Jesse James (1847–1882)

Jesse James was a Confederate soldier, outlaw, and folk hero from Missouri. While he never lived in Arkansas, he did commit high-profile crimes in the state. Because of his legendary status in Wild West lore, his reputed exploits in Arkansas have elicited ongoing comment and speculation among modern observers.

Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847, near Kearney in northwestern Missouri. As a teenager, he joined the Confederate army in the summer of 1864; by then, his brother Frank had been serving with rebel guerrillas and bushwhackers for some time. Frank James served alongside William Quantrill and “Bloody” Bill Anderson, and he is thought to have taken part in the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre of August 1863.

During the war, Jesse James fought in small battles and skirmishes in the bitterly divided state of Missouri. He may have been involved in the Centralia, Missouri, massacre of 1864, in which Confederates slaughtered more than twenty unarmed Union soldiers who were traveling by train. Wounded more than once, James almost did not survive the war. When the conflict ended, he was still recovering from a chest wound suffered when a unit of Union troops ambushed and shot him.

A few years after the war, James began the notorious crimes that made him a household name. He and his gang took advantage of the chaos of the Reconstruction era, committing theft and violence amid the financial depression that hit the United States in the mid-1870s. James did not spend much time in Arkansas compared to other places, though his reputed actions in the state have become part of his larger legend.

On January 15, 1874, the James-Younger Gang—in a crime, as authors Phillip Steele and George Warfel wrote, “believed to have been led” by Jesse James—held up a stagecoach at Gaines Place, roughly five miles east of Hot Springs (Garland County). The stage was headed to Malvern (Hot Springs County) when it was intercepted by James, Cole Younger, and the three other men with them. The five bandits were on horseback when they overtook the coach about a half mile from Gaines Place, around 3:30 in the afternoon.

George R. Crump, a tobacco merchant from Memphis, heard the robbers order the passengers to get out of the stage—a demand that was followed by profanity. Those on the stagecoach put their hands up. Some of the robbers had pistols, others shotguns. They ordered the stage riders to stand in a circle and then relieved them of their money, watches, and jewelry. Author Carl Breihan wrote that, according to legend, when Cole Younger learned Crump had served in the Confederate military, he returned his valuables. Younger said that the Union had driven him to crime, but he would not steal from a man who had fought for the South.

Others were not so lucky. The gang accused a Mr. Taylor, who had a New England accent, of being a reporter for the St. Louis Democrat—a Republican paper—and took $650 from him. Then living in Massachusetts, Taylor said he was originally from St. Louis. Cole Younger was not sympathetic toward his fellow Missourian. He called the Democrat “the vilest paper in the West,” and as a parting insult, Younger told Taylor to give the Democrat “my compliments.” Taylor, however, was not a reporter for the Democrat.

John A. Burbank, the former governor of the Dakota territory, was robbed of $840, a gold watch (valued at about $40–$45), and a diamond pin. Governor Burbank told the gang that he hoped he could keep his personal papers. At first the gang said no, but they later relented. A passenger from New York asked to keep $5 so he could send a telegram later. His request was refused. One passenger who suffered from rheumatism was not bothered.

The gang scored an additional $435 that was part of an express package. The thieves hoped to have made away with even more money, but the cash-filled registered letters they expected to find were not on the stagecoach. On the whole, the bandits stole at least $2,000, a figure not including the watches and other valuables. For the time, it was a major haul. The gang then rode north and into Missouri. A posse followed them but did not succeed in apprehending any of them.

While the details are unclear and perhaps unverifiable, authors Steele and Warfel believe Jesse James might have had a picture of himself taken in 1874 in Hot Springs. Regardless of where and when it was taken, the photo is a true Wild West image. It shows James in a cowboy hat standing and holding the muzzle of a rifle. He wears a holstered pistol and cartridge belt.

On the afternoon of February 11, 1874, James and at least four other men rode into Bentonville (Benton County), where they robbed the Craig & Son general store. The gang was fresh off a bank robbery in Missouri. Their score in Bentonville, however, was modest. The employees at Craig & Son had made a cash deposit at the bank that day—thus, the gang managed to get only $150. Given the small take, James and his companions tried to make up for it by stealing merchandise. As they left, they told the proprietors not to sound the alarm until they were out of town and then rode away. Once again, a posse was formed but had no luck catching James or his gang.

Unlike the Hot Springs and Bentonville robberies, another incident that year was not bloodless. In May 1874 in Boone County, an Arkansas county bordering Missouri, James was involved in a shootout. The gang was staying at a log house less than a mile from Burlington Store. When a posse arrived, James apparently knew one of the men, calling out a preacher named J. F. New. As New approached the cabin, James shot him dead. After an exchange of gunfire, the gang got away—though not before they killed another member of the posse.

James met a violent end on April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was killed by Robert Ford—a one-time member of the James-Younger Gang—at James’s house. Ford shot James in the head while he was hanging a picture on the wall. Ford was arrested for the shooting and almost hanged for it. Yet the governor pardoned him, and he toured the country, where he reenacted the killing of James. Ford himself was shot and killed ten years later.

James was only thirty-four years old when he died, and his fame has lasted far longer than his criminal career. Upon his death, the Douglas Independent of Roseburg, Oregon, wrote that James had kept Arkansas and other states “in a condition of abject fear, defying the officers of the law, raiding peaceable communities by day or night, disturbing routes of travel and communication, pillaging, robbing, and murdering with seeming impunity.” Others, however, have since viewed James as a folk hero, much like later criminals such as Bonnie and Clyde, who also traveled through Arkansas.

For additional information:
Boone County Historical and Railroad Society. History of Boone County, Arkansas. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 1998.

Breihan, Carl W. The Complete and Authentic Life of Jesse James. New York: Frederick Fell, 1972.

Buel, James William. The Border Bandits: An Authentic and Thrilling History of the Noted Outlaws, Jesse and Frank James, and Their Bands of Highwaymen. Chicago: M. A. Donahue, 1881. Online at https://archive.org/details/borderbanditsaut00buel/mode/2up (accessed June 5, 2026).

Dacus, Joseph A. Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James the Noted Western Outlaws. St. Louis: W. S. Bryan, 1879. Online at https://archive.org/details/lifeandadventure45660gut (accessed June 5, 2026).

“The James Boys.” Douglas Independent, April 29, 1882 p. 1.

Steele, Phillip W. and George Warfel. The Many Faces of Jesse James. Gretna, LA: Pelican, 2022.

Stiles, T. J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. New York: Vintage, 2002.

Yeatman, Ted. Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2000.