Retired Drifters: Slow Day

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: low 34 degrees, high 68 degrees, very foggy until 1000 hours, partly cloudy after that.

Today was one of those days where there was just not much going on. The high point of the day is that it actually got a little warmer. I watched Florida win a basketball game on the Internet, watched a little bit of Tiger Woods winning a golf tournament (what else is new), cleaned out the inside of the truck, took a walk, and just puttered around. Carolyn did much the same.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that this area has several quirky things that I found interesting. Today, I am going to tell you a story about Jesse James, and the fact that his grave, or at least a headstone with his name on it, is located in the Granbury City Cemetery. Wait a minute, you say. I thought Jesse James was killed in Missouri by a dastardly lowlife that shot him in the back. That is the way the history books relate it, anyway. The folks around here have it another way.

The belief in this area is that Jesse set up another unfortunate fellow to be shot in his place, then left Missouri for Texas and lived in the Glen Rose and Granbury area until he died in 1951. One thing that lends some weight to this belief is that Jesse's brother, Frank (another well-known outlaw that received a pardon) moved to the Fort Worth area and lived and worked there the rest of his life. Family tends to follow each other, especially during that time. Another piece of evidence that Jesse was here is the fact that when he died in 1951, the sheriff of the local county examined his body and identified several old wounds and scars, including an old rope burn around Jesse's neck. The rope burn was consistent with an attempted hanging of Jesse. The other scars and wounds were also consistent with injuries that Jesse suffered during his career as an outlaw.

When Jesse died, a headstone was erected with his pertinent information inscribed on it. Note the dates and the inscription on the bottom that says "Allegedly killed in 1882". This doesn't mean I automatically buy into the conspiracy thing, but it seems there is enough evidence to at least make me wonder whether the local version is true or not.