The outlaws of Cochise County during the 1880s were a reckless breed and the fact that Curly Bill was one of their leaders says something of his toughness. No known photos
of him exist but Billy Breakenridge described him as “fully six feet tall, with black curly hair, freckled face, and well built.”
Newspapers referred to him as the terror of Cochise Cou

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows