famous outlaws from kentucky famous outlaws from kentucky

In fact, these guns are sometimes as legendary as the outlaw's wielding them. 25 Mind-Boggling Examples Of The Mandela Effect, 25 Hardest Riddles Ever (Sure To Stump You), 25 Best Anime Of All Time That You Will Want To See (2022), 25 Cool Certifications That Are Usually Pretty Easy To Get, 25 Creation Stories From Around The World, 25 Most Powerful Marvel Characters (2022), 25 Of The Most Evil Serial Killers You Have Ever Known, 25 Of The Most Difficult Languages To Learn In The World, 25 Most Dangerous Dog Breeds: A Pet Parent Guide, 25 Fun And Clever Riddles For Kids (With Answers), 25 Countries With The Highest Murder Rates In The World, 25 Extremely Easy Ways To Die That Will Make You Appreciate Life, 25 Bizarre Mormon Rules You Won't Believe Are Real, 25 Intriguing Origins of Sayings In Everyday Life, 25 Things You Need To Do To Survive A Nuclear Attack, 25 of the Most Terrifying Cults in History, Former Porn Star Mia Khalifa Says Being in the Army is Worse than being on OnlyFans. Ringo was deputized by Tombstones corrupt Sheriff in an attempt to shield him from the Earps by making him a lawman. Here are 10 of the most famous and notorious of these outlaws of the Wild West. A hunt for the Harpes ensued. A year later, he graduated from grifting to armed robbery, and held up his first stagecoach in September 1877. 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. "Killer" Miller John Wesley Hardin Most of the gang escaped, but a captured member identified two others, who were arrested the following day. He stood there helpless and trembling for his life. He got his moniker when he was caught and convicted for horse thievery in Sundance, Wyoming. After a shootout and pursuit, only Jesse and his brother Frank escaped, with the rest of the gang killed or captured. The American myth would be incomplete without these antiheroes of the nineteenth century frontier. A zealot with nebulous ideas of triggering a Native American uprising, Buck led his gang on a depraved rampage of robbery, rape, and murder, that terrorized white settlers, Indians, and African Americans alike. Ferguson was hanged by military personnel on October 20, 1865, and is buried in White County, Tennessee, north of Sparta. The pair formed a gang and made numerous robberies in the area including the well known post office in Arapaho and the Hightower Store. They then robbed a man of his horse, and killed him when he resisted. He was arrested, but he reportedly died a week later from his wounds. Aged 15, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for horse theft but won early release because of his youth. He then left town to bring the rest of the shows crew and stagehands, and never returned. Some say he even had a confrontation with the famous Wyatt Earp. Posses of Indian Police and white settlers were formed to apprehend the gang, but while the posses combed the countryside, Buck and his gang brazenly rode into Okmulgee and robbed three stores. 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. Soon thereafter, he arrived in Tombstone, where he joined the Cochise County Cowboys and began an antagonistic relationship with Wyatt Earp and his associates. By their early teens, the brothers were notorious delinquents, drinking, brawling, cheating travelers in crooked card games, and were suspected by the community of horse theft and of committing a series of arsons around the county. In 1869, Jesse murdered a cashier during a robbery, after mistaking him for the man who had killed his former guerrilla commander, "Bloody Bill' Anderson. Halting the stagecoach, he would cover the driver with his shotgun while politely ordering him to throw down the strongbox. History Collection The Notorious Men of the Wild West, Smithsonian Magazine Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West, University of Nebraska Finding Law & Order in The Wild West, The Independent The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality, Gold Bug Park Black Bart: The Gentleman Bandit, Herald Democrat Sam Bass Stood Out in the Wild West, History Collection Americas First Serial Killers and Many More Deadly Historic Figures, History Channel Vigilantes Yank Train Robbers from Jail and Hang Them, Smithsonian Magazine How the Reno Gang Launched the Era of American Train Robberies, Civil War on the Western Border Jesse James and Frank James, History of Yesterday The Robin Hood of America. Whenever they encountered somebody riding a horse they liked, they offered to trade, and shot the rider if he declined. 