Green River Outlaw Days tries to tie our own local Outlaw History into our event, here are some of our stories.
FLAT NOSE GEORGE (GEORGE CURRY WILD BUNCH)
(March 20, 1871 – April 17, 1900) George was a Canadian-American robber of the American Old West. He was a mentor to Harvey Logan, who would adopt the surname Curry, and the two robbed banks together before both became members of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.
George was killed by a sheriff while rustling in Grand County, Utah.
George was killed by a sheriff while rustling in Grand County, Utah.
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Early Outlaw CareerGeorge was born in West Point, Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1871. He was the second of six children.
He was the son of John and Nancy Ann Currie. His family moved to Chadron, Nebraska where he started rustling as a young man. He gained the sobriquets "Big nose" & "Flat Nose" and and took up residence at the outlaw hideout Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming. While there, he met Harvey Logan, who adopted his surname and became known as Kid Curry. The Kid's brothers Lonny and Johnnie Logan, following his example, also adopted Curry as a surname. Kid Curry would go on to become one of the most dangerous and feared gunmen of the Old West. George Currie formed a gang that included Kid Curry, and was captured with him on June 28, 1897. The gang had held up the Butte County Bank at Belle Fourche, South Dakota earlier in the month. All but one of them (Tom O'Day), whose horse had run away without him) had escaped with the money, but while planning another robbery a posse caught them in Fergus County, Montana and captured Curry, along with the Kid and Walt Putney. They escaped from Deadwood jail in November by overpowering the jailer. |
The three men stole horses and made their way back to Montana, stealing supplies as they went. Another posse caught up with them in the Bearpaw mountains. There was a gunfight from which the fugitives escaped on foot, leaving the stolen goods and horses behind. They retreated to the Hole-in-the-Wall, robbing two post offices on their route.
Wild Bunch
At the Hole they were involved in a gun battle with another posse, but the rough terrain, and the defensive structures built and manned by the several dozen outlaw members of the Wild Bunch hiding there, were too much for the lawmen.
George participated in the Wild Bunch raid on the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train
at Wilcox, Wyoming, on June 2, 1899, which became famous, as well as taking part in
several other robberies. The Overland Flyer's train crew provided descriptions of the robbers, which local Converse County Sheriff Josiah Hazen recognized as being Butch Cassidy, Kid Curry, Flat Nose George Curry, and Elzy Lay .
Hazen formed a posse immediately but Kid Curry and George Curry shot and killed Hazen during his posse's pursuit of them, which slowed the posse. In the ensuing confusion the Wild Bunch were able to wade downstream and escape without their horses. The outlaws walked to a sheep ranch at Castle Creek, where they rested before continuing to the Tisdale mountains on the north fork of the Powder River. Here they were able to obtain replacement horses and resupply.
(Local Deputy Sheriff William Deane came into contact with the gang there but was shot and killed by Kid Curry April 15, 1897.)Although the posse greatly outnumbered them and could cover a lot of ground in its search, the Wild Bunch reached the safe stronghold of the Hole-in-the-Wall.
Pinkerton agent Charlie Siringo and contracted Pinkerton agent Tom Horn developed information that identified Kid Curry as killing Hazen. There were never any definite accounts connecting Kid Curry to the killing of Deputy Deane, but rumors
uncovered by Siringo while he worked undercover indicated that Kid Curry had been the killer.
The Currys and some of the other members of the Wild Bunch went to hide at Robbers
Roost in Utah, after getting supplies at the ranch of female outlaws Josie and Ann
Bassett.
George Curry was shot and killed on April 17, 1900 by Sheriff Jesse Tyler while Curry was rustling in Grand County, Utah. Upon hearing of this, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, who was also enraged by the recent law enforcement killing of his younger brother Lonny in Missouri, vowed to get revenge. In May, Kid Curry rode from New Mexico to Utah, and took revenge for his brother and George Curry's deaths by killing Sheriff Tyler and his Deputy Sheriff Sam Jenkins in a gunfight.
