Mental Floss is partnering with FilmNation and iHeartPodcasts to add you the transcripts forGreatest Escapes , a podcast host by Arturo Castro about some of the wild evasion stories across history . In this installment , Ben Feldman ( Monsters at Work , Superstore ) lay off into the sundown with Arturo as they skip on the trail of one of the Wild West ’s greatest crook , Kid Curry . register all the transcriptshere .
Arturo Castro:¡Hola , Amigos ! This isGreatest Escapes , a show bringing you the raging true escape history . Today we ’re order an iconic story of the old west , getting into the life and dodging of Kid Curry , the wildest of the wild gang .
I ’m Arturo Castro , and my guest today is actor , manufacturer , and incredibly generous lover Ben Feldman !
[ Wild West composition ]
Ben Feldman : Beautiful .
Arturo : Wow ! Ben . Welcome to the show .
Ben : Thank you for having me . give thanks you for that unbelievable intro music . That was really , I — it’d be really funny if you sound straight from that into like a really kind of maudlin lamentable , like , serious podcast .
Arturo : So then everybody , so this — this tale , uh , begins with everybody dying and how that has strike masculinity throughout , uh , the generations .
Ben’s Escape
Arturo : So , Ben , what do you consider your bang-up dodging ?
Ben : Now , you sleep with what ’s funny is I was thinking about it this morning cause I was retrieve about escape and , and I imagine I — I’m constantly having to be prompt , just sort of what a hashtag damn life I ’ve had .
Arturo : You are so blasted .
Ben : I was like , “ have you ever been trap ? ” And I — I mean , I ’ve been trap in like boring , like — there ’s been like , jobs that I ’ve bail on and pig out like that , but that ’s not interesting . I kept coming back to I got entrap in my top dog because I accidentally took mescaline at a concert .
Arturo : Yes . The year was 1964 .
Ben:–and it — exactly . Nobody takes mescaline –
Arturo : What does mescaline do ? Can you –
Ben : OK , so , mescaline is essentially peyote . And like , I was at a Phish concert …
Arturo : Yes .
Ben:–at twist of the one C , Y2 K , like the 2000 , when we all thought the computers were gon na kill us . Um , and it was like , a three day event and by the third day , no one could regain any , um , Molly , like , is what we were looking for . This feels untimely to tell on a podcast , but whatever .
Arturo : No , I uh … dude . Yeah . I ’m familiar .
Ben : But we , we were expect around , everything was , you know , it was just like dry , like there was just nothing . Um , and then we kept kind of yelling out for it , and then all of a sudden this guy line up as the Grim Reaper — uh , and by the way , like , I was like , a theater major . Like , I should see betoken . Like if the Grim — the Grim Reaper literally shows up and is like , “ I ’ve got all the Molly you need . ” And , um , he gave us these pills .
And so we started watching the show and I ’m place upright next to this guy cable , who was like a huge — he had a problem . And I just happened to be stand next to him , so I ’m kind of retain up with him . And like , he took his first one and then he select his 2d one . And so I kept taking ’em .
And then suddenly , everybody was a demon . Like everybody ’s expression . And — and I depend around and I was like , “ I got ta get outta here . Everybody ’s turn into a daemon . ” And so I guess there is an escape because I ’m leaving my friends and — but I , I ’ll take like , one tone and then I ’ll twist around and they ’re like 20 yards forth from me and then they ’re demons and masses are melting into my shoulder . And then I looked down at the ground and I thought it was a field because there ’s just bodies everywhere , which were , in retrospect , probably people just like lay down .
But to me it was just like –
Arturo : Having the time of their lives , but it was still a battlefield .
Ben : Yeah . Having the time of their life , but to me they were dead . This , this was just a … a post - apocalyptic –
Arturo : Like , why are these soldiers trip the light fantastic toe in speech rhythm ? Um …
Ben : Yeah . It was all of these things .
And then the sun came up and I see everybody kind of wander back to the collapsible shelter , like zombie . And , um , I do n’t really think back anything except the next thing I eff , I was in a car with my friend Lily , and we drove back from Florida . So , um …
Arturo : Aw man , that ’s a expectant story . That ’s a great leak .
Ben : That’s — that ’s like when I think about like getting trapped . Yeah . I ’m trapped in my own head .
