The United States relentlessly pushed its frontier westward during the 19th century in pursuit of Manifest Destiny, steadily populating vast swathes with a relentless stream of new arrivals who upped stakes and abandoned their homes in pursuit of dreams of greener pastures and a fresh start in the American West. Billy is fourth from the left. 1. Boone Helm - Wikipedia if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'list25_com-mobile-leaderboard-2','ezslot_16',185,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-list25_com-mobile-leaderboard-2-0');Born Robert Leroy Parker, Butch Cassidy was the leader of the Wild Bunch Gang who became notorious for robbing trains and banks in the American West. The arrival of the railroads added another lucrative target, albeit a more labor-intensive one, requiring teamwork from a sizeable outlaw gang to subdue an entire train in order to rob its hold and passengers. Fleeing, he dropped some personal items, including a handkerchief with a laundry mark. His father who was frequently arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct was known in Guthrie, Oklahoma as Old Six-Shooter Bill; while his older brother, Nim, a professional gambler, was known as Six-Shooter Jack. His life as an outlaw started on June 3, 1891 when he shot up the town of Mulhall and wounded two citizens. But one thing was certain: He had sold the bear to famous outlaw country musician Waylon Jennings. Armed with warrants for the apprehension of accused murderers and factional opponents, Bowdre assisted the Regulators in tracking down and killing a number of men for resisting arrest. Curry remained in the Knox County jail for a year and a half, becoming a celebrity in the process as hundreds of locals filed through the jail to get a glimpse of him. It ended with a dead outlaw, and a mortally wounded Bass jumping on his horse and fleeing town. Jesse and Frank James, for example, took occasional sabbaticals from bank and train robbing, traveling to East Tennessee, and seeking refuge in the Old Washington community in Rhea County. Old West Outlaw List - A - Legends of America The following year, he bought a ranch in Wyoming, near a notorious bandit hideout known as Hole in the Wall. Once a sidekick of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry was, in the words of detective and bounty hunter William Pinkerton, the only criminal I know of who has not one single redeeming feature. According to Knoxville journalist Chuck Allen, the Kid earned his reputation as a gunslinger for killing nine law enforcement officers in five separate shootouts, not to mention two civilians in other circumstances. He styled himself a gunslinger, and proved himself one when a dispute over sharing the loot triggered a shootout during which a teenage Fisher killed three fellow bandits. A firefight erupted, and the noise attracted the recently arrived Texas Rangers, who joined the shootout. Outlaws - Produced by Dave Alexander, music by Scott Buckley Outlaw Gang List: Burton Alvord - Lawman and Outlaw Alvord-Stiles Gang (1899-1904) - Led by two ex-lawmen, Burton Alvord and Billy Stiles, this gang of train robbers operated in Arizona Territory at the turn of the century. August 15, 2015 September 11, 2016 OnePercenterBikers . After he left the gang, he became a prominent politician among the Chickasaw nation until his death at the age of 42, before he could start serving as their governor. A Chickasaw cowboy, he joined Billy the Kids gang, the Regulators, but later quitted to return to his people. Charles Allen, aka Big Time Charlie - After the turn of the century, Big Time Charlie ran one of the most illicit prostitution rings in Denver, Colorado. Born in Harford, Kentucky, he was the oldest brother of Virgil, Morgan, and Wyatt Earp. . During the next two decades he, his brother Jesse, and their sidekicks, the Younger brothers, became America's most famous outlaws. When soldiers approached, the duo opened fire, and in the ensuing firefight, were shot multiple times. He joined several other outlaws of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, which focused on robbing trains and ranches. He joined the Confederate Army after the murder of his father, but became one of the suspects in the 1868 robbery of Nimrod Long & Co. in Kentucky. 10 Notorious Australian Outlaws - Toptenz.net One agreed to testify against Frank, but was murdered before the trial, and Frank was acquitted. Though the most notorious outlaws of the Wild West were considered enemies of the state, today they are often spoken of as heroes and trailblazers. As always, we appreciate your support. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. That done, he would order the driver to move on, then recover the strongbox and abscond. In 1894, he was arrested and convicted of horse stealing and extortion. While in Buffalo, he shot and killed a man, but was never convicted. