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Legends of the Old Westll

Famous Cowboys, Lawmen, Outlaws and Pioneers,

with images and information

(Also see Famous Cowboy Characters, and Famous Cowboys Actors

 

("Cowboy" is not sex specific, just like highboy, busboy, bellboy, paperboy, etc.)

 

   
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Outlaws of the Old West sorted by Cause of Death

 

Bill Walters, "Bronco Bill"
  Bill Walters, "Bronco Bill" 
Birth Name: William E. Walters
• Outlaw during the closing days of the Old West, best known for the legend of his "lost treasure"
Born: 1869, ? ?  → Died: 1921, June 16
Age: 52y ?m ?d → Cause of death: accidental fall
Bill Miner
  Bill Miner 
Birth Name: Ezra Allen Miner (aka "Gentleman Bandit")
• Stagecoach robber, known for his politeness
Born: 1847, ? ?  → Died: 1913, September 2
Age: 66y ?m ?d → Cause of death: gastritis
William Longley
  William Longley 
Birth Name: William Preston Longley
• Outlaw, ruthless and ill-tempered gunfighter; killed at least 32 people
Born: 1851, October 6  → Died: 1878, October 11
Age: 27y 4m 5d → Cause of death: hanged
William Tattenbaum
  William Tattenbaum 
Birth Name: William Tattenbaum (aka Russian Bill)
• A cattle rustler and trouble maker who claimed to be from Russian nobility
Born: 1853, ? ?  → Died: 1881, November 9
Age: 28y ?m ?d → Cause of death: hanged
Black Jack Ketchum
  Black Jack Ketchum 
Birth Name: Thomas Edward Ketchum
• Cowboy turned robber, member of Hole in the Wall gang
Born: 1863, October 31  → Died: 1901, April 26
Age: 37y 5m 26d → Cause of death: hanged
Tiburcio_Vásquez Vásquez
  Tiburcio_Vásquez Vásquez 
Birth Name: Tiburcio Vásquez
• America's most infamous Hispanic bandit and horse stealer.
Born: 1835, April 11  → Died: 1875, March 19
Age: 39y 11m 8d → Cause of death: hanged
Tom Horn
  Tom Horn 
Birth Name: Tom Horn (Aka: James Hicks)
• Lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, detective, outlaw and assassin
Born: 1860, November 21  → Died: 1903, November 20
Age: 42y 11m 30d → Cause of death: hanged
Billy Brooks
  Billy Brooks 
Birth Name: William L. "Buffalo Bill" Brooks
• Buffalo hunter, gunfighter, stage driver, marshal.
Born: 1832, ? ?  → Died: 1874, July 29
Age: 42y ?m ?d → Cause of death: hanged

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Jim Miller
  Jim Miller 
Birth Name: James Brown Miller (Deacon Jim)
• Outlaw and professional killer, said to have killed 12 people during gunfights
Born: 1861, October 25  → Died: 1909, April 19
Age: 47y 5m 25d → Cause of death: hanged
Ella Watson
  Ella Watson 
Birth Name: Ellen Liddy Watson ("Cattle Kate")
• Pioneer of Wyoming, accused of cattle rustling by powerful cattlemen
Born: 1861, July 2  → Died: 1889, July 20
Age: 28y 0m 18d → Cause of death: hanged by irate cattle men
Texas Jack Vermillion
  Texas Jack Vermillion 
Birth Name: John Wilson Vermillion
• Gunfighter, soldier, lawman, outlaw, Methodist preacher; participated in the Earp vendetta ride
Born: 1842, ? ?  → Died: 1911, ? ?
Age: 69y ?m ?d → Cause of death: heart attack in his sleep
Frank James
  Frank James 
Birth Name: Alexander Frank James
• Bank robber; rode with William Quantrill's raiders; later shoe salesman
Born: 1843, January 10  → Died: 1915, February 18
Age: 72y 1m 8d → Cause of death: heart failure
Cole Younger
  Cole Younger 
Birth Name: Thomas Coleman Younger
• Train and bank robber; lectured and toured with Frank James in a wild west show  (2)
Born: 1844, January 15  → Died: 1916, March 21
Age: 72y 2m 6d → Cause of death: old age
Frank Canton
  Frank Canton  
Birth Name: Josiah Horner
• Lawman, gunslinger, cowboy and at one point in his life, an outlaw
Born: 1849, September 15  → Died: 1927, September 27
Age: 78y 0m 12d → Cause of death: old age
Pearl Hart
  Pearl Hart 
Birth Name: Pearl Taylor (aka Talo Halo, Bandit Queen, Lady Bandit, Pearl Taylor Hart, Pearl Bywater)
• Committed one of the last recorded stagecoach robberies in the United States by a female; the dates of her birth and death are uncertain
Born: 1876, November 13  → Died: 1955, December 28
Age: 79y 1m 15d → Cause of death: old age
Dutch Henry
  Dutch Henry 
Birth Name: Henry Borne
• One of the most prevalent horse thieves and cattle rustlers of the old west
Born: 1849, July 2  → Died: 1921, January 10
Age: 80y 6m 14d → Cause of death: pneumonia
King Fisher
  King Fisher 
Birth Name: John King Fisher
• Gunfighter, gang leader, rancher
Born: 1854, ? ?  → Died: 1884, March 11
Age: 30y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot as he leapt from a theater balcony

