Another infamous Kansas City character was Jesse James. He and his brothers , known as the James Gang, began their outlaw fame by robbing a bank in Liberty, Missouri, near Kansas City, and also robbed the Kansas City fairgrounds in 1872. Huge rewards were offered for the capture of Jesse James. On April 3, 1882, he was straightening a picture in his house when a man named Bob Ford shot him through an open window. Jesse James died instantly at the age of 35.