Jesse James’ Hidden Treasure

Jesse Woodson James was an infamous American outlaw during his lifetime from 1847 to 1882. He was notorious for robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches in Missouri and was the most well known member of the James-Younger Gang.  During the Civil War, he and his brother Frank James where guerrillas for the Confederacy and have been accused of many criminal acts against Union soldiers. They were most active in their endeavors from about 1866 to 1876 but with growing pressure from law enforcement, Robert Ford, a member of Jesse James’ own gang, killed him on April 3, 1882 in hopes of collecting a state reward placed on James’ head. One has to think in all these years of pillaging, he had to have stashed money somewhere for safekeeping.

The History Channel created a 120 minute movie about his life including new information that may prove there was far more to the infamous Jesse James than history books have led us to believe. Here is the excerpt from the website:

“By the time Jesse James was killed in 1882, he’d stolen over a million and a half dollars according to some estimates–gold, coins and cash that could be worth over $50 million today. History often paints James as a clever outlaw who stole money to finance a lavish criminal lifestyle, a man whose sixteen year long crime spree came to a dramatic halt in 1882 when a fellow gang member betrayed him and shot him dead in the back of the head. But now, a treasure hunt may reveal a totally new story. Was Jesse really stealing for himself, or was he actually secreting away large sums of wealth, in order to finance one of the most clandestine secret societies in American history? Follow a team of treasure hunters searching for where he stashed his riches… and a new truth about Jesse James. Their discoveries may not only re-write the history of why Jesse stole, it could also raise new questions about his death.”

The DVD costs $24.95 on the History Channel’s online store if you think it might be worth checking out.