The Crime Book

151

See also: The James-Younger Gang 24–25 ■ The Great Train Robbery 30–35

ORGANIZED CRIME

Members of the Wild Bunch,

including Longabaugh (the Sundance

Kid) on the far left and Cassidy on

the far right, pose in a Texas

photographer’s studio in 1901.

Sheriffs and deputies

he regards with pity

and contempt. He is a

power unto himself.

San Francisco Call

claimed that he never killed a man,

but an attack by gang members on

the Overland Flyer, a Union Pacific

train outside Wilcox, Wyoming, in

1899, certainly led to one death.

The train was held up by two of the

Wild Bunch standing on the tracks.

The outlaws detached the main

part of the train and forced the

engineer to steam across a bridge

with the lead cars that held

valuables. After dynamiting the

bridge to block the line, the outlaws

took $30,000 (£585,000 today) in

cash and jewellery and rode away.

A posse led by Sheriff Josiah

Hazen traced them 120 km

(75 miles) to the Castle Creek

ravine. In a shootout, the sheriff

was killed by outlaw Harvey Logan.

The rest of the gang escaped.

Wanted dead or alive

Working in groups of three or four,

the Wild Bunch kept robbing and

their notoriety skyrocketed. State

authorities and private detectives

wanted them dead or alive. Stray

gang members were caught in

shootouts and pursuits over a

series of jobs, and the Wild Bunch’s

numbers steadily dwindled.

In 1901, Cassidy fled to South

America along with Harry

Longabaugh – famously known

as “the Sundance Kid” – and

Longabaugh’s wife. Their last years

are shrouded in romantic mystery,

with reports of numerous heists

and a final, fatal shootout in

Bolivia on 4 November 1908. ■

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