Robert Ford ("The man who shot Jesse James")

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2854/bob-ford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ford_(outlaw)

Robert Newton "Bob" Ford (January 31, 1862 – June 8, 1892) was an American outlaw best known for killing his gang leader, Jesse James, in 1882. Ford was shot to death by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in Ford's temporary tent saloon with a shotgun blast to the front upper body. He was first interred in Creede, Colorado, where the saloon was located and where he was killed, but he was later reburied at Richmond Cemetery in Richmond in Ray County, Missouri, with "The man who shot Jesse James" inscribed on his grave marker.

Early years

Robert Ford was born in Ray County, Missouri, to James Thomas Ford and his wife, the former Mary Bruin. As a young man, he became an admirer of Jesse James for his American Civil War record and James's criminal exploits. In 1880, he finally met James. Ford's brother Charles is believed to have taken part in the James gang's Blue Cut train robbery in Jackson County near Glendale, Missouri (now part of Independence), on September 7, 1881.

Joining the gang

In November 1881, James moved his family to St. Joseph, Missouri. He intended to give up crime but first wanted to stage one last robbery at Blue Cut, Missouri. The James gang had been greatly reduced in numbers by that time. Some had fled the gang in fear of prosecution, and many of the original members were either dead or in prison after a botched robbery in Northfield, Minnesota. After the train robbery, Frank James decided to retire from crime, settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.

By the spring of 1882, with his gang depleted by arrests, deaths and defections, James thought that he could only trust the Ford brothers. Charles had been out on raids with James before, but Bob was an eager new recruit. The Fords resided in St. Joseph with the James family, where Jesse went by the alias of Thomas Howard. The Ford brothers passed themselves off as Bob and Charles Johnson, Howard's cousins.[citation needed]

Hoping to keep the gang alive, James invited the Fords to take part in the robbery of the Platte City Bank, but the brothers had already decided not to take part in the robbery in order to collect the $10,000 bounty placed on James by Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. In January 1882, Robert Ford and Dick Liddil surrendered to Sheriff James Timberlake at their sister Martha Bolton's residence in Ray County. They were brought into a meeting with Crittenden for being in the presence of the James's cousin, Wood Hite the day Hite was murdered. Crittenden promised Ford a full pardon if he would also kill Jesse James, who was by then the most wanted criminal in the USA. Crittenden had made capture of the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Barred by law from offering a sufficiently large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $5,000 bounty for each of them.

Killing Jesse James

On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James went into the living room in preparation for the trip to Platte City. James had just learned of gang member Dick Liddil's confession for participating in Hite's murder while reading the daily newspaper, and grew increasingly suspicious of the Fords for never reporting this matter to him. According to Robert Ford, it became clear to him that James had realized they were there to betray him. However, instead of scolding the Fords, James walked across the living room to lay his revolvers on a sofa. He then turned around and noticed a dusty picture above the mantle, and stood on a chair in order to clean it. Robert Ford then drew his weapon, and shot the unarmed Jesse James in the back of the head. James' wife Zerelda Mimms ran into the room and screamed, "You've killed him." Robert Ford's immediate response was "I swear to God I didn't."

After the assassination, the Fords wired Crittenden to claim their reward. They surrendered themselves to legal authorities, but they were dismayed to find that they were charged with first degree murder. In one day, the Ford brothers were indicted, pled guilty, and were sentenced to death by hanging, but two hours later, Crittenden granted them a full pardon. Despite the deal that was made with Crittenden, the Ford brothers received only $500, a fraction of the money they were originally promised.

Later years

For a time, Bob Ford earned money by posing for photographs as "the man who killed Jesse James" in dime museums. He also appeared on stage with his brother Charles, reenacting the murder in a touring stage show, but his performance was not well received. The way he had killed James—while his back was turned and he was unarmed—earned Ford much enmity from the residents of the various towns where they performed.[citation needed]

Charles, terminally ill with tuberculosis and addicted to morphine, committed suicide on May 4, 1884. Soon afterward, Bob Ford and Dick Liddil relocated to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they opened a saloon. By early 1885, Bob Ford had become a Las Vegas city policeman.[citation needed] According to legend, Ford, the owner of a saloon, had a shooting contest with Jose Chavez y Chavez, a comrade-in-arms of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War. Ford lost the contest and left town.

