Robert Newton Ford was an American outlaw who killed fellow outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882. He and his brother Charley, both members of the James–Younger Gang under James's leadership, went on to perform paid re-enactments of the killing at publicity events. Ford would spend his later years operating multiple saloons and dance halls in the West.
Robert Ford, c. 1883
On April 3, 1882, Jesse James stepped up on a chair to dust a picture, and Robert Ford seized the opportunity and shot James in the back of the head.
Jesse James' home in St. Joseph, Missouri, where Ford killed James in 1882
Edward Capehart O'Kelley c. 1890.
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, they were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists, including the Centralia Massacre in 1864.
James's farm in Kearney, Missouri, pictured in March 2010
James as a young man
State of Missouri vs. Frank & Jesse James including indictment; capias to Clay & Jackson Counties; sheriff's returns; warrant to any sheriff or marshall of the Criminal Court in Missouri. Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives.
Jesse James's home in St. Joseph, where he was shot (currently at the grounds of the Patee House)