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. Over the following year, Brazelton committed at least another 8 stagecoach robberies in Arizona and New Mexico. Frank returned home in 1864, and with his brother John formed the Reno Gang, and was joined by horse thieves, safecrackers, counterfeiters, gamblers and other neer do wells, and began robbing Post Offices and stores in southern Indiana. After the acquittal, Frank and his gang grew more violent, effectively took over the small town of Rockford Indiana, whose Rader House hotel became their headquarters, and started robbing and murdering unwary travelers who checked in. John Johnny Ringo (1850 1882) was born in Indiana, and his family moved to Missouri in 1858, and thence to California. Tipped off that a warrant had been issued for their arrest, the duo sold their ranch in May, 1905, and fled to Chile. 1. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 17th Illinois Infantry, Union Army and was badly wounded in a battle at Fredericktown, Missouri, After the war, he traveled through different states before. Man leads woman on a walk or a ride into the wilderness. 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. Wyatt Earp then formed a posse and went after the suspects in the murder of his brother Morgan and the earlier shooting of his other brother, Virgil. He was taken back to Round Rock, but died the following day, June 21, on his 27th birthday. In April, the Earps had left Tombstone, and by June, Ringo had returned. Powered by WordPress. Eventually, they resorted to horse stealing and murdering white settlers. 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. Allison was charged with manslaughter, but charges were dropped because the constable had fired first. Frank Reno was then dragged from his cell in the early hours and lynched, followed soon thereafter by the remaining gang members. Trying to find women outlaws in 19th century Appalachia produced few results. An American Confederate guerilla-turned outlaw, he became a member of the James-Younger gang along with his younger siblings, Jim, John and Bob with Jesse and Frank James. Harpe Brothers - In 1799, the Governor of Kentucky offered a reward for the capture of either or both of the Harpes - Micajah "Big" Harpe and Wiley "Little" Harpe, accused of killings in southern Illinois, East Tennessee, and Kentucky. Bass eluded capture until one of his gang was pressured into turning informant, and told the Rangers of Bass plan to rob a bank in Round Rock, Texas. On August 10, 1895, US Marshals came across the gang in a hideout near Muskogee. The American Cowboy Chronicles. 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. His last known whereabouts are a hotel in Visalia, CA, from which he vanished a month after regaining his freedom. This American outlaw and gunfighter claimed to have killed 42 men, though the newspapers attributed only 27 killings. The following year, Fisher went to see a play with a friend in San Antonio, but was killed when a quarrel between his friend and the theater owner ended with Fisher and friend ambushed in their theater box and cut down in a hail of bullets. 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. 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. Taken into Muskogee, the gang barely escaped lynching by a Creek mob, which dispersed only after a tribal chief pleaded with them, and the US Marshals vowed to shoot the first man who tried to seize their prisoners. The Bandit Queen was born Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr before becaming a notorious outlaw. Spouse: Zerelda Mimms. He was also a heavy-drinker and while working as a tax collector has accidentally killed Marshal Fred White. 6. 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. 27, 2010", "Amazing Race Couple Get New Home and Car", "Duncan Hines: The Man Behind The Cake Mix", "Johnson County History and That's a Fact", "Thanks for visiting Anchorage, Kentucky! Wearing a mask, Brazelton forced the driver to get down and secure the lead horses by the bit. Continue with Recommended Cookies, Home - History - 25 Most Notorious Outlaws Of The Wild West, Posted by List25 Team, Updated on November 18, 2022. He first gained fame as a member of the Black Hills Bandits, a gang that staged the biggest train robbery in the history of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1878 near Big Springs, Nevada, netting $60,000 in newly minted $20 gold coins from the express car, plus $1300 and gold watches from passengers. Woman loves man and man loves (or pretends to love) woman. He and his brothers pleaded guilty to avoid the death sentence and were later paroled. The James-Younger Gang. In 1872, he bought a ranch on the Mexican border and used it as a base of operations for cattle rustling raids into Mexico. The Rangers reached the small town on June 19, 1878, the same day as Bass. The couple lived in Jackson County, Missouri, and . The Harpe Brothers from the book The World's Worst Psychopaths by Victor McQueen, Harpe Brothers - Nashville Tennessean 1938, Micajah Harpe execution - Nashville Tennessean 1963. During the next two decades he, his brother Jesse, and their sidekicks, the Younger brothers, became America's most famous outlaws. Born Crawford Goldsby, Cherokee Bill was a 19th century outlaw who was known to have a quick trigger finger. 