 

 

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Billy the Kid
  Billy the Kid  
Birth Name: William Henry McCarty (Aka: Henry Antrim, William H. Bonney)
• Outlaw, gunfighter, member of the Regulators gang
Born: 1859, November 23  → Died: 1881, July 14
Age: 21y 7m 21d → Cause of death: shot by Pat Garrett
Jesse James
  Jesse James 
Birth Name: Jesse Woodson James
• Bank and train robber, killer; member of outlaw Clement gang
Born: 1847, September 5  → Died: 1882, April 3
Age: 34y 6m 29d → Cause of death: shot by Robert Ford
Bill Doolin
  Bill Doolin 
Birth Name: William Doolin
• Bandit, founder of the Wild Bunch gang
Born: 1858, ? ?  → Died: 1896, August 24
Age: 38y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot by US Marshall Heck Thomas
Curly Bill Brocius
  Curly Bill Brocius 
Birth Name: William "Curly Bill" Brocius
• Gunman, rustler and outlaw cowboy
Born: 1845, ? ?  → Died: 1882, March 24
Age: 37y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot by Wyatt Earp
Ike Clanton
  Ike Clanton 
Birth Name: Joseph Isaac Clanton
• Cattle rustler; involved in the Gunfight at the OK Corral
Born: 1847, ? ?  → Died: 1887, June 1
Age: 40y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot dead resisting arrest
Bob Dalton
  Bob Dalton 
Birth Name: Robert Rennick Dalton
• Train and bank robber (1)
Born: 1869, May 13  → Died: 1892, October 5
Age: 23y 4m 22d → Cause of death: shot during a bank robbery
Grat Dalton
  Grat Dalton 
Birth Name: Gratton Hanley Dalton
• Train, bank robber  (1)
Born: 1861, March 30  → Died: 1892, October 5
Age: 31y 6m 5d → Cause of death: shot during a bank robbery
Arkansas Tom Jones
  Arkansas Tom Jones 
Birth Name: Roy Daugherty
• Outlaw and a member of the Wild Bunch gang
Born: 1870, ? ?  → Died: 1924, August 16
Age: 54y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot during a gunfight
Big Jim Courtright
  Big Jim Courtright 
Birth Name: Timothy Isaiah Courtright (Tim Isaiah)
• Lawman, gunfighter,
Born: 1848, ? ?  → Died: 1887, February 8
Age: 39y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot in a gunfight

 

 

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Sherman McMaster
  Sherman McMaster 
Birth Name: Sherman W. McMaster
• Outlaw, became Texas Ranger, rode with Wyatt Earp.
Born: 1853, ? ?  → Died: 1892, ? ?
Age: 39y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot in a gunfight
Pony Diehl
  Pony Diehl 
Birth Name: Charles "Pony Diehl" Ray
• Outlaw in the New Mexico Territory and Arizona Territory
Born: 1848, ? ?  → Died: 1888, ? ?
Age: 40y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot in a gunfight
John Selman
  John Selman 
Birth Name: John Selman
• outlaw and sometimes lawman; known as the man who shot John Hardin
Born: 1839, November 16  → Died: 1896, April 6
Age: 42y 2m 24d → Cause of death: shot in a shootout
Belle Starr
  Belle Starr 
Birth Name: Myra Belle Shirley Reed Starr (The Bandit Queen)
• Rustling, horse stealing, bootlegging whiskey
Born: 1848, February 5  → Died: 1889, February 3
Age: 40y 11m 29d → Cause of death: shot in an ambush
Black Jack Christian
  Black Jack Christian 
Birth Name: William Christian
• Robber, killer, member of the "High Fives Gang"
Born: 1871, ? ?  → Died: 1897, April 28
Age: 26y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot in gun fight with a posse
Bob Ford
  Bob Ford 
Birth Name: Robert Newton "Bob" Ford
• Outlaw; the man who shot Jesse James
Born: 1862, January 31  → Died: 1892, June 8
Age: 30y 4m 8d → Cause of death: shot in the chest
John Younger
  John Younger 
Birth Name: John Harrison Younger
• Train and bank robber, killer  (2)
Born: 1851, ? ?  → Died: 1874, March 17
Age: 23y ?m ?d → Cause of death: shot in the neck
Sam Bass
  Sam Bass 
Birth Name: Sam Bass
• Train robber, outlaw, and outlaw gang leader. His gang committed the biggest train robbery ever committed in the United States.
Born: 1851, July 21  → Died: 1878, July 21
Age: 27y 0m 0d → Cause of death: shot, died of wounds on his birthday.
Jim Younger
  Jim Younger 
Birth Name: James Hardin Younger
• Rancher, train and bank robber  (2)
Born: 1848, January 15  → Died: 1902, October 19
Age: 54y 9m 4d → Cause of death: suicide

 

 