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Allison was arrested for murder, but charges were dropped after an inquiry determined that he had acted in self-defense. His crime spree began when he was just 18 years old after shooting Jake Lewis for beating up his younger brother. True West Magazine Wyatt Earp A Murderer Or? Incredibly he evaded capture for more than 15 years. Blayde lists the standard narrative components of a Murdered Girl Ballad: Appalachia is a region distinguished by its uniqueness. After recovering from his wound, Jesse and his brother Frank joined a gang led by one of their former guerrilla commanders, and in 1866 robbed a bank in Liberty, Missouri, during which robbery an innocent bystander was killed. He is known to history as an associate of the Cochise County Cowboys, an outlaw group in Tombstone, Arizona, and of the corrupt Tombstone Sheriffs office. The Murdered Girl Ballad originated in the British Isles with such traditional ballads as Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight and the Cruel Ships Carpenter. These ballads were brought overseas by the Scots-Irish who settled the Appalachian region in the 1700s and were gradually adapted to fit a more Americanized worldview and a uniquely Appalachian mode of experience. After appeals were exhausted, Rufus Buck and his gang were hanged on July 1, 1896. It was a bad choice, as Robert Ford had been negotiating with Missouris governor to betray Jesse. What are the 5 oldest restaurants still running in Kentucky? - MSN Frank fled to Canada, but was captured in Ontario and extradited to the US, where he was held with three other Reno Gang members in the Floyd County, Indiana, jail. They then robbed a man of his horse, and killed him when he resisted. In 1897, Cassidy robbed a coal companys payroll of $7000. Old West Outlaw List - J - Legends of America Stillwell settled the dispute by grabbing a rock and smashing in his rivals face until he was dead. By age 18, Cassidy was working with horse thieves, delivering stolen animals to buyers. Continue with Recommended Cookies, Home - History - 25 Most Notorious Outlaws Of The Wild West, Posted by List25 Team, Updated on November 18, 2022. After a shootout and pursuit, only Jesse and his brother Frank escaped, with the rest of the gang killed or captured. Western Figure. Pages in category "Criminals from Kentucky" The following 36 pages are in this category, out of 36 total. At Appalachia Bare, we strive to be, hands-down, the regions best blog on Appalachian history, literature, and culture. Stegall threatened to shoot the outlaw in the head but through better of it, saying, I will not shoot you in the head for I want to make a trophy of it. Shooting Big Harpe in the heart instead, Moses cut off Bigs head, tossed it in a sack, and rode to a crossroads where he placed the grim trophy in the fork of a tree as a warning to others. Nothing came of it, nor did anything come of other instances when Fisher was arrested for violent acts and attempted murders, only to be released when witnesses refused to come forward or disappeared. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Designed using Nevark Premium. In 1872, he bought a ranch on the Mexican border and used it as a base of operations for cattle rustling raids into Mexico. Marshal Virgil Earp and Cochise County, Arizona Sheriff Johnny Behan. According to an obituary written by his family, Kentucky passed away Wednesday . He earned a DDS degree in dentistry before he became a renowned gambler and gunfighter. Senator 19741999, member of Democratic Party, veteran of Army and Kentucky National Guard, serving 19441946 and 19491962, 54th Governor of Kentucky; 46th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky; member of the Kentucky State Senate, member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Current member of the Kentucky State Senate, former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, businessman. He cleaned the tough town quickly, which gave him the title, one of the quickest men on the trigger in the Southwest. However, he reverted back to his old outlaw ways and was involved in a shootout during a bank robbery. One of the most famous members of the James-Younger Gang, he became a criminal for robbing banks, stage coaches and trains. When asked by a deputy sheriff if he had a gun, Bass replied yes, and shot him dead. He proceeded to exact his revenge by changing his name to Black Bart, after a character from a dime novel, and taking up a career as a highwayman, specializing in robbing Wells Fargo stagecoaches in northern California and southern