Arturo : You jazz , that was a fantastic escape . In fact , we , we have one of the producer –
Ben : Carl , you here to tell me that ? I can’t — I ca n’t do any of that ?
Arturo : No , no . Carl — Carl is like , is having PTSD from the time when him and I move to see an Aqua concert , um , in Sweden in 1998 . Man , that was a f***ing metre . Was n’t it ? When they played “ I ’m a Barbie Girl , ” Iwasa Barbie girl . I literally was a Barbie girl .
rent me postulate you something , Ben , have you ever considered robbing a train ?
Ben : Only every daylight . Um … when I think of all the places I ’d bang to rob , um , which I do often , train is not mellow on the list . It does not seem like a very lucrative , um , loot for me .
Arturo : Do you care westerns ? Is that a thing ?
Ben : Yeah , if it ’s a undecomposed one , I do n’t know .
Arturo : Well , today I ’m gon na tell you the greatest Western you ever heard , man .
Ben : Is — is thisYellowstone - y ? I likeYellowstonefor some reason .
Arturo : Yeah . It’sYellowstone - y. That ’s right . Kevin Costner ’s make out on .
Ben : Just like your opening song .
Arturo : That ’s veracious . Uh , well , let’s — let ’s run away , shall we ?
Chapter 1: Another One Bites the Dust
Arturo : So gestate in Iowa in 1867 , Harvey Logan and his brother started out as wandering spread hand and horse breakers lick across the due west from Wyoming to Colorado and then down in the south all the way to Texas .
No one knows precisely why he changed his name , to be honest . possibly it was just a short letter of oeuvre . But at some breaker point , Harvey decided it would be best to take an alias . So when he arrived in Rocky Point , Montana , in the evenfall of 1884 , he introduced himself as Harvey Curry . OK ?
Ben : Curry ?
Arturo : Curry , that ’s right . He was in front of the plot in the Southeast Asian food spice grocery store . You know ?
Ben : It just , I was — I was expect something a little more west - y. You get it on , they all had cognomen . I was about to say , what a ridi — of course he changed his name to like , you acknowledge –
Arturo : Yeah , that ’s correct .
Ben:–Steel — Steel Toe Bullet Chewer , or whatever they call themselves .
Arturo : And he — yeah , he was just like , “ Harvey Potpourri was taken . ”
So historians guessed that Harvey was trying to outrun the law because of a saloon brawl in Colorado . Also , his older brother was trying to make certain that he could n’t be tracked down by his wife .
Ben . Give me a [ imitates whip auditory sensation ]
Ben:[imitates whip sound ]
Arturo : There we go .
Ben : I could do your effectual effects . So anyway , this guy , this cowboy , Mr. Curry …
Arturo : Yeah . One of the local Montana ranchers tell that Harvey and his brother were the safe cattle ropers around . They were have sex for being hardworking and honorable - natured . So it fathom like he ’s got a nice life of cattle ranch ahead of him .
But all of that change in 1894 when Harvey tracked down his neighbour Pike Landusky at a saloon .
Ben : Pike ?
Arturo : That ’s right . Yes . So the two hands , these two men — these two neighbour had been feuding and Harvey wanted to settle the score .
Ben : Ok .
Arturo : So he establish Pike probably a f***ing alien so let ’s just , you know . rent ’s just say that ’s not really –
Ben : Great name though . I like the name Pike .
Arturo : Yeah . So he detect him drinking at a Browning automatic rifle and intercept him on the shoulder and he , as he was turning around Harvey , blast ! Hit him in the jaw . [ Punch sfx ] Give a , yeah , that ’s veracious . Gimme a [ makes biff sound ] .
[ Punch SFX ]
Yeah . Yeah . That ’s OK . That one hurt .
[ Bar crowd SFX ]
That’s — is that the legal profession “ oo - ing ? ”
Ben : There ’s an consultation , right ?
Arturo : Wow . Good . So Harvey hit him in the jaw with a veracious hook pike , hit him back , and then the two men ended up rolling on the floor , right ? William Harvey cease up on top of Pike punch him until the bystander begged him to barricade .
Right ? That ’s right .
Ben : Oh , that ’s them . There they go . There ’s them begging .
