Jesse James Spends the Night
A quiet stranger was fed at Sarah's table and slept under the Plaskett roof. Only later did the family learn the name he traveled under.
Travelers who came without question were fed and housed by the Plasketts — that was the code of the frontier. You didn’t ask too many questions about a man’s past.
One such traveler, the family story goes, was Jesse James himself — the most famous outlaw in America. He stopped at the Plaskett homestead in Pacific Valley, was fed dinner at Sarah Plaskett’s table, and stayed the night; his identity was unknown to the family for the whole of his stay, and he rode on in the morning like any other guest.
Whether it was truly the notorious bank robber or simply a dangerous-looking stranger, the story captures the reality of Big Sur in those years: isolated, lawless, a place where anyone might appear at your door — and be fed anyway.