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. Together with their three female companions, they terrorizd an plundered whole counties in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Infamous criminals such as Charles Arthur Floyd, better known as "Pretty Boy Floyd," have connections to the area. As the dispute lingered into months, he and Cattle Kate were branded as outlaws and eventually killed. Clay Allison (1841 1887) was born and raised in Tennessee, and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. There is no evidence that the gang ever shared its loot with any outside their immediate personal circle, but the portrayal fell on receptive ears, particularly in the pro-Southern parts of Missouri. As I rushed upon him he put out his hands and clutched at my shotgun. On the way back, they raped a middle-aged widow. "Amanda Matthews of Prometheus Art Selected to Create Monument to Journalist Nelly Bly on Roosevelt Island, Press Release, October 16, 2019". A gunfighter may or may not be an outlaw or a lawman. 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. Kid Curry Takes On the Knoxville Department, This Murder Done: Misogyny, Femicide, and Modernity in 19th Century Appalachia Murder Ballads, The Harpes Two Outlaws of Pioneer Times, The Devil in Appalachia: The Bloodthirsty Harpe Brothers, RPGs and PTSD or How Gaming Turned into Therapy. Born and raised in Texas, John King Fisher (1853 1884) turned bad at an early age. Witnesses reported seeing Stillwell fleeing from the scene, and a Coroners jury listed Stillwell among the suspects in the assassination. He never fired his weapon, and sometimes left behind handwritten poems, which further enhanced his notoriety and gained him the nickname Black Bart the Poet. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Following are 12 notorious outlaws who operated in the heyday of the Wild West. Rewards were posted for outlaws which encouraged citizens to capture or kill them for the reward, leading to the profession of bounty hunter people who would find and capture/kill those with a bounty placed on their head by the law. They were arrested, but broke out of jail and escaped to Indiana, where they resumed train robberies, one of which netted them $96,000, a princely sum that gained the Reno Gang worldwide fame. They also got into stagecoach and train robberies where they netted $60,000 from the gold train, the largest robbery of the Union Pacific. Soon thereafter, he joined bandits who raided across the border into Mexico, and adopted adopting a flamboyant persona, dressing in flashy clothes, such as a black Mexican jacket embroidered with gold, a red sash, a wide sombrero, and sporting silver-plated and ivory-handled pistols. He and his gang terrorized the Indian Territory for over two years before he was hanged on March 17, 1896 at the age of 20. When he unexpectedly succeeded in escaping, they killed his assistant in frustration. In 1878 Lincoln County erupted into violent civil strife between competing factions of cattle interests and merchants, which became known as the Lincoln County War. 25 Most Notorious Outlaws Of The Wild West. Over the following years, he joined posses that chased cattle rustlers, and lynched those captured. An orphan at age 15, arrested the first time at 16, he fled to Arizona as an outlawed fugitive. Marshal Virgil Earp and Cochise County, Arizona Sheriff Johnny Behan. Born Hyman G. Neil, the leader of the Dodge City Gang that terrorized Las Vegas, New Mexico from 1879 to early 1880 was considered to be the baddest cowboy of them all. Theyd earlier gained notoriety as members of Quantrills Raiders, a small group of pro-Confederate guerillas who harassed Union soldiers along the Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. 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. Big Harpe was killed in 1799 and his head stuck Jesse was twice wounded during the war, the second occurring at wars end when he was shot in the chest by Union cavalry as he tried to surrender. 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. Butch Cassidy, far right, The Sundance Kid, far left, and other members of the Wild Bunch gang. 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. Jesse James (1847 1882) was born and raised in a part of Missouri that had strong Southern sympathies, and when the Civil War broke out, he joined pro-Confederacy guerrillas led by men such as Bloody Bill Anderson and William Quantrill, who committed sundry atrocities during the conflict in which Jesse and his elder brother Frank took part. 