So read the sensational headline in The Lawton Constitution in May 1948 and for awhile at least it seemed that Jesse James had indeed faked his own death and was alive and well in Lawton aged 104.
It had all started when Lawton treasure seeker Joe Hunter started to recover some of Jesse James's hidden loot after a 15 year search. In his time talking to old timers, Hunter had long suspected that James was still alive. And he eventually tracked down Frank Dalton who admitted to being the famous outlaw.
But could he prove he was the real Jesse Woodrow James? Could he explain how he had escaped Bob Ford's bullet?
Well for awhile it seemed he could.
Dalton told reporters that it was actually an impostor that Bob Ford had killed - an outlaw who had carried out several robberies and allowed Jess James to take the blame.
Dalton said that immediately after the shooting he had briefed his wife to identify the body as himself so they could start a new life. He added that Mama hadn't been told well enough and almost gave the game away.
If all this was true then Jesse James actually attended his own funeral and, Dalton claimed, was even one of his own pallbearers.
The story went national and the public seemed to accept this as truth but as time went on Dalton's stories became even more fantastic - He claimed that William F. Anderson had not been killed in Missouri in the 1860's but in fact died an old man near Rising Star, Texas years after his supposed death. He also claimed that Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth was known as John St. Helen and had run a brewery in Enid Oklahoma until his death from natural causes in 1903.
It seemed Dalton, far from being Jesse James was a deluded old man who actually believed his stories himself.
However when Dalton died in 1951 a post mortem revealed no less than 27 bullet wounds. Other scars were rope burns,powder marks and a tattoo, TEX Y on his forearm.
Whoever Dalton really was he took his secret to the grave with him.
(Pictured - is this the real Jesse James laid out in his coffin?)
14 comments:
I love stories like this one and it's sad we don't know more about Frank Dalton because 27 bullet wounds sounds like an extraordinary tale waiting to be told.
Btw Chap O' Keefe's "The Unreal Jesse James" is coming up in two weeks at Beat to a Pulp.
Nice story.
I remembered hearing about this during my teenage years when I was a devotee of the gossip tabloids.
Always thought it was a load of bull....however, this does put things in a different light.
If he had 27 bullet wounds it sounds like he had an exciting enough life without pretending to be Jesse
Yep Charles - there's the mystery that he took to the grave with him.
Good stuff. I'd heard a bit of this but never as concisely.
Honestly, this is the first time that I have heard about this.. I thought this only happens in movies.. The fabrication of death thing.. Anyway, thank you for sharing..
Interesting story - I found this site on a google search for Joe Hunter. A friend of mine bought a small case at a garage sale and gave me the contents. They contained letters to and from Joseph Hunter in his search on information on Jessie James along with contracts and leases to hunt for buried treasure. There was also an affidavate from a Mary James stating she had seen Jessie James in 1948.
I find this blog interesting. I found it in a google search for Joe Hunter. A friend of mine bought a small case at a garage sale with letters from and to Joseph Hunter about his search for maps and information on Jessie James buried treasure. Also there was contracts and a lease to hunt on land near Cement, Oklahoma as well as an affidavite from a Mary James stating she had seen Jessie James in 1948.
I would love to talk to okiejunkman about the items he speaks of. If anyone knows how to get ahold of him, please let me know. solvingthepast@gmail.com
I actually have this original print could this have some value to it
I have this original newspaper is it worth anything
Richard I'd be interested in the newspaper. If anybody knows where the Joe Hunter letters are I would buy those as well. okietreasurehunter@msn.com
I actually live in Lawton,Oklahoma and Cement isn't far away... I know of this story from the Jesse James museum I think its in Missouri if I remember correctly and had a copy of the paper I bought there but lost it years ago
Perfect story....I don't even know if I should call it that.lol I believe it 27 bullet wounds man definitely had a hell of a story to tell. Long live the south!
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