INFAMOUS OUTLAWS OF THE WILD WEST

PEARL HART

A Canadian-born American outlaw, her career as a stage coach robber was

short-lived. She drifted into bad company after her abusive husband

left her to fight in the Spanish-American War. She and Joe Boot, a

gambler, planned a robbery so she could return to her dying mother in

Canada, but they were captured and imprisoned. She charmed her way

out of prison, but was recaptured and served only two years out of

five in a male prison. She was pardoned by the governor upon learning

that she was pregnant.

BUTCH CASSIDY

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. His last name, Cassidy, was a tribute to his friend

and mentor Mike Cassidy who taught him how to shoot. 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.

BELLE STARR

The Bandit Queen was born Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr before

becoming a notorious outlaw. She lived a spoiled, rich girl life,

having been brought up from a well-to-do family. Her life changed,

however, when the Kansas-Missouri War broke out and residents were

forced to take sides. Her marriage to the outlaw Jim Reed also made her

a notorious bandit, whose life was immortalized in the novel,

‘Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen.’

JOHN WESLEY HARDIN

Named after the founder of the Methodist church, Hardin was just

14-year-old when he stabbed another boy who was taunting him. He then

spent the majority of his life being pursued by the law until he was captured

in 1878. This American outlaw and gunfighter claimed to have killed

42 men, though the newspapers attributed only 27 killings. He wrote his

autobiography and studied law while in prison, but was shot dead a year

after he was released in 1894 by John Selman Jr. in the Acme Saloon

in El Paso, Texas.

GERONIMO

Geronimo was a prominent leader of the Bedonkohe Apache, who was also

known for his Chiricahua name, Goyathlay or Goyahkla or ‘one who yawns’.

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. 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.

JESSE JAMES

Jesse Woodson James was already a celebrity when he was alive, and

has become even more legendary after his death. One of the most

famous members of the James-Younger Gang, he became a criminal for

robbing banks, stage coaches and trains. He was shot in the back of his

head on April 3, 1882 in his own home by his trusted friend, Robert Ford,

who was hoping to collect the reward money.

THE APACHE KID

Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl or ‘the tall man destined to come to a mysterious end,’

was better known as the Apache Kid who was said to have been the

fiercest Apache next only to Geronimo. A notorious outlaw of the late

19th century in Arizona and New Mexico, he was first enlisted as an

Apache scout to fight off the numerous raiding bands of the Apaches

that harassed the early settlers before he became a renegade. The

Apache Kid character of the Marvel comics was named after him, though

their stories were not connected.

BILLY THE KID

Also known as William H. Bonney or Henry Antrim, Billy the Kid is a

legendary outlaw of the American Old West whose life has become

sensationalized in movies, songs, and books. He became notorious

for supposedly killing 21 people for each year of his life, although

factual evidence suggests he only killed 4 in his lifetime. Though he

was depicted as a cold-bloodied killer, those who knew him believed

that he became an outlaw out of necessity.