Ben Kilpatrick
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Ben Kilpatrick (1877-March 12th, 1912) was an outlaw during the closing days of the American Old West.
He was a member of the Wild Bunch gang led by Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay.
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[edit] Early life
Kilpatrick was born in Concho County, Texas, in 1877, but his exact birth date is unknown.
He worked as a cowboy for a time in Texas, before venturing west to Utah and Wyoming, where he first met Elzy Lay. Lay was the closest friend to Butch Cassidy, with whom he would go on to organize the Wild Bunch gang.
[edit] Relationships
Kilpatrick was considered by the other members of the Wild Bunch gang to be "the ladies man", due to his numerous female companions.
While Kilpatrick was in Utah, he became involved with female western rustler Ann Bassett, who had previously been involved with Cassidy since she was 15, and who would return to her involvement with Cassidy upon his release from prison after serving an eighteen month sentence. During that time, Kilpatrick rode with the "Black" Jack Ketchum gang.
[edit] Outlaw life
After Cassidy's release from prison, he and Lay organized the Wild Bunch gang, and the gang began the most successful train robbing career in history. Kilpatrick joined them, and was present on most of their successful train robberies. After Lay was captured, following a failed train robbery in New Mexico during which Lay killed a deputy Sheriff and a county Sheriff, Kilpatrick fled to Wyoming with Cassidy and Kid Curry.
By that time he was involved with a female member of the gang, Laura Bullion, who also was also involved off and on with gang member Will Carver.
[edit] Escape
As was their trait, the gang would commit their robberies, then break up heading in several different directions, meeting up some time later in the Hole in the Wall hideout in Wyoming.
He and Bullion made their way to Nashville, Tennessee, where they met up with Kid Curry and his girlfriend Della Moore. Moore was arrested shortly thereafter for passing money traced back to one of the gangs robberies.
[edit] Arrest
Kilpatrick was captured on December 12th, 1901, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next morning, Kid Curry killed two police officers in Knoxville, escaping. Curry was later captured, escaped again, only to be cornered and killed during a shootout in Colorado. Kilpatrick received a fifteen year sentence.
[edit] Death
He was released from prison in June of 1911. On March 12th, 1912, Kilpatrick and outlaw Ole Hobeck were killed while robbing a train near Sanderson, Texas.