On December 26, 1889, Ford survived an assassination attempt in Kansas City, Kansas when an assailant tried to slit his throat.

Within a few years, Robert Ford had settled in Colorado, where he opened a saloon-gambling house in Walsenberg. When silver was found in Creede, Ford closed his saloon and opened one there.

On the eve of Easter 1892, Ford and gunman Joe Palmer, a member of the Soapy Smith gang, were drinking in the local saloons and proceeded to shoot out windows and street lamps along Creede's Main Street. With the help of friends and business partners of Smith, they were soon allowed to return. Ford purchased a lot and on May 29, 1892, opened Ford's Exchange, said to have been a dance hall. Six days later, the entire business district, including Ford's Exchange, burned to the ground in a major fire. Ford opened a tent saloon until he could rebuild.

Death

Three days after the fire, on June 8, 1892, Edward O'Kelley entered Ford's tent saloon with a 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 hence became "the man who killed the man who killed Jesse James." O'Kelley's sentence was commuted because of a medical condition, and he was released on October 3, 1902. O'Kelley was subsequently killed on January 13, 1904 while trying to shoot a policeman.

Ford was buried in Creede, but later was exhumed and reburied in Richmond in his native Ray County at Richmond Cemetery.

Cultural depictions

Films

In the 1939 film Jesse James, Ford is played by John Carradine.

In the 1940 film The Return of Frank James, a highly fictionalized film about Frank James hunting down Bob and Charley Ford, John Carradine reprised his role. The film, directed by Fritz Lang, is a sequel to Jesse James, which also features the Fords.

In the 1949 film I Shot Jesse James, directed by Samuel Fuller, Ford is portrayed by John Ireland.

In the 1957 film The True Story of Jesse James, Ford is portrayed by Carl Thayler.

In the 1957 film Hell's Crossroads, Robert Vaughn plays Bob Ford.

In the 1980 film The Long Riders, Nicholas and Christopher Guest play Bob and Charley Ford.

In the 1986 Made for TV Movie The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James Bob Ford was played by Darrell Wilks.

In the 1995 film Frank & Jesse, Jim Flowers plays Bob Ford.

In the 2006 TV movie The Plot to Kill: Jesse James, and the 2007 TV movie Jesse James: American Outlaw (both produced by The History Channel), Ford is portrayed by James Horton.

In the 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, based on the historical novel by Ron Hansen, Ford is played by Casey Affleck, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film is considered one of the most historically accurate portrayals of Jesse James and Robert Ford.

Television series

In 1954, Tyler MacDuff played Bob Ford in the episode "Jesse and Frank James" of Jim Davis's syndicated Stories of the Century. Lee Van Cleef played Jesse James in the episode.

In 1957, Bobby Jordan played Ford in an episode of Dale Robertson's NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo.

In 1958, Martin Landau portrayed Robert Ford in the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Lawman in the episode "The Outcast".

In 1960, Charles Aidman guest starred in the episode "Bob Ford" in the first season of the syndicated series, Shotgun Slade, starring Scott Brady. In 1977, an episode of NBC's Little House on the Prairie depicts Ford as a student at Walnut Grove School.

Literature

In Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's 1976 novel Inferno, Ford is depicted as being in Hell as a traitor.

Music

Further information: Jesse James in music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James_in_music

Recorded in 1924, a well-known folk song calls Ford "...that dirty little coward / That shot Mr. Howard".

In the Bob Dylan song "Outlaw Blues", Dylan alludes to Ford with the lines, "I ain't gonna hang no picture/Ain't gonna hang no picture frame/Well I might look like a Robert Ford/But I feel just like a Jesse James".

The 1975 Elton John song "I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)" from the Rock of the Westies album refers to a betrayal in a romantic relationship that is metaphorically likened to Jesse James' assassin.

In the Warren Zevon song "Frank and Jesse James", Ford is mentioned in the lyrics "Robert Ford, a gunman/In exchange for his parole/Took the life of James the outlaw/Which he snuck up on and stole".