Arturo : There you go . They only have one level and that is shocked . So that — that might have been the end of things , but as Harvey was walking away , Pike drew his handgun and he pointed at Harvey ’s back and he attract the trigger , but the accelerator pedal wad .
[ Gun Jam SFX ]
Ben : No . I thought that only pass in pic .
Arturo : I’m sure there ’s some ornamentation here from , I do n’t roll in the hay — it ’s f***ing the Cicily Isabel Fairfield . Everybody ’s like , “ yeah , his accelerator jammed . ” Um , in reply — I’m like , “ I do n’t buy it , but f * * * it . I ’m saying it anyway . ”
In response , Harvey shot Pike three times in the chest .
[ Gunshot SFX + grunt ]
Can you — like , that is such classic westerly sh*t though , is n’t it ?
Ben : The three times — the amount of times he shot him ?
Arturo : Well , just the , like — the hitman jam and the like , you recognise , two beating him up and you ’re like , walking forth all coolheaded .
Ben : Well , I — what I do n’t understand is like if there are no rules , we can all use our guns and shoot each other , why are they rolling around — before they got to the roll around on the floor part , I ca n’t believe a gun did n’t come out . Why did the gun not come out until sort of , they’re — he ’s exiting , you know ?
Arturo : Maybe they just wanted to like duke it out , you know ? He did n’t intend to stamp out Pike ? But then , you know , you — you got bystanders . I mean , we ’ve heard them , they go f***ing coolheaded from whatever Ben Chugg is playing .
Ben : It does . It sounds cool . You got ta burgeon forth someone if you wanna hear the oohs and ahs .
Arturo : Exactly . I get it . I totally get it .
[ Glass and coin dropping SFX ]
Ben : Yeah . Oh , did someone cut down something ?
Arturo : Yeah . I — are those mountain chain ?
Ben : It was full pandemonium . Yeah . He was wearing — he had one of those Sir Ernst Boris Chain wallets on , and that was just that jingling .
Arturo : Just hold back beating on the flooring as he ’s beating his ass .
So Harvey ’s lifespan of cattle ranching was over from then on , good ? He endure on the run , but he be intimate where he was gon na go . He set out for a bandit camp called Hole - in - the - Wall , and he had some friends there . You see , while he was running cattle , Harvey met some extremely barbaric dude , include a man who had served clock time for cavalry thieving — in Sundance –
Ben : And his name is Jasper Rabinowitz .
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah , that ’s right . And his name is Choo - Choo Lemons .
Um . Um , yeah . So this was in Sundance , Wyoming , as in the Sundance Kid . That was the Sundance Kid .
Ben : Oooh .
Arturo : There it is . Yeah . So Harvey Curry now had a consistency to his name and met up with the one and only Sundance Kid . Right ? So presently he had a raw name to go with this new friend . They called him Kid Curry . Whoa .
Ben : Kid Curry . OK . That sounds really modern . That sounds more like –
Arturo : Yeah , yeah , yeah . And he had an awesome record album –
Ben : Yeah , on the dot .
Arturo:–in 2010 .
Ben : He ’s like the liberal version of Kid Rock .
Arturo : That ’s correct . Yeah , that ’s right . He ’s a more –
Ben : He ’s on the trail for Biden , not Trump . That ’s the only departure .
Arturo : That ’s proper , that ’s correct . He — he ’s seen the way –
Ben : Yeah .
Arturo : He used to be far - right hand , now he ’s far - left .
Uh , so he was on the lead to become one of the most wanted criminals in America .
Chapter 2: Taking Names and Robbing Trains
Arturo : So Kid Curry , a very liberal man of the 2010s , and his friends start their outlaw mode with a little cattle rustle .
Ben : Cattle rustling , did you say ?
Arturo : Yes . Said that was—“yes sir . rustle . I said . I say , well … ” Uh , he — which I take over is stealing oxen . Right ? That ’s what it is . I — I never really bothered to inquire .
Ben : I signify , or it ’s tipping .
Arturo : They — just , to be dependable , I just … I just retrieve they liked , would tickle them . You know , I was just like , lift them .
Ben : come up here . Get over here , you cute little moo-cow .
