The Old Wild West and its Outlaws…
Train robberies. Horse thievery. Cattle rustling. Shootouts. Cold-blooded murder.
The most notorious outlaws of the Wild West have long been romanticized as daring robbers and swashbuckling killers since their stories first hit early American tabloids. In many ways, their narratives have been shaped — in dime-store novels, TV shows and Hollywood films — to fit the frontier ideals of rugged individualism and pioneering spirit.
“Americans love an underdog, a person who stands up against perceived tyranny,” wrote Bill Markley in Billy the Kid and Jesse James: Outlaws of the Legendary West. “Jesse James and Billy the Kid personify that rebellious spirit. Americans overlook the crimes and see the romance of the rebel.”
Though most of the famous outlaws were known for their violent and brutal nature, we can’t say that all of them were just purely evil. Untold stories about good outlaws are still out there waiting to be told…
