Laura Bullion was a famous gunslinger and outlaw of the Wild West.
Bullion was a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, which included the Sundance Kid, "Black Jack" Ketchum, and Kid Curry. Her love interest for some time was the outlaw Ben Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick was an acquaintance of her father and was known for bank and train robbery.
She lived a long life and even settled into normalcy after she served her prison sentence in 1905.
Early Years
Laura Bullion was probably born in Knickerbocker, Texas, around 1876. Her actual birth year is known, but it is safe to assume that her birthday was on October 4, as was recorded on her death certificate.
Her father, also an outlaw, was Henry Bullion, and Fredy Byler was her mother.
Bullion's father had been an outlaw and was acquainted with outlaws William Carver ("News Carver") and Ben Kilpatrick ("The Tall Texan"), both of whom Bullion met when she was around 13 years of age.
Her aunt, Viana Byler, married Carver in 1891, but she died soon after the marriage from fever. At age 15, Bullion 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.
Life as an Outlaw
When Bullion first became involved with Carver, the latter was riding with the Tom "Black Jack" Ketchum gang, and Bullion wanted to join him. However, he would not 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.
She picked up the nickname "Della Rose" after meeting Kid Curry's girlfriend, Della Moore. She was often referred to as the "Rose of the Wild Bunch," but she was not as innocent as that name would suggest.
She and her boyfriend, Ben Kilpatrick, robbed banks and trains. After a 1901 robbery, they had to flee and lay low for a while. During this time, they assumed the aliases "Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Arnold.
Her aliases kept her a bit of a mystery, but her work was well-known, and she quickly became a wanted woman.
In an arrest report following the train robbery, dated November 6, 1901, Bullion's name is filed as "Della Rose," and her aliases are stated to be "Clara Hays" and "Laura Casey and [Laura] Bullion". The arrest report lists her profession as a prostitute.
According to a New York Times article, she was "masquerading as 'Mrs. Nellie Rose' at the time of her arrest. The same article also mentions the suspicion that she, "disguised as a boy," might have taken part in a train robbery in Montana. The paper cites Chief of Detectives Desmond: "I wouldn't think helping to hold up a train was too much for her.
She is cool, shows absolutely no fear, and, in male attire, would readily pass for a boy. She has a masculine face, and that would give her assurance in her disguise. Instead of "Clara Hays," Bullion also used "Clare Hayes" or "Clara Hayes" as a version of her alias. Other assumed names she used at that time were "Desert Rose," "Wild Bunch Rose," and "Clara Casey".
When Bullion turned up in Memphis in 1918, she used the names "Freda Lincoln," "Freda Bullion Lincoln," and "Mrs. Maurice Lincoln," claiming to be a war widow and her late husband had been Maurice Lincoln. She also made herself 10 years younger, claiming to have been born in 1887.
On her grave marker at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Bullion's name is inscribed as "Freda Bullion Lincoln" and "Laura Bullion", her birth name. The epitaph "The Thorny Rose" refers to her nickname in the Wild Bunch.
Romantic Relationships
In the early 1890s, Bullion became involved romantically with Ben Kilpatrick after Carver began a relationship with a prostitute named Lillie Davis, whom he had met 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 1, 1901, Bullion became involved romantically with Kilpatrick again, and the two fled to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Della Moore and Kid Curry met with them there, and the four stayed together for a number of months until October, when Della Moore was arrested for passing money linked to one of the gang's robberies.
Arrest
Laura Bullion arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, with Ben Kilpatrick around the first of November 1901. The two checked into the Laclede Hotel under the alias Mr. & Mrs. J.W. Rose.
At 11:50 PM on November 5, Ben Kilpatrick fell into the hands of the law while at Josie Blakey's resort at 2005 Chestnut St. While searching Kilpatrick, they found a key to a room at the Laclede Hotel.
The authorities went to the hotel while Laura was checking out with her luggage. They recognized her and proceeded to question her. While searching her luggage, they found $8,500 in unsigned banknotes taken in the Great Northern train robbery.
She was arrested at 9:15 AM on federal charges for "forgery of signatures to banknotes."
Curry escaped capture on December 13, 1901, killing two Knoxville policemen in the process. Both Bullion and Kilpatrick were convicted of robbery, with Bullion being sentenced to five years in prison and Kilpatrick receiving a 20-year sentence. She served three and a half years before being released in 1905. Kilpatrick was not released from prison until 1911.
Later Years
Laura and Ben stayed in contact through letters, but they never saw each other again. Kilpatrick was killed while robbing a train in 1912, and by that time, Laura had already moved on.
In 1918, Laura Bullion lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and at that point, gave up her outlaw ways. She worked as a seamstress, drapery maker, and interior designer. She was always a resourceful person and saw some success in that vocation until later in life.
She lived a long life. During her lifetime, she would have known many Civil War veterans, witnessed the taming of the Wild West, endured World War 1 and World War 2, enjoyed the Roaring 20s, and suffered through the Great Depression.
Laura Bullion died of heart disease on December 2, 1961.
She would be one of the last individuals to die that knew the location of the mysterious "Robbers Roost," which was the hideout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Only she and four other women would know the location.
She would also be one of the only people to know Etta Place, the girlfriend of Sundance Kid.