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Kid Curry was
one of the most violent criminals of the Wild West. He killed at least
15 men in his career. He was strong and stocky, and he could draw and
shoot a gun in the blink of an eye, so he usually won if someone tried
to fight him.
His real name
was Harvey Logan. His first disturbance with the law was while he lived
in a ranching town in Montana called “Landusky.” He and his
brothers were accused of cattle rustling and were always in trouble with
the town marshall. One afternoon, they decided to storm the saloon and
“rough up” the saloon owner, Mr. Landusky. When Landusky drew
his gun, Harvey shot him, and even though others were willing to testify
that the killing had been in self-defense, Harvey ran, and was a fugitive
and an outlaw for the rest of his life.
As a member of
the “Curry Gang,” he robbed post offices, trains, and banks
in several states. Later, when he joined Butch Cassidy’s “Wild
Bunch” he went by the alias “Kid Curry.”
When the Wild
Bunch broke up, Butch Cassidy tried to get Kid Curry to go with him to
South America. Instead, Curry decided to tour the country. He killed another
criminal in a saloon in Tennessee and was captured and sent to jail. Women
who had read about his deeds in the papers and the dime novels of the
day, came to the jail to bring him cookies, flowers, and love notes, and
to hear his stories. Pretty soon, he got bored with jail and made friends
with the jailer. One day, he reached through the bars of the jail and
grabbed the jailer and forced the jailer to help him escape.
A short time later,
three masked men held up a train in Colorado. A posse tracked them to
a gully and one of the bandits was badly wounded in a gunfight between
the bandits and the posse. The wounded man talked the other two into leaving
him behind so he could hold off the posse while they escaped. The next
morning, the posse discovered the body of the lone bandit. He had shot
himself so he could not be captured alive. Detectives later identified
the body as that of Kid Curry.
Kid
Curry's Gang blew up this express car during the Great Northern Flyer
Robbery
To read another
biography about Kid Curry, click
here.
Read about Kid's jail escapes. Click
here.
If you want to learn some important dates about the "Wild Bunch"click
here.
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