Source
George participated in the Wild Bunch raid on the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train
at Wilcox, Wyoming, on June 2, 1899, which became famous, as well as taking part in
several other robberies. The Overland Flyer's train crew provided descriptions of the robbers, which local Converse County Sheriff Josiah Hazen recognized as being Butch Cassidy, Kid Curry, Flat Nose George Curry, and Elzy Lay .
Hazen formed a posse immediately but Kid Curry and George Curry shot and killed Hazen during his posse's pursuit of them, which slowed the posse. In the ensuing confusion the Wild Bunch were able to wade downstream and escape without their horses. The outlaws walked to a sheep ranch at Castle Creek, where they rested before continuing to the Tisdale mountains on the north fork of the Powder River. Here they were able to obtain replacement horses and resupply.
(Local Deputy Sheriff William Deane came into contact with the gang there but was shot and killed by Kid Curry April 15, 1897.)Although the posse greatly outnumbered them and could cover a lot of ground in its search, the Wild Bunch reached the safe stronghold of the Hole-in-the-Wall.
Pinkerton agent Charlie Siringo and contracted Pinkerton agent Tom Horn developed information that identified Kid Curry as killing Hazen. There were never any definite accounts connecting Kid Curry to the killing of Deputy Deane, but rumors
uncovered by Siringo while he worked undercover indicated that Kid Curry had been the killer.
The Currys and some of the other members of the Wild Bunch went to hide at Robbers
Roost in Utah, after getting supplies at the ranch of female outlaws Josie and Ann
Bassett.
George Curry was shot and killed on April 17, 1900 by Sheriff Jesse Tyler while Curry was rustling in Grand County, Utah. Upon hearing of this, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, who was also enraged by the recent law enforcement killing of his younger brother Lonny in Missouri, vowed to get revenge. In May, Kid Curry rode from New Mexico to Utah, and took revenge for his brother and George Curry's deaths by killing Sheriff Tyler and his Deputy Sheriff Sam Jenkins in a gunfight.
Source
Gunplay Maxwell; UT Gunfighter & Outlaw
Maxwell, who would use several names during his lifetime while hiding from the law, was born James Otis Bliss somewhere around Boston, Massachusetts about 1860. The son of a hotel owner, the boy received a good education, but while still a young man, got into his first trouble. Sometime around 1875, he got into a barroom brawl with a companion and ended up shooting him dead. Afterward, he fled westward, first going to Texas, before moving northwest to Montana. There, he worked as a cowboy, honed his shooting skills, and was soon involved in the cattle/sheep wars.
Sometime later, he drifted into Wyoming and Utah where he made his “living” primarily rustling horses and cattle. In the early 1890s, he joined up with a man named Johnson, and the two stole a bunch of horses in Wyoming and then drove them to Nebraska to sell.
Stiffing Johnson out of the proceeds, Bliss took off back for Wyoming, where he then began to go by the name of “Catamount.” However, the law finally caught up with him, charging the rustler with grand larceny. During the trial, Bliss went by the name of Clarence L. Maxwell. He was convicted and sent to the Wyoming State Prison in 1893.
During his three-year stint in prison, he met Butch Cassidy, and the two were discharged within a week of each other and continued to associate together after their releases. Though Maxwell never rode with the Wild Bunch, it is said that he wanted to, but was rejected. Instead, he formed his own gang and tried to emulate the more famous gang.
However, Maxwell simply wasn’t as good an outlaw. In May 1898, he and another man robbed the Springville, Utah bank of some $3,000. Afterward, they fled towards Hobble Creek Canyon but were immediately pursued by a posse. In no time, nearly 100 horsemen had caught up with them and the two robbers hid in the brush. When the authorities came upon them, shots were fired, and the second bandit was killed. Maxwell was apprehended and taken to the Provo, Utah jail, where he was positively identified. He refused to reveal the identity of his accomplice. Most of the money was recovered from the robbers or found buried near their hiding place. Maxwell was soon convicted of bank robbery and sent to the Utah State Prison. However, just five years later, his sentence was commuted when he helped to stop a prison break in 1903.
