17 Things That I Would Have Loved to Do With Jesse James

Written-history states that Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847, in Kearney, Missouri. Jesse and brother Frank served for the Confederate Army prior to launching their somewhat successful criminal careers in the Old West. The James brothers' names were synonymous as bank and train robbers, leading the James-Younger gang. Gang member Robert Ford used a cowardly-gesture to take the life of Jesse James by shooting him from behind in 1882, after which James became a legend of the Old West.

The James brothers, Jesse and Frank were educated and originated from an upstanding family of farmers. Their father, the Rev. Robert James, was a Baptist minister who married Zerelda Cole James and moved from Kentucky to Missouri in 1842. In the summer of 1863, the James farm was brutally attacked by Union soldiers. Jesse was 16 when he and Frank became Confederate guerrilla soldiers, riding alongside William Quantrill and "Bloody" Bill Anderson to, in an indirect way, seek vengeance on the Union Army for the needless attack.

In a more-honest approach, Jesse and Frank James were not just historical references. They "were" living history as they lived and robbed mostly at will each day that came. Jesse, the confident, natural leader, was quick to take charge of the James-Younger gang which rubbed Cole Younger, a known hot-head, the wrong way. Jesse and Cole were always at odds about things ranging from useful-tactics in how to rob their next bank or train to keeping themselves out of the limelight to live and rob another day.

In my years of serious-schooling, I studied the lives of Jesse and Frank James and couldn't make myself hate either. I realized that they had their reasons for what they did be it right or wrong. And it was not my place to judge.

What I would love to share with you now is a personal list I have compiled entitled:

17 Things That I Would Have Loved to Do With Jesse James

1. Talk most of any night by the light of a campfire and let Jesse explain to me his personal reasons of why he had this passion for robbing banks and trains.
2. Let Jesse teach me the right way to handle a Colt .45 and not hurt myself.
3. Have a rousing game of Mumbly-Peg with Jesse to see who has the best nerves.
4. Steal a few ripe watermelons with Jesse playing the "look out."
5. Taste Jesse's cooking by camp fire. I would love to taste his bacon with fresh eggs and maybe a sourdough biscuit or two.
6. Spend a summer day just fishing in a nearby creek or river.
7. Convince Jesse that I came from the future and I know how he will depart this life to see if he would change his robbing ways and live longer.
8. Ask Jesse to tell me all about his Baptist minister father and why he and brother, Frank, chose a life on the run rather than a life of doing right.
9. Discuss the difference between the southern and northern governmental doctrines and get Jesse's bottom-line opinions on both.
10. Race Jesse on horseback across the river or creek when we finished fishing.
11. Teach Jesse some "old soft shoe" while we have time to kill.
12. Teach Jesse the American classic, "Swanee River" then maybe we could sing a duet.
13. Do some sparring with Jessee to keep his fighting skills sharp.
14. Give Jesse a choice of learning how to Power Walk or a few Ballet steps.
15. Arm wrestle Jesse in a spirit of fun and not tell who won.
16. See if Jesse would talk about if he used confidence or self-trust to walk into a bank in broad-open daylight and rob a busy bank.
17. Beg Jesse if he would let me ride with him and Frank just for a day or two.

Note: During Jesse doing these 17 things, I would be praying that he never asked about my time machine that I hid behind some bushes.