The old West is a place full of adventure, danger, and myth. It was an era defined by wide-open spaces, sudden violence, and the constant struggle for survival. Yet, there is no outlaw that captures the old Westâs imagination quite like Kid Curry.
He is an outlaw, a cowboy, a legend, and a mystery that has fascinated people for more than a century. Who is Kid Curry? What drove him to a life of crime, and what is the real story behind this fascinating old West character?
In this video, we uncover the truth and reveal the story of Kid Curry, the old Westâs most daring and scheming outlaw.
Harvey Alexander Logan is the real name of the man known as Kid Curry. He was an orphaned cowboy from Iowa who grew up to be a thief, a gunman, and a bank robber. However, he is more famous for his train robberies and is considered one of the most extravagant members of Butch Cassidyâs outlaw gang, the Wild Bunch.
His reputation was built on a combination of sheer audacity, cold-blooded efficiency, and a willingness to take risks that other criminals would not dare. Born in 1867 in Tama County, Iowa, Harvey was the third child in a family of six. His childhood was marked by poverty and hardship, a common fate for many families struggling to make a living on the frontier.
When his father died, his mother moved the family to Dodson, Missouri, a small town outside of Kansas City, where they hoped to find a better life. The move was a desperate gamble to escape the grinding poverty that had defined their lives. As fate would have it, tragedy struck young Harvey Logan and his siblings when their mother died shortly after their fatherâs death in 1876.
The orphans were taken care of by his aunt and uncle, Eliza and Haram Lee, who adopted them and gave them a home. The loss of both parents at such a young age undoubtedly shaped Harveyâs worldview, instilling in him a fierce independence and a deep distrust of authority.
Sometime later, Harvey and his three brothers moved to Texas, where he found work as a butcher at the Cross L Ranch near Big Spring. It was there that he befriended a man named Flatnose George Curry, who would have a significant influence on his life. In fact, Harvey even took Georgeâs last name as his own, a decision that would blur the lines of his identity for years to come.
After getting involved in a bar brawl in Colorado, Harvey knew he must humble himself to avoid the law, so he went to Southern Wyoming, where he hoped to start over. The following year, Harvey, along with his brothers Johnny and Lonnie, went to stay at a horse ranch in Chouteau County, Montana, just south of the Landusky mining camp.
On October 2nd, 1894, Harvey and Johnny Logan, along with their brother-in-law Lee Self, got into a dispute with their neighbor James Ross. During the altercation, Harvey was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. This event set a path for the young cowboy that would lead to a career in crime.
It was a turning point, a moment where the line between legitimate work and lawlessness began to blur. It wasnât long before another incident occurred, this time with a local miner named Powell Landusky. The miner attacked Harvey because he believed Harvey was having an đśđťđťđśđžđ with his daughter.
When Logan fought back, Landusky filed a complaint and had him arrested. Although a judge ultimately ruled in Loganâs favor, a formal trial was still set for the charges.
One fateful night, Harvey and Landusky ran into each other again at a local pub. A heated argument quickly turned into a brawl, and as Logan turned to walk away, Landusky pulled out a gun and threatened him. In self-defense, Loganâs brothers gave him a pistol, and when the final gunfight broke out, Harvey quickly shot Landusky in the head.
Fearing that he would never get a fair trial for the murder, Logan fled. The aftermath of the shooting brought a đđ˝đ¸đ¸đđžđđ revelation. Landuskyâs daughter announced that she was pregnant, but the baby wasnât Harveyâs.
Instead, it was Lonnieâs brotherâs son. This twist of fate would have a significant impact on Kid Curryâs life in the years to come, adding another layer of complexity to an already volatile family dynamic.
Highly wanted, Harvey Logan had no choice but to flee to New Mexico. There, he teamed up with the infamous Black Jack Ketchum gang, where he continued his life of crime. However, Harvey could not resist the temptation to return to Montana, believing that James Winters was trying to claim a reward for his capture.
During a violent confrontation in 1896, Harvey and his brothers confronted Winters, which resulted in the death of Johnny Logan. Grieving and once again on the run, Harvey and Lonnie rejoined the Blackjack Ketchum gang. However, a disagreement with the gangâs leader, Thomas Blackjack Ketchum, caused the Logan brothers to part ways and venture to Colorado, where they found work on a farm near Sand Gulch.
Harveyâs criminal nature didnât change, and he quickly formed a new gang that included his brother Lonnie, as well as Walt Putman, Tom OâDay, and his old friend George Curry. Trouble followed them wherever they went. In 1897, Harvey was implicated in the murder of Deputy Sheriff William Dean of Powder River, Wyoming, in connection with a horse theft.
After narrowly escaping in Montana, Harvey Logan and his gang robbed a bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, in June of that year. Although most of the party managed to escape, the bandit Tom OâDay was caught when his horse panicked. The remaining bandits were eventually caught in Fergus County, Montana.
In the ensuing gunfight, Logan was wounded in the wrist and was arrested along with Walt Putman and George Curry. They were imprisoned in Deadwood, South Dakota, but escaped on October 31st, 1897.
Logan then teamed up with the infamous Sundance Kid and Flatnose George Curry to rob a train from the South Pacific Railroad in Humboldt, Nevada, on July 14th, 1898. However, the loot was only about $450, a disappointing return for such a high-risk endeavor. In 1899, the Wild Bunch, including Logan, robbed the Union Pacific Railroad near Wilcox, Wyoming.
