INFAMOUS OUTLAWS OF THE WILD WEST
Added on: 15th Jul 2015
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.
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