Controversy still surrounds the final days of Jesse James. Some folks believe that he was shot dead by Robert Ford in 1882. Others believe that Jesse's murder was a clever hoax, and that he died of old age under an assumed name in Granbury, Texas -- in 1951! If that's really what happened, it's good news for the Jesse James Museum, whose entire existence is built around that startling premise.
The Museum had its origins with Rudy Turilli, who married into the Meramec Caverns family and who claimed to have tracked down the elderly Jesse James, still alive, in 1948. Rudy befriended the ancient outlaw and began collecting evidence to prove his theory, and the fruits of that labor were assembled into this Museum, which opened in 1964. It has outlived both Rudy and his wife Francena, and is now owned by a second generation of Turillis. Like their parents, they seem in no way inclined to alter their position.
Chair where Jesse James received his last hair cut.
It has been difficult ground to defend at times. In 1967 Rudy announced on TV that he would pay $10,000 to anyone who could disprove his theory -- and was then ordered by a judge to give the money to Stella James, Jesse's daughter-in-law (Rudy died in 1972 without paying). Perhaps the greatest blow to the Turillis came in 1995, when Jesse's supposed remains were dug out of their 1882 grave and subjected to DNA tests. The results proved -- well, 99.7 percent anyway -- that the bones were indeed Jesse's.
Francena, who was still alive and running the museum at the time, didn't buy a word of it. She rattled off a fact-filled counter-argument, handing around what she claimed was Jesse's six-shooter to delighted kids and baffled adults in our tour group. She produced, for our benefit, a list of scars and deformities that matched Jesse 1882 to Jesse 1951 (Francena didn't need the list; she knew it by heart). With a pointer, she compared photos that were hung over the souvenir mugs of the 19th and 20th century Jesses, particularly the shapes of their ears. "See? They're identical!" she cried, triumphant.
Wax Frank Dalton, alias Jesse James.
Francena passed away in 2003, and the museum misses her bubbly enthusiasm and bulldog tenacity. Now a video gives the background of the controversy to visitors. But the exhibits remain as they have always been, inviting new generations of the curious and conspiracy-minded to walk around wax figures of Jesse's faked-death buddies, and to ponder puzzling evidence such as Jesse's last barber chair.
