Old West Female Outlaws

Lesson 3: The Wild Bunch Women

Laura Bullion and Annie Rogers

Laura Bullion and Annie Rogers both became associated with the Wild Bunch Gang thorough a love interest with one of the gang's members. These two women both had questionable pasts themselves and were on the wrong side of the law before meeting up with the gang. Like many of the women associated with the gang, they worked as dance hall girls and were involved in prostitution. These two women were participants in the gang's crimes. Laura Bullion took an active part in some of the raids and Annie Rogers acted as a fence for stolen goods and money. Both women were arrested in association with their crimes.

Laura Bullion

Little is known about Laura Bullion's past, except that she was born in Knickerbocker, Texas around 1876 and was of German and Native American descent.

Laura Bullion, alias Della Rose, was working as a dance hall girl in Sheridan, Wyoming when she first met up with Wild Bunch member Will Carver. Along with her boyfriend, she took part in bank raids. During an escape gone bad, Carver shot himself rather than get captured. Kilpatrick escaped. Laura later picked up with Ben Kilpatrick, also called the Tall Texan, and became his common law wife. Laura continued to take an active part in raids. On the 29th of August, 1900, Kilpatrick along with Cassidy and other members of the Wild Bunch Gang held up the Union Pacific train at Tipton, Wyoming. The next month, they robbed the First National Bank in Winnemucca, Nevada where they took in over 30,000 dollars.

The following year, after a robbery of the Great Northern train near Wagner, Montana which took in $65,000 dollars, the two were captured. At 28 years of age, Laura was sentenced to five years in prison. After her release she retired from crime and married a rancher. She never saw her lover Ben Kilpatrick again. Ben was released in 1912 and continued his life of crime. That same year he was killed during a Southern Pacific train robbery.

Annie Rogers

Annie Rogers was Kid Curry's girl. Kid Curry, whose real name was Harvey Logan, had the reputation of being the most dangerous member of the Wild Bunch gang.

Annie was born Della Moore in Texas. She worked for a time as a prostitute at Fanny Porter's house in San Antonio, where many of the Wild Bunch women hailed. Besides Della Moore and Annie Rogers, she also went by the alias Maud Williams. Annie was slender with dark brown hair, dark complexion and high cheekbones.

Though Curry was a violent man, his affection for Annie seemed genuine. They may have been married, or if not, like Etta Place and the Sundance Kid, they often posed as man and wife.

Shortly after the Great Northern train robbery near Wagner, Montana, in which the Wild Bunch and Curry had participated, Annie was caught changing stolen money at a bank in Nashville, Tennessee. The bank teller had been warned to be on the lookout for unsigned bills stolen in the robbery, and he became suspicious. The police were contacted and Annie was arrested. After a short time in jail, Annie was acquitted. She left her life of crime and never saw Kid Curry again. Kid Curry was captured committing a small robbery and during an escape attempt was shot by a posse. Badly wounded he staved off law while his companions got away, then shot himself.

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