Jesse James and the Knights Templar?

To many individuals, Jesse James is a legend of the Old West. Movies have been made about his life and exploits. A museum is located in Missouri and his home is a famous Missouri landmark.

Recently, I read an article in an old western magazine about a group called the "Knights of the Golden Circle". This was a very unique group. Their first major goal was to expand slavery to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. Southern sympathizers in the northern states were called "Copperheads." They secretly wanted the South to succeed. This group of individuals along with the Knights wanted to add those regions as slave territories.

As the Civil War was coming to a close, it became more apparent that the war would be lost by the South. So this group changed their idea and started to raise money to eventually start a second Civil War. The secret society was founded by a Virginia doctor by the name of George Bickley.

The James-Samuel family took the side of the Confederates. Their farms were raided by Union forces in 1863, they hung and tortured Rueben Samuel from a tree. On this occasion,they also beat up a young Jesse. The James brothers soon joined the guerrilla operation of William Quantrill. Although there is record of Frank James being a member, nothing exists on young Jesse as being a part of the famous Quantrill Raiders.

After the Civil War, a Kansas city editor by the name of John Newman Edwards, campaigned to return the old confederates to power in Missouri. He published letters that Jesse had written against "Reconstruction" along with his own editorials, making Jesse look very favorable to all that had been wronged by the Union. It is during this period of time, when people began to believe that Jesse was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle.