The Wild West was made up of many men, women and children, but only one had the greatest impact. He wasn't your everyday Robin Hood. Indeed, he was known to be ruthless and ferocious. He was an outlaw and bandit in real life. He was known for robbing banks, robbing trains, and murdering people who got in his way. He was Jesse Woodson James and left his mark on the Wild West until his death in 1882, above all, he remains famous after over 100 years of American history. First of all, Jesse James began his life on September 5, 1847. Jesse's parents were Robert S. James and Zerelda Cole James. Robert S. James was a Baptist minister. The James family was fine. They owned six slaves and well over 200 acres. Robert helped found William Jewell College in Missouri. Robert went to California during the gold rush to become a minister. California is where he died of cholera when Jesse was just two years old. Shortly thereafter, Jesse's mother married Benjamin Simms. After Benjamin's death, Zerelda married Dr. Reuben Samuel in 1855. As a result, for the first eight years of Jesse's life she had three different fathers. During the Civil War, Jesse joined his brother in a Confederate squad commanded by Fletch Taylor. Taylor was seriously injured, so the James brothers joined a group led by Bloody Bill Anderson (Wikipedia contributor). Jesse was only 16 years old and was seriously injured in the chest. Anderson was killed in an ambush in October. Jesse recovered and went to Texas under Archie Clement, one of Anderson's lieutenants. In April 1865, Jesse suffered his second fatal wound to the chest. For the most part, after the war, Clement kept his band of bushwhackers together. They focused on banks, trains and p......the center of the......paper series. Not to mention, Jesse was smart enough not to work as a farmer, but lived the lifestyle he learned from his brother and the gang. Additionally, the name Jesse James simply stands out when referring to the Wild West. Numerous books and films have been made about this outlaw. Although his lifestyle was glamorous during the 1800s; in today's society, it wouldn't get a person very far. An individual should evade the law like Jesse. Instead, more values ​​are instilled in the majority of the population. Americans today couldn't stand another Jesse James, or could they? Works Cited Oydegaard, Floyd DP "Chronology of Jesse James." Shadows of the Past, Inc., examines Jesse James. Network. May 19, 2010. Wikipedia contributors. "Jesse James." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 20 May 2010. Web. 20 May 2010.