Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, June 1922 · page 37 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #34 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine presents the famous ballad of Jesse James's death, focusing on the moral betrayal by Robert Ford, who shot the outlaw in his St. Joseph, Missouri home. The text frames Ford as a "dirty little coward" who violated the bond of hospitality—he "ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed" before killing him. The ballad romanticizes James as a "friend to the poor" while condemning Ford's treachery. This reflects how 1880s-90s American frontier mythology elevated outlaws into folk heroes, particularly in border regions. The magazine appears to be republishing this widely-sung ballad as historical commentary, treating the James gang's final days as emblematic of the Old West's passing. The satire likely critiques how Americans mythologized criminals and violence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 35 Bob Ford, a pal of Jesse James and a mem- ber of his gang, fired the shot that laid the bandit leader low. His death came in his own home in St. Joseph, Mo. Ford's shot was, in a sense, the last gun in the warfare of the bor- der, the last echo of the false spirit of loyalty that had shielded Jesse James so often in des- perate situations, the last flicker of romance that had gilded the career of this most notori- ous highwayman of modern times. Files of old newspapers disclose grandilo- quence of speech and ballad, of editorial col- umns and of the stage, revolving about the circumstances. And of all, the ballad of Billy Garshade was most remarkable. It was a bal- lad that has been sung to loud action from the Kaw to the Rio Grande and from the Ozarks to the golden slopes of the Sierras. It ran in this fashion: Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man. He robbed the Danville train, But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard Has laid poor Jesse in his grave. It was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward. I wonder how he does feel: For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed. Then he laid poor Jesse in his grave. Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor. He never would see a man suffer pain; And with his brother Frank he robbed the Galatin bank And stopped the Glendale train. It was on a Saturday night, Jesse was at home