He'd Never Rob A Mother Or A Child

Designated as the "Last Rebel Of The Civil War," Jesse James, and his brother Frank, achieved legenday status for daring bank and train robberies.

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The brothers are accredited with pulling off the first daytime bank robbery during peace time, where they made off with $60,000 from a Liberty, Missouri, bank.

Though the James Gang held communities throughout the heartland in fear, Jesse James has also been likened to a modern day Robin Hood. James is described as a good father and family man, and religious in his own way. While he did steal from the rich, it is questionable whether he actually gave to the poor, or just kept it all for himself.

James' life of crime, spanning 15 years, earned him high price on his head. The $10,000 reward proved to be too tempting for brothers Robert and Charles Ford. James had recruited the Ford brothers for a plot to rob the Platte City Bank.

Robert Ford shot Jesse James, who was at the time living under the alias "Thomas Howard" in St. Joseph, Missouri, in the back of the head on April 3, 1882, while James stood on a chair to straighten a picture. He was 34.

When the Ford brothers attempted to collect the reward they were arrested, charged with murder and sentenced to hang, but were pardoned by Governor Tom Crittenden.

Charles committed suicide two years later and Robert, the "Dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard," was killed in Creede, Colorado, in 1892, by former members of the James Gang.