ROBERT FORD: The Man Who Killed Jesse James.
As a young man, he became an obsessed with Jesse James for his war record and his daring career in crime. In 1880 he finally managed to meet James. Ford's brother Charles Ford is believed to have taken part in the James gang's Blue Cut train robbery near Glendale, Missouri on September 7, 1881.
In November 1881, Jesse James moved his family to St.Joseph. He intended to give up crime, but first wanted to stage one last robbery.
The James gang by now had been greatly reduced in number. James invited Charles and Robert Ford to take part in the robbery of the Platte City Bank. The Ford brothers passed themselves off in St. Joseph as cousins of James, though they were in fact unrelated. James allowed them to move into his home to keep him better protected.
Unfortunately for James, the Ford brothers had already decided not to take part in the robbery, but to collect the $10,000 bounty placed on James by Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. Robert Ford had been arrested for killing Jesse James' cousin Wood Hite, another gang member. Governor Crittenden promised him a pardon if he would also kill Jesse James.
On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James went into the living room. Before sitting down, James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. James was not wearing his guns and Ford took advantage of the opportunity and shot James in the back of the head.
Robert Ford wired the governor to claim his reward. He then turned himself in to the law, but was dismayed to find he was charged with first degree murder. The Ford brothers were tried and convicted. They were sentenced to death by hanging, but within two hours were granted a full pardon by the Governor of Missouri. Ford then received a portion of the reward money.
Bob Ford earned his living by posing for photographs as "the man who killed Jesse James" in dime museums. He also appeared on stage, reenacting his killing of Jesse James, but his performance was not well received. Ford later moved to Colorado, where he opened a saloon-gambling house in Walsenburg, Colorado. When silver was found in Creede, Colorado, Ford closed his saloon and opened one there.
Ed O'Kelley entered Ford's tent saloon with a sawed-off shotgun. According to witnesses, Ford's back was turned. O'Kelley said, "Hello, Bob." As Ford turned to see who it was, O'Kelley fired both barrels, killing Ford instantly. O'Kelley became "the man who killed the man who killed Jesse James."
WILD BILL HICKOK
The Early Years
Wild Bill Hickok was born in Homer, IL on May 27, 1837. His birthplace is now the Wild Bill Hickok State Memorial, a listed historic site under the supervision of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. While he was growing up, his father's farm was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, and he learned his shooting skills protecting the farm with his father from anti-abolitionists. Hickok was a good shot from a very young age. Unknown to most, he was an early opponent of slavery, and assisted his father in smuggling runaway slaves along the Underground Railroad. A secret room in his parent's house was used to conceal runaways on several occasions.
Buffalo Bill Wild West Show
The frontiersman and showman Buffalo Bill (William Cody) toured the United States starring in plays based loosely on his Western adventures. His part typically included an 1876 incident at Warbonnet Creek where he scalped a Cheyenne warrior, purportedly in revenge for the death of George Armstrong Custer.
In Omaha, Nebraska, in 1883, Cody founded the "Buffalo Bill Wild West Show," a circus-like attraction that toured annually: Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull both appeared in the show. In 1887, he performed in London in celebration of the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria and toured Europe in 1889.
DID YOU KNOW?
On August 2, 1876, while playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, in the Black Hills, Dakota Territory, Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner, where he always sat in order to protect himself against sneak attacks from behind, and instead sat with his back to one door and facing another. His paranoia was prescient: he was shot in the back of the head with a .45-caliber revolver by Jack McCall. Legend has it that Hickok was playing poker when he was shot, was holding a pair of aces, a pair of eights, and a queen. The fifth card is debated, or, as some say, had not yet been dealt. "Aces and eights" thus is known as the "Dead Man's Hand".
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