Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend

by Ted P. Yeatman

Book Overview

To some he was a Robin Hood, a mythic figure of righteous retribution. To others he was the devil incarnate, a bloodthirsty hooligan and cold-blooded killer. The disparity between these views of the outlaw Jesse James is often attributed to an almost invisible line between marauding Missouri guerrilla bands of the Civil War and the general lawlessness that plagued the Old West. The beginning of the legend of the James brothers, which began in 1866...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581820801
• ISBN13: 9781581820805
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 2.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

HISTORY AT IT'S BEST

Ralph P. Ganis, a James Gang Historian and Author, July 25, 2000, HISTORY AT IT'S BEST Here's a toast to Historian Ted Yeatman who has given America the finest history of the James Gang to date. This book is a must for any student or enthusiast of America's outlaw brothers. The book reads well and the facts are presented in an excellent manner. My library on James Gang books includes more than 50 titles and Mr. Yeatman's book would be my #1 choice for accuracy. As a James Gang historian, I strongly recommend Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend.

The best work since Settle...

Ted Yeatman has produced the best work on the James brothers since William Settle's 1966 "Jesse James Was His Name". His well-documented research over two decades has paid off with what I, a long-time researcher into the subject myself, consider a "must-have" volume for any James buff. Many books on this subject have appeared over the years, but Yeatman stands head and shoulders above the rest. Many specifics concerning Frank and Jesse are open to speculation, and Yeatman avoids the pitfall of expressing his opinions as facts--a lesson most writers on this subject have yet to learn.

A Remarkable Book

This book is a truly amazing work. When Dr. William Settle's book was published in 1966 it was thought that this would be the final word in terms of a good documented history of the James brothers. But lo and behold there was much information waiting to be discovered, which in this book casts new light on an old legend. Of particular interest is new information on the James brothers in the Civil War, perhaps the most detailed and complete treatment to date. The revelations concerning the Pinkerton raid on the James farm in 1875, complete with an appendix of previously unpublished letters by detective Allan Pinkerton, are equally fascinating, as are the years spent in Tennesee following the Northfield raid. Many books leave out the years following Frank James' surrender in 1882, or at best minimize it, and Frank's imporance to the James story. In this book we see Frank dealing with both celebrity and notoriety in his later years, as he works in a number of mundane jobs and then enters show-business. The stories of Frank's career on stage and with a third rate Wild West Show are as interesting as those of the years of banditry, with a number of surprises in store for the reader along the way. The story of what became of Jesse's family after his death, and of the many impostors gets a good treatment too. This book has the only detailed account of the 1995 exhumation and forensic testing of the reamis of Jesse in any book published thus far. It has the text of a press conference given by Prof. Starrs at the 1996 American Academy of Forensic Sciences which is to be found nowhere else. The story of the James brothers, Frank and Jesse, is essentially one of historical detective work, and the record in places is sometimes unclear or non-existant. The author has, to his credit, resisted the temptation that other writers have fallen to over the years of putting in imaginary dialogue and descriptions, or even inventing episodes of their lives, for the sake of a "good story". One reviewer has unfairly taken the writer to task for not jazzing it up, expecting a Stephen Ambrose style narrative throughout [the author's narrative is fine]. The book has a remarkable amount of this, but where there are points in question, the author lets you know, and has copious source notes explaining much at the end of the book. One must bear in mind that the James boys and their families, unlike the G.I.'s of WWII, or Lewis and Clark, were anxious to hide the deeds that brought them to the public eye, and their lives during much of this period. It took a great amount of digging in dusty court records, newspaper files and archives, over several states for about 25 years, to unearth this story. It wasn't a matter of rehashing someone else's book or from oral or written memoirs taken down at a veteran's reunion, or in a published journal like that of Lewis & Clark. This book was recently named runner-up for Best Western Biography of 2001 in the Western Writers of America

The Legend Never Dies

'Frank and Jesse James' is a well documented book on the notorious James Boys and it is a welcome addition to the library of books that have been written on the James - Younger Gang. Some of the books that have been published in recent years are simply a rehashing of information the author has found in older manuscripts. That is certainly not the case with this work by Ted Yeatman. Separating myth from fact is a very difficult thing to do after a period of 130 years, but he has taken some great strides in accomplishing this feat . Ted has uncovered information that gives us new insights into many of the legendary stories. There has also been an attempt at placing the activities of the James Gang in it's historic setting. The text goes into quite a bit of helpful detail in explaining the state and federal governments attitudes and the politics of the time.I believe this book is destined to become a standard in the literature of the outlaw James Gang.

THE LEGEND NEVER DIES...

Having been a researcher of the James family for the past 25 years made reading this book a great pleasure. Mr. Yeatman is the "John Newman Edwards" of the 20th century. (For those who don't know who John Newman Edwards was, he was a great writer friend of Frank and Jesse who literally kept the James story alive.)Being the owner of the largest collection of actual James Family artifacts, I have read just about every book authored about the James', from "A Terrible Quintet", "Noted Guerillas" to the best one by Robertus Love entitled "The Rise and Fall". Mr. Yeatman's "Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend" should be ranked among the best. His research for the book was impeccable-This subject is not an easy one to write about as there are so many different aspects to the story. It is a story that transcends the human experience. I have been friends with the great-grandson of Jesse for many years and have seen just how difficult it is for him, as a descendant, to have the fakers tell him he is,in truth not related to Jesse James-that he really died in Texas in 1951. In fact, DNA testing proved that Jesse James was buried in Kearney, Missouri just as any elementary James historian thought. THANK YOU TED FOR ALL THE HARD WORK. It's a WONDERFUL book.