The life and legend of the notorious Jesse James will be brought to the Broken Bow Public Library on Wednesday by western history author and lecturer Jeff Barnes. The Humanities Nebraska-sponsored talk is free and open to the public, scheduled to begin at 5 PM.
“A Bad Man in a Better Place: Jesse James in Nebraska” covers the outlaw and his family’s several visits to the Cornhusker State, from the 1860s until just before his assassination in 1882.
“Jesse James typically isn’t thought of in connection with Nebraska, but he was here,” said Barnes. “Nebraska was where the outlaw could find family and friends. It was where he could plan amazing robberies, make a recovery or an escape, and even sit for his most famous photograph. He wanted to buy a farm here and possibly retire here.”
Barnes will also discuss the historical legend of Frank and Jesse James in the Devils Nest area of northeast Nebraska, a supposed remnant of which can still be found. The 45-minute presentation includes rarely seen images and seldom-heard stories of James, with the opportunity for questions afterward.
A former newspaper reporter and editor, Barnes writes and lives in Omaha. He is a former board trustee with the Nebraska State Historical Society, former chairman of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and a frequently requested speaker with Humanities Nebraska, the organization’s first to present in all 93 Nebraska counties. He is the two-time Nebraska Book Award-winning author of Cut in Stone, Cast in Bronze: Nebraska’s Historical Markers and Monuments, 150 @ 150: Nebraska’s Landmark Buildings at the State’s Sesquicentennial, The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill, The Great Plains Guide to Custer, and Extra Innings: The Story of Modisett Ball Park. His newest book – Forts of the Northern Plains – was published by Bison Books in 2024.