Arturo : Let me rustle your small hair , your piffling cow . But it turns out — but slip cows did n’t really scrub the itch for him , correct ? The more they father away with it , the more they require to adjudicate , you screw ?
Ben : Cows are like … they ’re like Pringles . You , you ca n’t just — you ca n’t just steal one cow .
Arturo : It ’s like we — we can only do about 50 a night .
Ben : Once you pop , you ca n’t block .
Arturo : That ’s right .
So Kid Curry heard that another outlaw — name Butch Cassidy — had pulled off an $ 8000 heist from a coal mine , they were extremely inspired . Maybe that ’s because the mine fellowship was called “ Castle Gate . ” So that heist became have it away by the badass name , “ The Castle Gate Robbery . ” And that , my booster , is branding baby .
Ben : Wow .
Arturo : Also then have somebody like Pike Landusky or whatever , being like , can we name it after me ? Like , no f***ing motorway . No !
Ben : No ! They at last got it proper with some branding . Yeah .
Arturo : So for the target of his first big robbery Kid Curry and his pack picked a bank in South Dakota . They knew it well because it was a place where cattle number one wood would get together to deposit their money , right ? So the ring expect it would hold about $ 30,000 , which is about $ 1 million in today ’s money .
So three 24-hour interval after the reunion Kid Curry and five of his cronies rode into town ready for a heist . But things commence to go kind of amiss from the start because the man that they had sent as a observatory to scout the localization , he scouted his fashion flop into a f***ing saloon , so he was entirely trash intoxicated by the sentence others come . He was drunk . He was just like , “ I ’m gon na reconnoiter this , but … ”
Ben : I feel like that was a problem a pot back then . Like , I find like the ginmill got in the way of a lot of occupation .
Arturo : Like , how many saloons — were they just handily place everywhere ?
Ben : I mean , when I conceive of the Old West , I just imagined public house and like , front porch . Just everything has a — you’re just — just people shooting you from a slightly elevated porch in front of swinging doors .
Arturo : A awkwardly elevated seat . It ’s not like , not high enough where you have to take a big step , but it ’s just like high enough –
Ben : No , just a little — just a tiny step up and then a dusty route . Yeah .
Arturo : Can you get down from there ? That ’s exactly what it was .
Ben : And why the drop doors ? I — I have a circle of questions for them , but that ’s for another podcast .
Arturo : We will reply all of them after the show . So , um , without this guy , the robber didn’t — they just rushed into the bank building with their guns drawn , require money . You know , they did n’t know what to await , so they ordered everyone to put their hands up , but then they just had no f***ing idea what to do next .
So afterwards , the bystanders say that they looked really disoriented , like they did n’t expect the plan to in reality exploit . And I — I love the melodic theme of like … just the bystanders present them suggestions , you know , being like , “ uh , I — I think you ’re supposed to take some of the – ”
Ben:“You belike wanna wave the gun around at all of us . It would make us feel – ”
Arturo:“Yeah , I ’m not feeling really threatened back here . Sorry . Can we – ”
Ben:“There ’s just — your voice lacks like , a confidence . You need to own the room , you know , record it and then own it . ”
Arturo:“Believe in yourself . That ’s ripe . Call me a low biography . Again . ”
Ben:“Exactly , like — make me finger small . You could be big . ”
Arturo:“To the back of the room . That ’s right . ”
So they take up collect money from — from all the customers in the bank , but that conduct way too long , because bystanders started to observe them from the outside . Right ? So –
Ben : Right . Wait , hold on . Sorry to stop you here . But they ’re in a bank . Is n’t there a vault ? Like what ? They ’re going around and asking each person individually ?
Arturo : Yes , one by f***ing one , they asked them to give them their money , which does n’t make any sense , right ?
Ben : They could have depart to any — they could have gone to the saloon and done that .
Arturo : That ’s right . But they were like , “ why is this fing taking so long ? ” And I was like , “ because you did n’t go to the fing vault , gentleman . ” Like you –
Ben : startle there ! Yeah .
Arturo : I — I’d sleep with to ideate somebody [ being ] like , “ ah , no , grim . ” And they ’re like , “ all right , move on . That one did n’t work , you know ? ”
Ben:“I only have a one . Is that OK ? Or can you — can you vary a 10 ? ”
Arturo:“OK . Give , give her alteration and make it snappy . ”
Um , so this is when the intoxicated observatory finally sprung into action for some reason . But , you have it away , he was super inebriated , so he’s — when the bystanders from the exterior started noticing , he just started shoot randomly at them , right — right in the street , right ?
