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The headstone, bearing the name "Jesse Woodson James" and giving a death date of Aug. 15, 1951, was moved so several workmen could begin exhuming the remains. They will then be subjected to DNA testing.
The quiet cemetery 45 miles southwest of Fort Worth was filled with television crews as officials worked to exhume the body.
James was among the most famous outlaws of the Old West, his felonious exploits sensationalized in dime novels. Along with his brother Frank, Jesse James was a member of the feared Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War. After the war, he joined up with some other former Confederates to rob banks and trains — and generate reams of publicity.
History books record that James was shot in the back by Bob Ford, a member of his own gang, on April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Mo. Others say James faked his death in Missouri to elude authorities, moving to Texas under the assumed name of J. Frank Dalton.
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Townspeople had long suspected Dalton was the outlaw, and Dalton is said to have made the claim himself shortly before his death. If he really was James, he would have been 104 when he died. His gravestone also says in smaller letters below the name, "Supposedly killed in 1882."
The body buried under James' name in 1882 also was exhumed, in 1995. Scientists who examined those remains said later that the body was most likely that of James. But proponents of the Dalton theory say the findings were not conclusive.
Betty Duke believes neither body is James. The Liberty Hill, Texas resident, who wrote the book "Jesse James Lived and Died in Texas," says her grandfather, James L. Courtney, who died in 1943, is the real Jesse James.
As she looked at Dalton's grave, adorned with flowers and Confederate flags, Duke said Dalton's exhumation and subsequent DNA testing will bring the mystery closer to resolution.
"I don't believe he's Jesse James, but I support the exhumation," she said.
