The Play

[Texas Truth Teller]

Cast of Characters
Starring good friends J. Frank Dalton as Jesse James and Brushy Bill as Billy the Kid
Supporting cast: DeWitt Travis, Orvus Lee Howk as Jesse Jame III, Willliam A. Morrison, and Ola Everhard
Bit players: Col. James Russell Davis and John Tramble as witnesses, Lester Dill as promoter, Andrew Jackson Berlin as Ozark Jack Berlin
Cameo appearance: Oran Woodman as Uncle Kit Carson, William Columbus Anderson as William T. “Bloody Bill” Anderson, Garland Farmer and H. H. Crittenden as writers

The plot
Convince the public that history is wrong.

Act 1. Identify an unknown substitute as the murder victim
BBR - Billy Barlow
JFD – Charley Bigelow

Act 2. Depart the murder scene and travel to foreign countries
BBR – Mexico, Argentina, Shetland Islands
JFD – Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, France

Act 3. Demonstrate good citizenship
BBR – deputy marshal in IT, Texas Ranger, service in Spanish American war
JFD – deputy marshal in IT, Texas Ranger, service in Spanish American war, Boer war, U S Army, Royal Canadian Air Force

Act 4. Live under various aliases for about 70 years
BBR – Texas Kid, Hugo Kid,
JFD – Benjamin Franklin Johnson, Frank Dalton

Act 5. Revise date of birth
BBR – 26 August 1879; to 31 December 1868; to 31 December 1859
JFD – 8 March 1848; to 5 September 1847,

Act 6. Bask in a moment of fame after emerging from obscurity
BBR - William Henry Roberts, alias Billy the Kid
JFD - Jesse Woodson James

[mckinley412]

Did you know JFD wasn't the first Jesse James claimant to claim Charlie Bigelow was killed instead. I don't know the first guys name. Also, I don't think Brushy claimed to be a Texas Ranger though I keep hearing people say he did.

[clydec]

I have read most everything written about Brushy and I have never heard it mentioned about him being a Texas Ranger. He was in the anti horse theft association and was deputy for Judge Issac Parker.

[mikegolfpro]

I was going to mention the same thing Clydec! Also, hasn't it been documented that he did go to Cuba with the roughriders during the Spanish-American War! I could be wrong though!

[clydec]

yes, they are almost 100 percent sure that he fought with the Roughriders.

[Texas Truth Teller]

" Also, hasn't it been documented that he did go to Cuba with the roughriders during the Spanish-American War! I could be wrong though! "

Good point, mikegolfpro
The answer depends upon your definition of "documented".
Brushy Bill said he went to Cuba.
Jameson, in "The Lost Interviews", said a service medal given to participants in Teddy Roosevelt's Cuban campaign was found in a trunk belonging to the late Melinda Allison Roberts, widow of Brushy Bill.
Edwards, in "Billy the Kid, an Autobiography", suggests that some photographs of Rough Riders might include Brushy Bill.

Has a credible record been found that Brushy Bill was in the Rough Riders, or went to Cuba? I think the answer is no.

[Texas Truth Teller]

"Did you know JFD wasn't the first Jesse James claimant to claim Charlie Bigelow was killed instead. I don't know the first guys name. Also, I don't think Brushy claimed to be a Texas Ranger though I keep hearing people say he did."

That is my understanding also. John William James had previously identified Charlie Bigelow as the man killed by Bob Ford.

[Texas Truth Teller]

"I have read most everything written about Brushy and I have never heard it mentioned about him being a Texas Ranger. He was in the anti horse theft association and was deputy for Judge Issac Parker."

clydec, you are correct. No books mention his service as a Texas Ranger. It was mentioned in a newspaper after his trip to New York City.

Waco Tribune-Herald, (Waco, Texas) 15 January 1950, page 13

Brushy Bill home from New York

Hico, Jan. 14-SPL - O. L. (Brushy Bill) Roberts, one of six "corroborating witnesses" who are supporting J. Frank Dalton in his claims to being the real Jesse James, was due to return to Hico this week from New York, where he as spent the week with Dalton.
Roberts, who appeared on a radio program in New York Sunday night with other witnesses, claims to be 90 years old and to have known James in his banditry days. Dalton went to New York fro Missouri to announce that he had filed suit to change his name to Jesse Woodson James.
Roberts was also a guest of Dalton's last September when he attended his host's 102nd birthday party at Meramec Caverns, Stanton, Mo. He was given both trips with all expenses paid.
After living in this section as a boy, Roberts, who dresses in typical Western regalia, returned to Hico in 1941 to spend the rest of his life. He claims to have ridden in Wild West shows with Buffalo Bill Cody, to have broken wild cattle in South America, to have served as a TEXAS RANGER in 1891 and 1892,to have represented Texas a a horse rider in the Cheyenne Roundup of 1899, and to have worked on a Mexican ranch during the Mexican revolution. He carries pictures, relics, and documents to support his claims, and he has written his memoirs.