This led to a fierce chase, culminating in a furious gunfight between the trailing team and the bandits, resulting in the loss of Sheriff Joe Hazenâs life. The Wild Bunch managed to escape to their Hole-in-the-Wall hideout, located on the Colorado-Utah border. Pinkerton detective Charles Siringo was then tasked with investigating the outlaw gang.
Harvey Logan joined forces with Butch Cassidy and a group of criminals in New Mexico. Together, on July 11th, 1899, they hijacked a train near Folsom, New Mexico. However, their theft was short-lived, as Sheriff Ed Farr and his team quickly caught up with them at Turkey Creek.
A fierce gun battle ensued, wounding Elzy and Sam Ketchum and resulting in the death of Sheriff Farr. Deputy Henry Love was also injured. Logan and Cassidy managed to escape.
Harvey eventually found refuge in Fannie Porterâs brothel in San Antonio. It was there that Harvey met Della Moore, also known as Annie Rogers. The two of them began a romantic relationship, a relationship that lasted several years.
However, their peaceful existence was shattered when Lonnie Curry, a friend of Harvey, was killed in a gunfight with law enforcement.
Harvey was devastated, and his grief was compounded when George Curry, his best friend, was also legally killed just two months later. On April 17th, 1900, Sheriff Jesse M. Tyler pursued Curry after he rustled some cattle near Moab, Utah.
In the ensuing gunfight, Curry was shot dead. Harvey Loganâs criminal life continued with his accomplice Will Carver. In March, they were discovered in St.
Johnâs, Arizona, where they were suspected of being involved in the Wilcox robbery. Sheriff Edward Beer tried to arrest them, but they quickly escaped. Harvey and Carver fled to Alma, New Mexico, where they met Butch Cassidy and others.
Along the way, Sheriff George Scarborough and cowhand Walter Birchfield set out to hunt them down, but the insidious Harvey was one step ahead of them and ambushed both of them on April 5th, killing Scarboro and wounding Birchfield.
The loss of his best friend George Curry had filled Harvey with anger and vengeance. He traveled north and killed Grand County Sheriff John Tyler and his Deputy Sam Jenkins on May 26th. Though on the run, Harvey joined the Wild Bunch, and on August 29th, 1900, they robbed a train near Tipton, Wyoming, taking about $55,000.
The group then parted ways, with Logan and Ben Kilpatrick heading for Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and Will Carver robbed the First National Bank in Winnemucca, Nevada, on September 19th, earning about $32,000. The following year, members of the Wild Bunch, including Harvey Logan, Will Carver, Butch Cassidy, Ben Kilpatrick, and the Sundance Kid, gathered at Hellâs Half-Acre in Fort Worth, Texas, to celebrate.
Unfortunately, they made a fatal mistake by posing for a portrait. When the Pinkertons discovered the photo, it quickly appeared on countless wanted posters around the country.
In 1901, William Carver was ambushed and shot dead by Sheriff Elijah Bryant and his deputies in Sonora, Texas. He died just three hours later, leaving Harvey and the Wild Bunch team heartbroken and angry. Determined to get revenge, Harvey and several members of the gang hijacked a Union Pacific train near Wagner, Montana, on July 3rd, 1901, and earned about $40,000.
However, the group split up and went in different directions, and Harvey was still not satisfied with his intentions for revenge. On July 26th, 1901, he killed Jim Winters, who had killed his brother John in 1896. Harvey then went to Tennessee, where his girlfriend Annie Rogers was arrested in Nashville that month for transferring notes from a robbery in Montana.
But Harveyâs anger was not quenched. On December 13th, 1901, he killed two Knoxville policemen, William Dinwiddle and Robert Saylor, as they attempted to arrest him. Despite being chased by Pinkerton agents and other law enforcement officials, Harvey returned to Montana for a time.
Curry then returned to Knoxville, and in a billiards hall on November 30th, 1902, Curry was arrested after an altercation with a lawman. After being sentenced to 20 years of hard labor and a $5,000 fine for robbery, Logan escaped from prison on June 27th, 1903. Many historians have suggested that a police officer accepted a bribe of $8,000 to help him escape, but this has never been proven.
Logan was again involved in a train robbery a year later, this time near Parachute, Colorado. A team of lawmen caught up with the outlaws, and during the confrontation, Logan was injured. Instead of facing justice and going to jail, he chose to take his own life.
Coldly, William Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, had nothing but contempt for Logan, calling him the worst outlaw in America. According to Pinkerton, Logan didnât have a single redeeming trait and was the only criminal he knew who didnât have a good point.
Logan was buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Linwood, overlooking Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a short distance from the memorial to legendary gunman Doc Holliday. Kid Curry is undoubtedly one of the old Westâs most notorious and intriguing outlaws. His life was filled with adventure, violence, and tragedy.
Although his life was cut short at the age of 37, Kid Curryâs legacy lives on to this day. He remained a symbol of the lawlessness and danger of the old West, embodying the spirit of rebellion and independence that characterized the era. His story is a reminder of a time when the frontier was still wild, and the line between hero and villain was often blurred by the harsh realities of survival.