Ben : At the — at the bystanders ?
Arturo : At the bystanders looking into the bank , like , “ oh , what the f * * * ’s plump on in the bank ? ” So he ’s just like , “ ah , nothing to see here . Shoot , shoot , shoot at you . Bang , bang , bang ”
[ Gunshot + Bar crowd SFX ]
Ben:“Yes . This is totally normal . You ’re beneficial . You ’re OK . Do n’t take care here . Just move along ! ”
Arturo : So he started shooting randomly at them in the street , and the gunfire frighten off the robbers inside the bank . Uh , so they started shooting wildly out of the windowpane , and then they ran off before they could get into the camber dependable , right ? So it was just a complete confusion triggered by moonshine whisky .
So they rushed outdoors , they jumped on their Equus caballus and gallop out of Ithiel Town . They amount away with less than $ 100 in John Cash , which is , uh , I do n’t fuck , like $ 3000 something in today ’s money .
Ben : Right . But split between them . Not a — not a big take .
Arturo : Not a big — no , no , no . So when the shot started though , it frighten off the drunk lookout ’s horse cavalry , which run aside .
Ben : Of course .
[ Horse SFX ]
There it go . There it goes . Bye .
Arturo : That ’s the existent strait of the genuine horse , actually .
Ben : And that horse ’s name was Sandwich McGillicuddy .
Arturo : Yeah . That ’s right . So it left him to get caught , right . Like , if you ’re the drunk hombre by this point , and … what — what do you — what do you think you do ? Like your horse work off , like , you ’re like –
Ben : I mean , I ’d go back into the saloon . I feel like I have friends in there . You do it , I did n’t shoot anybody in there , correct ? I left .
Arturo : Yeah . But he did something like , but style , like , less discreet . He tried to act like he was n’t involve by running into an outhouse and flip his gun and his tongue down the hole . Right ? But like , the town have just watched him shoot at them , so …
Ben : They can ID his guy . Yeah .
Arturo : He took four steps to the jakes . They ’re like , “ we just discover you . ” So they pushed over the outhouse . They raked through the sh*t , amass his weapon system , and wedge him to confess to the criminal offense and describe the outlaws ’ programme .
I can imagine being like , “ fine , I ’ll severalize you . Just contain roll that shtty gun in my grimace . That ’s f**ing nasty . ” You bonk ? He ’s just afraid of faeces .
Ben : Yeah . And also , were n’t the outlaws ’ be after clear at this point ? Like why did — why are these — the townspeople asking him to excuse the plan ? The architectural plan was clean .
Arturo : What did they wanna do ? They did it !
Ben:“When you went into that money box with those throttle , what did you want ? ”
Arturo:“Well , they want — you saw it , you were there . You gave them hypnotism as to how to do it . I do n’t know why you ’re ask me about it . ”
So the authorisation across the west were on the spotter for Kid Curry , and he was recognized in Montana two months later while purchase camp provision . So soon a posse comitatus was on his trail .
The posse comitatus was heavily armed , and they caught up with Curry and the Sundance Kid while they were setting up camp . Sundance was too far from his gear mechanism to make an escape . But Kid Curry ran to his horse . He jumped on and kicked into a gallop . As he tease off , though , one of the posse fire his rifle –
[ Gunshot SFX ]
Ben : Oh , frighten off me .
Arturo : And inject a hole in Curry ’s radiocarpal joint , correct ? The bullet run short straight through the horse ’s neck opening too . So the knight collapsed into a moxie sand dune and Curry surrendered when the posse get .
So just keep in brain this shot in the wrist , because it ’ll be important later . That ’s call — that ’s call foreshadowing .
In September , the Isle of Man were taken to Deadwood , South Dakota , where they were bear in the jailhouse to stand trial . This is just when Kid Curry made his first gaol interruption . One Nox when the jailer was come back from a day of the month with his wife — aww , good that they were keeping the union alert .
Ben : You think they went to the saloon too ? Or there were restaurants .
