The Real Story Behind the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Daily News Byte

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Real Stories is an ongoing column about the true stories behind movies and TV shows. It’s that simple. This installment focuses on the true story behind Andrew Dominik’s 2007 Western, The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford.

Like its characters, to Andrew Dominic 2007 Western epic, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, has taken on a cult following since this box office flop. The film and its star-studded cast took its inspiration from a 1983 novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, which in turn based the book on true events. Here’s a look at the real story behind the film.

The James Brothers

The story of Jesse and Frank James (played in the film by Brad Pitt and Sam Shepard) is the type that is a natural fit for the Western genre, one that often deals with myths or the space between fact and fiction. Born in Kansas in the 1840s, the James Brothers came of age during the Civil War. Committed Confederates, they soon joined factions engaged in guerrilla warfare, the so-called “bushwhackers.” Jesse, for his part, became a notorious murderer, with some historians speculating that he killed more than seventeen people in his lifetime.

At the end of the war, the James brothers embarked on a bank robbery that would make them famous. According to Encyclopedia Britannica entry on two brothers:

Throughout their long careers and beyond, their exploits were taken up by writers who exaggerated and romanticized their works to meet Eastern readers’ demands for bloody Western stories.

As the film itself notes, many began to think of Jesse James as a Robin Hood-like figure, giving away what he stole to those most in need. However, historians say there is little evidence to suggest he stole for anyone other than himself. He became a symbol for racist white Americans who mourned the loss of the confederacy. As Wil Haygood writes in Washington Post:

The myth of Jesse James exploded as if riding a white horse, carrying a man who many used to believe held a code of ethics and a desire to redeem their own lost pride. They were, for the most part, rural whites devastated by the Civil War and existing hand-to-mouth.

The James Gang

Almost as famous as the brothers are the people they hang out with. Dominik’s film depicts the gang at the end of the James brothers’ tenure when they were already living legends. The people live in the shadow of those who came before them: those who died in the service of the crime of the James brothers. This sense of paranoia fuels their actions throughout the film. Here are some of the real men featured in the film.

Wood Hite

Jeremy Renner plays Wood Hite, Jesse’s cousin and gang member. Hite, according to historian Bill O’Neal, was first a raider with “Bloody” Bill Anderson, one of the most famous Confederate guerrilla fighters. In 1876, the James Gang suffered one of its greatest setbacks. They planned to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota. However, things quickly took a turn for the worst. When the gang entered the bank, the townspeople heard and started taking up arms. Two gang members were killed, and two others were injured. Needing to rebuild the gang, the James brothers brought in Hite. But, according to O’Neal, his tenure was short-lived:

Wood, a gangling, stooped man with prominent front teeth, was easily recognizable, and after a few skirmishes with the train he sought refuge at his father’s home in Logan County, Kentucky.

Dick Liddell

Dick Liddil (played by Paul Schneider) joined the James brothers around the same time as Hite, near the end of the gang’s run in 1879. In the years following the new gang’s employment, a streak of “paranoia,” according to PBS, began to sweep through group. Government officials are closing down. A fight ensued. No one knows who to trust.

The origins differ from the feud that took place between Liddil and Hite at the end of the James Gang’s tenure. But one explanation is that the hatred started with a woman named Martha. The dispute led to a battle between the two in 1882, in which a man named Robert Ford (played by Casey Affleck) killed Hite. According to Wild West magazines:

[Liddil] went to Kansas City and turned himself in, mostly out of fear of what Jesse James would do to him for killing Jesse’s first cousin. Liddil apparently told the law most of what he knew about Jesse and the gang, but it wasn’t until the end of March that Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden publicly disclosed that Liddil was in custody.

The Ford Brothers

Robert and his brother, Charlie, acted in the film by Sam Rockwell, has also been linked to the James gang. Sam entered the mix first, according to O’Neal. He, as in the film’s opening scene, is involved in many of the gang’s famous train robberies. And just like in the movie, the real Robert gets close to Jesse, only to betray him for the reward money and to favor the government.

On April 3, 1882, Robert shot Jesse in the back of the head, legend has it, while he was removing a picture from the living room of his home. O’Neal writes that Ford, as in the film, was rewarded for Jesse’s murder by Missouri Governor Thomas Theodore Crittenden (James Carville), who forgives Robert for killing Hite.

The brothers became famous. However, dark times lie ahead. According to O’Neal, Bob was held to “widespread contempt and derision” by people across the country. In 1884, Charlie committed suicide. Bob took his story across the country, but O’Neal wrote, “boos were the usual reaction.”

According to historian Joe Johnston (via St. Louis Public Radio):

The real problem with what Bob did was that he shot Jesse in the back. You just didn’t do that. Even the men who thought Jesse should be removed from commission, Bob thought it was the wrong way to go about it.

The Assassination of Robert Ford

Bob’s reputation in American life made him a target. In 1889, according to a report from New York Times, he survived an assassination attempt. The Hours quote Bob’s recounting of the story. As she leaned back in her chair, a man grabbed her hair and pulled out a knife. Fortunately, a friend of Bob’s intervened and stopped the man from slitting Bob’s throat. Bob said in the report:

The knife came out of my collar and touched my neck, causing a slight wound. I don’t have a weapon, otherwise I would have shot him on the spot. As he turned and ran away.

Bob’s luck, however, was about to run out. He died on June 8, 1892, at the age of 30, killed by Edward Capeheart O’Kelley of Missouri after a fight in a saloon. The reasons for the killing are disputed. However, according to Johnston:

[O’Kelley’s] the father had fought for the Union and his grandparents were from a joint family—he was separated from his parents physically as well as ideologically. He grew up idolizing Jesse and dreaming of riding with him.

O’Kelley only served ten years in prison for killing Bob Ford. After his release, he himself was killed in Oklahoma after a run-in with the law. The violence continued.

Related Topics: True Stories

Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic, researcher, and video essayist, who has been a contributor to Film School Rejects since 2018. Follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter @willdigravio.