Jesse James Finally Gets Absolved of One of His Alleged Killings

 July 27, 2026

   Hard to believe it was three years ago when I had the distinct privilege and honor of having Mark Lee Gardner as my history guide on a whirlwind tour of Missouri and man did we cover some territory and see some great stuff. Starting at the James Farm House we hit all the bushwacker's notable battlegrounds as far east as Centralia, and as far west as Saint Joseph, Missouri where Jesse cashed out.

BBB at The House Where Jesse Cashed In

(photo by Mark Lee Gardner)

   So, hang onto your hat because, in the next issue of True West we will find out who actually shot the bank teller in Northfield, Minnesota during the ill-fated bank robbery in September of 1876.

   And, not so coincidently, here is my portrait of Frank James, which Mark has successfully appropriated as part of his payment for work on this issue.

Frank James Skated

(on his most notorious killing)

   So, one thing is clear to me: obviously Mr. Gardner has great taste in art.

   Also, Mark took me to see the grave of the guy who was known as the James boys' press agent:

Mark Lee Gardner at the grave

of John Newman Edwards on the outskirts of Dover, Missouri

And here is Edward's obit:

THE LAST SLEEP

[Special to the Kansas City Times.]

HIGGINSVILLE, Mo., May 6th.—In the old cemetery, just at the outskirts of the little town of Dover, ten miles from here, the body of John N. Edwards was buried this morning. It is a quiet, secluded spot, where the rumble of wagon wheels in the road near by are the only sounds, save the singing of birds, heard from one year's end to the other—just the place where one with Major Edwards' love of nature and the beautiful would desire to lie in his last long sleep. And it was his wish, frequently expressed, that he should be buried there. It is within easy view from the old Plattenburg homestead, where his wife spent her girlhood and he wooed and won her, and from which his body was carried to its last resting place this morning. From the windows the tombstones which mark the graves of the former residents of Dover are plainly visible. The whole scene is a pretty rural one, the scattering houses of Dover giving it just enough of an urban aspect to soften its outlines without destroying its primitive beauty. It was no wonder that one with the poetic temperament and chivalrous ideals of Major Edwards should choose the old Dover cemetery as his burial place, even if his early days had not endeared it to him.

"Storytelling is the most valuable skill, a superpower you'd grant your children, if possible."

—Deena Bell