The Truth About The Man Who Killed Jesse James

While the Wild West outlaw Jesse James has gone down in history, his murderer, Robert Ford, has not ended up as a household name. In his lifetime, however, Ford was famous for his deed, although not in the way he might have hoped. A popular ballad of the time called him a "dirty little coward" for killing James the way he did. It was a notoriety that he could never seem to turn to his advantage, nor could he escape it. Even his tombstone reads "The Man Who Shot Jesse James."

Ford was only 20 years old when he committed the act that would change his life forever. The next decade would see him face one disaster after another, until fate finally caught up with him in the most tragic — yet apt — way possible.

So, what happened to the man who killed Jesse James? Here is the truth about Robert Ford.

Robert Newton Ford was born in Missouri in 1861. Little is known about Robert Ford's early life, but he allegedly looked up to Jesse James before they ever met. Long before Robert started running around with the outlaw, Jesse James was already famous for his exploits in the Civil War and for pulling off some of the most notable train robberies in the Wild West.

It was Robert's brother, Charley (pictured), who initially joined the gang. As with so many things about the Ford brothers, it's not clear how Charley met James, but since the outlaw's gang had lost many members by the late 1870s, he may not have been too picky about who he brought along on his robberies. Based on a letter addressed to Charley found at the site of the July 15, 1881, train robbery near Winston, Missouri, that was allegedly written by James, the pair were close enough by then that the infamous outlaw had no problem keeping Charley abreast of the gang's plans, and signed off "yours 'til and through death" (via the Kirksville Weekly Graphic).

While Charley is not believed to have participated in that robbery, he was probably at the Blue Cut train robbery a few months later, and he was eventually arrested on charges related to it. There is no evidence that Robert was involved in any of these robberies, meaning he was likely just an outlaw-groupie who got close to the gang through his brother.

Frank Triplett wrote the first book about Jesse James, published in 1882, mere months after the outlaw's death. While he is not considered a reliable narrator and should be taken with a large grain of salt, he claimed that after James was betrayed by many members of his gang, the only person who begged him for forgiveness was Charley Ford. While this event may or may not have happened, it illustrates the level of trust James seemed to have in Charley. 

According to Triplett, James' wife and mother both contributed information for the book. If true, it would be notable that, according to Triplett, not long before his murder, James' mother said, "I have noticed Charlie [sic] since he has been here this last time. He has greatly changed; he does not look at me honestly as he used to. I fear he is meditating treachery." James replied, "Bob Ford I don't trust; I think he is a sneak, but Charlie Ford is as true as steel" (via "The Life, Times, and Treacherous Death of Jesse James").

While it may be true that James was less sure about Robert than Charley, he trusted them both enough to let the brothers live in James' home with his wife and children. In November 1881, they moved into a house in Missouri (pictured), and James passed himself off under an alias. However, he was smart enough never to turn his back on the brothers.

While Robert Ford is famous for murdering Jesse James, it was actually a completely different killing that sent him down that path in the first place. In January 1882, several months before the murder of James, two other members of the James-Younger gang, named Wood Hite (pictured) and Dick Liddil, were hiding out at the Missouri home of the Ford brothers' sister Mary, after killing a lawman in Kentucky. 

One morning, Robert joined Mary and the two men for breakfast, but Hite and Liddil began arguing. The subject of the fight is lost to history, but they both became riled up enough that they pulled their guns out and shot at each other. Both were only slightly injured, but then Robert got involved. Whipping out his own gun, he chose his side in the fight, shooting Hite in the head. Within a few minutes, the latter was dead. Mary had been present for the whole thing but would later claim at an inquest that it was Liddil who put the fatal shot in Hite.

Considering most of them and their acquaintances were hiding from authorities, having a dead body in the house was a problem. At first, Robert seemed extraordinarily lucky, managing to get the corpse out of the house and successfully hiding it in a shallow grave. But despite the body not being discovered for months, rumors about Hite's disappearance brought Robert to the attention of authorities.

At the time of Wood Hite's murder, the governor of Missouri was a man named Thomas Crittenden (pictured). The James-Younger gang had been causing problems in and around the state for well over a decade, and while they did not usually harm or even threaten victims of their robberies, they were responsible for several deaths. Their infamy also reflected badly on the state. This was a problem for Crittenden, and he was determined to do something about it. As he would later explain to a reporter, "After I became governor, I determined to overthrow this bold night rider and his gang by any and all means known to human ingenuity" (via The Atlanta Constitution). 

Now the lawmen of St. Joseph, Missouri, were questioning Robert Ford about the disappearance of his friend Hite. Somehow, the sheriff and Robert came to an agreement: Robert and Charley would either use their access to James to allow him to be captured by the sheriff and his men, or they would kill James themselves. While Robert must have used this promise as leverage in the case of Hite, the fact is that Governor Crittenden and the railroad companies had raised a massive reward of $10,000 for bringing in James, dead or alive. Crittenden would later admit that he agreed to pardon the Ford brothers if they killed the outlaw.

For two men who already made their living committing crimes, killing James made good business sense. Now they just had to wait for their moment.

Robert and Charley Ford continued living with Jesse James in his home while they waited for their chance to kill him. The situation needed to be just right, because they had no doubt that he could get the better of them in most cases. This meant that before they could take their one chance, they needed to both be present (making sure it was two against one), for James to be unarmed (a rarity), and for him to have his back to them. 

The perfect opportunity finally presented itself on April 3, 1882. Zerelda, James' wife, was also home at the time, but she was in a different room from her husband and the Ford brothers when the murder occurred. Because of this, it is impossible to know the truth about Jesse James' death. What would become the definitive version came from Frank Triplett's book on the outlaw, but, as previously mentioned, he is not a reliable narrator, nor are the Ford brothers, and it is possible that, between them, they made up some or all of the "official" scenario. 

