NEODESHA ? Anthropologists and historians will try to determine in coming weeks whether Jeremiah James, who reportedly died of a broken heart in 1935, could have been the legendary outlaw Jesse James.

As about two dozen people watched on Saturday, Wichita State University anthropologist and criminal justice professor Peer Moore-Jansen oversaw the removal of Jeremiah James’ remains from their resting place of nearly 70 years.

The observers included family members and cowboy re-enactors who wanted to honor James’ legacy.

Samples of hair, bones and teeth will be obtained for DNA analysis. Historians believe it is possible that the outlaw faked his own death in 1882.

Chuck James, a descendant of Jeremiah, says he wants an answer.

“I love American history,” he said. “If this isn’t him, then there are other avenues to pursue.”

As a camera crew filmed shovels full of dirt being lifted from the grave, Stacy Whiley held a Confederate flag to pay homage to the Reconstruction-era outlaw who rode with Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War.

“I’m really hopeful they’ll find out if this is true,” Whiley said.

Nancy Haviland, a great-granddaughter of Jeremiah James, initially opposed the exhumation but changed her mind when the family was assured the grave site would be restored to its normal appearance in time for Memorial Day.

But the assurances didn’t make her any less skeptical. Her 99-year-old aunt remembers Jeremiah James for his sparkling brown eyes. But Jesse James had blue eyes.

The Jeremiah James she knows about was born in 1847, a farmer who lived into his late 80s and whose wife died less than two months before him.

Ron Pastore, director of the Jesse James Museum in Wichita, said he’s hoping this exhumation will answer his questions.

“I’m wanting to know, did Jesse James fake his own death? If he did, who did he then become, and if this is him, who was killed in St. Joe?”

There have been several other attempts in recent years to identify Jesse James’ real burial site. One done in 1995 of Jeremiah Woodson James, in Kearney, Mo., was crowded with media; another in 2000 of Jesse Frank Dalton, in Granbury, Texas, exhumed the wrong body.

Bill Kurtis, who is documenting the exhumation and DNA analysis for the History Channel, said the story was good even if Jeremiah James does not turn out to be Jesse James. That, he said, was because more than 120 years after James’ death, family and historians still can’t agree on how and when the notorious outlaw actually died.

“So, was Jesse James shot in the back of the head by the cowardly Bob Ford, as conventional wisdom has led us to believe?” he asked. “The truth is, we still don’t know for sure. Which leads us to explore other theories as they emerge.”