Volume 17 , Issue 23

Outlaws of the Wild West

Have you noticed that films, songs, folklore and even video games has made the American West become known and famous for its cowboys, gunslingers and outlaws. And ... the most notorious outlaws of the wild west were considered enemies of the state. Today they are often spoken of as heroes and trailblazers. Did you know that Doc Holiday was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 15?



The Notorious Outlaws of the Wild West consisted of Doc Holiday, Thomas Edward Ketchum, John Joshua Webb, Hoodoo Brown, Cherokee Bill, Isaac "Ike" Black, Henry Newton Brown, The Blood Espinosas, William "Curly Bill" Brocius, Sam Bass, James Averell, Thomas Coleman Younger, Zip Wyatt, James Miller, Bonnie and Clyde, Fred Waite, The Sundance Kid, Pearl Hart, Butch Cassidy, Belle Starr, John Wesley Hardin, Geronimo, Jesse James, the Apache Kid, and Billy the Kid.

Zip Wyatt - Born Nathaniel Ellsworth Wyatt, Zip was also known for his other aliases, Wild Charlie and Dick Yeager. His father who was frequently arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct was known in Guthrie, Oklahoma as "Old Six-Shooter Bill;" while his older brother, Nim, a professional gambler, was known as"Six-Shooter Jack." His life as an outlaw started on June 3, 1891 when he shot up the town of Mulhall and wounded two citizens. While evading arrests, he became involved in a life of crimes including a number of robberies and other crimes.

Butch Cassidy - Also known as Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, he was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch Gang, which was known for the longest strings of successful train and bank robberies in history. He got his moniker when he was caught and convicted for horse thievery in Sundance, Wyoming. He and Robert LeRoy Parker formed a gang after he was released from prison in 1896 and it was believed that he was killed in a shootout in Bolivia, though his family members refuted it.

Belle Starr - The Bandit Queen was born Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr before becaming 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."

Geronimo - 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.

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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