How the James legend was spun

In the classic John Ford movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” the editor of the Shinbone Star -- an early Fox property, I think -- gives his journalistic view about separating fact from fiction: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Comes now an “American Experience” documentary on PBS that separates legend from fact about one of the most mythologized, media-ized figures in Americana: Jesse James.

Legend has him a baby-face Robin Hood fighting for the poor and oppressed in Missouri in the years after the Civil War. Fact is different: He was a bloodthirsty, unrepentant Confederate with a talent for self-promotion.

To a certain degree, “Jesse James” relies on a presumption of credulity that no longer exists. Is there anyone out there who still thinks the reality of Buffalo Bill, the Birdman of Alcatraz and a battalion of other pop-culture figures fit their media portrayals?

In this skeptical age, knocking down the Jesse James legend is not heavy lifting. But the value -- entertainment and educational -- lies in explaining how and why the legend was created.

Much of the credit/blame for the false impression of Jesse and brother Frank and their crime and murder spree rests with John Newman Edwards, an aide to a Confederate general and then founder and editor of the Kansas City Star.

He seized upon the James brothers as vehicles to carry his theme of former Confederates being victimized by the victorious North. Jesse was an insurgent striking back at cruel occupation forces. There was a good deal of revenge-taking by the victors and so the theme had a ring of truth.

Jesse left notes at his crimes and wrote letters to newspapers, not to mention one to the governor of Missouri. Newspapers on both coasts picked up the story. Express companies, tired of being robbed, hired super-sleuth James Pinkerton.

“Jesse James” spends considerable effort explaining why the legend was such catnip to the newspapers. Much verbiage is deployed to suggest that James fit the American ideal of the lone individual standing up to implacable forces, etc.

But historian Cathy Jackson sums up things without intellectual adornment:

“Let’s face it: His story was a good story.”

Of such things are legends made, in the Shinbone Star and elsewhere.

*

‘American Experience: Jesse James’

Where: KCET

When: 9 to 10 tonight

Ratings: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)