Hello readers and welcome back to Pale Horse Revelations. where we explore significant people, places, and events in Old West history. While I make no promises, don't be surprised if some of these places, people, or events find their way into future Pale Rider adventures.
This week I want to introduce you to a man many called "the wildest of the Wild Bunch." Though less well known than the other members of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's notorious gang, the Wild Bunch, Kid Curry was by far its deadliest member. Just how many men Curry sent to an early grave is disputed with some speculating as many as thirty while many historians put the number at nine. During the course of his life fifteen murder warrants were sworn out against him. Whatever, the actual number, the bottom line is it didn't pay to get on the man's bad side.
The man who would become infamously known as Kid Curry was born Harvey Logan in 1867 in Tama County, Iowa. He was the third of six children. When his father, William A. Logan, died, his mother, Eliza, moved the family to a small town outside Kansas City named Dodson, Missouri.
Tragically, Eliza died a short time later in 1876. Fortunately, the children were taken in by their aunt and uncle, Lizzie and Hiram Lee. A short time later, Harvey and three of his brothers relocated to Texas. There Harvey found work breaking horses at the Cross-L Ranch near Big Spring. This is around the same time Harvey met "Flat Nose" George Curry from whom he took his new last name. His brothers soon followed suite.
At the age of 16 Harvey traveled to Pueblo, Colorado as part of a cattle drive. He was soon involved in a saloon brawl and fled to Wyoming to escape arrest. A year later Harvey and brothers Johnnie and Lonnie were homesteading a ranch in Montana.
In 1894 Harvey was involved in the first of many incidents that would eventually lead him down the outlaw path. On October 2, Harvey, along with brother Johnnie and brother-in-law, Lee Self, had an altercation with a neighbor. Although the details are sketchy the incident resulted in Harvey being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Another incident involved a miner named Powell Landusky who was convinced Harvey was romantically involved with his daughter. Landusky attacked Harvey but when the intended victim gained the upper hand the miner filed assault charges against Harvey. Harvey was arrested and beaten before being released at the inquest. While awaiting trial Harvey ran into Landusky at a local saloon. A verbal exchange between the two soon escalated into a fist fight. When Harvey attempted to walk away, Landusky pulled a gun and threatened to shoot his unarmed nemesis. Fortunately for Harvey, his brothers were with him and quickly supplied him with a gun. When the inevitable gunfight finally erupted, Landusky's gun jammed, and Harvey shot him in the head. Convinced he would never get a fair trial, Harvey fled. Landusky's daughter would soon thereafter announce that she was pregnant. In an ironic twist, the father was not Harvey, but rather his brother, Lonnie.
Now an outlaw with a bounty on his head, Logan fled to New Mexico where he took up with the Black Jack Ketchum Gang. Harvey briefly returned to Montana to deal with a rancher named Jesse Winters who was determined to collect the reward for Harvey's capture or death. In January 1896 Harvey and his brothers, Lonnie and Johnnie confronted Winters at his ranch. Not surprisingly, a gunfight broke out and Johnnie Logan was killed.
Harvey and Lonnie soon returned to Montana and rejoined Black Jack Ketchum. The partnership was short-lived, however. The brothers soon found themselves arguing with Ketchum over the take from a train robbery and decided to leave the gang.
Harvey and Lonnie moved on to Colorado and for a short while took honest jobs on a ranch near Sand Gulch. But they had gotten a taste of the outlaw way of life, and it wasn't long before Harvey built his own gang that included Lonnie, Walt Putman, Tom O'Day, and his old pal, George Curry. In April of 1897, Harvey participated in the killing of a deputy sheriff while rustling horses.
A few months later the gang stuck the bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Tom O'day was captured when his horse spooked and left him stranded. The others escaped with a posse hot on their trail. The posse caught up with the outlaws in Fergus County. Harvey was wounded in the ensuing gun battle and captured, along with Walt Putnam and George Curry. The outlaws were held at the jail in Deadwood, South Dakota but escaped on Halloween day, 1897.
On July 14, 1898, Harvey and George joined the Sundance Kid in robbing the Southern Pacific in Nevada. The Wild Bunch stuck again on June 2, 1899, robbing the Union Pacific Railroad near Wilcox, Wyoming. The gang was hotly pursued by a posse and during the gunfight that broke out between the two parties the posse leader, Sheriff Joe Hazan was killed. The gang managed to escape to the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout.
