Soapy Smith cashes in his chips. July 8, 1898, Jefferson Randolph Smith II--better known as conman Soapy Smith--is shot to death on a wharf in...
A Conman’s End Game
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Outlaw
A Berry Gets Plucked
Outlaw Jim Berry doesn’t get far after a big haul. Jim Berry was a part of a robbery outfit (photo) that included Sam Bass and made its mark in the...
Butch’s Beginnings
Cassidy’s first bank robbery. Monday, June 24, 1889. Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner enter the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado at around...
No Winners
The fatal gunfight between an outlaw and a lawman. “Black Face’ Charlie Bryant—his face bears powder marks from a shooting scrape—was a member of...
Nowhere to Run
Outlaw Nick Worthington comes to a bloody end. June 18, 1878. A group of men spot outlaw Nick Worthington outside the St. James Hotel in Cimarron,...
The Man Who Killed the Man Who Killed Jesse James
Ed O’Kelley blows away Bob Ford. June 8, 1892. Ed O'Kelley blasts Robert Ford into eternity in Ford's tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. O'Kelley...
He Knew Where the Bodies Were
Burt Alvord and a practical joke. The story (maybe the legend) goes that Arizona lawman/outlaw Burt Alvord loved practical jokes. He and Matt Burts...
A Deal Gone Bad
How a failed arrangement helped lead to Tombstone’s street fight. June 2, 1881. Wyatt Earp approaches Cowboy Ike Clanton with a proposal. If Clanton...
Cassidy’s First Crime
Butch hits a Colorado bank. On June 24th, 1889, Butch Cassidy—still known as Bob Parker—pulled off his first major criminal act. He and Matt Warner...
The Many Sides of Burt Alvord
Lawman, outlaw, gambler and more. Burt Alvord wasn’t exactly a household name among Arizona’s notorious outlaws. They also said he wasn’t the...
The Making of a Legend
Why did Jesse James become so famous? Why was Jesse James one of the most famous outlaws of the Old West? Well, for starters, he had a great name,...
Renegades of the Rails
Railroads were open season for Oklahoma and Indian Territory outlaw gangs. Glenn Shirley, the late historian of Oklahoma’s frontier history of...