Wild West Podcast
Welcome to the Wild West podcast, where fact and legend merge. We present the true accounts of individuals who settled in towns built out of hunger for money, regulated by fast guns, who walked on both sides of the law, patrolling, investing in, and regulating the brothels, saloons, and gambling houses. These are stories of the men who made the history of the Old West come alive - bringing with them the birth of legends, brought to order by a six-gun and laid to rest with their boots on. Join us as we take you back in history to the legends of the Wild West. You can support our show by subscribing to Exclusive access to premium content at Wild West Podcast + https://www.buzzsprout.com/64094/subscribe or just buy us a cup of coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwestpodcast
Wild West Podcast
Kansas's Outlaws Unveiled: Stripping Back the Legends of Jim Curry and Henry Brown
Get ready to venture into the gritty underbelly of post-Civil War Kansas with us, as we expose the chilling tales of the state's most notorious outlaws. We're dusting off an article from the Kansas Magazine, a deep-dive into the state's darkest past, co-authored by our very own producer Mike King. Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat, we lay bare the unfiltered realities of the March Madness-style showdown where each criminal's deeds are weighed, debated, and ranked to identify the worst of the worst.
Stirring up the shadows, we go one-on-one with the chilling narratives of Jim Curry and Henry Brown, two names that struck fear into the heart of Kansas. Discover the lawless journey of Curry, a man whose life of crime even saw him cross paths with Maurice Barrymore, patriarch of the famed Barrymore family. Then, prepare for the gut-wrenching tale of Henry Brown whose shocking betrayal of his badge made him one of Kansas's most despised figures. From their involvement in the Civil War to their own personal demons, we strip back the legends to reveal the men behind these infamous outlaws. Click Here to Subscribe to Kansas Magazine
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, criminals often broke the law in the Kansas Plains, but some did it for good reasons and others for evil. Sadly, the state's chronicles of true crimes is as old as the state itself. Forged in the pre-Civil War raids of bleeding Kansas, and scarred by mass curves and attacks on both sides during the Indian wars, justice and moral rights were not always clear or aligned with the law. Kansans love an underdog who stands against perceived tyranny. Some of our state's most notorious outlaws have long been glorified as daring robbers and swashbuckling killers. Their narratives shaped in dime-store novels to reflect frontier ideals of the rugged individuality of pioneers. As a result, retellings might overlook the crimes of the outlaws and see only the romance of the rebels. Today, wild West Podcast will look at an article published by the Kansas Magazine entitled Notorious, co-authored by our own producer, mike King. In this episode, we'll look back on some historical figures from the state's early history to examine some of the worst outlaws from Kansas who ran afoul of the law, mike, how did the article Notorious come about?
Speaker 2:Well, brad. In December of 2022, I was contacted by Nathan Pinnigale, senior editor with the Sunflower Publishing, to do a feature story on the worst of the worst outlaws in Kansas.
Speaker 1:Before you get too far into the prerequisites of the article, I have a question. How did Nathan know to seek you out for this article?
Speaker 2:Well, brad, I'm not really sure and can only speculate. Back in 2021, I was contacted by Amber Farley, a freelance writer doing a story about talking in Kansas, a story on podcasters doing a deep dive into Kansas legends and attractions. The story about the Wild West Podcast eventually appeared in issue number five of the 2021 Kansas Magazine. They discovered our podcast on early Kansas history and included us in a side article about our work. That past contact on our topics on Wild West history probably prompted them to do an exploratory readlion, like catching a fish flopping around in water. Well, anyway, nathan contacted me in December of 2022.
Speaker 2:After a 30 minute video conference brainstorming some ideas about the article, we conceived a few ideas on how to proceed. The feature story would narrow down the field of the worst outlaws of Kansas to include at least 13 baddies. The list would be ranked chronologically, including a short bio that a designer could use to make infographics, such as a manner of death, type of crime, loner or gang member or killer status, kinda like a baseball card featuring individual statistics. Then the idea of creating an outlaw bracket surfaced, as seen in a Final Four College playoff bracket. It was then agreed that an extensively annotated March Madness basketball style bracket with a listing of 13 or more Kansas outlaws would be created. The bracket would demonstrate Kansas outlaws going head to head with an analysis of who wins the worst of the worst matchup in each round and why.
Speaker 1:So, knowing that the outlaws of Kansas didn't fit a specific mold and many outlaws started out as low paying jobs as lawmen, many needed second jobs to survive. As a result, it was not unusual for outlaws to put on a badge, nor for admired law enforcement officers to stray across the line and thus considerably raise their standard of living. How did you determine your rank order? By differentiating between lawman and outlaw.
