Comparing the Wild West’s Infamous Outlaws and the Lawmen Chasing Them

The American Frontier was a time of dramatic expansion and reinvention, a period when settlers pushed westward in pursuit of land, gold, and opportunity. With fledgling towns, limited infrastructure, and enormous stretches of untamed territory, the West proved difficult to govern, and justice was often improvised.

In this lawless environment, a wide range of figures stepped in to impose order. The job of a wild west lawman was both noble and dangerous. While some outlaw names have become synonymous with frontier justice and chaos, many other enforcers and outlaws operated just as boldly, if less famously. Some were career peacekeepers; others walked the line between hero and criminal.

To highlight the full spectrum of Western grit, 24/7 Tempo compiled a list of the Wild West's most legendary lawmen and most notorious outlaws. Sources include respected platforms like History.com, Biography.com, and Britannica, each offering detailed accounts of these figures' exploits and legacies.

This post was updated on July 5th, 2025, to reflect additional information.

Here are the Wild West's boldest lawmen and most daring outlaws.

• Born: June 16, 1829
• Died: Feb. 17, 1909
• Weapon (s) of choice: 1873 Springfield full-length, single-shot rifle

This Apache warrior is remembered as an excellent marksman, although nobody knows how many men Geronimo killed. He used his weapon of choice to evade capture by the U.S. Army in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico.

• Born 1832
• Died: Dec. 5, 1914
• Weapon (s) of choice:rifle and revolver

Known for her fearless and fiery temperament, Mary Fields was a Star Route carrier contracted by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail by stagecoach in northern Montana. She successfully defended her parcels from bandits for eight years until her retirement.

• Born: May 27, 1837
• Died: Aug. 2, 1876
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt 1851 Navy revolver

One of the most famous lawmen of the frontier, Wild Bill Hickock was involved in numerous gunfights and is said to have killed over 100 people, including some infamous outlaws and criminals.

• Born: 1838
• Died: Jan. 12, 1910
• Weapon (s) of choice:Winchester Model 1873

Born into slavery, Bass Reeves went on to serve in the Civil War and become one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals, patrolling what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma. During his service, he arrested over 3,000 criminals and killed 14 in self-defense.

• Born: Sept. 2, 1841
• Died: July 3, 1887
• Weapon (s) of choice:Knife

Deranged cattle rancher and gunslinger Robert Clay Allison had a reputation for strange antics and violence. He supposedly once beheaded a man and brought the head to a bar to have a drink. He may have killed over 20 people during his life, and his tombstone reads, "he never killed a man that did not need killing."

• Born:Dec. 11, 1845
• Died: Sept. 18, 1882
• Weapon (s) of choice:believed to be an 1860 Colt Model Army Cartridge Conversion

Dallas Stoudenmire was a feared town marshal in El Paso, Texas, who carried two guns and was known to be incredibly accurate with both hands. His most famous gunfight lasted only five seconds, and at the end, four men lay dead – three by his hands. He killed a total of 10 men in the line of duty before he was fatally shot in a gunfight.

• Born: 1845
• Died: 1872 (estimated)
• Weapon (s) of choice:believed to be the Spencer repeating rifle

Leader of the Lowry Gang and a Lumbee Native American, Henry Berry Lowry was an outlaw in Robeson County, North Carolina. He and his gang were known for robbing rich white settlers in the area and sharing the spoils with the poor. The gang hid out in swamps to avoid being conscripted into forced labor, and they avenged the executions of Henry's father and brother.

• Born: Sept. 5, 1847
• Died: April 3, 1882
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt revolvers

The infamous Missouri outlaw Jesse James was the leader of the James-Younger Gang, known for robbing trains, banks, and stagecoaches, and evading capture for 10 years. James himself was responsible for up to 17 deaths. He was eventually betrayed and murdered by his accomplice Robert Ford, who was after the hefty bounty.

• Born March 19, 1848
• Died: Jan. 13, 1929
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt .45-caliber revolver

The gambler and lawman Wyatt Earp served as a marshal in multiple boomtowns, including Wichita and Dodge City, but he is best remembered for his time in Tombstone, Arizona. There, he and his brothers got into the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral that ended in the deaths of three members of a rival gang.

• Born: Feb. 5, 1848
• Died: Feb. 3, 1889
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt .45 pistol

An outlaw in Texas and Oklahoma Territory, Belle Starr was known as a criminal mastermind who committed bank robberies and horse thefts and also harbored other known criminals, including Frank and Jesse James.

• Born: July 21, 1851
• Died: July 21, 1878
• Weapon (s) of choice:.44-40 snubby

A bandit and gang leader, Sam Bass orchestrated the largest train robbery to date when his gang stole $60,000 in gold from a Union Pacific train. He also robbed banks and stagecoaches. He was mortally wounded in a shootout with Texas Rangers before a bank robbery, dying a few days later at age 27.

• Born: Aug. 14, 1851
• Died: Nov. 8, 1887
• Weapon (s) of choice:851 Colt Navy revolver, nickel-plated .41 caliber Colt Thunderer, .38 caliber Colt Lightening

John Henry Holliday was a skilled gunslinger, a dentist, and a friend of Wyatt Earp. In Tombstone, Arizona, he participated in the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral. After Wyatt's brother Morgan was murdered, Holliday accompanied Wyatt on his deadly "vendetta ride." He died of Tuberculosis.

