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There is something exciting about the outlaws and best gunfighters of the Wild West, we fantasize about. These outlaws were powerful outlaws and we are going to learn about these men! They didn’t give a f@&$ about rules and would kill anyone who was in there way! Let’s take a look at the top outlaws of the Wild West!

Henry Mc Carty also known as Billy the kid.

Billy the kid was a horse thief, cattle rustler, gambler, cowboy and ranch hand. His first arrest was for stealing clothes from laundry 🧺 He never robbed a bank or a train. His main crime was rustling cattle on the New Mexico plains. He was involved in 9 murders and had a 5,000 reward. Although Billy the kid was a very laid back cool attitude, Billy was not afraid to draw his six shooter! Rumor has it, he lived after the shooting on him in 1881.

Jesse Woodson James, A.k.a. Jesse James!

Jesse James was an outlaw who robbed banks and trains and was a guerilla fghter and leader of the James-Young. He was raised in the “Little Dixie area of Western Missouri. His brother Fran James joined the pro-confederate guerillas , “Bushwackers”. The Bushwackers were accused of doing some heinous acts against the union soldiers and were involved in 24 unarmed union soldiers who were captured and executed. That was called the “Centralia Massacre in 1864”.

Now we are going to learn about the “Wild bunch” these are the train and bank robbers!

The leader of the “Wild bunch was a man named, but Butch Cassidy (a.ka.) was born as Robert Leroy Parker, born on April 13, 1886 and the Sundance kid (a.k.a) Harry Longabough were the leaders. Butch Cassidy left home when he was a teenager in hopes of having a better life. Then Cassidy met a man named Mike Cassidy and they started stealing cattle. So, out of respect , The once named Robert Leroy Parker decided to change his name to Butch Cassidy. Butch was said to be a really nice guy who never killed but robbed aTelluride bank in Colorado and stole $20,000 along with two other cowboys.

The gang was one of the loosest organized outlaw gangs that operated out of the “Hole in the wall” in Wyoming and they were the most successful train robbing gangs of that time! Here are the names of the other members, Elzy Lay, Tall Texan, News Carver, Camilla “Deaf Charley Hanks, Laura Bullion, Flat nose Curry, Kid Curry and Bob Meeks.Kid Curry was the wildest of the bunch. After they robbed banks and trains, he got water and slept with lots of prostitutes! He killed Himself in Colorado.

John Wesley Hardin is a very interesting man. He was pugnacious and competitive. A real gunfighter who was so cruel , he shot a man for snoring too loud! A vicious killer!

Here are movies based on this American outlaw. (1951) The Texas Rangers

(1953) The Lawless Breed, (1970) The Dirty Dingus Magee, (1994) Maverick and The shootist with John Wayne!

Wild Bill Hickock

James Bill Hickok was a folk hero of the west. He was a known as a driver, wagon master, soldier, spy, gunfighter, gambler, whiskey lover, actor who loved telling outlandish stories! He traveled west at 18 working as a stagecoach driver and then became a lawman on the Kansas and Nebraska frontiers. He fought for the union army Wild bill earned a reputation of fairness and courage and became a teamster with the the great freighting enterprise Russell Majors & Waddell creators of the Pony express in which he was told he was way too tall and heavy to ride. One of the stories he told was that he encountered a bear and shot it, angering it even more and Wild Bill took a knife to it’s throat! So, Wild Bill was quite the hero!

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