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Betty Duke has put a lot of effort in to her Western Lore but the tales still do not dispute recorded history. Betty outlined her theory on page 60 of the magazine.
1. Having paid $800.00 in gold for 160 acres of land is not proof that James L Courtney was Jesse James. James L Courtney may have been a theif but it does not prove he was Jesse James.
2. During that era in Texas it seems that someone coming to your house uninvited at night would mean trouble. If JLC were a theif and a murderer he would certainly be paranoid. Being paranoid does not prove JLC was Jesse James. My grandfather, born in 1882 would still call out "Hello to the House" when he was approaching the home to let the people inside know he was coming. so I assume that while JLC was laid out across his floor with guns cocked the night visitor had not called out to the residence.
3. Betty talks about the maps and the encoded messages but she did not produce copies of those maps or messages in the article or her book. Who broke the codes and if the maps were accurate and the codes were broken surely the treasures were found.
4. Who is George Roming? He must have been very trustworthy because JLC allowed him to handle his twenty pound bricks of gold. Why would a sane person leave Thirty, twenty pound gold bricks laying around in his barn? Leaving gold bricks in a barn seems to be an unsafe practice and if JLC were a theif would he not doubt that others would steal from him? Would a theif think his money was safe out in the open?
5.& 6. Buckets of money in the house, gold bars in the barn, green backs in the cedar chest and many people were aware of this information? This would raise questions in that time era and in this era. The community would fear a man who decorated his home and barns with money or forms of money. Not only would the neighbors fear him they would also talk about it. Texas was no stranger to crime even then. Someone would have tried to rob and kill him for that kind of wealth. Then and now. No wonder he was paranoid.
7, 8, 9. If Mr. Courtney were a theif and a murderer then certainly he would spend what he had stolen. Purchasing farm equipment, buying large farms for his children and buying cars several times would not prove this man is Jesse James.
It seems it might be an interesting to research the surrounding area for missing persons or travelers who were carrying large sums of money or tracing the Spanish wagon trails to account for this wealth. Jesse James was never accused of stealing gold bars. It would have been difficult to transport such a heavy load and get away as quickly as he and his men were known to have escaped.
1. Everything written about Jesse James and those who knew him states he was between 5'9" tall and 5"11" tall. Most historians state he was 5'10" tall. Betty's theory that because the family was tall Jesse was tall. My father is 5'7" tall. ALL of his male siblings were 6' and over.His sisters were 5'9" tall and over. My nephew is the son of a 5'7" father, 5'5" mother and he stands 6'2" tall. JLC is obviously over 6feet tall and is not a man with delicate features nor feminine. And Jesse James has been described as almost feminine in appearance regardless of his deadly demeanor.
2. Grasping at straws on naming the horses. My great grandfather fought in the south and he still named a son Abe. I had a horse named Commanche and he had not even been introduced to an Indian. Naming a horse John and Reb means nothing. It certainly does not give proof that JLC is Jesse James.
3. The names that Betty lists as proof that JLC was keeping company with gang members or ex guerilla's is not proof. She lists Anderson, he was dead, McDaniels, he was dead. The names were common as Smith and Jones.
4. During the time of the diaries the Civil War was over. If Pickett is listed in the diaries would it not be due to the fact that it was news. Betty does not share this information of the diaries in the book or in the article. She speaks about the diaries and offers tidbits but fails to show the diaries in their full context. After the Civil War there were a lot of Colonels and Captains that were never colonels or captains during the war.
5. Signing the diaries J. James is stange. By all accounts JLC was eccentric.But again this does not prove he was Jesse James.
6. Betty refers to the poem that JLC wrote and that is pretty broad thinking on her part. "When stemm and tryst James L Courtney is my heist."
7. Jesse James posing as James L Courtney went hunting with William Quantrill who was posing as James Madison Bedicheck who was an ex guerrilla that rode with Quantrill. The best part is nobody noticed that these people are not who they say they are or resemble who they say they are. Need hip boots to wade through that story.
8. Betty has not revealed this information in the original form or text. In order to sway an opinion it would be nice to see the text just as JLC wrote it.
9. Brother fought brother, father fought son. It would not have been that unusual. That also happened in my family. My great grandfathers son married the daughter of a Southern Union soldier. Many Yankees married the southern women. People were ready to put the war behind them. Not all Union soldiers had a northern accent. Nor did all Southerners fight for the south.
Then comes the identity crisis of Dianah Courtney Haun alias Zerelda James. Betty has not explained how Dianah Haun could have been living in two places at one time. Having two elderly women who resemble each other (if you squezze your eyes almost shut and look at the pictures there is a resemblence). There was too much interest in the whereabouts of the James family members, especially the mother Zerelda, to have hidden her identity too.... None of that is possible.
If you squint your eyes real tight there is still no resemblence whatsoever in Jesse James and James L Courtney. I have tried this. I actually try to believe Betty's story and see what she sees in the pictures but like Betty states in her article a picture speaks a thousand words and the pictures that she offers do not resemble the James family.
Just because Pinkerton could not capture Jesse James does not mean he was not a competent investigator it only means that Jesse had a better knowledge of his surroundings and a better escape plan and more nerve than the average outlaw. He also had a lot of luck riding in his saddle. Pinkerton would not have allowed Jesse James to have lived in peace in Texas or anywhere else for that matter. People love to talk and a secret as big as Jesse James living in Texas would have been talked about and there would have been investigation after investigation by Pinkerton and other law officals and there will always be the guy out there who wants to be a hero or become infamous for something and killing Jesse James would have attracted that man just as it attracted Ford. Not everyone loved Jesse James as his mother and wife loved him and not everyone would have or could have kept Jesse James a secret for long.
Betty even uses the information that J F Dalton, a proven con artist, as part of her proof. That is funny. Because some judge in Texas will allow J. Frank Dalton to be exhumed to prove J. Frank Dalton was really Jesse James.
The article is nothing more than a review of the book. There is not any new information or new proof that James L. Courtney was the real Jesse James.
I enjoy reading and listening to the controversy and will continue to watch and listen as time goes by.
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