Frank & Jesse James were murderous thugs who became experts in molding public opinion through newspapers. Common folks of those times emphathized with the James Boys and against wealthy bankers and the railroads. But eventually millions of readers all over the world came to think they knew the James brothers through scores of fictionalizing dime-novel writers and perhaps less than a half dozen credible biographies.
Hollywood’s Jesse James Movies greatly embellish the exploits attributed to the James Boys Truth was seldom a consideration for Hollywood. The first motion picture about Jesse James was produced in 1920 with members of the James family and several Kansas City businessmen as stockholders. The premier showing of Under the Black Flag took place at Plattsburg, MO. Several other movies followed, all distorting facts and actual events. Most noteworthy are:
Jesse James – Paramount Pictures, 1927 starring Fred Thomas and his famous horse, Silver King
Jesse James – Twentieth Century-Fox, 1939 an elaborate “Robin Hood” story starring Tyrone Powers as Jesse James and Henry Fonda as Frank James
The Return of Frank James – Twentieth Century-Fox an almost entirely fictitious sequel to the previous box office success continuing the “Robin Hood” tradition
Jesse James’ Women – United Artists, 1954 an unusual portrayal of Jesse James as a most unsavory character despite giving money away to the worthy
The True Story of Jesse James – Twentieth Century-Fox, 1957 a highly publicized release with its distorted story set forth in a Dell Movie Classic comic book
Comic book versions of the James Brothers played even more loosely with the truth as you might expect. Ballads written soon after the demise of the James Boys appear in many folk songs. Many versions sprung from the common refrain... “That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard, Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.”
Gallatin, MO, was the boyhood home to another Old
“Jesse James is the only American bandit who is classical, who is to this country what Robin Hood or Dick Turpin is to England, whose exploits are so close to the mythical and apocryphal.” — Carl Sandburg American poet, biographer, journalist and editor
West outlaw made famous by Hollywood: Johnny Ringo. The family moved from Indiana in 1857, relocating to Gallatin where they lived for seven years before moving on to California. Johnny Ringo was in Burnet, TX, where he got involved in gunplay and ambushes resulting in the death of Jim Chaney at Mason County, TX. Ringo was jailed and awaited prosecution for three years. Records next show Ringo in Arizona in 1879, shooting and wounding Lewis Hancock. No doubt his most infamous excapade followed the famous shootout at the OK Corral at Tombstone, AZ. Johnny Ringo was on the side of the Clantons. He was a member of Sheriff Behan's posse Johnny Ringo and helped drive Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and their comMay 3, 1850 - July 13, 1882 panions out of Arizona in March, 1882.
B-Westerns also... made celebrities of other people from Daviess County besides the James Brothers and Johnny Ringo. Unlike these infamous outlaws, however, these actors had no links to authentic history of the Old West. They were performers specializing in a genre that faded with the advent of television.
“Wild Bill Elliott” born Gordon A. Nance on Oct. 16, 1904, at Pattonsburg, Mo. Most B-western historians today consider Wild Bill Elliott (born at Pattonsburg, MO) the successor to the realistic westerns of his hero, silent star William S. Hart, who retired in 1925, the same year, ironically, that Elliott made his first picture. On the silver screen Elliott was Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Red Ryder, Kit Carson, Davy Crockett's son, Daniel Boone's grandson, and, of course most often -- himself. He worked with such celebrated actors as Clark Gable, John Wayne, Tex Ritter, and Gene Autry. He starred on a western variety radio series with the Andrews Sisters and Gabby Hayes. Wild Bill Elliott was on the Motion Picture Herald-Fame’s poll of Top Western Stars each year during the 1940s. His last movie was released in 1957. He died Nov. 26, 1965.
“Buzz Barton” born on September 3, 1913, at Gallatin, Missouri William Andrew Lamoreaux became known as “The Boy Wonder of Westerns” after his family moved from Gallatin to California. At one time Lamoreaux was probably the most successful and well-known of the young, silent screen cowpokes starring in Westerns. His popularity in 1930-31 was so strong that the Daisy Company introduced the “Buzz Barton Special Daisy Air Rifle” (complete with telescope sight) to tie in with his movie releases. But his career floundered as he reached puberty and as the new medium of sound put an end to silent films. He died in 1980.
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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY
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