Meet armed bandits like the legendary Missouri outlaw Jesse James with his older brother Frank and the Younger brothers who in the wake of the Civil War committed crimes that were unknown before that time – holding up banks and robbing trains at gunpoint.
Learn "Who's Who" of the West. This episode profiles some famous outlaws, gunslingers, bank robbers and gang leaders of the wild west along with the famous lawmen who chased them, including Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickock and Bat Masterson.
Revisit the daring robberies which escalated the conflict between the law and the bandit gangs. Cole Younger, James brothers, Sam Bass and Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang were the last of the old-time western bank and train robbers, a colorful group of outlaws with distinctive personalities and a flair for the flamboyant.
From the depths of the U.S. Great Depression, a new class of rural bandits emerged – outlaws in the Midwest began racing through the heartland robbing banks. To some citizens who had lost all their savings in bank closures, these outlaws were often seen as contemporary Robin Hoods. The newcomers – Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker and her brood tommy gun their way into history.