• Born: May 1, 1852
• Died: Aug. 1, 1903
• Weapon (s) of choice:32-caliber Hopkins and Allen Ranger pistol, Winchester Model 1876 Lever Action Rifle, Percussion Kentucky rifle

An associate of Wild Bill Hickcock, Martha Jane Cannary was a rough-edged carouser and sharpshooter who dressed in men's clothing. She was also a humanitarian who nursed smallpox patients in Deadwood. Calamity Jane served as an Army scout during her early days and later appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

• Born: May 26, 1853
• Died: Aug. 19, 1895
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt Dragoon .44, Colt and Remington percussion revolvers

A notorious quick-draw gunslinger, John Wesley Hardin killed his first man at age 15 and went on to kill at least 26 more during his lifetime. He carried two pistols in chest holsters, and once he shot a man through a hotel wall for snoring too loudly.

• Born: October 1853
• Died: March 11, 1884
• Weapon (s) of choice:1883 Colt Single-Action revolver

John King Fisher was a Texas gunfighter known for his flamboyant dress and his violent temper. He conducted frequent raids in Mexico and allegedly killed three members of his gang after an argument about how to split their loot. He later became sheriff of Uvalde County.

• Born 1858
• Died: Oct. 3, 1900
• Weapon (s) of choice:Unknown

Isam Dart was a skilled bronco buster, cowboy, and cattle rustler who worked in Wyoming, Texas, and Mexico. Tired of being an outlaw, he settled down in Colorado, only to return to the lucrative trade of cattle theft. He was eventually shot dead, possibly by Detective Tom Horn, who was hired to rid the area of rustlers.

• Born Sept. 17, 1859
• Died: July 14, 1881
• Weapon (s) of choice:1877 .41 caliber Colt Thunderer

Also known as Billy the Kid, Henry McCarty was orphaned at age 14 and spent the rest of his short life engaged in criminal activity, including thefts and murder. He rode with a vigilante group called the Regulators and is said to have killed 21 men before he died, although the real number may be closer to nine.

• Born Nov. 21, 1860
• Died: Nov. 20, 1903
• Weapon (s) of choice:.30-30 Winchester (likely a Model 1892), also said to have owned a Winchester Model 1876 rifle

As a Pinkerton agent, Tom Horn was known for his violent propensity. He eventually became a detective and hitman hired by large ranching operations to assassinate cattle rustlers and small-time homesteaders. He is known to have killed 17 people, but some sources cite numbers as high as 50.

• Born 1860
• Died: 1894 (estimated)
• Weapon (s) of choice:Unknown

Once a scout for the U.S. Army, the Apache Kid was eventually imprisoned for desertion and escaped, becoming a fugitive and renegade in the borderlands of Arizona and New Mexico. Despite a bounty on his head, he evaded capture while conducting raids and has become a legendary figure of the Southwest.

• Born: Aug. 13, 1860
• Died: Nov. 3, 1926
• Weapon (s) of choice: She had many short guns, pistols, and rifles including the Winchester 1873 .44-40 caliber factory-made, smooth-bore rifle

Born Phoebe Ann Moses, the sharpshooter known as Annie Oakley began hunting and selling games at a young age to support her family. At age 15, she outmatched a professional sharpshooter, whom she subsequently married. Although she never shot another person, she twice offered to train women sharpshooters for the U.S. military.

• Born: April 19, 1909
• Died: Oct. 25, 1866
• Weapon (s) of choice:Double-barrel shotgun

Known by a handful of names, including "Killer Miller," James Brown Miller was a lawman, outlaw, and hired assassin. Cold to the core, he once said that he would kill anyone for money, and he is said to have murdered at least 14 men. He was hanged by a lynch mob after killing a former U.S. marshal.

• Born: April 3, 1866
• Died: Nov. 7, 1908
• Weapon (s) of choice:Colt Model 1873 Single Action Revolver

Leader of the Wild Bunch gang, Butch Cassidy (born Robert Leroy Parker) was an infamous train and bank robber who once stole $21,000 from a Telluride bank and participated in numerous shootouts. Constantly on the run from the law, he eventually fled to South America with his friend and fellow outlaw the Sundance Kid.

• Born: 1867
• Died: Nov. 7, 1908
• Weapon (s) of choice:Winchester rifle

Known as the best shot and fastest gunslinger of the Wild Bunch, Harry Longabaugh earned his nickname after being imprisoned for stealing a horse in Sundance, Wyoming. Along with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, he participated in the longest string of successful bank and train robberies in American history.

• Born 1871
• Died: December 30, 1955
• Weapon (s) of choice:.38 revolver

A Canadian-born outlaw, Pearl Hart wore men's clothing and a short haircut while robbing a stagecoach with her partner. The two were caught and jailed but Hart managed to charm her way out – only to be recaptured. Hart went down in history as having committed one of the last stagecoach robberies in America.

• Born:February 8, 1876
• Died: March 17, 1896
• Weapon (s) of choice:Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle

Crawford Goldsby, also known as Cherokee Bill, was an outlaw and gang leader who kept company with other criminals, including Billy the Kid and Henry Starr. He robbed trains, banks, and stores, and killed at least seven people during his reign as the toughest and meanest outlaw in Indian Territory.

• Born: August 1, 1895
• Died: July 1, 1896
• Weapon (s) of choice: Unknown (they stockpiled many weapons)

The Rufus Buck Gang was a group of Creek Indian and Black Americans that held up stores and ranches in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma. Their crime spree began with the killing of a U.S. marshal and ended with their capture and hanging.