Heather E. Schwartz - Outlaws, Gunslingers, and Thieves

To my boys, Philip, Nolan, and Griffin HES

Copyright 2013 by
Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schwartz, Heather E.

Outlaws, gunslingers, and thieves / by Heather E. Schwartz.

p. cm. (ShockZoneVillains)

Includes index.

ISBN 9781467706056 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

ISBN 9781467710367 (PDF ISBN)

ISBN 9781467760041 (Audisee ISBN)

1. OutlawsWest (U.S.)History19th centuryJuvenile literature. 2. Frontier and pioneer lifeWest (U.S.)Juvenile literature. 3. West (U.S.)History19th centuryJuvenile literature. I. Title.

2012019113

Manufactured in the United States of America

1 PC 12/31/12

Robert Leroy Parker:
The Boy Who Became Butch Cassidy

Hang on to Your Cowboy Hat

If youre reading this bookand obviously, you areyou clearly werent alive during the 1800s. Still, you can probably describe a western outlaw, right? Murderous tough guy. Gets into fights. Robs banks, fleeing the scene on horseback just ahead of the law.

But what about those who did things a little... differently? You know, outlaws who chopped up their victims bodies. Wrote poetry to leave at the scene of a crime. Dressed in clothes more suited to a proper lady than a dangerous cowgirl.

Hollywood has made many movies about the outlaws of the Old West.
Belle Starr was played on the big screen by Gene Tierney (left) .

Outlaws of the Wild West were men and women. They committed both typical and not-so-typical crimes.
Many of them thought they had perfectly good reasons to commit those crimes. And sometimes, those on the right side of the law acted even more crazily than the criminals they were after.

Want to find out who did whatand got away with it? Read on to learn more about the wildest outlaws of
the West.

The Wild Bunch hit the screen in 1969. For more info on members
of the real Wild Bunch, check out pages 1619 and 2425.

JESSE JAMES:

ROBIN HOOD IN DISGUISE?

In the late 1800s, a lot of people
thought Jesse James was like Robin
Hood, robbing from the rich to give
to the poor. But this dude was no
kindhearted criminal. He attacked
innocent people. When he nabbed
loot, he didnt share it. His real
goals? Murder, power, and
wealth.

Jesse was fourteen when he started training
to kill people. During the Civil War (1861
1865), he joined a group of outlaws. Their
mission was to terrorize Union (Northern)
soldiers in some really nasty ways. The group
bashed in skulls, chopped off heads, slashed
throats, and tortured people. Then they sliced
trophies off their victims bodiesmeaning
noses, scalps, and other fleshy parts. Ears were