Old West Outlaws - H

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Silas Hampton (1868-1887) - Near the town of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, 18-year-old Cherokee Indian, Silas Hampton, robbed and killed a farmer by the name of Abner N. Lloyd on December 9, 1886. Having made off with only $7.50, the foolish young man purchased a bright red handkerchief  and a few other small items which he proudly displayed to his friends. He was soon arrested and as he was led away, he pleaded with the marshals, "Don't take me to Fort Smith; kill me right now!" His pleading was to no avail. He was soon shipped off to Fort Smith, where he was found guilty by Judge Isaac Parker. He was hanged on October 7, 1887.

John Wesley (Wes) Hardin (1853-1895) – Known as Texas’ most deadly gunman, Hardin killed over thirty people. Captured by Texas Rangers John Armstrong and John Riley Duncan in 1877, he was released in 1894 after eighteen years in prison. Just one year later, Hardin was shot and killed on August 19, 1895 by John Henry Selman. Selman, an outlaw-turned-lawman had a grudge against Hardin and surprised him in El Paso’s Acme Saloon. John Selman was himself, gunned down just a year later. Hardin is buried at the Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas. Ironically, Hardin's killer – John Selman is buried just a few feet away. More ...

John Wesley Hardin

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Bob Hays, aka Samuel Hassell, John West (18??-1869) - Born in Laporte, Iowa, Hassel headed westward when he was still a young man. He soon hooked up with several outlaw gangs, committing robberies throughout Texas in the 1860's. The law finally caught up with him in Gonzales County, Texas and he was sentenced to a five-year prison term in Huntsville. However, just four months shy of completing his term, he escaped. He went on to join up with a another gang in New Mexico that robbed a post office in Separ in October, 1869. The next month, on November 28, 1869, a posse caught up with the men at the Diamond A Ranch, about sixty miles south of Separ. In the inevitable gunfight that ensued, Hassells was killed.

Harry Head, aka: Harry the Kid (18??-1881) - A cattle rustler and stage robber in southern Arizona, Head was known to convert with the likes of the Clanton Gang. On March 15, 1881, Head, along with outlaws Bill Leonard and Jim Crane, ambushed a stagecoach about a mile outside Contention, Arizona. The coach, carrying $26,000 in Wells Fargo money and eight passengers, was waylaid while trying to navigate a steep grade. Guarded by lawman, Bob Paul, gunfire erupted and stagecoach driver Budd Philpot and a passenger were killed. In the meantime, the horses bolted, Bob Paul got the stage under control, and the would-be robbers fled. The fugitives soon found a price on their head of $2,000 dead or alive. A few months later, in June, the three outlaws attempted another robbery at a store in Eureka, New Mexico. However, owners Bill and Ike Heslett fought back and Harry Head and Bill Leonard were killed. Crane was able to escape and later orchestrated the killings of both Haslett brothers.

Marion Hedgepeth (1856-1910) - Known as the "Handsome Bandit," the "Debonair Bandit," and the "Montana Bandit," Hedgepeth, was born in Prairie Home, Missouri on April 14, 1856. Running away from home at the age of 15, he was an outlaw by the time he was 20, having killed in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as robbing trains. On October 7, 1890 he robbed a train in Glendale, Missouri escaping with some $10,000. After being relentlessly pursued by the Pinkertons, he was finally arrested in San Francisco, California and brought back to Missouri for trial. Convicted, he was sentenced to twenty-five years in the Missouri State Prison. After his release he was shot and killed by a Chicago Policeman on December 31, 1910.

Boone Helm (1823-1864) - From an early age Helm was already showing his true colors when he stabbed to death a man named Littleburg in his hometown of Log Branch, Missouri. Still in his teens, he fled westward. By the 1850’s he was sometimes prospecting for gold in California. More often, he was taking the easy road; however, and robbing the other miners of their finds.

In 1858, he reportedly shot a miner in California and fled the scene once again, this time landing in Oregon, where he became a mountain man for a time before moving on once again to Utah. There, he hired out his gun to the highest bidder and took part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Before long, he had earned such a terrible reputation that he was described using such terms as low, coarse, cruel and was called an "animal ruffian.”

