Jesse James as a teenager.

2012 Rally Chairs Chuck Manley and Bob Aldridge explore the Rocky Cut, a ledge the James Gang would jump from to rob trains long ago.

His notorious legacy made him famous while living and infamous thereafter.

Missouri may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of the Wild West. Take a deeper look and consider that the land west of the Mississippi River was considered wild and dangerous for decades after the first settlers wheeled their wagons across the plains. One group in particular brought danger and excitement to Missouri during the post-Civil War years: the James-Younger Gang.

You've likely heard of Jesse James: outlaw, murderer, robber of trains and banks. When you come to the Rally in Sedalia this summer, you'll be riding though the parts of Missouri that he called home. Born Jesse Woodson James on 5 September, 1847, near what is now Kearney, MO, James carved out a notorious legacy that made him famous while living and infamous thereafter.

Jesse James was born to Zerelda and Robert, a commercial hemp farmer and Baptist minister from Kentucky, who had migrated to Missouri and helped found William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. During the California Gold Rush, Robert went west to minister to the gold hunters and died there in 1850, when Jesse was only three years old. His father didn't live to see him grow up to become a bank robber in Liberty. Jesse had two full siblings: his older brother Frank and younger sister Susan. His mother remarried twice after Robert died, and with her third husband she had four more children: Sarah Louisa, John Thomas, Fannie Quantrell and Archie Peyton.

Jesse was 14 years old when the American Civil War began; his mother and stepfather owned seven slaves and worked growing tobacco. Clay County, home of the James-Samuel clan, was a center of migration from the Upper South and an area of strong Southern sympathy. As such, Clay County's population was estimated at 25 percent slaves as opposed to 10 percent statewide.

The extent to which the Civil War had an effect on young Jesse James is unknown, but he likely saw evidence of guerrilla warfare between neighbors and troops. Local militia organizations known as "jayhawkers" (Union supporters) were frequently involved in conflicts with secessionist "bushwhackers." Executions, murders and scalpings were commonplace during James' teen years. His family had proclaimed themselves to be Confederate supporters, and Jesse's brother Frank fought at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. In 1863, he was identified as a member of a guerrilla gang and drew the attention of the Union militia. The family farm was raided and Jesse's stepfather was tortured. Legend says that Jesse received a lashing when he was only 16 years old.

Violence and turmoil were a part of Jesse James' life from that point until his death. His brother Frank ran away and joined a series of guerrilla groups whose methods escalated in violence at every turn. Frank was rumored to have participated in a massacre of 200 abolitionists in Lawrence, KS. At the age of 16, Jesse sustained a serious chest injury after he joined his brother in a bushwhacker group led by Bloody Bill Anderson. They helped massacre, scalp and dismember the bodies of some 22 Union troops in the Battle of Centralia in Missouri.

As a result of their hostile actions, Union authorities forced the James-Samuel family to leave the area. Frank went to Kentucky and Jesse went to Texas briefly, but returned to Missouri the following spring. He was shot in the chest a second time near Lexington, Missouri, ironically while trying to surrender.

Jesse was about 18 years old when the Civil War was officially over, but found himself living among strong factions that often butted heads. Former Confederates were barred from voting, preaching, participating as jury members or holding public office. Slaves were declared free, but the violence was far from finished. The family sympathies hadn't changed simply because the war had ended, but with no official group to join and continue the fight they decided to go renegade. Jesse had time to think about his plans while he recovered from his gunshot wound at his uncle's boardinghouse. It was during this time that he began courting his nurse, first cousin and mother's namesake, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms.

Anti-slavery Unionists who identified with the Republican Party took on official and public roles after the war: bankers, judges and preachers. They became the direct targets of the bitter, disenfranchised ex-Confederate secessionists. The Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, owned by a Republican former military officer, was robbed in 1866. You can still visit the building, which now houses a Jesse James museum. It is unknown if Frank and Jesse took part in this incident, but rumored that they were on the move soon after. They participated in a jail raid to free fellow gang members, which resulted in the murder of the jailer. The James boys never looked back.

They joined up with several gang factions and participated in robberies in Missouri and Kentucky during the next two years. Jesse became famous after a bank robbery in Gallatin, MO, on 7 December, 1869, in which he murdered the cashier, incorrectly thinking him to be the militia officer who had killed his friend Bloody Bill. From then on, James was an outlaw with a price on his head. The James brothers joined fellow former Confederates to form the James-Younger Gang. They robbed banks, stagecoaches and public fairs in front of large crowds as far east as West Virginia.

By the time James was 26, he had turned to train robberies. The gang was reported to be wearing Ku Klux Klan masks to display their Confederate sympathies. As his methods evolved, James became less likely to rob private citizens and mostly stuck to safes and company-owned money. This led to the public viewing him as a Robin Hood of sorts, although James and Frank never shared any of the money they stole.

In 1874, Jesse and his cousin Zee married and eventually had two children who survived to adulthood: Jesse Edward James, an attorney, and Mary Susan James. A bank robbery in 1876 in Minnesota was botched because several members of the gang had been drinking, which Jesse never allowed. The only men to escape the incident were Frank and Jesse, who soon parted ways. Frank decided to move to Virginia and Jesse rented a house in St. Joseph, MO, near the old family homestead.

On 3 April, 1882, Jesse James was shot in the back of the head by a trusted companion, Bob Ford, at the home in St. Joseph. Ford and his brother had been in secret negotiations with the governor and killed James for a bribe. Bob was immediately pardoned. The governor's part in the conspiracy only fueled the flames of James' infamy. The Ford brothers died violent deaths as well: Bob was murdered by a man seeking to avenge James' death. In his 35 years, James lived a life of crime, murder and revenge that won't soon be forgotten. At worst, he was a villain capable of the worst crimes one can commit. At best, he was a tortured man raised in turmoil and war, a creation of his circumstances who was loyal to those he loved.

There are several museums and sites dedicated to the memory of Jesse James. While in Missouri for the Rally, you can visit the James Farm in Kearney, the James Home Museum in St. Joseph (the site of his death), the Heaton Bowman Funeral Home in St. Joseph (site of the original autopsy and funeral) and the Jesse James Bank Museum in Liberty. His boyhood home in Kearney houses a museum and holds a fair the third weekend every September (if you feel like sticking around).

Jesse James Boyhood Home and Burial Site

www.jessejames.org

21216 James Farm Road

Kearney, MO 64068

Open Monday-Sunday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (May–September)

Admission: $8 adults, $7 seniors, $4.50 children (8 and under are free), discounts available for groups of 15 or more

(816) 736-8500

Jesse James Home

www.ponyexpressjessejames.com

1202 Penn Street

St. Joseph, MO 64503

Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.–4:30 pm

Admission: $3 adults, $2 seniors, $1.50 students (5 and under are free)

The James Home was moved to be a block away from the Patee House Museum (home of the Pony Express). It features evidence from the 1995 exhumation of Jesse James.

Jesse James Bank Museum

103 North Water Street

Liberty, MO 64068

(816)736-8510