Bob ford biography

Bob Ford was the man who killed Jesse James, who is considered one of America’s most famous bandits. The killing of Jesse James was considered a cowardly act and Bob Ford’s actions followed him for the rest of his days. 

Story by Ron Soodalter

St. Joseph, MO: April 3, 1882. Jesse James was uncharacteristically careless in trusting the Ford Brothers, Bob and Charlie. As the bandit leader almost certainly knew from recent newspaper reports, one of his band had already betrayed him and turned state’s witness. He was on the run. Yet, he welcomed the Fords to his rented hilltop hideout, fed them, and discussed with them his plans for a raid on the Platte City bank. After dinner, he divested himself of his pistols and climbed onto a chair, ostensibly to dust or straighten a picture on the wall, whereupon 21-year-old Bob Ford shot him in the back of the head with the same .45-caliber Colt revolver that Jesse had once gifted him. Trailed by brother Charlie, Bob then ran down the hill to the telegraph office to inform the Missouri governor of his deed.

It is safe to assume that every student of western history is familiar with one or another version of this story, which continues to be told in books and on film. To this day, Jesse James remains America’s most famous bandit. Photographic prints showing him laid out in his coffin sold in great numbers and are still  treasured by collectors today. The fate of Bob Ford, however, is not so widely known.

Robert Newton Ford was born in Ray County, Missouri, near Richmond, in 1862, and grew up hearing about legendary Confederate guerrilla and bandit leader, Jesse Woodson James. While his older brother Charlie became a belated member of Jesse’s gang, Bob was more of what one historian referred to as a “hanger-on,” apparently content with running errands and performing chores for his idol.

Then, in 1882, things changed for the 21-year-old acolyte. During an earlier dust-up, Bob had repute

"Bob Ford I don't trust: I think he is a sneak, but Charlie Ford is as true as steel."

-Jesse James-

Profile

Born: January 31, 1860
Died: June 8, 1892 ( age 32)

Robert Ford and Governor Crittenden

Robert Ford was an outlaw who shot Jesse James in the back of the head on April 3, 1882. He was born in Ray County, Missouri. His older brother Charles joined the James gang around 1881 with Bob Ford joining later. Robert Ford had already conducted secret talks with Governor Thomas T. Crittenden about capturing or killing Jesse James. He and his brother wanted to collect the $10,000 bounty that Crittenden had offered in a proclamation.

Shooting of Jesse James

At the time of Jesse James' death, Bob &, Charley Ford were staying with the Jameses in their house in St. Joseph, Missouri. They were planning to rob a bank in Platte City. After Bob Ford shot James, he and his brother surrendered to authorities. They were charged with murder but were quickly pardoned by Crittenden and given a portion of the reward. The idea that Crittenden had conspired to kill a private citizen upset many people and fed the iconic image of James being a heroic victim (1 ).

Search for the Killer

Frank James began searching for the Ford brothers to avenge his brother's death. Charles moved from town-to-town over the next two years until he finally couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide.

Robert Ford and Nellie Waterson

After his brother's suicide Robert Ford became linked with a dancer/prostitute named Nellie Waterson (usually called Dottie). They joined the Barnum freak show for a couple of years. He then wound up leaving show business and opened a gambling hall &, saloon in Walsenburg.

The Creede Exchange

Ford's business prospered, and when a mining boom started in Creede in the late 1880's he and Dottie moved there and opened a two-story structure they named "The Creede Exchange". Ford managed the bar &, gambling, whil

Man who killed Jesse James (1861–1892)

Robert Newton Ford (December 8, 1861 – June 8, 1892) was an American outlaw who killed fellow outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882. He and his brother Charley, both members of the James–Younger Gang under James's leadership, went on to perform paid re-enactments of the killing at publicity events. Ford went on to operate various saloons and dance halls in the West, before being killed – at age 30 – by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in Creede, Colorado.

Early years

Robert Ford was born in 1861 in Ray County, Missouri, to James Thomas and Mary Bruin Ford as the youngest of seven siblings. As a young man, Ford came to admire Jesse James for his Civil War record and criminal exploits, eventually getting to meet him in 1880 at the age of 18.

Ford's brother Charley is believed to have taken part in the James–Younger Gang's Blue Cut train robbery in Jackson County, west of Glendale, Missouri (renamed Selsa and now part of Independence), on September 7, 1881.

Joining the gang

In November 1881, after the train robbery, James moved his family to St. Joseph, Missouri, and intended to give up crime. The James gang had been greatly reduced in numbers by that time; some had fled the gang in fear of prosecution, and many of the original members were either dead or in prison after a botched bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota.

After the train robbery, James' brother Frank James had also decided to retire from crime and moved East, settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.

By the spring of 1882, with his gang depleted by arrests, deaths and defections, James thought that he could trust only the Ford brothers. Charles had been out on raids with James before, but Robert was an eager new recruit. The Fords resided in St. Joseph with the James family, where Jesse went by the alias Thomas Howard.

Hoping to keep