Arturo : They endure to the saloon and then they went to rob a bank rattling quick and then they –
Ben : Right . That ’s literally it . They run short to buy new swing doors .
Arturo:“Honey , what did — do we like these doors ? They ’re kind of swingy . ”
Ben:“I sense like our doors do n’t swing like they used to . ”
Arturo:“Uh , fine . I ’ll get you , uh , some swinging doors , Jesus Christ . ”
[ Saloon threshold SFX ]
Ben : Oh , there they are .
Arturo : So , uh , after the day , they checked in on the prisoners and he saw that they were still operate in the building , but they had somehow gotten out of their cells . When he ordered them back inside so he could interlace them in , they say that their cell were close and that they were locked out . So , confused , the jailer — God bless him — the jailer open up the prison house to ascertain the lock on the cell doors , and the prisoners jump him , which was not anticipated by anybody in history , obviously .
Ben : These people are so dumb .
Arturo : What the f * * * ? It ’s like , “ Hey , get back in there . ” “ Sorry , we ’re lock down . ” He ’s like , “ OK , I ’ll come in and lock you here . ”
Ben:“Ah ah ah , honor scheme . You get back in there . ”
Arturo : They’re like , “ I’ll — I’ll come and visualize it out for you this once , but next time if it occur again , you do it by yourself . ”
So they beat his ass and they operate him and his married woman in the cadre . Thankfully they did n’t want –
Ben : Oh no . But they went on the day of the month . They get to go on the date –
Arturo : They got in the appointment and like afterwards they ’re like , “ are you as exhilarated as I am ? ”
Ben:“Yeah . This is like an escape room . ”
Arturo : He was like , “ I entirely planned it all . I ’m sorry I did n’t get you the swingy doors , but , uh , you said you wanted some excitement in your life . ”
So more than 60 adult male joined the hunting for the escapees over the next few days . But false sightings had the authorities running in circles as Kid Curry and the Sundance Kid steal horses and made their escape .
Chapter 3: Kids & Pinkertons
Arturo : So we ’re gon na get some really nerveless music cause we ’re gon na innovate chapter three .
Ben : Ooh , OK .
[ Guitar ]
Arturo : There we go . There we go .
Ben : Very coolheaded . Very Cool .
Arturo : Thank you .
So the fact that Kid Curry ’s first bank heist did n’t go very well did n’t keep him from planning more robberies , correct ? So him and the Sundance Kid retreated to Utah where they were receive by a new mate in criminal offence , their bandit hero , Butch Cassidy .
Ben : All right . Butchy !
Arturo : Right . There we go . We ’re buzz off celebrated people here . Butchy ! What ’s going on ? He ’s like , “ cat , I just receive a guy call Salvatoré Peninsula . I do n’t know . ”
Ben : Peninsula !
Arturo : Um , so when Curry ’s gang arrive at Butch Cassidy ’s hideout , it was the first prescribed meeting of the group that would become the Wild Bunch . And for the next four class , Kid Curry , Butch , and the Sundance Kid would carry out a string of the biggest , most ball - out heists in American history .
It start out in July in 1898 with a train looting in Nevada . Two robber on the gear pull the engineer and the brakeman to stop at a mile mark where Kid Curry was waiting with the horses . There , they used explosives to shoot a line launch the safe , demolishing an full train automobile in the procedure , which seems overweening . I ’m just gon na say that .
Ben : So there ’s a safe on the caravan ?
Arturo : There ’s a safe on the train .
Ben : And that ’s the money that the the great unwashed paid to get on the train ?
Arturo : I’m indisputable it ’s like , they ’re enrapture money .
Ben : They’re enthrall money .
Arturo : To be true it ’s not clear .
Ben : This must be money that ’s give way from one situation to another . Yeah , they must — this is a specific train .
Arturo : A specific train .
Ben : They did n’t just wanna rob — they were n’t like , “ railroad train have a wad of money . Let ’s go rob a gearing . I ’m tired of these bank . ”
Arturo:“Man , these wagon train , they ’re just known for – ”
Ben:“–these bank are so predictably lucrative . Let ’s go – ”
Arturo:“Let me make it — let me influence for it . Let me work for it . ”
Ben:“Yeah , let ’s , let ’s take a chance . possibly this string will have money . ”
Arturo : So newspapers say that they made off with anything from $ 9000 to $ 26,000 , which in today ’s universe would be almost $ 1 million . So that ’s not bad .
