Jesse had a wife She's a mourner all her life, Her children they are brave; Oh! the dirty little coward who shot Mister Howard And laid 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 Jesse James in his grave.

On April 3, 1882 Charles and Robert Ford were guests in the Jesse James (Thomas Howard) home in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Jesse James body was tied to a board and stood upright for this picture taken at Sidenfaden Undertakers, St. Joseph, Missouri

After eating breakfast, the Fords and Jesse James went into the living room. Jesse took off his guns. Before sitting down he noticed a crooked picture on the wall, and stood on a chair to straighten it. Bob Ford took advantage of the opportunity, and shot Jesse James in the back.

The brothers charged from James home and wired the governor to claim the $5,000 reward offered for Jesse James, dead or alive. Then they turned themselves in to the law for protection. The brothers were tried and convicted for the murder. They were sentenced to hang but within two hours the governor granted a full pardon. They did not collect the reward. Jesse James was buried at his mother's home near Kearney, Missouri.

It was May, 1884 when Charlie Ford committed suicide. Bob Ford earned his living by posing for photographs in the dime museums of the west. His reputation followed him to New Mexico then up into Colorado where he opened a saloon-gambling house in Walsenberg. Rumors of a silver strike in Creede, Colorado prompted Ford to close his saloon and move where the money was.

The twenty eight year old Ford purchased a lot on Main Street in Creede. He built a two story building and opened the Creede Exchange. The Exchange was a combination gambling and dance hall. A school land sale next door forced Bob to close the Exchange in 1892.

Ford was a betting man and placed a bet on a local prize fighter. He lost the wager and started drinking. While he was drunk he decided to kill the professional fighter that had cost him the bet. To build the courage he and a friend began to shoot up Creede, breaking several windows and a few street lights. Some of the citizens of Creed got together and formed a committee called the "One Hundred", Ford was warned about his lawless actions and he took off the next day for Colorado Springs. After a few days he wrote letters of apology to several of the businessmen in Creede and asked to be allowed to return. When he got back he faced a justice of the peace and paid a fifty dollar fine.

Edward O. Kelly "The man who shot the man who shot Jesse James"

Ford opened a new dance hall in May 1892 and in June a fire broke out and leveled most of Creed. Ford was again without a place of business. He erected a tent and within two days had a makeshift dance hall going again.

A day after the new dance hall opened Edward O. Kelly came in with a sawed off shotgun and shot Bob Ford with both barrels, killing him instantly. Ford was buried in Creed, and was later exhumed and reburied in his home state of Missiori.