The most famous thing that ever happened in Garretson, South Dakota, was a meeting of the outlaw Jesse James and a ravine named Devil's Gulch.
But did it really happen?
According to Garretson lore, Jesse evaded capture just outside of town by spurring his horse to leap the ravine -- a feat that everyone agrees is nearly impossible.
Most historians believe that it is impossible. The town thinks that its impossibility only makes its reality more wonderful. Signs and plaques at the site, now named Devil's Gulch Park, are written with the pro-jump position in mind.
Jesse found himself in out-of-the-way Garretson in September 1876 after his gang had tried and failed to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota. For the next two weeks he fled west, staying ahead of his pursuers by stealing horses.
Only Devil's Gulch stood between him and freedom. As a sign at the Gulch breathlessly describes it, Jesse "spun his horse and sprinted towards the chasm. With the lawmen watching with mouths agape Jesse's horse hurled itself across the 20-foot gorge."
There are more holes in this story than would eventually be in Jesse James. The posse was reportedly just a group of about 20 poorly armed local farmers, probably in no mood to get too close to a crack shot like Jesse. His horse was not Pegasus, but a half-broken-down farm nag, probably incapable of jumping even a fence. And Devil's Gulch is only a half-mile long. Jesse could have simply ridden around it, which is probably what he did -- but we'll never know for sure.
I grew up in Sioux Falls just 30 miles south of Devils Gulch. I never once talked to anyone who believed the story that Jesse James actually jumped the gulch.
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