. Only the James boys escaped unharmed. 75 00:12:31,852 --> 00:12:44,851 There were falling outs between Frank and Jesse, and as a matter of fact, after Northfield, the rift became very, very great, and at the time Jesse was killed, it's very possible that Frank and Jesse weren't even communicating. 76 00:12:44,851 --> 00:12:57,850 After the Northfield raid, the prices on Jesse and Frank's heads continued to grow. Bounty hunters and adventurers began tracking the brothers in order to earn the ever-increasing reward. 77 00:12:58,850 --> 00:13:04,849 No longer were the James boys protected by the friendship of numerous people. 78 00:13:11,848 --> 00:13:16,848 Bob Ford is the man most historians claim killed Jesse James. 79 00:13:17,848 --> 00:13:27,846 There are, however, conflicting stories about Jesse's death. Jesse was planning the robbery of the Platt City Bank with Charlie and Bob Ford. 80 00:13:30,846 --> 00:13:37,845 Zarelda James, Jesse's wife, was working in the kitchen, while Jesse laid out his ideas for a successful raid. 81 00:13:38,845 --> 00:13:44,845 Uncharacteristically, Jesse took off his gun so that he could more easily straighten a picture. 82 00:13:51,844 --> 00:14:02,843 Charlie Ford, motioned to his brother to stand. Bob, being the more accurate of the two men, stood, took careful aim, and shot Jesse in the head. 83 00:14:08,842 --> 00:14:15,841 Both Ford brothers claimed that was an accident. Could it be, however, part of a plot to end the pursuit of Jesse? 84 00:14:18,841 --> 00:14:25,840 It is known that Jesse's mother refused to identify the body. Some have said that the man shot was not Jesse James. 85 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:31,840 Others have said that James lived incognito for the next 60 years under an assumed name. 86 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:39,839 In 1948, a man by the name of J. Frank Dalton came forward, claiming that he was the real Jesse James. 87 00:14:41,839 --> 00:14:46,838 Dalton went so far as signing an affidavit to the effect that he was Jesse James. 88 00:14:49,838 --> 00:15:00,837 According to newspaper clippings of the time, some 25,000 people turned out for a parade in Lawton, Oklahoma, showing off Dalton as the real Jesse James. 89 00:15:02,836 --> 00:15:08,836 It seems almost inconceivable that an imposter could have been in Jesse's place. 90 00:15:08,836 --> 00:15:14,835 Yet only a few relatives had pictures of Jesse, which is one of the reasons he had eluded capture. 91 00:15:15,835 --> 00:15:21,834 Carl Brean, a respected historian of the James robberies and author of the Escapades of Frank and Jesse James. 92 00:15:22,834 --> 00:15:29,834 The statement that Mrs. Zarella James stated the body was not bad of her son Jesse James is not too hard to understand. 93 00:15:29,834 --> 00:15:38,833 Because during the western days, there was a lot of people who would not identify outlaws and so on, in order that the reward would not be paid. 94 00:15:39,832 --> 00:15:45,832 But later on she says it was and Zarella James did admit that it was her son and there's no question that it was. 95 00:15:48,832 --> 00:15:53,831 After being on public display, Jesse was buried at his mother's home. 96 00:15:54,831 --> 00:15:59,830 Interestingly enough, he was later moved to a public cemetery. 97 00:16:07,830 --> 00:16:11,829 There's absolutely no question but Bob Ford killed Jesse James. 98 00:16:12,829 --> 00:16:18,828 I don't think there's any question that Bob Ford killed Jesse James on that day, as he says he did. 99 00:16:18,828 --> 00:16:23,828 Dalton maintained that it wasn't Jesse who was shot, but a man named Charlie Bigelow. 100 00:16:24,828 --> 00:16:30,827 No one has ever been able to identify who Charlie Bigelow was. There was no gang member ever named Charlie Bigelow. 101 00:16:30,827 --> 00:16:37,826 And as far as we've been able to find, we've never found any instance of anyone that they associated with named Charlie Bigelow. 102 00:16:38,826 --> 00:16:48,825 Ironically, however, John Nicholson, Jesse James' grand-nephew, was able to lead in search of cameras to the very site where two Bigelow brothers were buried. 103 00:16:50,825 --> 00:16:53,825 Nicholson explains what he knows about their mysterious deaths. 104 00:16:55,824 --> 00:16:58,824 The Bigelow was buried on the Old Hainesville Cemetery. 105 00:17:00,824 --> 00:17:02,824 All are readied by Hope, Missouri. 