After his release, he went to work as a mine guard during a strike in Carbon County, Utah, and did a little prospecting on his own. In the fall of 1904, Maxwell found ozokerite, an odoriferousmineral wax in Colton, Utah. Maxwell soon formed the Utah Ozokerite Company with his lawyer and the pair hired a superintendent to manage the operations. The mine soon became the largest known ozokerite mine in the world and did so well that it went public.
But Maxwell evidently wasn’t interested in mundane mining operations, preferring his “role” as a gunfighter. He was next known to have been in Goldfield, Nevada, using the name of Thomas Bliss and allegedly working as a spy for mine owners, keeping an eye on the union’s striking workers. While he was there, he was involved in the death of a man named Joseph Smith but was not prosecuted. He soon drifted back to Utah, where in July 1907; he was involved in a gunfight with a railroad foreman named L.C. Reigle in Helper. When the smoke cleared, both were wounded. Maxwell was initially arrested but was never prosecuted for any crime.
Later that year, he appeared in San Francisco going by the name of William H. Seaman and telling everyone he was “a descendent of one of the oldest titled families in Italy.” While he was there, he married a wealthy widow named Bessie Hume in January 1908. Though he allegedly pawned most of her jewelry, she stayed with him and the two soon moved to Ogden, Utah. At first, Maxwell shaved his mustache, donned fashionable clothing, and lived the part of an “upstanding husband.” But, that wouldn’t last long. He soon took up with a rough crowd again.
In June 1908, he and another man, by the name of William M. Walters, held up a Wells Fargostage at Rawhide, Nevada, and were captured. He was released on bail and never brought to trial.
The next summer, on August 23, 1909, Maxwell confronted Deputy Sheriff Edward Black Johnstone in a local saloon in Price, Utah. According to the tale, Johnstone had been tasked with stopping Maxwell’s plan to rob a large payroll. In the meantime, Maxwell already held a grudge against Johnstone because he had earlier identified him to a local sheriff in Goldfield, Nevada as a “bad man” and ex-convict.
When the two men came face to face in a Price saloon, Maxwell challenged him and two were soon outside in the dusty street. Maxwell told Johnstone he intended to kill him, drew his gun, and fired upon the deputy. However, his shot missed, going through his opponent’s shirt and scratching his arm. In the meantime, Johnstone fired back, hitting Maxwell first in the elbow and then in his heart. Now lying in the dusty street, Maxwell tried to shoot again, when Johnstone fired a third shot into his lung. Maxwell’s last words were: “Don’t shoot again Johnstone, you have killed me.”
When his body was being prepared for burial, it showed that his arms were covered in track marks and opium was found concealed in a pocket. “Gunplay” Maxwell was a drug addict. He was buried in the pauper’s section of the Salt Lake City Cemetery under the name of William H. Seaman. However, his final resting place lies unmarked today.
The day after he was buried, the Salt Lake City Tribune printed a fitting epitaph:
“Whatever his tempestuous career may have been, matters little; his earthly record rests with him in the grave.”
Source
Sometime later, he drifted into Wyoming and Utah where he made his “living” primarily rustling horses and cattle. In the early 1890s, he joined up with a man named Johnson, and the two stole a bunch of horses in Wyoming and then drove them to Nebraska to sell.
Stiffing Johnson out of the proceeds, Bliss took off back for Wyoming, where he then began to go by the name of “Catamount.” However, the law finally caught up with him, charging the rustler with grand larceny. During the trial, Bliss went by the name of Clarence L. Maxwell. He was convicted and sent to the Wyoming State Prison in 1893.
