The original grave of Robert Ford the man who killed Jesse James

“Hey Bob” Edward O’Kelley said, followed by a deafening bang of firing both barrels of double barrel shotgun. Robert Ford, the “dirty little coward” who killed Jesse James, lay dead in a puddle of his own blood. 

Creed, Colorado, is off the Silver Thread Highway in the remote San Juan Mountains. The former silver boom town has a colorful history. The steady flow of silver out of the mountains attracted thousands of people, some hardworking men looking to strike it rich, others of questionable character.  Names that echo in history include Creed’s criminal underworld kingpin, Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith II. A gunfighter and former Dodge City, Kansas Sheriff named Bat Masterson, and the coward who gunned down Jesse James, Robert “Bob” Ford.

Ford was killed on June 8, 1892, a decade after he killed James in St. Joseph, Missouri. The reasons why Edward O’Kelley killed Ford have been debated for years, O’Kelley never gave a reason for shooting. It’s been speculated that he wanted to avenge James as he was a cousin through marriage. Or that con man, Soapy Smith, convinced O’Kelley to kill Ford to seek fame. Others say it was an escalating financial dispute between the two, which is true is almost certainly lost to history.  O’Kelley was arrested for the murder of Ford but would ultimately be pardoned in 1902 after a 7,000-signature petition of largely Missourians who lobbied in favor of his release.

Visiting Robert Ford’s original grave

Today, you can visit Ford’s original gravesite in Creede. His remains were moved and reinterred in his native Richmond, Missouri.  Having visited several other Jesse James historical sites, including his grave, the site of his first robbery, and the home where James was killed, I was excited to visit the original Ford gravesite. 

I visited on a beautiful summer afternoon. Parking was limited, but there were no other cars when I was there. It was a short walk to a small wooden plaque that reads:

“BOB FORD

SLAYER OF JESSE JAMES

WAS BURIED HERE JUNE 11, 1892”