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After a furious firefight, they were forced to surrender when they ran out of ammunition. Charles Earl Boles, AKA Black Bart (1829 after 1888) was born in England, before his family emigrated to New York in 1831. Both were finally killed. At 10:50 p.m. on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was pronounced dead . After the war, Boles returned to prospecting for gold, but in 1871, had a run in with Wells Fargo agents that left him vowing vengeance. To escape a backlash, their father was forced to flee, taking Frank and John and two other sons, to live in Missouri for a few years. So common were these occurrences that there arose a genre of songs known as Appalachian Murdered Girl Ballads. According to Ariadne Blayde, . Bowdre sided with the faction that included William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid, and rode with him as a member of the Regulators a gathering of small ranch owners and cowboys commissioned as a posse by a local justice of the peace, who set out to avenge the murder of one of their factions leaders. Wikimedia Commons. One of the most famous members of the James-Younger Gang, he became a criminal for robbing banks, stage coaches and trains. He used his high ranking political position to cover up most of the gangs crimes, but the citizens of Las Vegas had enough of his corruption and they organized vigilantes to overthrow him in the summer of 1880. If youve enjoyed this post, leave a comment. When an outlaw committed a crime, the local sheriff or marshal would usually form a posse to attempt to capture them. Some individuals, like Jesse James, became outlaws after serving in the Civil War. 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. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Member of Kentucky House of Representatives from District 7, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from District 52, Member of the Kentucky State Senate from 1987 to 2012, president of the state Senate from 2000 to 2012; Republican U.S. Senate nominee in 1992, gubernatorial nominee in 2011; current 40th District circuit judge, Member of the Kentucky State Senate from District 16 in south central Kentucky, former FBI agent, Born, reared, and resides in Campbellsville in Taylor County, Country and comedy musician, member of the, "Old time" country and gospel music singer, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and, Singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, actress, and model, Soul jazz piano player and vocalist; crossover artist into R&B and soul, Former guitarist for hard rock groups Kingdom Come, Wild Horses and Warrant, Princeton University astrophysical sciences professor and Doomsday argument theory, NASA scientist, associate director of NASA's Ames Research Center, "Mars czar", 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Olympic and professional boxing champion and activist, Virginia Tech Defensive Coordinator 19952019, First woman to make solo crossing of Atlantic Ocean by rowboat or ski to geographic South Pole, Professional basketball player in NBA and for, C.A.R.T. He was also credited for killing 12 people during gunfights, but was eventually lynched by angry mobs for killing a former Deputy US Marshal. 7 New York Yankees GM", "Kentucky's Historian Laureate: Thomas D. Clark", "Dannah Prather, Happy Trails Pardner: Kentuckian hands reins to Christ, now shares gospel on horseback, April. He ambushed his victims at night wearing a black frock coat, so as not to be easily detected. A month later, his body was discovered beneath a tree with a bullet hole in the head. He then spent the majority of his life being pursued by the law until he was captured in 1878. 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. 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. WBUR What Drove Wild Wests Jesse James to Become an Outlaw? In 1906, they moved to Bolivia, and worked as guards for a mining company. Soon thereafter, Wyatt Earp, a deputy US Marshall, formed a federal posse to hunt down those deemed responsible for shooting his brothers. Wells Fargo detectives then canvassed San Francisco laundromats until they found the right one, and from it learned the identity of the handkerchiefs owner. Billy is fourth from the left. They were later killed after being tracked down by the US Cavalry. 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Robert James, Jesse . 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. 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? An outlaw had usually been convicted of a crime, such as Black Bart, but may have only gained a reputation as operating outside the law, such as Ike Clanton.