Laura Bullion

Laura Bullion
Laura Bullion mugshot (early November, 1901. St. Louis, Missouri)
BornOctober 1873 (1873-10)
Knickerbocker near Mertzon, Texas
DiedDecember 2, 1961(1961-12-02) (aged 88)
Memphis, Tennessee
Occupation(s)Criminal and prostitute. Later householder and seamstress
Criminal statusArrested November 6, 1901. Released from prison in September 1905
Parent(s)Henry Bullion and Fredy Byler[1]
Criminal chargeRobbery and forgery of signatures to banknotes

Laura Bullion (October 1876 – December 2, 1961) was an outlaw of the Old West. Most sources indicate Bullion was born in Knickerbocker, near Mertzon, in Irion County, Texas; the exact day of her birth is unclear. Data in the 1880 and 1900 federal census suggest a Laura Bullion might have been born on a farm in the township of Palarm near Conway in Faulkner County, Arkansas,[2] and might have grown up in Tom Green County, Texas.[3] Other sources claim Laura Bullion was born in Kentucky in 1873.[4]

In the 1890s, Laura Bullion was a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang; her cohorts were fellow outlaws, including the Sundance Kid, "Black Jack" Ketchum, and Kid Curry. For several years in the 1890s, she was romantically involved with outlaw Ben Kilpatrick ("The Tall Texan"), a bank and train robber and an acquaintance of her father, who had been an outlaw as well.

Bullion was arrested in early November 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was convicted of robbery and sentenced to five years in prison for her role in the Great Northern train robbery. She was released from the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, Missouri, on September 19, 1905, after serving three years and 10 months of her punishment.[5]

Laura Bullion moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1918, posing as a war widow and using assumed names. She supported herself as a householder and seamstress, and later as a drapery maker, dressmaker, and interior designer. Her fortunes declined in the late 1940s, when she was without an occupation. In 1961, she died of heart disease at the Shelby County Hospital in Memphis. Her final resting place is at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.[6]

  1. ^ "Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1880Census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1900Census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference RutterOutlaws was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Butch and Sundance Laura Bullion". Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.
  6. ^ Magness, Perre (Jan 12, 1995). "Cohort of Butch, Sundance 'retired' here". History column. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. p. EC2.