Oregon. Although a notorious troublemaker, Fisher was liked in the community, and by the 1880s had transitioned from bandit to lawman, serving briefly as acting sheriff of Uvalde County in 1883, during which service he tracked down a stagecoach robbing duo, shooting one dead and bringing in the other. Outlaws MC Kentucky Chapters. "Killer" Miller John Wesley Hardin Three of the shots hit Dillinger, and he fell face down on the pavement. When Moses rode up, Squire McBee related the circumstances of the deaths of Stegalls wife and child. In 1868, Jesse and Frank James teamed up with Cole Younger to rob a bank in Kentucky, and formed with him the James-Younger Gang. Jun 6, 2017 - Explore Janet Mackley's board "Outlaws & Other Old West Characters", followed by 2,081 people on Pinterest. He is best known for his hostility to and adverse run ins with lawman Wyatt Earp and his associates, which eventually spelled Ringos doom. He ambushed his victims at night wearing a black frock coat, so as not to be easily detected. In the 125-year plus years since his death, his legend lives on as debates continue about the exact crimes that John Henry Doc Holliday committed. In 1880, Bowdre joined the Rustlers in a failed attempt to assassinate lawman Pat Garrett. He robbed on foot, wielding a double-barreled shotgun and clad in a linen duster and bowler hat, his face concealed by a flour sack with eyeholes cut into it. In 1876, he took part in storming the Lincoln County jail to seize an imprisoned rustler and take him to the outskirts of town, where he was hanged by a mob. The gang was based in the state of Missouri, the home of most of the members. Besides banks, they also robbed stage coaches and trains but their luck ran out in a botched bank robbery on September 7, 1876. Wonderful pictures and history well writte in another of your masterpieces, Professor! Notify me of follow-up comments by email. He was lynched by an angry mob in 1884. The witness was shot dead soon thereafter, at which point the other passengers refused to testify and the charges were dropped. In 1876, Allisons refusal to surrender his pistols to a constable in Las Animas, Colorado, who informed him that it was illegal to carry guns within the town limits, led to a gunfight that left the constable dead. The Rangers reached the small town on June 19, 1878, the same day as Bass. The Pinkerton Agency was hired to go after the James-Younger Gang, but when two of its agents were killed, the agencys founder, Allan Pinkerton, turned it into a vendetta. After an attack by a company of Mexican soldiers on his camp in 1858 where his mother, wife and three children were killed, he became a fierce Indian warrior, joining the Chiricahua in their numerous raids in northern Mexico and across the US borders. Quantrill's Raiders - Wikipedia He torpedoed his chances by robbing another Union Pacific in 1900, while the negotiations were ongoing and in breach of a promise he made the governor. In 1867, Frank and his crew demonstrated their disdain for the law by attacking and robbing a county courthouse in Missouri a crime for which his brother, John, was eventually convicted and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. William Brazeltons corpse tied upright to a chair and displayed in front of Tucson courthouse. On the outskirts of Eufala, they came across a black child, and just to see him twitch as he expired, shot him dead. Wyatt formed an escort to accompany Virgil, and on March 20, 1882, spotted Stillwell and two associates waiting in ambush near Tucsons train station. Before he could react, the night was lit by a shotgun blast, followed by flashes from a fusillade of pistol shots. In 1882, while Jesse was dusting a picture hanging on a wall, Robert Ford shot him in the back of the head. She lived a spoiled, rich girl life, having been brought up from a well-to-do family. In 1867, the gang killed the mayor of Richmond, Missouri, along with two others, during a bank robbery. On the night of December 11, 1868, scores of masked vigilantes marched on the jail and forced the jailer to surrender the keys. If women murdered their mountain husbands, they didnt confess and likely resorted to poison. After the war, he moved west and quickly gained a reputation as a dangerous man and lethal gunslinger. An attack by Native Americans on the way to Fort Hall forced Helm and his party into the wilderness. Harvard Magazine. He surrendered in 1886 and became a celebrity as he appeared in fairs, a decision that he regretted because he was never allowed to return to the land of his birth. 