James Timberlake

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James H. Timberlake (March 22, 1846 – February 21, 1891) was an American lawman, Civil War veteran, farmer and rancher from Missouri. He is best known for chasing the James-Younger Gang as a deputy U.S. marshal.

Timberlake was born in Platte County, Missouri, and helped on his family’s farm until 1864, when he joined the Confederate Army. He served as a second lieutenant in the cavalry under Jo Shelby. After the Civil War, he briefly followed Shelby to Mexico before returning to Missouri in 1865 to resume farming.

In 1874 he married Katie Thomason. He became constable of Liberty in 1876 and later served as the county sheriff. In the 1870s he teamed with Kansas City’s police leader Henry H. Craig to pursue the James-Younger Gang and became the gang’s primary investigator. Governor Thomas Theodore Crittenden credited Timberlake with helping dissolve the gang in 1882.

In early 1882, Timberlake helped oversee a plan involving Jesse James’s death, which culminated in James being killed by Robert Ford on April 3, 1882. Timberlake’s reputation suffered afterward. He later served again as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Missouri, but resigned after his wife died. He and his brother ran ranches in New Mexico for a time before Timberlake died of a morphine overdose in Liberty, Missouri, in 1891.

Timberlake has been portrayed in films, including The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).