By the time Helm joined Henry Plummer's Gang of Innocents, he was a much feared outlaw in the territory. Along with the gang of road agents, Helm was guilty of robbing and killing throughout Idaho and Montana, using a number of aliases. Finally, Montana Vigilantes had had enough and began to track down the evil-doers, capturing and hanging them.

He used many aliases while hiding out in the Montana mining camps, but was finally captured along with ''Three-Fingered Jack" Gallagher, Hayes Lyons, George "Clubfoot" Lane, and Frank Parish in Virginia City, Montana. All five men were placed on boxes with ropes around their necks on January 14, 1864.  When Gallagher was hanged first, Helm, who was a little drunk shouted: "Kick away, old fellow, I'll be in hell with you in a minute!"  He then displayed his forever ending loyalty to the Confederacy by shouting: "Every man for his principles! Hurrah for Jeff Davis! Let her rip!" before the box was kicked out from underneath him and he too was hanging next to Gallagher.  All five men are buried in Virginia City's Boot Hill Cemetery. More ...

Bill Henderson (18??-1876) - Leader of a rustling gang near Fort Griffin, Texas, a posse was sent in heavy pursuit after they stole more than two dozen horses from a local ranch. The gang soon fled to Dodge City, Kansas, but Henderson and others were arrested by Sheriff Charlie Bassett. They were soon returned to Albany, Texas, Shackelford County seat and were lynched.

Albert Herndon - An outlaw member of the Sam Bass Gang, Herndon participated in the train robbery in Mesquite Springs, Texas. Herndon and several others were all young farm boys from respectable families who were looking for adventure and had only recently been recruited by Sam Bass. Herndon had never been in trouble before, other than some rowdiness, that had caused some of the area folks to look at him as a little "wild." Though friends tried to dissuade him from joining in the train robbery, Herndon ignored them. On April 10, 1878, the gang held up a Texas & Pacific in Mesquite Springs, Texas, taking only $152. They missed a hidden shipment of $30,000 that was on board. Local lawmen and Texas Rangers began to aggressively pursue the gang and Herndon was arrested by Texas Ranger, June Peak, on April 22nd and taken to the Dallas County Jail. He was sentenced to life in imprison on July 17, 1878. Later he was pardoned by President Cleveland after he volunteered for nursing service aboard a quarantined ship in New York Harbor. Afterwards, he disappeared into history.

Tom Hill; aka: Tom Chelson (18??-1878) - An outlaw and gunfighter, he went by the name of Tom Chelson when he was rustling cattle in Texas. He soon made his way to New Mexico and became Jesse Evans' right-hand man. In October, 1877, Hill and Evans, along with several other outlaws raided the Tunstall and Brewer ranches in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Aggressively pursued by the local authorities they were soon captured and placed in the Lincoln County Jail. However, they escaped when more than 30 of the cohorts busted them out of jail. Hill was said to have been one of the instigators in the killing of John Tunstall in February, 1878, which ignited the Lincoln County War. However, Hill would not live long enough to fight in much of the "war," as he was killed on March 13, 1878 while robbing a sheep camp.

Clarence Browler Hite (1862-1883) - Born in Logan County, Kentucky to George B. Hite and Nancy James Hite, Clarence was the first cousin of Frank and Jesse James. Hite joined the James Gang, where he is credited with participating in the Blue Cut, Missouri train robbery, as well as commandeering the train engine at the Winston, Missouri robbery in 1881. On February 11, 1882, he was arrested in Kentucky for the Winston robbery and returned to Missouri. He plead guilty on July 15th, rather than go through a trial, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Shortly after he was released, he died of tuberculosis.

