When people think of the Wild Bunch, names like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid usually come to mind. But among their ranks was a man with a far more ruthless reputation: Kid Curry. Unlike Cassidy, who preferred to outwit his enemies, or the Sundance Kid, known for his sharp shooting, Curry had a reputation for acting first and showing little mercy. But was he truly the deadliest member of the Wild Bunch, or has time exaggerated his legend?
Born Harvey Logan, Curry has often been credited with eight or nine killings, though some sources inflate that number to as many as forty. However, historical records reveal that many of these claims are difficult to verify. In fact, one historian pointed out that the only death that can be definitively linked to Curry is that of Pike Landusky, with whom he had a documented and violent confrontation. When examining other alleged victims, investigators have found serious inconsistencies regarding time, location, and circumstances.
One of the earliest documented cases involves Sheriff “Billy” Dean, who lost his life on April 13, 1897, more than two years after Landusky’s death. Johnson County Sheriff Al Sproul had specifically hired Dean to track down cattle thieves. While Dean was known for his level-headed nature, the situation escalated quickly, resulting in a confrontation where Dean was killed. Eyewitness accounts suggested that up to seven men had fired at the deputy, with at least two positioned in an ambush.
However, given the uncertainty of the events, determining Curry’s involvement, if any, remains speculative at best. A little more than two years later, on June 5, 1899, Converse County, Wyoming Sheriff Josiah Hazen was fatally wounded while tracking three men suspected of robbing a Union Pacific train. The posse was pinned down long enough for the outlaws to escape north along the creek. Hazen was rushed first to Casper and then to his home in Douglas, where he passed away early the next morning.
The Cheyenne Daily Sun Leader reported on June 10 that some posse members attempted to return fire, but the bandits remained out of sight, their use of smokeless powder making it impossible to pinpoint their locations. Unlike the earlier Dean incident, this confrontation took place at a much closer range, with only three outlaws positioned against two pursuers. Some reports mention that the first gunshot was distinct from the following burst, which may indicate that one of the bandits was aware of delivering the critical hit. While no one in the posse could confirm who fired the fatal shot, the outlaws themselves may have known.
Given these details, it is possible that Hazen’s shooter was Kid Curry, but after so many years, it is nearly impossible to be certain. Another possible victim linked to Kid Curry was Montana rancher Jim Winters. After the Great Northern Train Robbery near Wagner, Montana, on July 3, 1901, Curry and Ben Kilpatrick were reportedly in the area. Winters was brushing his teeth one morning when two bullets struck him in the abdomen.
One bullet became lodged in his stomach, while the other damaged his spinal column. Several people were at the ranch that morning, including six young men from the East who had come to work. At least two or three horses were spotted heading away from the scene. Authorities speculated that the attackers had waited for hours anticipating Winters’ appearance, with one individual leaving first while the others provided cover.
The conflict between Winters and John Curry, Kid Curry’s brother, stemmed from a dispute over the Trester Ranch, which Winters had legally purchased. John Curry had challenged the ownership, demanding that Winters leave the area. Perhaps tellingly, Winters had confided in Charles Singo, a Pinkerton detective, that he feared an ambush by Kid Curry. Despite this concern, five years had passed without any sign of Kid Curry on the property.
The first newspaper account of the Winters incident appeared in the Devil’s River News on April 6, 1901, though the details were conflicting. Some reports claimed that Charles Walker, an alias used by Will Carver, was responsible for the shooting. However, the physical description of Walker—a small man weighing between 135 and 140 pounds with a dark complexion, a heavy brown mustache, a bald head, and estimated to be between 35 and 40 years old—matched Harvey Curry more closely than it did Carver. Several months after the incident, Bozeman Deputy Patrick, who was not present at the scene, examined the case and found the circumstances puzzling.
Deputy Patrick noted that both Will Carver and Harvey Logan were known for using violence to protect themselves, but it seemed unlikely they would take such a risk over a dispute about livestock. Any act of aggression would immediately attract law enforcement, which is exactly what happened after Winters’ death. Patrick also questioned whether Ben Kilpatrick would have risked being linked to the murder, given the dangers of the area. When considering all available evidence, it appears that no one outside the Kilpatrick family and Carver knew that Curry was even in the area.
Additionally, there was no clear proof linking him to the shooting. As a result, it remains uncertain whether Curry played any role in Winters’ death at all. Historical records do place members of the Wild Bunch—including Kid Curry, William Carver, and Ben Kilpatrick—at the Kilpatrick family farm in Paint Rock, Texas, around this time. The group had split up to commit two high-profile robberies: one targeting a Union Pacific train in Tipton, Wyoming, and the other hitting the First National Bank in Winnemucca, Nevada.
When tracker Joe Hazen was killed, some attributed the slaying to Curry, but others were doubtful. Eyewitness accounts suggest that one of the outlaws had fired first with a revolver, making it unclear whether the shooting was justified as self-defense. When historians attempted to compile a list of Curry’s victims, they encountered numerous errors. In 1954, authors James D.
Horan and Paul San wrote a pictorial history of the Wild West that attributed nine deaths to Curry, but their list was riddled with mistakes, including misspelled names and incorrect dates. Notably, they did not cite any law enforcement records or verified sources, which raised questions about the accuracy of their claims. Another historian, Spence, compiled a broader list of seven victims, but even he appeared uncertain about whether Curry was responsible for all of them. Spence theorized that five deaths attributed to a group of outlaws that caused havoc across Arizona and Utah in the spring of 1900 might be connected to Curry.
However, he found no evidence linking Curry to these killings, and his records ultimately confirmed only three names: Oliver Thornton, Josiah Hazen, and Jim Winters. When Spence compiled his broader list, it was unclear whether he meant to attribute all seven killings specifically to Curry or whether he intended to include killings carried out by the gang as a whole. The case is further complicated by the fact that some of the names linked to Curry are unverified. One theory suggests that Curry used the alias Tom Capehart, but the real Tom Capehart was a Texas cowboy documented as working at the WS Ranch during the time Curry was supposedly there.
If Curry had used Capehart’s name while working alongside him, it would have been an obvious and illogical deception. Furthermore, no verifiable records place Curry in the Southwest during the period when those five murders occurred. While he was certainly involved in violent incidents elsewhere, the evidence does not support his connection to these particular killings. Even the four names frequently linked to Curry—Deputy William “Billy” Dean, Josiah Hazen, Oliver Thornton, and Jim Winters—remain uncertain.
After Kid Curry reportedly took his own life in 1904 while surrounded by lawmen, some questioned whether the deceased man was truly Curry. Officials in Knoxville, who had encountered him during his 1901-02 imprisonment, had their doubts. The physical description of the man who died in 1904 did not entirely match the Curry they remembered, and his fingerprints were not taken before burial. In the end, the debate over Kid Curry’s true body count remains one of the most contested among Old West outlaws.
Was he the deadliest member of the Wild Bunch, or simply the most feared? Given the conflicting reports, missing records, and unreliable eyewitness accounts, separating fact from legend is nearly impossible. What remains clear is that Kid Curry played a significant role in one of the most infamous outlaw gangs in American history, leaving behind a legacy that continues to spark debate more than a century later.