4. Jesse James was never arrested or tried for any robberies
Jesse James is arguably America’s most famous thief and murderer, certainly the most famous of the western outlaws during the two decades which followed the American Civil War. The post-war violence between the former Confederate supporters and Unionists led to him being a popular figure among the former, despite the frequency and violence of his crimes. James and his brother Frank robbed banks, stagecoaches, trains, and once even a fair. When Jesse read newspaper reports of robberies which were attributed to him he often wrote to the paper’s editor protesting his innocence of the crime in question. After the Northfield, robbery attempt led to the destruction of the James-Younger gang Jesse and his brother Frank escaped, and for a time lived under an assumed name in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1879, Jesse returned to crime, with a new gang he engaged in a string of robberies in Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana, though Frank had by then given up the life of robberies and running. In 1881, the brothers returned to Missouri. Jesse was murdered there by Bob Ford in 1882 in St. Joseph. Frank surrendered to the authorities later that year and was tried for two robberies, one in Missouri and one in Alabama. He was acquitted in both cases, and though Missouri had other cases in which the surviving James brother could have been charged, he was never again brought to trial. Many of the crimes which were attributed to Jesse James were done so after his death, and sometimes by other criminals in the hope of throwing off pursuit. Jesse James robbed many banks and killed several men, but his legend overshadows his true history.