Missouri has a long list of famous outlaws and criminals, but none more famous than Jesse James. Jesse James has been portrayed as a hero and a villain in popular culture over the last one hundred and 30 plus years since his death at the hands of Robert Ford. He has been depicted as both a robin hood-like figure, and a violent thug, he has been featured in numerous biographic pictures as well as fictional tales that use the outlaw’s name and likeness to expand on the mythos of the famed Missouri criminal. But before the motion pictures expanded the legacy, fictional or real, of the daring guerilla and robber, the myths and legends surrounding James began in the newspapers and rumor mills that surrounded the man in his very lifetime. Join us in this episode as we examine Jesse James, his legendary actions, mythical meetings, and criminal cheatings, and trying to separate fact from myth, and how they became a part… of the Show-me.
