Realm Collections Blog

Jesse James is one of the most famous outlaws in the Old West and was known to be the local Robin Hood during this era. He was part of the James-Younger Gang that was known to have fought as part of a group of Confederate guerillas in Missouri during the American Civil War but eventually became a group of robbers. Jesse James together with his brother Frank and his gang robbed banks, trains and stagecoaches in many different western states that include Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and West Virginia.

The life of Jesse James had been a series of tragedies and trials overshadowed by the American Civil War. The first tragedy happened when his father died when he was three years old. This was followed by the onset of conflict between the Confederates and the Union Federal militia. Missouri, Jesse James’ home state, was caught in between as well as many Southern families because they chose to sympathize with the Confederates. His family’s farm, home and crops were destroyed, their material possessions taken away, and they were beaten and abused by members of the Federal militia. All of these led to Jesse and his brother Frank’s decision to live their lives by the gun which eventually pushed them into a life of outlaws.

Jesse James became very famous because of his ways of escaping different situations such as the story about being shot while trying to surrender to Archie Clement, being a sharpshooter, being the American Robin Hood because he stood against corporations in defense of the poor farmer, and having survived his death. He is considered as a hero instead of an outlaw because of his contribution to the Confederates and is still being portrayed as a heroic outlaw in many Wild West movies and TV shows until present times because of his adventures.

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