Jesse James 40 minutes away

Say the name Jesse James and the imagination conjures up images of gun fights, bank and train robberies, and the legend of Robin Hood in the style of the Old West.

That imagination can come to life less than 40 minutes from I-435 and Metcalf in Kearney, Mo., established in 1856. The city is the birthplace of Jesse and where he was buried - three times.

In nearby Liberty, just 9 miles to the south, is the Jesse James Bank Museum, the site of the first daylight bank robbery suspected to have been carried out by Jesse, his brother Frank, and the rest of the James gang on Feb. 13, 1866.

In planning the trip, it might be best to start out in Kearney and then backtrack into Liberty for lunch, more historic tours, and a scoop of frozen custard on the square.

There are a couple of places to eat in Kearney, but there are more selections in Liberty, which also is home to William Jewell College.

Take the east loop of Interstate 435 north past Worlds of Fun and connect with Interstate 35 north past Liberty to the Kearney exit and Route 92. Drive east and you will notice the Mt. Olivet Cemetery on your right. Keep that in mind as you continue east and follow the signs to Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and Historic Site.

More than a century ago, Waltus Watkins began turning the 3,600 acres into a site that included industrial and agricultural commerce, a school house, church, and his home. Many of the original buildings have been restored. Livestock and plants have been re-introduced to create an 1870s-style farm.

During the summer, living history farm programs are offered and throughout the year, tours are given at the Watkins home and Woolen Mill. The mill is the only 19th century textile mill in the country with its original machinery still intact.

Fishing and swimming are offered at the lake, which is encircled by a 3.75-mile paved bicycle trail. There are picnic shelters and nearly 100 wooded campsites for overnight campers.

Go to www.watkinsmill.org for more information.

Heading back toward Kearney, follow the signs to the Jesse James Farm (originally 275 acres but now 40) that dates back to 1843. Clay County owns the site and there is a fee to take a tour of the small house that saw a lot of activity before, during and after the Civil War. This is where Jesse was originally buried after he was murdered in his St. Joseph, Mo., home by Bob Ford on April 3, 1882.

The original log cabin portion of the house was constructed in 1822 and is one of the oldest continually inhabited homes between western Missouri and California. Jesse was born there in 1843. The front portion of the house was added to the log cabin in 1983. Jesse's mother, Zerelda James Samuel, lived in the house until her death in 1911.

Jesse, at age 14, was beaten by Union soldiers who believed he knew the site of William Quantrill's camp because Jesse's older brother Frank was riding with Quantrill.

Not long after, Jesse joined Quantrill's Raiders and learned the trade of robbing banks.

Because most of the people in the area supported slavery (the James family owned seven slaves), and nearly all the banks were controlled by the Union, they looked upon Jesse and Frank as heroes. That feeling faded as the robberies and killings continued.

During the tour, visitors learn that Bob Ford grew up idolizing Jesse and wanted to be in his gang. But after making a $5,000 deal with the Missouri governor, Ford murdered Jesse by shooting him in the back of the head at Jesse's home in St. Joseph, Mo.

Ford was murdered 10 years later in a saloon in Creede, Colo.

Jesse's mother, fearing someone would disturb Jesse's grave, buried him in the yard close to the house in view of her bedroom window so she could watch over it, especially at night with a shotgun by the bedside.

But the family was always trying to make money, and it was not long before they were giving tours, 15 cents a person, of the farm and allowing people to view Jesse's grave. Even his mother made money by selling the rocks that covered his grave as souvenirs.

"And when she needed more rocks, she just went down to the creek and got them," the tour guide said.

The tours continued, with Frank's only child, Robert, taking over the family business. He was the last person to live in the house and died in 1959 at age 82. In the early 1970s, Jesse's grandsons inherited the property and sold the farm and all the original furnishings to Clay County, which owns and operates it today.

In 1902, his mother decided to move Jesse's remains to the Mt. Olivet Cemetery and place them next to his wife (his first cousin also named Zerelda) who had died in 1900. During the exhumation, the casket collapsed and most of Jesse's remains were placed in a new casket and buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

What was left of the old coffin was tossed back into the original gravesite, which was excavated in 1978. At that time, bone fragments, a tooth, a bullet, and a lock of hair still in the original coffin were found and sent to a lab at Kansas State University for analysis.

All indications pointed to the remains being Jesse.

But stories of Jesse faking his death persisted and in 1995 his remains were exhumed again. A scientific team led by Professor James E. Starrs of George Washington University performed DNA testing with blood samples provided by Robert Jackson, a great-grandson of Jesse's sister Susan, and Mark Nichols, a great-great-grandson of Susan.

Starrs put the chance that the remains were indeed those of Jesse James at 99.7 percent.

To find Jesse's grave, turn into the west entrance of the cemetery and stop halfway before reaching the curve. Walk to the west (toward I-35) and the grave with a flat marker is in the area before reaching the two small pine trees.

More can be learned at the Friends of the James Farm Web site, www.jessejames.org.

From 1866 to 1881, Jesse and Frank are thought to have been involved in 27 robberies, most of them banks. It was a lucrative business. At that time, the average person earned $1 a day; one bank robbery could net the James gang several thousand dollars.

Despite all indications pointing to Jesse and Frank's involvement, Jesse was never captured or charged with any crime. Frank was charged twice but acquitted both times.

"And none of the money that was stolen was ever found," said Michelle, the tour guide at the Jesse James Bank Museum in Liberty. "Nobody knows what happened to it. Some people think there's some still buried somewhere."

If time permits, check out the Clay County Museum on the south side of the Liberty square. It is filled with artifacts dating back to the Civil War.

There are several places to eat in Liberty, and Los Compas on the east side of the square gets rave reviews from the locals. After sampling a burrito and tamale, I tend to agree.

There are many other things to see and do in the Liberty-Kearney area. To find out more, go to www.libertychamber.com, www.kearneychamber.org or www.claycogov.com.

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