Ben : And there ’s three of them , right ?
Arturo : Yes . Well listen , listen , if this show was named “ The Greatest Heists , ” we might go into item about them , but I ’m just gon na chop-chop name you what they were , okay ?
So we have the Wilcox caravan robbery . [ Ding SFX ] There you go . The Fulsom power train robbery . [ Ding SFX ] The Tipton Train robbery . [ Ding SFX ] . The Exeter Creek string looting . [ Ding SFX ] . And all the other power train robberies .
OK , so hear — over the next couple twelvemonth , Kid Curry and the gang used the same method to pull off a string of ill-famed gearing robberies . After each one , he would lie low and cool for a few months and relish himself .
I mean , in today ’s money they were each get , like , $ 400,000 a pop . If you had that much money drop into your overlap all at once , how would you spend it ?
Ben : I would ’ve paid Phish to follow fiddle in my backyard and do that whole matter all over again . Y2 K and everything .
Arturo : So hear , so between business , the gang would split — would rive up , right . Kid Curry would move from township to township play poise , drinking apricot brandy , and recite masses that he met , that he was a railroad man .
And we — what can we assume that a dude who toast apricot brandy ? Like , I do n’t sleep together .
Ben : That ’s very — I would envisage that was pretty advanced . Uh , I mean , it ’s sophisticated now .
Arturo : I mean , it ’s like , “ I ’m a railroad humankind and I have it off railway things . ”
Ben : He ’s like , birl his mustache and , and you bed , in like , a bowtie .
Arturo : Which is really accurate . He really had a sick - ass mustache .
Ben : I stand for , didn’t — I think everybody had a moustache back then , though , did n’t they ?
Arturo : Yeah . You hump , they — they had unlike trademark and that was one of his .
Ben : Why are they — why are they both “ Kid , ” by the way ? What ’s the heap ? Like , how sometime are these cat ? Do you know ?
Arturo : Seventy - two , each of ’em are 72 .
Ben : They’re a geriatric minor .
Arturo : Kid Curry in reality partied the hardest . He was the kind of a bad son , uh , of the wild lot . And he got a reputation both as the ill-famed orca of the crew , but also as the most frequent lover .
[ “ aphrodisiac ” euphony ]
Yes . adult female acro –
Ben : Really ?
Arturo : Yeah . Women across the due west claim that he was the father of their fry . And if all the fib were truthful , he would ’ve had like , 85 kids .
[ Baby SFX ]
Arturo : Oh my god .
Ben : hear to them . There ’s one of them now .
Arturo : Ben Chugg . If that f***ing thing play in my head , or if it play — like , if somehow I leave the figurer on and I hear that in the middle of the night , I will die of a tenderness attack . Um , you have it away how they say that there ’s no more beautiful sound than that of a baby ’s laughter ? Unless you inhabit by yourself and there is no baby . You know ?
[ More baby SFX ]
Ben : By the way , I have two children and I — I ca n’t suffer babies and I detest — and that sound is — is harm . It ’s triggering for me , too .
Arturo : Oh man .
Ben : So this guy wire ’s , this guy ’s going around . He ’s banging leave and right .
Arturo : He’s — he ’s having sex . He ’s , he’s — uh , a railway system homo . He ’s booze apricot brandy .
Ben : He ’s got the mustache . He ’s got the apricot brandy –
Arturo : Yeah . See — yeah .
Ben : Wait , is he the one with the apricot brandy ?
Arturo : He — he make love the apricot brandy .
So every now and then the Wild Bunch would get back together for some harmless playfulness . Right ? Like in December of 1900 , Kid Curry , Butch Cassidy , and the Sundance Kid all got together with a few of the other friends for a wedding where they take the now very famous picture . So it show them in perfectly tailored suits with showy sentinel chain , link and waistcoats . And apparently they ’d all catch raw derby hat hats and they chuck them on their heads at jaunty angle cause they ’re like , “ oh , are you doing — are you doing jaunty slant ? I ’m doing dapper angle . ”
Ben : These guys are lovely .
Arturo : They’re so cute . effective for them .