A month later Butch Cassidy, Harvey, and several others traveled to New Mexico where they robbed a train near Folsom. Once again, the gang found themselves pursued by a determined posse. The posse, led by Sheriff Ed Farr caught up with the gang near Turkey Creek and fierce and deadly gun battle soon broke out. Gang members Elza Lay and Sam Ketchum were wounded. Sherrif Farr was killed and his deputy, Henry Love, was wounded. Ketchum and Deputy Love would both die from their wounds. Harvey and Butch Cassidy somehow managed to escape unscathed.
On February 28, 1900, Harvey's brother Lonnie was killed in a gunfight with lawmen in Missouri. Two months later, his friend George Curry also died at the hands of lawmen after being caught rustling cattle near Moab, Utah. The already dangerous Harvey Logan, A.K.A. Kid Curry, now became obsessed with revenge.
In March of that year, Harvey and an associate were recognized while in the town of St. Johns, Arizona. Local lawmen were soon on their trial but when deputies Andrew Gibbons and Frank LeSeuer caught up, the outlaws gunned them down without mercy. The two outlaws then fled toward Alma, New Mexico where they could reunite with Cassidy and other members of the Wild Bunch. Harvey soon discovered that they were being followed by Sheriff George Scarborough and a cattleman by the name of Walter Birchfield. Rather than try to outrun the pair, Harvey decided to lie in wait and ambush the unsuspecting men. Birchfield was wounded and Scarborough was killed.
On May 26 Harvey rode into Moab, Utah for with the sole intention of avenging the death of George Curry. Harvey gunned down the Sherrif, John Tyler, and his deputy, Sam Jenkins before calmy riding out of town. Harvey rejoined the Wild Bunch in time to rob a train near Tipton, Wyoming. The gang came away with $55,000 and soon split up. Harvey headed to Fort Worth, Texas with Ben Kilpatrick.
The gang made a tactical error the following year when they posed together for a portrait. The Pinkertons soon learned of the photograph and in no time the image could be found on wanted posters spread across the entire nation.
The Wild Bunch continued to pull occasional robberies, but Harvey had not forgotten his vow to avenge the death of his brother. On July 26, 1901, Harvey shot and killed Jim Winters, the man who had killed Johnnie back in 1896. He then headed to Tennessee where his girlfriend had recently been arrested for passing notes from the Montanna robbery. On December 13, 1901, two Knoxville policemen recognized Harvey and attempted to arrest him. Harvey somehow managed to get the upper hand and killed both men. He then fled to Montana.
Harvey returned to Knoxville the following year. On November 30, 1902, he was finally captured in a Knoxville poolhall. He was convicted of robbery (due to a lack of evidence and witnesses to the murder of the policemen) and sentenced to twenty years of hard labor. On June 27, 1903, Harvey escaped from prison, allegedly bribing a guard $8,000 to look the other way.
A year later, Harvey's luck would finally run out. Harvey participated in robbing the Denver & Rio Grande train near Parachute, Colorado on June 7, 1904. A pursuing posse caught up with the gang two days later and exchanged gunfire. Harvey was wounded in the confrontation. Determined not to be sent back to prison, Harvey decided to take his own life. He was 37 when he died on June 9, 1904.
Given his penchant for violence it is mildly surprising that this once legendary outlaw has been practically forgotten. Just how many men he killed is a topic of debate. We know that 15 murder warrants were sworn out against him during his lifetime. But the general consensus at the time was that he had killed more than twice that number. Modern historians tend to be more conservative putting the actual number at nine. Regardless of the total, there is no doubt that Harvey Logan, A.K.A Kid Curry, was a stone-cold killer. The head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, William Pinkerton considered Logan (Curry) the most vicious outlaw in America.
This brings us to the end of another edition of Pale Horse Revelations. I hope you found it to be both interesting and entertaining. As usual, I have tried to provide some interesting historical information while trying not to bog the casual reader down with too much detail. I encourage anyone interested in learning more to dig in and do a little research of their own.
As a reminder, I would love to hear your suggestions for topics to focus on in future editions of Pale Horse Revelations. If there's a particular location, person, or event that you would like to know more about, please let me know. Just fill out the Contact form found on the "Contact the Author" page of this website and indicate your desired topic in the message box at the bottom of the form. I look forward to hearing from you all.
Please be sure to check back next week for the next installment of Pale Horse Revelations and thank you for your continued interest and support.
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