Was Jesse James a notorious murderer? Or was he a national hero. Well that depends on how u look at what he did and why he did it. Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847. He had an older brother and soon came a younger sister. They lived on a farm near Kearney in Missouri. When Jesse was three his dad left to go and try to find his wealth in the California gold rush. He died soon after he made it there and never got any money back to his family. Meanwhile Jesse had to adapt to not having a dad and being raised by his mom and older brother on their farm.
Soon after the death of his dad Jesse’s older brother joined the Confederate army, Jesse was left to tend to his mom and sister. Sometime after, Jesse also joined the Confederates and was under command by “Bloody Bill” . After the war Jesse tried to surrender at Lexington, Missouri but was shot by Union soldiers. He escaped and made it back to his family who nursed him back to health. They lived normal lives on their mother’s farm till 1866 when a gang of masked men robbed a local bank. Though it’s not proven this is thought to be the first robbery by the James brothers. They stole $58,000 which is worth approximately two million in today’s standard. Once they had the money they locked the employees in the safe and fled. Soon after they left it snowed and covered the tracks of the brothers and they got away.
In 1869 they robbed another bank and Jesse shot a teller that he thought looked like a Union Officer that had hunted down “Bloody Bill” in the war. In fact it was not the officer and was a random stranger who looked like Jesse’s enemy. They also shot another man who managed to get himself to the door and trip the alarm. Very soon after there were gunshots, Jesse’s horse was startled and took off. Dragging Jesse in the dirt for 40-50 feet before Jesse could slide his leg out. He was then scooped up by his brother and they rode away. Over the next thirteen years Jesse led a string of...