106 00:17:03,824 --> 00:17:08,823 Their gravestones have fell over and very hard to find. 107 00:17:11,823 --> 00:17:19,822 And I've heard my grandfather say that they was hauled up there in an old spring wagon. 108 00:17:20,822 --> 00:17:29,821 And that the blood was running out into the spring wagon on the ground when they was hauled up there because there was no embalming. 109 00:17:29,821 --> 00:17:36,820 As far as I know, I've heard that Jesse and Frank killed them, but as far as I couldn't say for sure. 110 00:17:38,820 --> 00:17:46,819 Both grave markers bear the year 1884. If John Nicholson's story is correct, the Bigelows would have been buried two years after Jesse's death in 1882. 111 00:17:49,819 --> 00:17:56,818 John James, the man who was buried in the spring wagon, was also buried in the spring wagon. 112 00:17:57,818 --> 00:18:04,817 John James was in the picture in 1935. He came forward and said that he was Jesse James. 113 00:18:05,817 --> 00:18:14,816 He had the same name, but no relation. And there was a famous trial in Excelsior Springs at that particular time for disproving or proving that he was Jesse James. 114 00:18:15,816 --> 00:18:18,816 And he could not even name his half-brother's name. 115 00:18:19,816 --> 00:18:30,814 And it found out that he was using the same story that Dalton used, that Bigelow was transferred to be Jesse James, and he was killed so Jesse could get away. 116 00:18:31,814 --> 00:18:41,813 And of course, Jesse James was such a family-loving man that even if this story had been true, he would have never left his family, Jesse, to like they were for many years after his death. 117 00:18:41,813 --> 00:18:58,811 Jesse James was a lad who killed many men. He robbed the Glendale train, and he stole from the ridge to give to the poor. Everyone learned of his name. 118 00:18:58,811 --> 00:19:17,809 Jesse had a wife two more for his life, two children they were brave. But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard laid for Jesse in his grave. 119 00:19:17,809 --> 00:19:28,808 It was a Saturday night and Jesse was alone talking to his family so brave. 120 00:19:29,808 --> 00:19:38,807 Robert Ford came along like a thief in the night and laid for Jesse in his grave. 121 00:19:38,807 --> 00:19:56,805 Jesse had a wife two more for his life, two children they were brave. But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard laid Jesse James in his grave. 122 00:19:56,805 --> 00:20:16,803 Jesse James, both in this country and abroad, is one of the best known Americans, of all Americans, who ever lived at any time and in a period. 123 00:20:16,803 --> 00:20:31,802 And he's also the Robin Hood, the romantic figure in our folklore and legend in history. And I think it's because Jesse James had style, I think he had mystique, he was daring, he was a cavalier type person. 124 00:20:32,801 --> 00:20:43,800 And I think it captured the public imagination then, and I think it still captures the public imagination because of the very romantic time. I maintain that if it wasn't for Jesse James, he would have been invented. 125 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:59,799 As far as I know they never robbed an individual, the only thing they robbed is banks and trains. I've never been ashamed to be in Kendo, as far as that goes. 126 00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:14,797 Well it seems to me that anyone like Jesse James or the younger brothers or Dillinger, the more time that passes, they become more folk heroes and people like to talk about them, especially in Missouri and the board of states where all this happened during the Civil War. 127 00:21:15,797 --> 00:21:19,796 And I think that Jesse James, to become a legend died at the right time. 128 00:21:19,796 --> 00:21:27,796 Both men are now dead. Who knows if the true Jesse James is buried in the plot in Kearney, Missouri. 129 00:21:28,796 --> 00:21:43,794 Coming up next in search of investigates the claim that Butch Cassidy was not killed with the Sundance kid in Bolivia and lived until 1937. 130 00:21:43,794 --> 00:21:59,792 Then agents confront a Chicago madame on FBI, the untold stories, and later tonight on Histories Lost and Found, Louis Armstrong's personal recordings and George Washington's school books, eddies here on the History Channel where the past comes alive.