10 Famous Cowboys & Outlaws Who Ruled the Wild West - Horsey Hooves Here are 10 of the most famous and notorious of these outlaws of the Wild West. In the aftermath of his last robbery, on August 15, 1878, Brazeltons horse threw a shoe, leaving a distinct print that allowed pursuers to follow the track to a horse corral. Why would its outlaws be any different? They then raped and murdered two women and a 14-year-old girl. They were later killed after being tracked down by the US Cavalry. Outlaws & Other Old West Characters - Pinterest His fame grew in 1874, when a notorious gunman tried to kill him while the two were dining together in a saloon, but Allison drew faster and shot him dead. He first garnered attention in 1870, when he led a mob that broke into a New Mexico jail, seized a deranged man suspected in the murder of a number of people, including his own daughter, and lynched him. Known as Deacon Jim because he regularly attended the Methodist church and did not smoke or drink, he was also a paid assassin with a going rate of $150 to $2000. Who of us doesnt admire, if begrudgingly, the swagger of Billy the Kid, the daring of the James brothers, Frank and Jesse, the cagey resourcefulness of Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and the Hole in the Wall Gang? More importantly, they could be halted in isolated locales, giving the robbers time to flee before law enforcement arrived and attempted to track down the culprits. Jesse Woodson James was already a celebrity when he was alive, and has became even more legendary after his death. List of Old West gunfighters - Wikipedia Once a deadly gunfighter, Billy the Kid outwitted and killed eight men before the age of 21. These 7 Famous Homicides In Kentucky Will Never Be Forgotten The majority of outlaws in the Old West preyed on banks, trains, and stagecoaches. In 1881, the brothers left Tennessee for safety reasons, and soon thereafter Frank moved to Virginia. Michael "Johnny Behind the Deuce" O'Rourke, Jos Doroteo "Pancho Villa" Arango Armbula, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Old_West_gunfighters&oldid=1147536748, This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 16:14. The proprietor was arrested, and offered to deliver the robber, disclosing that Brazelton intended to commit another robbery that night, and that a meeting had been prearranged for earlier that evening to deliver him supplies. Under mounting pressure, however, the gang broke up, and Cassidy and Longabaugh fled to New York City in 1901, and from there sailed to Argentina, where they purchased and settled in a 15,000-acre ranch. An alleged cattle rustler, he was unjustly hanged along with Cattle Kate Wilson by a faction of cattle barons, which has become one of the many incidents that led to the Johnson County War. In fact, these guns are sometimes as legendary as the outlaw's wielding them. The lynched mans family vowed revenge, but when an uncle of the victim cornered Allison, the latter proved quicker on the draw and shot him dead. Wild West Outlaws And Lawmen - HistoryNet To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Born Nathaniel Ellsworth Wyatt, Zip was also known for his other aliases, Wild Charlie and Dick Yeager. In 1903, in a daring move worthy of a movie, Curry choked a guard with a wire, escaping the jail never to be seen in Knoxville again. Biography: A former confederate guerrilla during the US Civil war, Jesse James became a famous outlaw and bandit notorious for robbing banks and trains. Soon thereafter, he arrived in Tombstone, where he joined the Cochise County Cowboys and began an antagonistic relationship with Wyatt Earp and his associates. John Johnny Ringo (1850 1882) was born in Indiana, and his family moved to Missouri in 1858, and thence to California. He moved to the southwest when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 15, which is where he took up gambling and acquired a reputation as a deadly gunman.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'list25_com-leader-1','ezslot_3',198,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-list25_com-leader-1-0'); Black Jack was a cowboy who later turned to a life of crime after leaving Texas in 1890. December 28, 2003 Kentucky Corrections Betty Jean and 8 year old son, Corey Windsor were stabbed to death by her X-husband, Shawn Windsor. Theres a saying here that expresses the consensus about a wife killing a husband: If the son of a bitch hadnt deserved it, she wouldnt have killed him. That sentiment, coupled with the resourcefulness of Appalachian women and granny women throughout the region, may be all the reason needed to explain the dearth of women outlaws in Appalachia. A Canadian-born American outlaw, her career as a stage coach robber was short-lived. Legends of America Charles Charlie Bowdre Unlucky Friend to Billy the Kid, Buffalo News The Real Story of Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid and Their Wild Bunch, History