Jesse James

          Also called 'America's Robin Hood'                     Part 1

I am sure you are wondering what EXACTLY the 'Robin Hood' part of the title meant....Well, Let's get on with the story, or else, if I tell you NOW, it will ruin my story, as you will know it all......

       The year 1847 was a year that some officers of the 18 hundreds said should have never been, as over 20 officers were killed by the gang that the man who was born then started. He was an American outlaw, the most famous for his cruel way of robbing citizens and quick-to-flight ways, only to jump out from behind bushes at just the right time.

       He was a son of a minister, and his mother had high hopes of him becoming a pastor himself. His good-looking features won him many friends. Most of these became part of his gang he established at age 23. He always wore a belt with four revolvers on it. "Good defense" was his explanation to his mother, who had no idea where he and his 12 friends went to every night.

       He hardly killed anyone before the accident, but when it happened, his rage was terrible. He had went to attack the nearby town, and stole 32,000 dollars from a bank. When he came back, smoke was steaming out of his kitchen window. He went in. What had happened was in his mind. It turned out that the officers of the police force had surrounded his home, and threw a bomb through the window. It blew off his mother's arm, and killed his two-year-old brother. His brother's body reminded him of his 4-year-old sister's, when she was killed in a car accident, when he and Frank had been only 12 and 14 years old. He remembered his wound, a gash that went down his arm. He wept bitterly.  He went out to the gang house, and they all went to the railroad tracks. They waited. When the train arrived, he shouted, "halt!" The train stopped so fast that the engine tipped and killed the engineer. The gang went through the cars and stole all valuables from the people.

   Who was this man, who was a robber, who killed, himself, about 11 people in his so-called "carreer"?

     His name was Jesse James, America's "Robin Hood"