Jesse James Confederate defiance of federal Reconstruction policy. Jesse's initiative in creating his rising public profile is debated by historians and biographers. The high tensions in politics accompanied his outlaw career and enhanced his notoriety. Meanwhile, the James brothers joined with Cole Younger and his brothers John, Jim, and Bob, as well as Clell Miller and other former Confederates, to form what came to be known as the James–Younger Gang. With Jesse James as the most public face of the gang (though with operational leadership likely shared among the group), the gang carried out a string of robberies from Iowa to Texas,
Jim Miller (outlaw) and Joe Allen, through middleman Berry B. Burell (there is disagreement over the spelling of the man's surname), for the murder of Allen Augustus "Gus" Bobbitt of Ada, Oklahoma, a cattle rancher and former Deputy U.S. Marshal. The murder was alleged to have been ordered either to acquire his land or because of a personal grudge. The fee was $1,700. On February 27, 1909, Miller chose a place of ambush, concealing himself near Bobbitt's ranch house. Bobbitt and his hired man Bob Ferguson arrived from town by their supply wagons. Miller shot Bobbitt in the side with both barrels from