Missing gold, mysterious deaths and disappearing identities are just some of the strange-but-true stories of the Wild West.
The outlaw who may have escaped
Billy the Kid supposedly died after being shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1881. But years later, a man from Texas named Ollie “Brushy Bill” Roberts claimed that he was Billy, and that Garrett had murdered someone else.
Roberts even tried to collect the pardon he said was promised to the outlaw. Most historians dismiss his claim. However, controversies surrounding photos, testimony, and Billy’s body have allowed the survival claim to linger.
Who was the mysterious “Bandit Queen”?
Pearl Hart was known for her involvement in the Arizona stagecoach robbery in 1899. Yet strangely, there are parts of Pearl Hart’s later life that are hard to confirm.
After her release from prison, there is little record of Hart in verifiable public accounts. Stories vary and claim she married, changed her name, returned to Arizona, or simply lived life quietly someplace else. Dates of death are even conflicting depending on the source.
What really happened to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
When two American outlaws known as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were reportedly killed by soldiers in Bolivia in 1908, there were questions about the true identities of the men who died.
After robbing a payroll in the town of San Vicente, the pair was killed in a nighttime shootout. But their bodies were never positively identified as Cassidy and Sundance, nor have their remains ever been found.
That opened the door for speculation that one or both men might have escaped and returned to the U.S. unknown. Several individuals have come forward over the years claiming to have seen Cassidy.
Who killed Johnny Ringo?
Gunfighter Johnny Ringo was discovered dead near a tree in Arizona Territory with a gunshot wound to his head in July 1882. Suicide was ruled as the cause of death and remains the most logical conclusion for modern historians. Conspiracy theories about his death began almost as soon as he was killed. Doc Holliday has often been implicated as Ringo’s killer.
Other theories blame Wyatt Earp or friends of the Earp faction. Timelines involved with Ringo’s death rule out several widely believed murder theories. Ringo’s turbulent lifestyle and the mystery of his death have fueled speculation ever since.
What happened to the Lost Dutchman’s gold?
Legend has it that somewhere in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains is an immense gold mine belonging to German immigrant Jacob Waltz, also known as the Dutchman.
Waltz knew where the mine was located but died penniless in 1891 without revealing the exact location of the mine. Adventurers have spent over 100 years combing through the craggy mountains, deciphering maps, clues, and rumors that point in contradictory directions. Some treasure hunters have even perished searching for it.
Who was really behind the Cowboys?
Cowboys are remembered as Wyatt Earp’s enemies, along with Doc Holliday and their companions, during the events around the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Separating the organized group from the loosely defined body of men also known as “Cowboys” is not easy.
Cattle rustling, stagecoach robbery, smuggling, and political conflicts were sometimes interconnected in chaotic ways in Arizona territory. Historians continue to question the organization of the group as well as the individuals involved in specific crimes. Hollywood would later simplify a tangled web of allegiances into clear-cut good versus evil.
Who killed Morgan Earp?
Morgan Earp was playing billiards in Tombstone on March 18, 1882, when he was fatally shot by gunmen through a window. Many men connected with the Cowboys were suspected, and some witnesses pointed fingers, but no one was ever convicted of killing Morgan.
Wyatt Earp thought he knew who did it, and shortly after began the notorious sprees of violence we remember as his Vendetta Ride. Suspicion is not proof, though. We don’t know for sure who fired that deadly shot even 140 years later.
Where is Victorio Peak’s treasure?
Treasure hunters have long sought legendary hoards across New Mexico. In the case of Victorio Peak, near Cloudcroft, prospectors have spun tales impossible to verify. Doc Noss, a prospector who staked a claim on the mountain ridge in the late 1930s, reported discovering a cache of gold bars, coins, and other loot hidden in a secret chamber.
Subsequent stories involved tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of treasure, buried crates filled with gold coins, conspiracies with the government moving in treasure, and more. The region is now closed to independent researchers because it is on the White Sands Missile Range. No known hoard matching the legends has ever been recovered.
Who killed Pat Garrett?
Billy the Kid’s killer, Pat Garrett, also had a suspicious death. Garrett was shot and killed while traveling on a remote road near Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1908. Garrett was killed by a man named Wayne Brazel, who claimed self-defense. Brazel was acquitted of Garrett’s murder.
However, many suspect that Garrett was killed by other wealthy individuals in the area, and that Brazel was working with them, or wasn’t the murderer at all. Historians are still unsure of what happened over 100 years later.
What happened to the Dalton Gang’s missing loot?
The Dalton Gang earned their reputation for robbing trains and banks throughout the Wild West until their failed attempt to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1892. When several members of the gang were killed during the robbery, rumors persisted that money stolen in earlier robberies was buried and never recovered. Over the years, many places in Oklahoma and Kansas have been linked to legendary Dalton treasures.
To date, no treasure hoard has ever been positively identified, making seekers question if some of the stolen money may still be buried somewhere or if it’s just another tall tale from the West.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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Wild wild west: 13 facts about the American frontier
Hollywood Westerns have taught us that life in the Old West consisted of wild, lawless gold rushes, non-stop quick-draw shootouts, and pistol-packing cowboys, but the historical reality is much more complex, surprising, and stranger than fiction.
