Laura Bullion
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, and might have grown up in Tom Green County, Texas. Other sources claim Laura Bullion was born in Kentucky in 1873.
Laura Bullion | |
|---|---|
Laura Bullion mugshot (early November, 1901. St. Louis, Missouri) | |
| Born | October 1873 Knickerbocker near Mertzon, Texas |
| Died | December 2, 1961 (aged 88) Memphis, Tennessee |
| Occupation(s) | Criminal and prostitute. Later householder and seamstress |
| Criminal status | Arrested November 6, 1901. Released from prison in September 1905 |
| Parent(s) | Henry Bullion and Fredy Byler |
| Criminal charge | Robbery and forgery of signatures to banknotes |
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.
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.