During his three-year stint in prison, he met Butch Cassidy, and the two were discharged within a week of each other and continued to associate together after their releases. Though Maxwell never rode with the Wild Bunch, it is said that he wanted to, but was rejected. Instead, he formed his own gang and tried to emulate the more famous gang.
However, Maxwell simply wasn’t as good an outlaw. In May 1898, he and another man robbed the Springville, Utah bank of some $3,000. Afterward, they fled towards Hobble Creek Canyon but were immediately pursued by a posse. In no time, nearly 100 horsemen had caught up with them and the two robbers hid in the brush. When the authorities came upon them, shots were fired, and the second bandit was killed. Maxwell was apprehended and taken to the Provo, Utah jail, where he was positively identified. He refused to reveal the identity of his accomplice. Most of the money was recovered from the robbers or found buried near their hiding place. Maxwell was soon convicted of bank robbery and sent to the Utah State Prison. However, just five years later, his sentence was commuted when he helped to stop a prison break in 1903.
After his release, he went to work as a mine guard during a strike in Carbon County, Utah, and did a little prospecting on his own. In the fall of 1904, Maxwell found ozokerite, an odoriferousmineral wax in Colton, Utah. Maxwell soon formed the Utah Ozokerite Company with his lawyer and the pair hired a superintendent to manage the operations. The mine soon became the largest known ozokerite mine in the world and did so well that it went public.
But Maxwell evidently wasn’t interested in mundane mining operations, preferring his “role” as a gunfighter. He was next known to have been in Goldfield, Nevada, using the name of Thomas Bliss and allegedly working as a spy for mine owners, keeping an eye on the union’s striking workers. While he was there, he was involved in the death of a man named Joseph Smith but was not prosecuted. He soon drifted back to Utah, where in July 1907; he was involved in a gunfight with a railroad foreman named L.C. Reigle in Helper. When the smoke cleared, both were wounded. Maxwell was initially arrested but was never prosecuted for any crime.
Later that year, he appeared in San Francisco going by the name of William H. Seaman and telling everyone he was “a descendent of one of the oldest titled families in Italy.” While he was there, he married a wealthy widow named Bessie Hume in January 1908. Though he allegedly pawned most of her jewelry, she stayed with him and the two soon moved to Ogden, Utah. At first, Maxwell shaved his mustache, donned fashionable clothing, and lived the part of an “upstanding husband.” But, that wouldn’t last long. He soon took up with a rough crowd again.
In June 1908, he and another man, by the name of William M. Walters, held up a Wells Fargostage at Rawhide, Nevada, and were captured. He was released on bail and never brought to trial.
The next summer, on August 23, 1909, Maxwell confronted Deputy Sheriff Edward Black Johnstone in a local saloon in Price, Utah. According to the tale, Johnstone had been tasked with stopping Maxwell’s plan to rob a large payroll. In the meantime, Maxwell already held a grudge against Johnstone because he had earlier identified him to a local sheriff in Goldfield, Nevada as a “bad man” and ex-convict.
When the two men came face to face in a Price saloon, Maxwell challenged him and two were soon outside in the dusty street. Maxwell told Johnstone he intended to kill him, drew his gun, and fired upon the deputy. However, his shot missed, going through his opponent’s shirt and scratching his arm. In the meantime, Johnstone fired back, hitting Maxwell first in the elbow and then in his heart. Now lying in the dusty street, Maxwell tried to shoot again, when Johnstone fired a third shot into his lung. Maxwell’s last words were: “Don’t shoot again Johnstone, you have killed me.”
When his body was being prepared for burial, it showed that his arms were covered in track marks and opium was found concealed in a pocket. “Gunplay” Maxwell was a drug addict. He was buried in the pauper’s section of the Salt Lake City Cemetery under the name of William H. Seaman. However, his final resting place lies unmarked today.
The day after he was buried, the Salt Lake City Tribune printed a fitting epitaph:
“Whatever his tempestuous career may have been, matters little; his earthly record rests with him in the grave.”
Source