David McCanles.
The McCanles Gang, led by David McCanles (or, by some accounts, McCandless), was a group of men who were allegedly wanted for robbing banks and trains, cattle rustling, murder, and horse theft in the early 1860s.
Though McCanles was known as a local bully near Rock Creek Station, Nebraska, the only evidence for the McCanles Gang comes from an article in Harper’s Monthly Magazine, titled Wild Bill, in 1867 (see article here). This story alleges that Bill Hickok single-handedly wiped out ten members of this desperado gang on July 12, 1861.
However, other reports, including one from the only living witness, David McCanles’ 12-year-old son, Monroe, widely dispute this story. Harper’s article was based on a story Wild Bill Hickok told a writer, and he was known as quite the exaggerator. Other reports state that only three people were killed in the incident at Rock Creek Station and that it was not “outlaw gang” related. Even today, the accuracy of what has become known as the McCanles Massacre at Rock Creek Station, Nebraska, continues to be debated.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
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