DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker in Archer County tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most folks passing through Archer City are just looking for a cold drink and a stretch of road. But if you know where to look — and who to ask — there's a house in that town with a story pressed into its walls like a brand on hide.
A house that used to shelter one of the most wanted men in America. We're talking about Jesse James. The celebrated Missouri outlaw, as the marker puts it — active from the 1860s right up to 1882.
That's the kind of reputation that gets a house remembered. But to understand why Jesse kept coming back to Archer City, you've got to understand whose house it was. The Stone Land and Cattle Company built it for their manager, a man named Allen H.
Parmer — born 1848, died 1927. Now Allen Parmer was no stranger to Jesse James. He was a Confederate comrade of Jesse's from the Civil War.
And as if that bond weren't tight enough, Allen Parmer had married Jesse's sister, Susan — born 1849, died 1889. So this wasn't just a friend's house. This was family.
When the law got close — when Jesse and his brother Frank were being hunted down for train robberies, bank robberies, or whatever other occasion required a quiet place to disappear — the Parmer house in Archer City is where they'd go. The outlaw chief and his brother and aide, Frank James, would slip away to the Parmers'. You get the picture: two of the most notorious outlaws in the country, sitting down under a roof built by a cattle company, guests of a man who ran a respectable land operation. 1882 came, and Jesse James was killed.
The story of his visits ended there. But Frank James and his wife kept coming back to the Parmer house even after that — still guests, still welcomed. The house itself was eventually moved from its original site, which is the kind of thing that happens to places that outlast their moment.
And Allen Parmer? He went on to raise a family described, right there on that marker, as respected, upright citizens. Which maybe says something.
Or maybe just says that in Texas, who your brother-in-law was doesn't have to define what your children become. The house is still out there, shown only by appointment. Some stories, it seems, don't give themselves up to just anybody.
What the marker says
Jesse James, celebrated 1860s-1882 Missouri outlaw, used to visit in Archer City in house built by Stone Land and Cattle Company for its manager, Allen H. Parmer (1848-1927), his Confederate comrade of the Civil War and husband of his sister Susan (1849-89). With Frank James, his brother and aide, the outlaw chief hid at the Parmers' when hunted for train and bank robberies or on other occasions. Jesse James was killed in 1882; Frank and his wife continued to visit at Parmer's house, which was later moved from original site. Parmer brought up a family of respected, upright citizens. Erected by Archer County Historical Survey Committee. House is shown only by appointment, 1972.