The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1922-09-01
FLAME 0F Jesse
JAMES ON WANE
Home No Longer Mecca For
Souvenir Hunting
Tourists.

~. Joseph, MO-, Aug. 26.-Fame
vs. SicSle even to bandit.
Nor does the fact that he may
ShzEe risen to the highest pinnacle in
SzBditry's Hall of Fame save him
from inevitable Oblivion in popular
interest.
~ feast no historical society has
vet come forward to save the house.
NOV rapidly falling into ruins, in
which Jesse James, king of bad
ucpo,' met death at the hands of his
yhN1rayer, Bob Ford, on April 3, 1882.
ENur years the old house at 1918
E.zfGvette street was annually visited:
~ hundreds of curious visitors, who
siuod With eyes and mouth open in
wander as the eloquent caretaker
1sN5fEtgd TO the hole in the east wall
Wksre the bullet from Ford's gun
im@edded itself after snuffing out
S,he life of the notorious outlaw.
Once Point Of Interest.
There was time and il has not
1seu such a great while ago either,
swflsn everyone who had read "The
i annes Boys in Missouri" and Cap
C.nEier' in their youth, wanted to
s5Es The Jesse James house when they
V:sr1le to st. Joseph. To go back
and tell the folks they had not seen
'uSe old landmark would have been
sas much of a disgrace as to have
szoDe 10 Philadelphia on "A rubber
making" trip without looking up In
Hall.
One was always sure of getting
a vivid account of the killing from
'tht old tcaretaker. who would even
admit if pressed long enough, that
ae had witnessed the affair. After
n h,arangue about the details of the
the visitors were shown the
OBI, Tnsty Colts horse pistols James
bad laid on the table while he stepped
tn chair to hang a picture of Ford's
WIFE.
Then followed the old, yellow
ri newspapers. which recounted the
story OF the shooting, several giving
showing the better side of
The famous bank robber. After that
the usual procedure was to sell the
ssZw enchanted visitor a few curios.
q piece of plaster from around the
oHLhea hole, piece of the picture
sEzne, rung of the chair, or some
1ther bit of doubtful value, at COM
l.az-ztiveiy fancy price. If the lamb
tss@ared particularly unshorn he
MIS- offered one of the pistols at an
figure. and the gag oc-
'zslOnally worked
I IneXhaustible Relics.
The task of figuring how many
-U1ys have been sold from the chair.
sesi,fes the other Original" curios
old again and again, offers a fine
Cd 10 some bright young statlstician.
I'VE yet the original chair is still
here,
lThE room in the front part of the
soase is still kept for visitors. An
va mIush sofa stands against the
ash wall, right under the picture
Ehich was being hung by James
Fhpn he was shot down by his old
In the center of the room
: an -old-fashioned center table on
EBErk rested a pink-globed kerosene
nnV. and beside the lamp lay two
ms, placed there by the bandit
shrn he entered the house.
The house, an old frame building
ut among the trees on the top of a
'aHk, still looks just as one would
SpecJ a bandit kings home to look.
| Sew hundred yards to the south
Ugh bluffs loom. while all around
NJ. Eouse the unpaved, little-traveled :
lrHeIs seem to recall the old stage =,
zach routes. There are but one or
NO houses in plain view of the cot
ige, and these are far enough away
. bear cut the idea of seclusion.
Few Visitors Now.
But there are few visitors to the
81 Jesse James landmark now. The .
uzsE has not been painted since the :
an,jst was killed. Boards, bare and :
ouing, window lights out and a
r174biing foundation are the only !.
award sign of landmark that once >