Here’s an entry promised earlier…

After a shooting, witness’ recollections may vary widely.  Add to that what we would now consider sloppy investigation – the way it was done on the Frontier in Old West times – and 19th Century history starts to get a little fuzzy by the time it filters down to 21st Century readers.

While doing some research recently on the Northfield Bank Raid in Minnesota in 1876, that became apparent. No two historical accounts place the exchanges of gunfire at that hectic scene in the exact same order. “Jesse James was inside the First National Bank and killed the cashier!” “No, Jesse was outside, and it was his brother Frank who murdered the cashier inside!” “No, Jesse wasn’t even there, and he was turning his life around anyway…”

“The gunman killed by an armed citizen with a skillful 80-yard rifle shot was Bill Chadwell.” “No, it was another bad guy, named Stiles.”  “You’re all nuts, Stiles was just one of Chadwell’s aliases!”  And so it goes.

Hell, historians agree that Jesse James was killed by the “dirty little coward,” Robert Ford, but no one seems to agree on what he killed him with. Some historians can’t even agree with “they’s own selfs.” In “Jesse James: Legendary Outlaw” by Roger Bruns, we find on page 83, “…Bob Ford drew his Smith & Wesson .45 and shot the infamous outlaw through the back of the head.” However, turn the page and on P.85 we find this photo caption: “Bob Ford, the assassin of Jesse James, posed for this photograph with the weapon he used to kill the infamous outlaw.” The revolver in that photo is clearly a 7 ½” barrel Cavalry Model Colt Single Action Army.

In “The Escapades of Frank and Jesse James” historian Carl Breihan wrote, “Without hesitation Bob drew his Smith & Wesson and sent a slug crashing through Jesse’s head. This nickel-plated revolver, Serial No. 3766, Model No. 3, was the same weapon Jesse had given Bob as a present some days before.” (P.277)  He adds, “Inquest records show that the gun used by Bob Ford was a Smith & Wesson and not a Colt as generally believed. Charley Ford said, ’Bob had a Smith & Wesson, and it was easier for him to get it out of his pocket.’ Bob Ford admitted, in part, “I could see that it was all over with Jesse when that Smith .44 slug tore through his head.” (P.280)

And some would have it that Ford killed James with one of James’ own guns, snatched from a two-holster gun belt James had just unbuckled and set on a table.  Colt or Smith & Wesson? .44 or .45? Bob’s gun, or Jesse’s?  A gun snatched from Jesse’s holster, or given to Bob by Jesse, or …?

Ah, history…

1 COMMENT

  1. This just illustrates the need to keep calm, and remember the facts consistently if you are involved in a CC incident.

  2. The only thing we know for sure is Bob Ford killed Jesse James with a revolver. There are stories to this day that Jesse James was not really killed.
    A friend of mine believes that some guy named Bushy Bill was the real Billy the Kid and died of old age.

  6. That’s why I like school history books. Everything is neat, tidy, factual, and easy to memorize so the teachers can test the kids regularly…

  7. Lol…from having watched the full Zimmerman trial I would have to say nothing much has changed. I did read back a few decades ago the inquest after the OK corral shooting and was actually impressed. We sometimes think folks a 150 yrs ago werent as smart as we are. Wrong.

  8. I always thought Jesse James was killed by a shot to the right nut with a 500 grain bullet fired by an unknown gunman from the grassy knoll 2500 meters away where a still smoking .50-140 Sharps case was found. The other story I heard was that he was cut in half one day in a little saloon by a drunk Jedi Knight using a blue light saber, but that’s just too unbelievable, even for me.

  9. We have relatives who own land that was used for planning several raids into Kansas during the Civil War. The Jame’s were said to be participants in these raids. Its interesting history but there are a lot of conflicting stories written by participants (diaries, letters, etc.). I’m surprised someone isn’t saying that a .44 was much to wimpy to kill the likes of Jessie James and, obviously, it must have been a .45. Probably a 1911! LOL.

  11. We can’t even agree who killed JFK. Things haven’t changed much in a century. Actually,I saw on TV a documetary that showed that James was a paymaster for a secret organization that was going to ressurect the rebellion. By plotting out routes that Jessie used the historians managed to dig up some silver dollars in a glass jar that was buried by an old tree.
    Legend has it that near where I live there is an old cave that Jessie would use as a way point in his travels. Unfortunatly, this area has been flooded by a man made lake.

  12. Carl Breihan’s “Outlaws of the Old West” included a photo of a S&W top-break .44 or .45 revolver, with a caption stating that it was the gun that Robert Ford used to kill Jesse James. Speaking of historians contradicting “they own selfs,” Breihan’s biography of Wyatt Earp in “Great Lawmen of the West” said that Earp was a deputy in Dodge City, but that he was never the town marshal or police chief. But Breihan’s biography of Bill Tilghman in the same book (and/or his biography of Bat Masterson in “Great Gunfighters of the West”) said that Earp was appointed town marshal to replace Larry Deger, after Deger either resigned or got fired. Then there are all the differing accounts about whether the long-barrel “Buntline Specials” ever existed, whether Wyatt Earp carried a Colt or Smith & Wesson, and a claim by both Breihan and Richard O’Connor that Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid with a Colt that had once belonged to Wild Bill Hickok.

  13. The whole situation is not helped by the fact that many frontier newspaper editors “embellished” reports of such activities to boost sales. In other words, things haven’t changed much . . .

  14. @ Markus:

    You’re joking right? In high school back in the late 60’s, there was a lot of inaccuracy and progressive bias in the history textbooks. About the only things you could rely on to be correct were dates. My teachers hated having me in their class, as I used to read most everything in the libraries. When you have other sources for reference and comparison, the slant in the textbooks was obvious. I didn’t know why it was that way, though. That I learned later.

  15. Kentucky Kid is right, the embellishments, differing stories from people who weren’t even there, and as you’ve alluded to before, the ‘different’ recollections from people who saw the SAME thing means we’ll never know the actual truth…

  16. I rather liked the story of Wyatt Earp and his “Buntline Special. ” Although Earp, like many of his contemporaries, seemed to work on both sides of the law, sometimes at the same time.

    Allegedly he would arrest cow-pokes for drunkenness, having been granted a bonus for each arrest:
    “I’m arresting you for public intoxication.”
    “I aint drunk”
    WALLOP! – The Buntline Special apparently making an excellent truncheon.
    “You are now.”

    And now it seems the whole tale of Ned Buntline presenting famous lawmen with one of Colt’s Carbine Pistols was a story concocted by some other writer who want Wyatt Earp armed with a particular distinctive handgun.

    Ah well.

    History should be fact, but sadly a large chunk of fiction gets mixed in. -sigh-

  18. Blackwing1 – Well I’m a Brit, and I can tell the difference between a Glock and a Browning.

    A more reasonable description is that most journalists couldn’t tell the difference between a Browning or a Glock. Or indeed a hole in the ground.