Jesse James had been living in Saint Joseph, Missouri for several weeks now under the name of Thomas Howard.
His house was at a perfect location on top of a hill at 1318 Lafeyette Street. He hired on two new members for his gang, Charlie
and Robert Ford.
Jesse had a plan to rob the bank in North Platte, NE and included the Ford brothers in his plan. But the Ford's
had a different plan. They met with Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden in order to dispose of Jesse James.
Killing the most famous outlaw is not an easy task. What would happen if you take a shot at him and miss? Or
if you just wing him? It was very risky.
On April 3rd, 1882, Jesse and the Ford brothers had breakfast in the kitchen and Jesse read the paper. He noticed
that Dick Liddle had been placed under arrest, even though Bob told him otherwise. Jesse put the paper aside and went into
the living room with the Ford's following. The Ford's sat on a bed and Jesse noticed a picture was a little dusty. So he took
of his guns in fear that one of his neighbors might get suspicious if they saw him like that and placed them on the bed near
the Fords. He stood up on a chair with a feather duster and began dusting. The Ford's looked at each other and realized that
this was their chance. They both drew their guns but Bob was quicker on the draw. As Bob drew back the hammer of his Smith
& Wesson Jesse turned his head slightly to see what the noise was. Bob pulled the trigger and the bullet entered the back
of Jesse's head. Jesse crashed off the chair onto the ground, dead. Jesse's wife, Zee, ran into the room and saw the Ford
brothers exiting and Bob said, "It was an accident."