Collection Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids Escapades, and Other Lesser-Known Historic Events, History Channel The Mysterious Deaths of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Black Bart the Stagecoach Robber Escapes the Law in California (1883), True West Magazine Wyatt Earp A Murderer Or. In 1876, he arrived in Prescott, Arizona, and claiming that he would stage a show in which he would eat a wagon wheel, conned people into paying in advance to attend. He was arrested for murder, but charges were dropped for lack of evidence. A man I knew in the 1980s, named Henry Hunter, 92-years-old at the time, regaled me with a story about how the Jameses robbed his grandfather at gunpoint following a horse auction. In 1878, Ringo offered whiskey to a man seated next to him in a bar, but when the man declined, Ringo shot off his ear. He was hanged in 1901 after being caught during one of the train robberies. Possibly the most famous outlaw of the Wild West is Billy the Kid. Some were simply men who took advantage of the wildness and lawlessness of the frontier to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Born in the Indian Territory in todays Oklahoma to a Creek Indian father and an African American mother, Rufus Buck (1877 1896) formed a multi-ethnic gang of teenagers all Indians, African Americans, or mixed race. Sam Bass (1851 1878) tried his hand at a succession of legal professions, and worked as a farmer, miner, cowboy, teamster, and saloon owner, but he was a degenerate gambler, and his persistent losses in gambling dens and the race track eventually led him to try his hand at robbery. An American train robber and outlaw, he started out as an honest man who ran away from an abusive uncle and went to Mississippi to work in a saw mill before becoming a cowboy in Texas. However, the territorial governor decreed that the justice of the peace who had commissioned the Regulators had been illegally appointed, and thus lacked the authority to issue the warrants enforced by the Regulators transforming them overnight from a legal posse to outlaws. Wells Fargo detectives then canvassed San Francisco laundromats until they found the right one, and from it learned the identity of the handkerchiefs owner. "The Outlaw Doc") (1825-1856) John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851-1887) Tom Horn (1860-1903) Jesse Lee Hall (1849-1911) John Reynolds Hughes (1855-1947) J In poor health, Black Bart did not return to his family, but he did write his wife that he was depressed and wanted to get away from everybody. To escape angry neighbors, Frank and John enlisted when the Civil War broke out, and became serial bounty jumpers, joining a regiment to collect enlistment bonuses, which steadily grew as the war progressed, deserting at the earliest opportunity, enlisting in another regiment elsewhere with fake names to collect more enlistment bonuses, and repeating the cycle. List of people from Kentucky - Wikipedia Medium The Strange Death of Johnny Ringo, History Net Clay Allison: Good-Natured Holy Terror. A vigilante group formed to hunt down Franks gang, so in early 1868 they fled to Iowa, where they attacked and robbed two-county treasuries on successive days. He and three others robbed $21,000 from the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride in 1889, where he used his share to buy the infamous Hole-in-the-Wall ranch, which was believed to be a cover for his illegal activities. While Southern Appalachia and its mountains often proved a safe haven for Old West Outlaws, our own homegrown villains could be just as ornery and dangerous, as the following rogues gallery reveals: On discovery of the charred bodies, Squire Silas McBee and five men awaited Moses Stegalls return. He got his moniker when he was caught and convicted for horse thievery in Sundance, Wyoming. It was he who killed my brother. He was later fired for picking fights with drunks and was hired as an assistant marshal in Caldwell. Within weeks, many of Ringos friends had been killed or fled the area, and Although he denied any involvement in the shootings of Virgil and Morgan Earp, Ringo deemed it advisable to leave Tombstone until things calmed down. He was convicted for murder and after an unsuccessful jail break attempt; he fled to Texas and changed his name to Samuel King, where he died of smallpox in 1882. Born Crawford Goldsby, Cherokee Bill was a 19th century outlaw who was known to have a quick trigger finger. They soon expanded their reach and ambition and began robbing trains and banks and raiding communities throughout the Midwest. Robert James, Jesse . They also claimed their land grant was not being honored due to an increasing number of white settlers squatting in their property.