Robert Woodson "Wood" Hite (1850-1882) - The first cousin of Frank and Jesse James, Wood rode for "Bloody Bill" Anderson during the violent Kansas-Missouri border war. Later, both he and his brother, Clarence, joined the James Gang, where he was thought to have participated in the Blue Cut, Missouri train robbery on October 8, 1879, the hold up of the Riverton, Iowa bank on July 10, 1881, the Glendale, Missouri train robbery on September 7, 1881. Just months later, in December, Wood, who had a romantic attachment to Bob Ford's widowed sister, Martha Bolton, argued with Dick Liddel over her affections. When the disagreement escalated, Robert Ford sided with Liddel and Hite was shot and killed. Liddel turned himself in for the killing and Ford was arrested. The entire affair would lead to Jesse James death, when Ford made a deal with Governor Thomas T. Crittendon that he would be pardoned for the murder of Hite if he were to capture or kill James.

Thomas J. Hodges, aka: Tom Bell, The Outlaw Doc (1825-1856) - Raised in an upstanding family in Tenessee, Hodges received a good education and became a surgeon after finishing medical school. He served in the Mexican-American War and afterwards traveled to California to seek his fortune in the Gold Rush. Failing as a prospector, he turned to robbery and in 1855 served a year in Angel Island Prison. While there he met Bill Gristy and when the pair were released they formed an outlaw gang of five men and began robbing stages for several months. After killing a woman and two men in an unsuccessful robbery attempt, the gang was doggedly pursued by posses and vigilantes. Tom was finally tracked down by a vigilante group near the Merced River on October 4, 1856. By the time the Stockton Sheriff arrived, he found Bell hanged from a tree outside Nevada City, California.

Tom Horn makes his own rope to be hanged in 1903.

This image is available for photographic prints HERE!

Tom Horn, aka: James Hicks (1861-1903) - Born in Memphis, Missouri on November 21, 1861, Horn's father was a strict disciplinarian and Tom ran away at the age of 14, heading west. By the time he was 15 he was an army scout and involved in many campaigns for more than a decade, including Geronimo's surrender in 1886. He then wandered through the gold fields and became a ranch hand. In 1890, he joined the Pinkerton Agency Agency and using his gun with lethal effectiveness tracked down dozens of outlaws and killed 17 men. In 1894, he had made his way to Wyoming as was working as a cattle detective for the beef barons, who were engulfed in what is known as the Johnson County War. It was at this time that he began to offer out his services as a hired gunslinger. For each cattle rustler he shot, he charged $500-$600 and quickly proved to be a methodical man hunter and ruthless killer.

Changing tracks in 1898, he joined the cavalry in support of the Spanish-American War, where he was in charge of Teddy Roosevelt's pack trains. Afterwards, Horn returned to his murdering ways and when he was hired to kill a sheepherder, killed his 14-year old son instead. This time, Horn didn't get away with it -- he was arrested and hanged on November 20, 1903.

Joe Horner - See Frank Canton

Ned Huddleston - See Isom Dart

Richard "Zwing" Hunt (1858-1882) - Born to Thomas W. and Mary Ann Elizabeth Hunt on March 29, 1858 in Burnett County, Texas, Zwing was the first of six children. In May, 1880, Zwing and his family learned that his older half-brother, who had began a freight hauling business between Tombstone, Arizona, and Hillsboro, New Mexico had been killed by Indians. He then traveled their to bring back the freighting equipment, but on his arrival, decided to take over the business instead. In short order, he also hooked up with a number of desperate characters including the Clanton Gang and a man named Billy Grounds. On March 25, 1882, he and Grounds attempted to rob the Tombstone Mining and Milling Company in Charleston, Arizona. After being challenged, they shot and killed a man before panicking and taking off without a dime. Within no time, U.S. Deputy Marshal William Breakenridge gathered a posse and began to track the two killers. Finding them at the Jack Chandler Ranch near Tombstone, a gunfight ensued. Though it lasted only seconds, when the smoke cleared, Breakenridge had killed Billy Grounds and Zwing Hunt had been wounded. Unfortunately, one of the deputized men, John Gillespie, was also dead. The other two posse members were wounded but would recover. Due to the seriousness of his wounds, Hunt was placed in a hospital unguarded. In the meantime, the family, concerned over his activities had sent his brother, Hugh, to bring him home. On April 28, 1882, Hugh helped Zwing to escape and the pair hid out in the nearby mountains. However, on May 31st, they were surprised by Apache Indians, who shot and killed Zwing. His brother was able to escape.

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