Here\u2019s an entry promised earlier\u2026<\/p>\n
After a shooting, witness\u2019 recollections may vary widely.\u00a0 Add to that what we would now consider sloppy investigation \u2013 the way it was done on the Frontier in Old West times \u2013 and 19th<\/sup> Century history starts to get a little fuzzy by the time it filters down to 21st<\/sup> Century readers.<\/p>\n 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. \u201cJesse James was inside <\/i>the First National Bank and killed the cashier!\u201d \u201cNo, Jesse was outside, <\/i>and it was his brother Frank who murdered the cashier inside!\u201d \u201cNo, Jesse wasn\u2019t even there, and he was turning his life around anyway\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe gunman killed by an armed citizen with a skillful 80-yard rifle shot was Bill Chadwell.\u201d \u201cNo, it was another bad guy, named Stiles.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re all nuts, Stiles was just one of Chadwell\u2019s aliases!\u201d\u00a0 And so it goes.<\/p>\n Hell, historians agree that Jesse James was killed by the \u201cdirty little coward,\u201d Robert Ford, but no one seems to agree on what he killed him with. <\/i>Some historians can\u2019t even agree with \u201cthey\u2019s own selfs.\u201d In \u201cJesse James: Legendary Outlaw\u201d by Roger Bruns, we find on page 83, \u201c\u2026Bob Ford drew his Smith & Wesson .45 and shot the infamous outlaw through the back of the head.\u201d However, turn the page and on P.85 we find this photo caption: \u201cBob Ford, the assassin of Jesse James, posed for this photograph with the weapon he used to kill the infamous outlaw.\u201d The revolver in that photo is clearly a 7 \u00bd\u201d barrel Cavalry Model Colt Single Action Army.<\/p>\n In \u201cThe Escapades of Frank and Jesse James\u201d historian Carl Breihan wrote, \u201cWithout hesitation Bob drew his Smith & Wesson and sent a slug crashing through Jesse\u2019s 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.\u201d (P.277)\u00a0 He adds, \u201cInquest records show that the gun used by Bob Ford was a Smith & Wesson and not a Colt as generally believed. Charley Ford said, \u2019Bob had a Smith & Wesson, and it was easier for him to get it out of his pocket.\u2019 Bob Ford admitted, in part, \u201cI could see that it was all over with Jesse when that Smith .44 slug tore through his head.\u201d (P.280)<\/p>\n And some would have it that Ford killed James with one of James\u2019 own guns, snatched from a two-holster gun belt James had just unbuckled and set on a table.\u00a0 Colt or Smith & Wesson? .44 or .45? Bob\u2019s gun, or Jesse\u2019s?\u00a0 A gun snatched from Jesse\u2019s holster, or given to Bob by Jesse, or \u2026?<\/p>\n Ah, history\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s an entry promised earlier\u2026 After a shooting, witness\u2019 recollections may vary widely.\u00a0 Add to that what we would now consider sloppy investigation \u2013 the way it was done on the Frontier in Old West times \u2013 and 19th Century history starts to get a little fuzzy by the time it filters down to 21st […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-firearms","8":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}