Laura Bullion
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Laura Bullion (1876-December 2nd, 1961) was a female outlaw of the Old West, and a member of the Wild Bunch gang led by Butch Cassidy.
[edit] Early life, and outlaw life
Bullion was born in Knickerbocker, Texas in 1876, although it is unclear as to the actual date. Her mother was German, and her father was Native American. Bullion's father was formerly an outlaw, and was acquainted with outlaws Will "News" Carver and Ben Kilpatrick, both of whom she met when she was around 13 years of age. Her aunt, Viana Byler, married Carver in 1891, but died soon after from fever. Bullion, then 15, began a romance with Carver, who for a time after his wife's death had been involved with female outlaw Josie Bassett, sister to Cassidy's girlfriend Ann Bassett. She also worked as a prostitute for a time, until reaching the age of either 16 or 17. She is also believed to have returned to prostitution from time to time, working mostly in Madame Fannie Porters brothel in San Antonio, Texas, a frequent hideaway for the gang.
When she first became involved with Carver, he was riding with the Black Jack Ketchum gang, and Bullion wanted to joined him. However, he wouldn't allow it at first, and they only saw one another between robberies. While in Utah and on the run from lawmen, Carver became involved with the Wild Bunch gang, led by Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay. Gang members nicknamed Bullion "Della Rose", a name she came by after meeting Kid Currys girlfriend Della Moore, and she was often also referred to as "Rose of the Wild Bunch". Around that same time, Bullion became involved romantically with Ben Kilpatrick, after Carver began a relationship with a prostitute named Lillie Davis, whom he had met while at Fannie Porter's brothel in San Antonio. As the gang robbed trains, Bullion supported them by selling stolen goods, and making connections that could give the gang steady supplies and horses.
By 1901 Bullion was again involved romantically with Carver, as well as occasional involvement with other members of the gang. When Carver was killed by lawmen, on April 1st, 1901, Bullion became involved romantically with Kilpatrick again, and the two fled to Tennessee. Delle Moore and Kid Curry met up with them there, and the four stayed together for a number of months, until in October, when Della Moore was arrested for passing money linked to one of the gangs robberies. Bullion, Kilpatrick and Curry moved to Knoxville, where on December 12th, 1901, both Bullion and Kilpatrick were captured. Curry escaped capture on December 13th, 1901, killing two Knoxville policemen in the process. Bullion and Kilpatrick were both convicted of robbery, with Bullion being sentenced to five years in prison, and Kilpatrick receiving a twenty year sentence. She spent three and a half years before being released in 1905.
Kilpatrick was not released from prison until 1911. He stayed in contact with Bullion through letters, who by that time had became involved with at least four other men, but they never reconnected nor did they ever see one another again. Kilpatrick was killed on March 13th, 1912, while robbing a train. By that time, all the members of the Wild Bunch gang were either in prison, dead, or had served a prison sentence and moved on to other things in their lives. Under the name of "Freda Lincoln", Bullion spent the remainder of her life in Memphis, Tennessee, where she worked as a seamstress and a dress maker, and becoming a housewife. She died there in 1961, the last of the Wild Bunch gang.