This version certainly has some holes. Apparently, James said he was warm and took off his jacket, followed by his gun belt, to make sure no one saw him packing heat through the windows. Then he noticed a frame on the wall was dusty, so he stood on a chair to clean it. Seizing his moment, Robert Ford shot James in the back of the head.

A reporter who claimed to have interviewed the Ford brothers shortly after the murder quoted Charley Ford as saying, "You never expected to see Jesse James' dead body in St. Joseph, but we thought we would create a sensation and put him out of the way" (via The Atlanta Constitution). "Sensation" was putting it mildly. As word of Jesse James' murder spread through the local area, people were shocked. Some refused to believe it; after all, James' death had been wrongly reported when he was shot by a member of his gang before. Crowds arrived at the house where the murder happened, and thousands waited at the jail for a glimpse of the Fords. Hundreds also went to the morgue to see the body of the Wild West legend. 

Part of Robert Ford's initial agreement to take out James was the promise that he would be pardoned by Governor Thomas Crittenden for James' and Hite's murders, which explains why they immediately admitted to the killing and made no attempt to flee. When they were subsequently arrested and taken to the Buchanan County Courthouse (pictured), the brothers were shocked. However, they had nothing to worry about.

In a staggering mockery of justice, the Ford brothers were indicted, pleaded guilty, and were pardoned all on the same day. Despite this, reports that the brothers were immediately hanged for the crime were so widespread that even The New York Times felt the need to debunk them.

Overnight, the Ford brothers were household names, and they immediately set out to capitalize on this fame. Within weeks, they were on the stage reenacting the murder for audiences in places like Boston and New York City. The young men who had murdered a legendary outlaw promised to bring some of the Wild West to these supposedly more civilized metropolises. 

Their showbiz endeavor did not go as the brothers had hoped. After all, the people of the major East Coast cities had never been in danger from the outlaw's gang, and probably enjoyed reading about his crimes in the paper. The widow of Jesse James had been left to raise two children on her own. Robert and Charley Ford had plotted to kill the man who was giving them shelter, and when the time came, shot him in the back. It did not seem triumphant, but cowardly, so they were not greeted as heroes but booed mercilessly and even threatened. In some instances, the brothers would threaten the audience right back; at least one performance ended when police were called in.

Faced with these reactions to their show, Charley Ford gave up and moved back home. Robert Ford stuck it out longer, continuing on his own, where instead of reenacting the murder, he simply recounted what happened to the audience (now wisely leaving out the bit where he shot James in the back). Eventually, he became a sideshow with P.T. Barnum.

Society had been enthralled by the life and tragic death of Jesse James, but that interest did not extend to the Ford brothers after James was dead. Their theater show was a flop, which was a problem because the promised $10,000 in reward money for killing the outlaw didn't make it into their hands either, at least not in its entirety. 

Broke, addicted to morphine, and suffering from tuberculosis, Charley died by suicide two years after the murder. A reporter who raced to the home of the Ford brothers' parents found his widow to be chatty (the couple had married the year before), but Robert Ford was mostly silent as he stood over the coffin looking down at his brother. When he finally did speak, he said he didn't know what he would do now.

While he kept going after Charley's death, Robert's life was increasingly a shambles. He started drinking heavily and lost what money he did have on gambling. The combination of alcohol and cards led to even bigger problems, as Robert faced several attempts on his life in saloons by drunk, angry strangers who were furious that he shot the famous outlaw in the back. His health began failing. Eventually, Robert moved west, where he was chased out of a Colorado town after getting drunk, losing money on a boxing match, and threatening to kill the athlete. He then proceeded to shoot out all the streetlamps.

Robert Ford was faced with the reality that he would have to make an honest living to survive, especially since he got married at some point to a woman named Nellie Waterson. So he became a saloon owner. He opened his first establishment in Las Vegas, New Mexico, but it lost money and he soon moved to the booming mining town of Creede, Colorado (the town's mining camp is pictured above).

There, he opened up a saloon and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was the infamous Robert Ford who had murdered Jesse James. In that rough town, this seemed to pay off, with this attempt at running a business being successful, as the dance hall allegedly became the favorite drinking spot for those locals with the worst reputations. 

While his business seemed to be doing well enough, it was in Creede where Robert shot up the streetlamps and hightailed it out of town the next day. After tempers cooled, however, he returned, opening another dance hall. But Robert could not catch a break: It had not even been operating for a full week when the building was lost in a fire. Undeterred, within days, Robert had set up a large tent and began running a saloon out of it. It was in this most unlikely of places that his fate would finally catch up to him.

After Charley Ford's untimely death in 1884, a reporter opined, "Now Bob Ford is left singly and alone, and he too will doubtless meet the same fate" (via the St. Louis Globe-Democrat). It was perhaps not the most out-there prediction ever made, but when the time came, Robert Ford's death was not at his own hand like Charley's. Instead — like Wood Hite's and Jesse James' had been — it was at the end of another man's gun.

On June 8, 1892, deputy lawman Edward O'Kelley (pictured) walked into the tent housing Robert's makeshift saloon with a shotgun and murdered the 30-year-old in cold blood. Various reasons were given as to why he would do this. Some reports indicated the men had violently quarreled a few months previously, over either a woman or accusations that O'Kelley stole a ring. There was another possibility: Robert had made many enemies in his short life, so some people thought someone put O'Kelley up to it. Fingers pointed to the gangster Soapy Smith.

O'Kelley turned himself in and refused to say why he had done it. If he expected to be treated as a hero for killing the man who killed Jesse James, he was in for a shock: He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. After serving 10 years, he was released, only to be shot and killed two years later, in 1904.