Speaker 2:Brad, you are right. This ranking was a difficult task, so I devised a scoring grid to determine their placement on the worst of the worst brackets. The qualifiers were judged on baddie points. Outlaws who disturbed the peace, russell Cattle or committed robbery scored one point. A gunfighter got two baddie points and a confirmed killer got three points. If they fought on the side of the law and then betrayed the badge, they also got three points. So the list began. As I researched each individual outlaw and the number of times they committed a crime during their tenure as a Kansas outlaw, it took about two weeks to do a deep dive at the Kansas Heritage Center Library in Dodge City.
Speaker 1:So who were some of the outlaws on the list?
Speaker 2:Brad, I only listed eight because some of the noted outlaws needed more scoring points to make the finals. These outlaws included Henry Brown, william L, billy Brooks, luke Short, robert Reddick, dalton, jim Curry, texas Billy Thompson, dirty Dave Rudewald and mysterious Dave Mather, among a few others. I can predict your next question, though, brad, who won out on being the worst of the baddies in the bracket. So let's do this. I would like for you to take the next question. Look at the list, give us your top two picks from at least two of the worst outlaws and tell us why you selected them as in chronological order, in other words, who would be your first and who would be the baddest of the bad?
Speaker 1:Well, mike, in that order I'm going to say my picks would be Jim Curry and Henry Brown.
Speaker 2:So, Brad, what you're telling me is Jim Curry is first and then Henry Brown is second. So I'm very curious why you picked Jim Curry over Henry Brown. But let's talk a little bit more about Jim Curry first.
Speaker 1:Well, mike, even though I am a native, born Dodge Cityan and have lived here again is for the majority of my adult life. I spent most of my formative years in Hayes in Ellis County, which is where Jim Curry was probably most notable, and anytime that you got in the historical community there in Hayes and we're talking about the old outlaws of Hayes Jim Curry was dominated the conversation. He was, by all accounts, one of the evilest Westerners that ever slapped gun leather, as they say, and an 1883 account by a Kansas historical publication listed him as one of the absolute words, just a drag of society I can't remember the exact verbiage that they used, but very uncharitable. Speaking about Jim Curry, as I have looked into his life and career as an adult and more of a historian, it seems to be on account of his reputation. Jim was blamed for a lot of crimes, even murders, other things that he may not have actually committed.
Speaker 1:So there's very little in fact that we can pin down actually to Jim Curry, and probably the greatest, the funnest story, I guess, if you can call it that of Jim's career didn't even happen in Kansas. It was that event in Texas where he wound up in a shooting scrape with a couple of actors, one of whom was Maurice Barrymore, who he actually shot in a saloon in Texas. Maurice Barrymore, the father of John, lionel and Ethel, which would make him the great grandfather of Drew Barrymore. So luckily, barrymore survived for the Barrymore acting legacy. But say if the greatest event of his outlaw career didn't even happen in Kansas? I don't think we can really qualify Jim as among the worst of the Kansas outlaws.
Speaker 2:Brad, besides being somewhat evil and a evil character, can you tell us a little bit more about Jim Curry's background? Did he have a profession? Did he work? Did he fight in the Civil War? Tell us a little bit about his family life, anything extra that would kind of give us an idea about how his personality went to the evil side during his time as an outlaw?
Speaker 1:Yes, mike, he was an immigrant to the United States at an early age. I'll say it that way eight or nine years old when he arrived in New York, eventually made his way west, enlisted in the Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. He served from Antietam through a great majority of the war, I believe, although even the units that he served in suffered very heavy casualties. Jim himself was by all accounts never wounded at all. So he emerged from the Civil War relatively unscathed. And I say relatively because as he drifted west then further after the war, becoming involved in the railroad. And I say relatively because as he drifted west again after the war, he got involved working for the railroad, initially as an engineer. One point he allegedly and again I say allegedly shot up to Erasmony as four other men on his route on his engine and supposedly carried the scalp of a Kiowa Indian that he had supposedly killed, supposedly that the Kiowa was the first civilian murder that he had, or killing I'll say that he had done after the war, also involved, for at least a brief time, I believe, as a railroad detective, which is what took him down to Texas. He was involved in breaking up the Sam Bass gang down there and in Hayes, I believe even if you tour downtown Hayes today, you get to the site of Tommy Drum Saloon, the listed on the historical plaque there, that's outside the site of what was the building in its heyday. Jim Curry is the only official name listed on that marker, just because he was known to frequent Tommy Drums, which was Tommy Drum was kind of the chocolate Beeson of Dodge City.
Speaker 1:Tommy Drum's place was kind of the long branch of Hayes. I'll say that it was where everybody, where everybody went. Anybody who was anybody sooner or later showed up at Tommy Drums, which is also sort of how Jim Curry's reputation sort of exploded there in Ellis County because he was always there, so everyone was familiar with him. And during those years through Ellis County, hayes and afterwards, he does seem to have suffered severe alcoholism, which I think makes him the right case for shell shock, ptsd, whatever you'd want to call it. In the 1860, 1870s he was drunk in most of the events, escapades that we either know for a fact or suspect him being involved in. Certainly he was drunk in the Maurice Barrymore incident. So that is drunkenness I'm sure also contributed to his reputation as a unsavory character.
