Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 - April 3, 1882) was an American (American Old West) outlaw, gang leader, bank (bank robber) and train robber from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West (American Old West) after his death. Some recent scholars place him in the context of regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates (Confederate States of America) following the American Civil War rather than a manifestation of frontier lawlessness or economic justice.

Jesse and his older brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers. After the war, as members of one gang or another, they robbed banks and murdered bank employees or bystanders. They also waylaid stagecoaches and trains. Despite popular portrayals of James as a kind of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, there is no evidence that he and his gang used their robbery gains for anyone but themselves.

The James brothers were most active with their gang from about 1866 to 1876, when their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota resulted in the capture or deaths of several members. They continued in crime for several years, recruiting new members, but were under increasing pressure from law enforcement. On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was killed by Robert Ford (Robert Ford (outlaw)), who was a member of the gang living in the James house and who was hoping to collect a state reward on James head.