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Johnny Ringo
  Johnny Ringo  
Birth Name: John Peters Ringo
• Robber, killer; member of Clanton gang
Born: 1850, May 3  → Died: 1882, July 13
Age: 32y 2m 10d → Cause of death: suicide by gun
Kid Curry
  Kid Curry  
Birth Name: Harvey Logan
• Outlaw, gunman, "wildest of the Wild Bunch"
Born: 1867, ? ?  → Died: 1904, June 17
Age: 37y ?m ?d → Cause of death: suicide during a gun battle
Sundance Kid, the
  Sundance Kid, the  
Birth Name: Harry Alonzo Longabaugh
• Robber; member of the Wild Bunch gang
Born: 1867, ? ?  → Died: 1909, November 6
Age: 42y ?m ?d → Cause of death: suicide while surrounded and trapped
Butch Cassidy
  Butch Cassidy 
Birth Name: Robert LeRoy Parker
• Robber; member of the Wild Bunch gang
Born: 1866, April 13  → Died: 1909, November 6
Age: 43y 6m 24d → Cause of death: suicide while trapped
Blue Duck
  Blue Duck 
Birth Name: Sha-con-gah (Cherokee)
• Outlaw and boyfriend of Belle Starr
Born: 1859, June 17  → Died: 1895, May 7
Age: 35y 10m 20d → Cause of death: tuberculosis
Bob Younger
  Bob Younger 
Birth Name: Robert Ewing Younger
• Train and bank robber (2)
Born: 1853, October 29  → Died: 1889, September 16
Age: 35y 10m 18d → Cause of death: tuberculosis while in prison
Emmett Dalton
  Emmett Dalton 
Birth Name: Emmett Dalton
• Train and bank robber, real estate agent, author and actor  (1)
Born: 1871, May 3  → Died: 1937, July 13
Age: 66y 2m 10d → Cause of death: unknown
Black Bart
  Black Bart 
Birth Name: Charles E. Boles
• (Also Bolles) Good-mannered stage coach robber
Born: 1829, ? ?  → Died: 1888, February 28
Age: 59y ?m ?d → Cause of death: unknown, last seen February 28, 188)

   Footnotes

    Note 1:  Dalton brothers gang included George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, "Blackfaced" Charlie Bryant, Bill Doolin, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers.

    Note 2:  The Younger gang included Clell Miller, Arthur McCoy, Charlie Pitts, John Jarrette,and Bill Chadwell.

    Not included are eastern pioneers, such as Daniel Boone, because they belong to, shall we say, the Old East.

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The contents of this page are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).
("Cowboy" is not sex specific, just like highboy, busboy, bellboy, paperboy, etc.)

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  First cause of death

 on each page

 

1. accidental fall  (Bill Walters, "Bronco Bill")
2. hanged  (Jim Miller)
3. shot by Pat Garrett  (Billy the Kid )
4. shot in a gunfight  (Sherman McMaster)
5. suicide by gun  (Johnny Ringo )

    Go to last row

 

 
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Sorted by cause of death
    for Outlaws

 

1.   accidental fall (Bill Walters, "Bronco Bill")
2.   gastritis (Bill Miner)
3.   hanged (William Longley)
4.   hanged (William Tattenbaum)
5.   hanged (Black Jack Ketchum)
6.   hanged (Tiburcio_Vásquez Vásquez)
7.   hanged (Tom Horn)
8.   hanged (Billy Brooks)
9.   hanged (Jim Miller)
10.   hanged by irate cattle men (Ella Watson)
11.   heart attack in his sleep (Texas Jack Vermillion)
12.   heart failure (Frank James)
13.   old age (Cole Younger)
14.   old age (Frank Canton )
15.   old age (Pearl Hart)
16.   pneumonia (Dutch Henry)
17.   shot as he leapt from a theater balcony (King Fisher)
18.   shot by Pat Garrett (Billy the Kid )
19.   shot by Robert Ford (Jesse James)
20.   shot by US Marshall Heck Thomas (Bill Doolin)
21.   shot by Wyatt Earp (Curly Bill Brocius)
22.   shot dead resisting arrest (Ike Clanton)
23.   shot during a bank robbery (Bob Dalton)
24.   shot during a bank robbery (Grat Dalton)
25.   shot during a gunfight (Arkansas Tom Jones)
26.   shot in a gunfight (Big Jim Courtright)
27.   shot in a gunfight (Sherman McMaster)
28.   shot in a gunfight (Pony Diehl)
29.   shot in a shootout (John Selman)
30.   shot in an ambush (Belle Starr)
31.   shot in gun fight with a posse (Black Jack Christian)
32.   shot in the chest (Bob Ford)
33.   shot in the neck (John Younger)
34.   shot, died of wounds on his birthday. (Sam Bass)
35.   suicide (Jim Younger)
36.   suicide by gun (Johnny Ringo )
37.   suicide during a gun battle (Kid Curry )
38.   suicide while surrounded and trapped (Sundance Kid, the )
39.   suicide while trapped (Butch Cassidy)
40.   tuberculosis (Blue Duck)
41.   tuberculosis while in prison (Bob Younger)
42.   unknown (Emmett Dalton)
43.   unknown, last seen February 28, 188) (Black Bart)

 

 

 

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