Undeserved But What A Great Song!
Jesse James we understand,
Has killed him many a man.
He robbed the Union trains!
But history does record,
That Bob and Charlie Ford
Have laid Jesse James in his grave
It was on a Saturday night
The stars were shining bright,
When they robbed that Union train!
And it was one of the Younger boys
That gathered in the spoils,
And carried that money away.
In his small home unaware,
A-straightening pictures there
He thought he heard a noise-
And as he turned his head
Well, the bullet killed him dead.
Fired by Bob Ford, one of the boys.
Poor Jesse had a wife
She lived a lady all her life!
The children they were brave-
But history does record
That Bob and Charlie Ford,
Have laid Jesse James in his grave.
Jesse James by Ry Cooder, from The Long Riders soundtrack. 1980.
Bob Ford was the dirty little coward that shot Mister Howard. (The false name Jesse was living under). In April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James went into the living room before traveling to Platte City. By reading the daily newspaper, James had just learned of gang member Liddil's confession for participating in Hite's murder and grew increasingly suspicious of the Fords for never reporting this matter to him. According to Robert Ford, it became clear to him that James had realized they were there to betray him. However, instead of scolding the Fords, James walked across the living room to lay his revolvers on a sofa. He turned around and noticed a dusty picture above the mantel, and stood on a chair in order to clean it. Robert Ford drew his weapon and shot James in the back of the head. Charlie was a morphine addict and killed himself in 1884. Bob was shot by Ed O'Kelly in 1892. They remain the most despicable Judases in American history except for the Atomic Spies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_spies
youtu.be/aErChTKF6u4 Christopher and Nicholas Guest hit it out of the park as the opportunistic Fords. The Long Riders, 1980. d). Walter Hill. Odd to see English hereditary nobility portraying no 'count American criminals, Missouri style!
Jesse is only known to have killed one man during a robbery, William Westfall, a conductor in Winston, Missouri, in 1881. He was at the Centralia Massacre during the war, he rode with Quantrill. Many robberies were pinned on the James Gang that they had nothing to do with. The anti-federal sentiment in Missouri allowed the James boys much support from the population, and was one reason they were so hard to catch. Banks and railroads were regarded as predators and the enemy of the small farmers. Frank James surrendered and was acquitted of the only two robberies he was charged with.
Heavily fictionalized, this is an awesome movie and conveys the technique and lifestyle of these bandits very well. The Northfield raid is very well done and approximately what happened.
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