Speaker 2:So Brad Jim Curry is one of your baddie guys, but you and he sounds pretty evil actually. I mean, he sounds like a very, very bad character, but you still picked Henry Brown as your second choice. So why is Henry Brown even more desperate outlaw?
Speaker 1:Jim Curry? Well, mike, in answer to that question, I'm gonna use your own scoring system as an answer. The lawman who betrayed the badge makes him a very I'll see his last moments one of the most loathsome characters of early Kansas. It started out like many others involved in the Lincoln County War a contemporary of you know, kid Curry, billy the Kid, that group down there, as many others of course.
Speaker 1:Dave Rudabaugh, another Kansas outlaw on your list, kind of got his start down there After the events of Lincoln County, kind of tamed down like many others in that group. Henry Brown did wind up in Kansas, came to Cattleman for a brief time and also the initially the assistant Marshal and eventually the Marshal of Caldwell. Kansas, a rip-roaring cow town in the early trail driving days and served with a great deal of repute by all accounts, was very well thought of by the citizens of Caldwell until eventually he made the decision to convince the mayor of Caldwell that he needed to head down to Medicine Lodge under some sort of story that he'd concocted for, of course, business reasons, something he had to go check out down there, and Brown, along with three or four other men, decided that they were going to rob the Medicine Lodge bank.
Speaker 2:Now, brad, one of the things that may have prompted him to go to Medicine Lodge to rob that bank was that he got married, and he married a lady who was very demanding of you know. She wanted things, she wanted jewelry, she wanted fine things, houses, that kind of thing. So his motivation may have been, when he went to Medicine Lodge, to find some luxuries that he could provide for his new wife.
Speaker 1:Mike, you're absolutely correct. His wife was a reasonably wealthy socialite, college educated. She did have a degree, which was a rarity for really for anyone in this part of the world at that time, especially for a woman. So she was used to some of the finer things, demanded the finer things, and, as a song from a Disney movie that I remember once he bought her trinkets that sailors can't afford, and so, yes, I believe that probably was a bit of the motivation for robbing the Medicine Lodge bank. Needless to say, the mayor agreed to allowing him to head down on the excursion. It was a failed bank robbery, miserable, absolutely miserable failure.
Speaker 1:The men were arrested, locked up and, in what should be a Western movie, the typical quintessential lynch mob scenario, they stormed, the lynch mob stormed the jail late in the evening. One of the smaller men had actually slipped out of their handcuffs. They were preparing to make their escape as the lynch mob entered. Henry Brown was the first to cut and run as the door opened. The lynch mob were about to enter. He just shotgunned out of that building right through the crowd. Planning to make his escape Didn't get very far before he was almost quite literally cut in half by a shotgun blast. So, yeah, his one-man career ended badly. His outlaw career ended possibly even worse, but just because of that, that one scenario, I would rank him among the worst of the worst of Kansas outlaws. So, with all that said, how did I do? Did I get any of them correct?
Speaker 2:My best answer, brad, is for anyone who wants to know to go out and read the featured article Notorious in the 2023 fall edition of the Kansas Magazine or follow us on our upcoming Kansas Outlaws and Lawman series.
Speaker 2:But before closing, I want to mention that Notorious is a two-part article the bad ones and the good ones, like the good, the bad and the unmentioned ugly. Part two is authored by Dr Patricia Ackerman of Kansas State University, who served as coordinator for the Faculty Resource Center and Graduate Program. She is noted for her freelance writing abilities and maintains membership with a room of her writing consortium, the Hedgebrook Foundation and Women Writing the West. Overall, the Notorious article is well thought out, created, informative and with multiple infographics and illustrations by Toran Thomas. Now, toran is a Kansas University graduate specializing in freelance character portrait artist and character design from Lawrence, kansas. As you see, many people with extraordinary talents go into creative magazine and the Kansas Magazine publishes a superior product. Additional features and the notorious issue include articles from murder mystery diners, kansas speakeasies, the Leavenworth US Penitentiary and, of course, food crimes.
Speaker 1:That's it for now. Remember to check out our Wild West podcast shows on iTunes podcast or Wild West podcast bus sproutcom. You can also catch us on Facebook at facebookcom slash Wild West podcast or on our YouTube channel at Wild West podcast Mike King YouTube. So make sure you subscribe to our shows listed at the end of the description text of this podcast to receive notifications on all new episodes. Additionally, if you're interested in purchasing a subscription to Kansas magazine, go to wwwkansasmagcom or follow the link provided in the description section of this podcast. Thanks for listening to our podcast. If you have any comments or would like to add to any of our series, you can write us at Wild West podcast at gmailcom. We'll share your thoughts as they apply to future episodes. Join us next time as we begin our feature series on Kansas lawman and outlaws.
