6/2/1899 - Operating without their leader (who has given his word to the governor of Wyoming never to molest the state again for an 1896 pardon from prison), Butch Cassidy, the Wild Bunch (also known as the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang or the Train Robbers Syndicate) attacks the Union Pacific Overland Flyer near Wilcox, Wyoming, at about 2:30 in the morning.
Cassidy - 1894 - Wyoming Territorial Prison
Though Cassidy is missing, the six hard cases who do participate in the robbery are a rogue's gallery of outlaws and killers ... Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, who will kill nine lawmen before committing suicide when cornered in Colorado after a robbery in 1904 (and two others that get on his bad side), Harry "The Sundance Kid" Longabaugh, thought to be the fastest shot of the gang, cowboy turned outlaw, Ben "The Tall Texan" Kilpatrick (unable to read or write, he will order beans any time the gang is in a restaurant, figuring the western staple will be on the menu), Will "News" Carver of Texas (he will lose a quick draw contest with a Texas lawman), rustler and robber, George "Flat Nose Curry" Sutherland (after too many rustling escapades, in Utah in 1900, he will be turned into a tobacco pouch, a pair of shoes, a wallet, and other skin goodies by the posse that kills him), and Camilla "Deaf Charlie" Hanks (he will lose a gunfight with two San Antonio police officers in 1902). It is a group that shoots first and doesn't bother to answer any questions later.
Members of The Wild Bunch - Fort Worth, Texas - 1901
Standing - Will Carver (L) and Harvey Logan (R)
Seated - Harry Longabaugh (L), Ben Kilpatrick (C), and Butch Cassidy (R)
Details planned for a perfect heist and getaway, at 2:18 on a Friday rainy night, at milepost #609, two masked men using a red lantern on the tracks, flag the locomotive into an emergency stop (the engineer believes that an upcoming bridge might be washed out). Guns out and at the ready to shoot Engineer W.R. Jones (who will be beaten on the head with a revolver by one of the outlaws for the engineer not moving fast enough) and his fireman, the outlaws have the train stop at the bridge, ignite fused dynamite they have placed on the bridge trestles, then pass over as the bridge explodes, cutting off an avenue of pursuit once the authorities find out about the robbery. The next step is the decoupling of the train, leaving the passenger cars behind, the outlaws have the train move forward another two miles to a position where the rest of the gang is waiting to loot the train's express car. It is there that the robbery goes somewhat wrong, compliments of the efforts of a very feisty express car employee named E. C. Woodcock.
The Tall Texan - Ben Kilpatrick
Previously robbed by members of the Wild Bunch, Woodcock has barricaded the express car and refuses to open the door when the bandits state they will blow him to hell if he doesn't open up ... and they are not bluffing. Dynamite placed, the door is blown to splinters and the outlaws enter to find Woodcock with a broken right arm and knocked unconscious by the explosion (Logan wants to put a bullet in the messenger's brain for the delay and trouble he has caused, but is dissuaded from holing Woodcock by other gang members) ... getting the combination to the safe from express messenger out of the question, the outlaws move to their standard Plan B, which is seemingly always more dynamite. And so it is that more dynamite gets exploded three different times to finally crack the safe ... with the last blast also destroying most of the car, blowing out its ceiling and walls.
Kaboom!
The Safe
Inside
A mistake, along with destroying the car and blowing bank notes into the night, the dynamite blast also jellies the remnants of a consignment of 50 pounds of raspberries which cover the bank notes. Scurrying about in the darkness, the gang covers themselves in goop as they gather between $30,000 and $50,000 in cash before vacating the area, also galloping away with 19 scarf pins, 29 sets of gold-plated cuff buttons, and 4 Elgin watches. Ill gotten gains saddle-bagged, after the outlaws split up and vanish into the night, the train moves forward about 12 miles and limps into the Wyoming town of Medicine Bow, where the robbery is reported. Telegraphs singing, within 24 hours of the robbery, over 100 possemen are in pursuit of the bandits, including a specially outfitted train that contains food, weapons, ammunition, horses, and manhunters like Deputy U.S. Marshal Joe Lefors.
Posse - Lefors is center on dark horse
Splitting up and riding to sites where they have fresh mounts waiting, Flatnose Curry, Logan, and the Sundance Kid rest awhile at Al Hudspeth's CY Ranch near Horse Ranch, Wyoming ... just long enough for Hudspeth to spot the outlaws. Presence reported in nearby Casper, the trio of badmen is soon the quarry of a 14 man posse headed by Converse County Sheriff Joe Hazen. Tracked into a deep ravine of huge boulders and crevices roughly 75 miles from the holdup site, a place known as Castle Creek, a gun battle ensues when Hazen and his men unexpectedly ride right into the outlaw camp. It is a battle that doesn't last long though as most of the posse loses heart when Logan fatal plugs Hazen with a rifle bullet through his stomach (the outlaws also have the advantage of using smokeless powder). Cut off from their horses, in the night, during a rain storm, the outlaws will swim the flooded creek and on foot, vanish, next showing up in New Mexico where prep is under way for a hit on the Colorado and Southern Railroadnear Folsom, New Mexico.
Kid Curry Disguised as a tramp - Fort Worth
Cleaned Up With Girlfriend Della Moore
Game changer ... the robbery and killing of Hazen cause the railroad to hire the Pinkerton Detective Agency to put an end to the depredations of the Wild Bunch ... which is accomplished in a few short years. The West becoming somewhat civilized, by 1902 every member of the gang will either be in hiding out of the country, in jail, or pushing up daises in graves scattered about the country.
Kid Curry in Death
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