So, Jesse James II is DT (3) is Fife and Fife Melody C text C, which I entered in the JJ thread (moved to this thread). How does the melody compare with Melody C collected in Canada by Fowke? Any idea where Gordon got the version in his MS collection?

It also is "B" in Randolph, collected in Missouri in 1928, perhaps the most straightforward of the cluster (better be careful, you are poaching on the grounds of the academic balladticians).
I like the picture of Jesse with a scrubbrush in hand. I also like the melody Randolph collected with his version B.

Jesse James (Randolph B)

Living in Missouri was a bold bad man,
Known from Seattle down to Birmingham,
From Denver Colorado right across the state,
From Boston Massachusetts to the Golden Gate.

Some people will forget a lot of famous names,
But in every nick an' corner was a Jesse James,
We used to read about him in our home at night,
When the wind blew down the chimney we would shake with fright.

Jesse James said boys, some money we need,
Stepped out an' got his rifle an' his trusty steed,
And then he galloped over for to see his brother Frank,
Says boys, we'll git the money from the Smithfield bank.

Next mornin' when they arrived about ten o'clock,
The cashier of the bank he got an awful shock,
For Jesse had him covered with his forty-four,
And he counted out half-a-million bonds or more.

Jesse he sat at home one day all alone,
His wife had left him there for to straighten out their home,
While scrubbin' out the kitchen the doorbell rang,
An' in stepped the leader of an outlaw gang.

Jesse says tonight before we make our hall
I'll just hang my dear wife's picture on the wall,
But a forty-four bullet went through Jesse's head,
An' the news went round the country that Jesse was dead.

Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 2, #132B. Sung by Mrs Lee Stephens, White Rock, MO, 1928, with music. (The verses also go well with music for verses of Battle of New Orleans)