Wednesday, November 11, 2015

More Jesse James For Western Wednesday...!

It seems that some characters from our early history never really go out of style, ya know? Jess James was one of those figures.

No one can truly say what it is about the James boys that makes them stand out so much, but nearly everybody knows the name if not the deeds. Guess that's what it means to be a legend.

Jesse James was larger than life—so much that his body required two graves.

Few outlaws were as notorious during their own lifetimes as Jesse James. Though he lived a quiet existence in Kearney, Missouri, after his bank robbing days were over, old friends—and enemies—never forgot him. After Jesse was murdered, he was buried in the front yard of his farm to thwart grave robbers. As the years passed and his enemies died off, he was reinterred in a Kearney cemetery by his family. So who’s that lying in the Jesse James grave in Granbury, Texas? A man named J. Frank Dalton who came forward around 1948, at age 101, claiming he was the “real” Jesse James. A court even allowed him to legally adopt the bandit’s name. No one knows why Dalton made this claim or if he ever had any link to Jesse James, although there is a very small chance he was the youngest member of the Dalton gang James rode with in the bank raid of Northfield, Minnesota. Regardless, mitochondrial DNA showed decades later that James is indeed buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney—but his legend also lives on in Granbury.

I wonder if it really matters just where these folks are buried or how they died. The main thing to most people is that the memory of Jesse James is alive and well in their minds, right? Everyone needs a hero or legend, I reckon.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Hot oven fresh cinnamon rolls are available, OK?

8 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Jesse probably doesn't care where he is. Hot cinnamon rolls are perfect for this rainy, damp morning!

linda m said...

I really don't think Jesse cares where he's buried, just that we remember him. We all need a hero now and then. He's not one of mine but I sure do know a lot about him thanks to his legend. Hot cinnamon rolls sound really good this morning.

Hermit's Baby Sis said...

Glad to see you monitor problems fixed, Bubba. And thanks for the cinnamon rolls, too. Boy, I sure do miss those that Mama used to make ... yum, yum!
Big hugs ~

Rob said...

All these years later they (both) are not forgotten just by being mentioned here!

Not warm here in Oregon & I have a spot on the 10am Leatherman factory tour in Portland. A two hour drive from my daughter's place so I need to get moving.

Rob said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
JO said...

I love these legends.
warm cinnamon rolls & coffee breakfast of champions yummmmm

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
You are probably right about him not caring much about his location.
Thanks for stopping by this morning!


Hey Linda...
I reckon that is what most of those guys wanted, just to be remembered. Looks like he got his wish!
Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Sis...
I just ordered another one and replaced the bad. Cheaper than having the old one fixed, I reckon.
The days of home made stuff are stuck in my memories, especially the smells. Good memories all!
Thanks for the visit today!


Hey Rob...
I'll bet that will be an interesting tour. Hope to hear more about it when you get back.
Thanks for stopping by today!


deb harvey said...

had a friend whose granddad was a carpenter. she had two cabinets he made. one of his friends helped him build one of these cabinets and he was rumored to be 'the' jesse james. can't remember, but i think he was known by a different name to her granddad.
the man who was his friend was also good at woodworking.
there used to be a tiny bldg. in huntington, w. va. on a corner of 3rd ave. daddy pointed it out one day, said it had been a bank and that the james gang had robbed it once. that was the legend.
another legend is that jesse had a connection to davis and elkins college in w. va. as a financial supporter, also under a different name.
don't know the truth of his involvement in any of these things or if there were people either pretending to be him or mistaken for him.
if daddy were alive today he would be 114 yrs. old.