Outlaws & Legends

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Belle Starr

(Carthage, Mo., 1848--Feb. 3, 1889) Myra Belle Shirley

Provided Confederate guerrillas with information about the movements of federal troops during the Civil War, and associated with members of the outlaw gang headed by William C. Quantrill. After giving birth to a child rumored to have been the daughter of Cole Younger, in 1880 she married Sam Starr, of Cherokee and Irish extraction. Their home in Indian Territory in Oklahoma became notorious as an outlaw retreat. Belle Starr was shot and killed by an unknown assailant.

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Billy the Kid

(New York City, NY, Nov. 23, 1859--July 13, 1881) William H. Bonney

Working as a cowhand in the New Mexico Pecos Valley, this teenager turned to cattle rustling. By the age of 18 he had been charged with 12 murders. After the gang he led killed a sheriff and a deputy, he was captured and sentenced to hang. Escaped from jail, killing two guards, but was trapped and shot to death. His short, bloody career became a legend.

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Black Bart

(1832--c.1917) Charles E. Boles, aka Charles E. Bolton; T.Z. Spalding; Po8

A polite old gentleman who boldly held up stagecoaches in broad daylight and alone, taunting Wells Fargo Agents for 8 years. 1877 Note found in the empty strongbox:

"...I've labored long and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've tred,
You fine-haired sons-of-bitches...."
             -- Black Bart, Po8

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The Wild Bunch

Seated, left to right: Harry Longbaugh, "The Sundance Kid" (c.1862--1911 or 1957); Ben Kirkpatrick, "The Tall Texan" (?--1912); Robert Leroy Parker, "Butch Cassidy" (1866--1911 or 1937). Standing, left to right: William Todd (Bill) Carver (?--1901); Harvey Logan, "Kid Curry" (c.1865--1903).

Key members of Butch Cassidy's wild bunch calmly waltzed into Schwartz's Photographic Galley in Fort Worth Texas on November 21, 1900 to pose for this picture.

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Butch Cassidy

(Circle Valley, UT, Apr. 6, 1866-- ?) Robert Leroy Parker, aka Wyoming State Prison Convict No. 187; George Cassidy

One of the most adroit robbers in the history of the West, yet never acquired a record as a killer and was never accused of murder. Established the infamous outlaw retreat "Robbers Roost." Mystery surrounds reports of his death.

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Jesse James

(Clay County, Mo., Sept. 5, 1847--Apr. 3, 1882) Jesse Woodson James, aka Thomas Howard

One of the most famous outlaws in the American West; a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who enlisted at age 15 after a brutal whipping from Federal militiamen. Eluded the law over 16 years, acquiring a Robin Hood reputation. Shot in the back of the head and killed by Robert Ford, a member of his own gang who sought to collect a "dead or alive" $10,000 reward.

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Bob Younger

(1856--89) Robert Younger

Along with his three brothers, a member of the infamous James-Younger gang headed by Jesse James. On Sept. 7, 1876, he and two surviving brothers, Cole and Jim, were shot and captured during the gang's botched attempt to rob a bank in Northfield, Minn. Pictured here at the time of the trial, he was sentenced to prison with Cole and Jim, and later died from tuberculosis.

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Cattle Kate

(?--1889) Ella Watson

The daughter of a wealthy farmer in Smith County, Kansas, Ella Kate was lured to Rawlins Wyoming by James Averill, whom she loved, and whose recent election as justice of the peace led him to believe he could defy the ruthless cattle barons led by Albert Brothwell. Ella poses here alongside the pens holding herds of allegedly "stolen" maverick cattle, for which she and Averill were hanged by vigilantes. The bloody Johnson County War was largely precipitated by these gruesome deaths, as other Wyoming ranchers and homesteaders were inspired to stand up to the Wyoming Stock Grower's Association.