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 Joseph
Alfred "Jack” Slade (1829-1864)
–
Jack Slade arrived
near
Virginia City,
Montana
after being fired from the Overland Stage Line at
Virginia Dale,
Colorado. The
stage line had long been terrorized by robberies and though the stage
line couldn’t prove it, it was thought that
Slade was the leader of
the
outlaw gang. In
1863, an army payroll of $60,000 (which would be about $1 million
dollars today) was robbed along the Overland Trail. The
treasure
has never been recovered. (You can read more about this buried
treasure, by clicking
HERE.)
Slade was a heavy drinker with a bad temper and after
arriving in
Virginia City,
Montana
he began wrecking a
saloon.
Jack was arrested but he tore up the arrest and threatened the judge. Though he pleaded for his life, he was immediately hung. Virginia Dale, his girlfriend (or common law wife) was brought to town
by one of Jack's friends, took his body home, pickled it in alcohol in
a metal casket, and kept it under her bed for several months. She then
took it to Salt Lake City,
Utah
and buried him in the old Mormon Cemetery where his body remains
today.
 Belle
Starr, a/k/a the "Outlaw Queen” (1848-1889)
-- Belle
was a horse thief,
outlaw and part-time
prostitute who was the first woman to be tried for a serious crime
by Judge Isaac Parker. She was sentenced to five months in
prison for horse theft. In 1889 she was shot in the back and killed by
an unknown assailant.
Belle
was buried at her cabin southwest of Porum,
Oklahoma
near the Eufuala Dam in
Muskogee County.
Her daughter Pearl had the following inscription
engraved to her tombstone:
"Shed
not for her the bitter tear,
Nor give the heart to vain regret,
'Tis but the casket that lies here,
The gem that fills it sparkles yet."
 Henry
Starr (1873-1921)
– During his 32 years in crime
Henry Starr
robbed more banks than both the
James-Younger
Gang and the Doolin-Dalton
Gang put together. He started robbing banks on horseback in 1893 and ended
up robbing his last in a car in 1921. Robbing a bank in Harrison,
Arkansas,
Starr on February 18, 1921
Starr was
shot in the back by the former president of the bank.
Starr
received medical attention but died on February 21, 1921.
Henry Starr
is buried in the Dewey Cemetery north of Dewey,
Oklahoma. There is no marker, but he is buried next to headstone labeled as 'Baby
Starr' |
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 Ellen
Watson, a/k/a Cattle Kate – (1861-1889)
Ellen Watson, dubbed by local
newspapers in the late 1880’s, as "Cattle
Kate,” was long thought of as an
outlaw.
Watson, and her husband, Jim
Averill were hanged by vigilantes near the Sweetwater River in
Wyoming
on July 20, 1889 for the accused crime of
cattle rustling. However, there is a mystery surrounding the
hangings and it appears that their deaths were unjustified, perpetrated by
powerful land and cattle owners of the time.
The two are buried on what is today the Pathfinder Ranch in
Sweetwater Valley. Long ago when the pair was buried, two oak wagon
wheels were placed side by side over their graves. Today the wood has long
rotted away, but the old iron hub and wheels are still there. Over
100 years later the descendants of
Ellen Watson
rededicated a marker at the site.
Watson
and Averill’s remains are on private property.
 Thomas
Coleman (Cole) Younger
(1844-1916) – Cole was an
outlaw
and the leader of the Younger Gang. He was wounded and captured
following the Northfield bank raid on September 7, 1876. After
serving more than twenty years in prison, Cole was paroled in 1901 but was
not allowed to leave the State of Minnesota. Cole, along with
brother Jim sold tombstones and insurance in Minnesota. Cole
received an official pardon in 1903 and returned home to Lee’s Summit,
Missouri. Cole reunited with Frank James in a touring Wild West show for a time and
also went on the lecture circuit preaching the evils of crime. He
was known as an elderly churchgoer in his hometown and died quietly in
1916. He is buried in Lee’s Summit,
Missouri.
 James
"Jim” Younger (1848-1902)
– Jim, a member of the Younger gang was captured and imprisoned after the
failed Northfield, Minnesota bank raid on September 7, 1876. Jim was
paroled in 1901 and fell in love with a newspaper writer, Alice Miller,
but was not permitted to marry under the strict parole terms handed down
by the state. Despondent, he killed himself on October 19, 1902. His body was returned to his home where is buried in the Lee Summit
Historical Cemetery In Lees Summit,
Missouri.
 Robert
"Bob” Younger
– The youngest of the
Younger brothers,
Bob was severely wounded in the
1876 Northfield raid on September 21, 1876. He was sent to prison,
but contracted tuberculosis and died on September 16, 1889. His body
was returned to his home where is buried in the Lee Summit Historical
Cemetery In Lees Summit,
Missouri.
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