The start of his career in crime

Jesse James was born in Missouri, and became arguably the most famous outlaw in the old west.  His father was a preacher and minister, and during the period before the Civil War, Jesse and his brother Frank and their siblings grew up in comfortable surroundings in the Confederacy.  During the Civil War, Jesse fought in a guerilla group against the Union forces, and was wounded while trying to surrender after the war had ended.  His cousin Zerelda Mimms nursed him back to health and they eventually married.

In 1868, Jesse joined Cole Younger to form the notorious James-Younger Gang, and they began their career as American outlaws by robbing a bank at Russellville in Kentucky.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWjamesJ.htm

The famous outlaw

Jesse James quickly gained notoriety; in 1869 he shot a cashier whom he wrongly believed to be behind the shooting of his former commander in the Civil War, “Bloody” Bill Anderson.  This tale of revenge became front page news, and Jesse James, outlaw, soon became the standard label applied to him.

The James-Younger Gang robbed banks all over the Wild West and beyond, from Iowa to West Virginia and Texas.  In all, they netted many thousands of dollars, and Jesse James himself is thought to have shot and killed some 15 people throughout his career as a Western outlaw.

A newspaper editor named John Newman Edwards, who was sympathetic to the exploits of the bank robber, and keen to turn Jesse James, outlaw, into a Robin Hood figure, did more than anyone to popularize James during his lifetime, and ensure his status as a famous outlaw for all time to come.  But, was he really such a romantic figure?  Decide for yourself:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-JesseJames.html

Later exploits and death of Jesse James

Even a famous outlaw doesn’t live forever.  The Pinkerton Detective Agency was engaged to hunt the brothers down, but succeeded only in killing James’ half-brother and maiming his mother.  However, their luck was clearly on the turn.  A subsequent robbery in Minnesota went horribly wrong and several gang members were either killed or captured.

With a $10,000 bounty on his head, the days of Jesse James, outlaw, were numbered. Brothers Bob and Charley Ford were men that Jesse thought he could trust, but unknown to the famous outlaw, Bob had been negotiating with the governor of Missouri to capture Jesse James dead or alive.  On April 3, 1892, Bob Ford shot the western outlaw dead.  He was 34, and his legend only grew as a result of his untimely end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James_1847