The three men were in the living room of the small home talking about their next business venture, some dealings with a bank in nearby Platte City. One spotted a picture hanging crooked on a wall and got up to straighten it . When he stepped onto a chair, one of the others drew a pistol and shot him in the back of the head. The man known as Thomas Howard fell to the floor, dead. He was really a famous outlaw, killed by a traitor through the efforts of a Missouri governor. Those who know Missouri folklore are aware that Thomas Howard’s real name was Jesse James. To paraphrase the poem, “a dirty little coward shot Mr. Howard and laid poor Jesse in his grave.”
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