JESSIE JAMES: "THEY DROVE US TO IT!" (THE EARLY YEARS)

JESSIE WOODSON JAMES, the famous outlaw, was born 5th September, 1847 and died on 3rd April, 1882. Since then, a few people have been pretending to be the "true" JESSE JAMES. Right after his death, a lot of newspapers wrote an obituary notice for (in memory of) the legendary bandit. Soon, a popular ballad arose:
"He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain...
The James gang operated mainly in Kansas and Missouri robbing banks and the railway. According to the legend JESSIE was a noble outlaw, a modern Robin Hood distributing the loot among the poor. But reality was completely different from this romantic belief.
His father, who was a baptist-preacher, left his family during the gold rush of 1849. The pious man went to California to dig for gold and never came back.
FRANK JAMES, JESSE'S elder brother, joined the gang of the ill-famed WILLIAM ANDERSON, also known as (aka) "BLOODY BILL". In 1861 he took part in the battle of Wilson Creek fighting for the South and in 1863 in a raid on Lawrence, Kansas, whereby the whole town was destroyed.
In 1864 JESSE JAMES took part in "BLOODY BILL'S" massacre in Centralia-14 unarmed soldiers were killed!
After the Civil War, the two brothers were so to speak "unemployed", so they decided to declare war to the banks and railroad. For this purpose the JAMES brothers made common cause with COLE YOUNGER ,born 1844, and his brothers JAMES, BOB and JOHN. They formed a gang haunting the mid-west. By the way, FRANK loved to quote Shakespeare and the Bible. It is said that JESSE got so annoyed at this that he threatened his brother with his revolver.
In 1866 the gang committed a bank robbery in Liberty, Missouri.
Although the robberies being often  rather brutal, the people regarded them as rebels against the Union.They were generally admired. Asked why he did so (all that), JESSE used to respond:
"The drove us to it!"
The exact number of raids committed by them is unclear.
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Englis text by "nova-aetas"
LIT: HANS C. BLUMENBERG: WANTED, STECKBRIEFE AUS DEM WILDEN WESTEN.
I apologize for my poor English and promise to do better.