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Jesse James Lived to be 103






Jesse James Lived to be 103 Book Cover




Jesse James Lived to be 103





Ralph Epperson


I’m currently working my way through a rather tedious presentation of a fascinating subject, this being a power-point presentation by Ralph Epperson entitled Jesse James Lived to be 103. 

According to college professor Epperson, Jesse James faked his own death in 1882 so that the relentless pursuit would end.  He then lived under some 72 different aliases over the next fifty years, in several states.  He invested in mining and stocks and became quite wealthy, and even served a term as U.S. Senator under the name of William Andrews Clark!  The last alias Jesse used was J. Frank Dalton.   

If Epperson is right, then Jesse James died in Granbury, Texas, in 1951 at the age of 103 years old.  A medical doctor examined him while still alive, because he was claiming by then to be the real Jesse James.  The doctor found that the Pinkertons had a case file on Jesse, and that he had 27 identifiable marks on his body, seven of them being scars from bullet wounds.  J. Frank Dalton had all 27 marks. 

You may not agree with Epperson’s characterization of Jesse James as a really bad guy (I certainly don’t), but you will still find this information fascinating, and in my opinion, incontrovertible. 

For example, in his fascinating account of the First State Bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, Epperson pauses to make the point that the James brothers weren’t just robbing the rich, they were robbing the depositors – “the People”.  But he also mentions that one Benjamin Butler, whom he describes as a former Union officer, owned the particular bank in question.  That’s a little bit like saying that Adolph Hitler was a German politician.  I wonder if Epperson realizes the reputation of “Beast Butler”, and how hated he was in the South?  (Every Southern student, in the same section dealing with Sherman and other atrocities, should study Benjamin Butler.) 

Most Southerners (and even fewer Yankees) do not realize that the War began in Missouri more than a decade before South Carolina seceded from the Union.  The James family had the misfortune of living in the middle of a guerrilla war zone.  Jesse’s own mother lost an arm to a bomb thrown into their house, and the youngest boy was killed in that sneak attack.  Jesse was 15 at the time, and swore revenge (as any Missourian would!).  He appears to have gotten it, and Epperson gives evidence that is very strong.  This is research no other biographer ever discusses.

Not only did their war begin earlier, it lasted longer.  The James boys were still fighting the same war in 1882, seventeen years after the South surrendered.  The way they saw it was that, “We didn’t start this war, the Yankees did.  And it ain’t over until we say it’s over.  Armies can surrender all they want, but we ain’t under their authority.” 

The James gang, Quantrill’s Raiders, the Coles and the Youngers all had this mentality.  To call them “Robin Hoods” is a romanticizing that goes too far.  (Of course they robbed the rich!  Not much profit in robbing the poor, now is there?)  At the same time, they were warriors.  They had the warrior mentality, in a guerrilla setting, and those who survived were very good at it. 

There were many copycat train and bank robberies following the War, with the outlaws claiming that they were part of the James’ Gang.  Most were not.  And Epperson is fair in pointing out that Jesse himself frequently wrote letters to the editors of newspapers at the time, stating that he and his boys were not responsible for this or that robbery. 

My impression is that he was an outlaw by necessity, but that he had a code of honor (Jesse carried his Bible everywhere, and read it diligently.  Frank favored Shakespeare.)  The James boys saw their activities in the nature of waging war against an implacable foe, rather than simple banditry.  The life of a warrior is a hard one, of necessity.  It involves survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE – taught in our military schools today).  It involves deception.  It sometimes requires killing some people, particularly when they have it coming, and that is hardly a murder, in the eyes of the guerrilla warrior. 

If Epperson is correct, or rather, if the personal claims of the man who called himself J. Frank Dalton are true, then Jesse James not only rode again, but took his war to his enemy in the best camouflage possible – as a senator from the State of Oklahoma.  The facts in this case are a lot more interesting than most novels, and would make a fascinating movie – much better than the Hollywood garbage recently released starring Brad Pitt as Jesse James.  But then, the winners continue to rewrite history to push their own agendas.

Jesse James was right.  The war was not over in 1865.  And it’s not over yet.  It will be over when we either die or we surrender.  And it is not in us to surrender.

If you are interested in seeing a catalog of books and CD’s by Ralph Epperson on a variety of subjects dealing with history and conspiracy, go to www.ralphepperson.com.  The book on Jesse James is $17, postage paid.  The four DVD presentation is two discs and costs $12, including postage.  I can almost promise you won’t agree with his every conclusion, but you will find a lot of information there, and the research is very good, overall.  Some of his conclusions are different, but I sense an honesty in this man, and highly recommend two of his books, The Unseen Hand, and The New World Order.

© Daniel D. New, Permission to copy, with credits, is hereby granted.-

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