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Harvey Logan: Wildest of the Wild BunchWild West | 5 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
After Tyler and Jenkins were killed, Harvey focused once again on accumulating cash at the expense of the Union Pacific Railroad. On August 29, 1900, he led a train holdup at Tipton, Wyo., that netted about $55,000. During a winter hiatus in Fort Worth, Texas, he was photographed with the Sundance Kid, Ben Kilpatrick (the ‘Tall Texan’), Will Carver and Butch Cassidy. The men in the photo, taken on November 21, became known as the Fort Worth Five. By mid-March 1901, Logan, Carver and the Tall Texan were at the Kilpatrick family ranch, located between Paint Rock and Eden in west Texas, planning their next heist. About noon on Wednesday, March 27, Logan and Carver challenged brothers Ben, George and Ed Kilpatrick to a game of croquet on the ranch lawn. Neighbor Oliver C. Thornton happened by to discuss an ongoing problem with pigs belonging to Boone Kilpatrick. Whether Thornton overheard something he should not have, or whether the pig feud just escalated, something went drastically wrong. Logan pulled his gun and killed Thornton in cold blood. Subscribe Today
After their hurried exit, Logan, Carver, and Ben and George Kilpatrick were seen in Sonora, Texas, where they intended to rob the First National Bank. Around 8 p.m. on April 2, while Logan and Ben Kilpatrick held the supplies and extra horses just outside of town, Carver and George Kilpatrick rode into Sonora. From the end of a draw on the edge of town, Logan and the Tall Texan heard gunshots, and escaped as quickly as their horses could travel. The two robbers in town had been recognized and resisted when an attempt was made to arrest them for Thornton’s murder. Sheriff Lige Briant shot Carver, and George Kilpatrick was badly wounded and taken prisoner. Upon questioning, George admitted who he was but denied killing Thornton. He blamed the killing on the man he knew as ‘Walker,’ Harvey’s current alias. Carver was carried to the steps of the courthouse, where he died shortly before midnight.
For nearly three months, Logan and Ben Kilpatrick managed to evade the law, all the while heading north toward the Logan ranch in Landusky, Mont. There, the two men recruited O.C. ‘Deaf Charlie’ Hanks, who had just been released from the state penitentiary at Deer Lodge, Mont., after serving time for a train robbery. The newly formed gang successfully held up the Coast Flyer No. 3 of the Great Northern Railroad on July 3, 1901, at Wagner, Mont. Their total take included more than $40,000 in unsigned bank notes, a package of watches, a bag of silver coins and a bolt of green silk fabric.
Logan and the boys escaped across the Milk River and headed southwest for their hideout in the Missouri River Breaks, near Landusky. When Kilpatrick and Hanks left for Texas, Logan had one more chore to do before leaving Montana for good. While visiting his ex-ranching partner, Jim Thornhill, he presented the stolen bolt of green material to Jim’s wife, Lucy Tressler, in thanks for her hospitality. He also kept an old promise for retribution. Lucy had once lived with Harvey’s brother John, who had been killed by Jim Winters over a homestead feud back in February 1896. On the morning of July 26, 1901, Harvey waited for Winters to appear outside his cabin door and shot him in cold blood. The Pinkerton dossier on Harvey states, ‘Mr. Winters had some time previous taken an interest in his capture and location and had given some information to the officers in regard to him and out of revenge for this Logan killed him.’ Winters’ partner and stepbrother, Abe Gill, also disappeared about this time, and he also may have been a victim of Harvey Logan.
After leaving Montana, Logan spent time in Dodson, Mo., with his aunt and in Texas and Tennessee with a woman companion, Annie Roger. In December 1901, he got into a fight in Knoxville, Tenn., and was arrested. A Pinkerton agent identified him, and in November 1902 Logan was tried and convicted on 10 charges, including forging and passing stolen bank notes. He was sentenced to 20 to 130 years in the federal penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio. His lawyers appealed, and Logan escaped from the Knoxville jail on June 27, 1903. On July 2, the Pinkerton Detective Agency released a wanted poster for him. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Tags: Historical Figures, People, The Wild West, Wild West
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5 Comments to “Harvey Logan: Wildest of the Wild Bunch”
I have reason to believe that Harvey Logan is my grandfather. My maiden name is Curry. I have many stories from my childhood and being around Ben Curry (my grandfather).
By Anita Crawford on Jul 4, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Anita
Have you read Outlaw tales of Montana by Gary
A. Wilson?
ISBN 0-9632240-o-x
Lots of great information you could use.
By Curt Kuhn on Nov 16, 2008 at 1:10 am
Harvey Logan’s last name is Logan, not Currey, he adopted that name from an old friend. Harvey Logan is my (5) great cousin.
By Ashley on Feb 4, 2009 at 11:48 pm
I believe that my grand father took his name from his two mentors
“Ben” after Ben Kilpatrick and “Curry” after Big Nose Curry.
I have many facts and stories of growing up with my grancfather.
Anita
By Anita Crawford on Jun 21, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Roll Gardner was the only man who could outshoot Harvey Logan, aka “Kid Curry”, considered by many as the deadliest man with a revolver in the Wild West.
Gardner found out Kid Curry and his gang stole horses from his ranch and set out with a posse after him. The two shot it out and Gardner hit Curry with his rifle. Curry decided to committ suicide instead of fight it out.
I believe the gun that Gardner used in the gunfight is still in the Gardner family today.
By Corey on Jul 22, 2009 at 10:48 pm