The Legend
of Jesse James
©Lee Paul
Betty Dorsett Duke's Jesse
James Web Site
the most interesting, complete, and up-to-date information about this famous
outlaw found on the web!
We have received a question wanting to know if either of the two photos below are of Jesse James. Does anyone know? Please email if you have any information...
Update, "I don't think either one of them are. The one on the left is one that George Warfel and Philip Steele authenticated, but I have a copy of a pic of this same man with his family, and it wasn't the James family."
Whoever claimed history cannot be changed was all wrong. The controversy surrounding Jesse James proves it. For more than one hundred years, his researchers have done their utmost best to lay him to rest, and for more than one hundred years they have all failed. Since that day in 1882, when Tom Howard was gunned down in the parlor of his home, Jesse James has been an enigma. Eyewitnesses came forth to swear the dead man was the notorious outlaw, yet reports circulated almost immediately that Jesse James still lived. Lawmen were never sure, and many researchers think the issue is still unresolved.
In the annals of western lore, there is no name more symbolic with western banditry than that of Jesse James. A product of Civil War, he rode into legend while still a young man. Most tales paint him as the American Robin Hood, that he had a gentle side filled with family love and compassion for the poor, that it was only incidental that he was a killer and outlaw. Billy the Kid is the only one who ever rivaled him as a folk hero. It is fact that his family and friends shielded him from the law for sixteen years. Was Jesse a misunderstood man betrayed by a friend and foully murdered, as many claimed? Or was he a despicable desperado who allowed another to be murdered in his place, so he could escape justice? Is there any way to prove who really lies buried in the grave in Missouri? No one has yet answered those questions to everyone’s satisfaction!
Presented here are some astonishing facts for you to draw your own conclusions on the triangular enigma known as Jesse James. First is the Legend, as most people know it. Next is the odd story of J. Frank Dalton, who claimed on his deathbed to be the real Jesse James. Third is the story of James L. Courtney, which we think is the the most totally amazing story you will ever read on the subject of Jesse James. Lastly, discover for yourself what others think of Professor James E. Starrs as a forensics expert in the article Bone Hunter. As soon as we have time, we will add photos, but for right now, we hope you enjoy these.