Windy Cahill becomes the first victim of Billy. August 17, 1877. Henry McCarty, also known as Henry Antrim, later known as Billy the Kid, kills his...
The Kid’s First Kill
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old west outlaw
A Shootist is Shot
Wes Hardin goes the way he lived… August 19, 1895. Famed gunfighter John Wesley Hardin is throwing dice in El Paso's Acme Saloon. John Selman walks...
Drop Your Guns
Lawmen attempted to disarm outlaw Sam Bass, not realizing who he was. On July 19, 1878, the Sam Bass gang was in Round Rock, Texas to rob the local...
Don’t Reach for Your Six-Shooter Unless You’re Sure Somebody Hasn’t Snatched It
Bill Downing was one of the most disliked fellows in Old Arizona. He was moody, morose, bad-tempered, sullen and surly. And that was when he was...
Into the Den of Infamy
The Last Hours of the Notorious King Fisher The hack delivered King Fisher and Ben Thompson to the Vaudeville Theatre within a few minutes, as it...
He Talked His Life Away
Wild Bill Hickok was under constant fear of assassination by glory hunters. He spread newspapers on his bedroom floor at night in case someone tried...
The Big Score
The Reno Gang’s last robbery is their largest. May 28, 1868. Just two months after breaking jail, the Reno Gang makes its biggest score. Some 12...
The Reno Gang: Arrested
Most wanted outlaws go to jail…for a time. March 28, 1868. Four members of the Reno Gang—led by Frank Reno (photo)--are arrested and jailed...
A Legend is Born
The legend of Wild Bill Hickok was born in 1867, when George Ward Nichols' article in "Harpers Weekly," made Wild Bill Hickok the Old West's first...
The Bandit Bard
How the English-born, Civil War veteran’s career as America’s most prolific poet-stagecoach robber began on the backroads of California’s gold...
Two Men; Two Dead
A gunfight between an outlaw and a lawman killed both. Ed Short (picture) was marshal of Hennessey, Indian Territory and a deputy U.S. marshal in...
The Strange and Mesmerizing Death of the Outlaw Jesse James
For over 140 years, Bob Ford’s cowardly killing of Jesse James has fascinated historians seeking the truth behind the assassination. “That man is...