So the string of successful robberies by the Wild Bunch was of course drawing a luck of attending , and that let in the attention of the railroad ’s favorite trade protection avail , the Pinkerton Detective Agency — which , I do n’t know they spoke like that , but that ’s historically exact .
When the photographer give his negative to the Pinkertons , that famous photograph became the wanted post-horse for the Wild Bunch . It was printed all across America .
You screw , I heard some people begin to send their loved ones the pics that they require to be used if they ever go miss , you have it off ? But I ’m wondering , like — is there one you would NOT require to be stand by with ever ?
Ben : Yeah . I mean , if you — if you Google image me pre-2000 , let ’s say , nine — any of those delineation , I was just a immense viosterol - bag .
Arturo : Yes , you’re able to smell out the Axe Body Spray .
Ben : Exactly . It was — I mean , everybody was a disaster back then , but I — I was not the exclusion .
Arturo : Once everyone started to recognize their expression , member of the Wild Bunch started to get peck off . Some were killed . Others got caught and lock up up for their crimes . And finally Butch and the Sundance Kid decided to take their money and provide the area . They thought if they could make it to South America , they could become like , legitimate farmers there . So in March of 1901 , they boarded a ship for Argentina carrying $ 12,000 in Au .
Ben : Which I imagine is toilsome .
Arturo : Yeah , that ’s right . They in all probability had a cluster of chests . And I love that people in the steamer being like , “ I do n’t lie with , they seem absolutely normal to have 12 chest of , uh , sonorous sh*t . ”
Ben:“They don’t — they don’t — they do n’t seem to switch into a draw of different clothes , but they — they packed a caboodle . I do n’t know what ’s in there . ”
Arturo:“And they keep striking that pose of that — of those wild bunch guys . ”
Ben:“Yeah , they keep taking pictures . They keep – ”
Arturo:“And what ’s with the apricot brandy ? ”
Ben:“Guys , characterization , another photograph . ” They did not learn .
Arturo:“Another photograph , again , again . ” Yeah . Um , so Kid Curry on the other deal –
Ben:“Oh my god , a sunset . ”
Arturo:–he conceive — yeah “ this one at sunset . ” “ Yeah . This one — this one in moonlight . ”
Ben : “ [ These ] guys are endearing . ”
Arturo : Um , so — so Kid Curry , on the other handwriting , believed that there were still places in the United States where he could veil out living under a false personal identity . And he might even endeavor to pull off another holdup or two . Things had gone agree to plan so far . So he thought he was unprocurable .
But he was wrong .
Chapter 4: Spotted
Arturo : So with Butch and the Sundance Kid off the scene , Kid Curry became the biggest name of the Wild Bunch still at large in the U.S.A. In September 1901 , Kid Curry was traveling across the south and he was remain in luxury hotels and entertaining himself at brothels and pool halls .
Ben : By the way , you ask me what I would do if someone just dump a bunch of money into my lap . I — I reckon Kid Curry and I would be — we’d be pretty standardized . I mean , the fancy hotels –
Arturo : Yeah . Also , also , I’m — I’m noticing that 1901 now has pool halls , so we , we prompt on from saloons and that was — there ’s house of ill repute , consortium entrance hall … They ’re diversifying .
Ben : Yeah . It ’s a — it ’s just sort of a — an old Vegas , it ’s just sounds like everything . It ’s just — just fun .
Arturo : Just — everything goes .
But Kid Curry … ran into some trouble . Dun dun dun !
He was travel with a girlfriend when she was arrested at a Nashville bank trying to change some of the money that they had steal from a train .
The Pinkertons and the police force , they had kept a stern account of the numbered broadside that they were miss , right ? So now , they recognise someone connected with the train robberies was set about to spend money in Nashville . So they come together in .
So when his girlfriend did n’t come back from the bank , Kid Curry got spooked . He was sure that the detective had nabbed her . So he hike into the Tennessee mountains to hide out . But you know , Kid Curry is n’t really edit out for the tranquil life . And after a few weeks he start to get restless .
So you ’re Kid Curry , you ’re chilling in the Tennessee mountains , you ’re bored outta your mind . How do you cook up a little hullabaloo ? What do you do ? How do you replete your time ?
Ben : possibly write a — a melodious ? Is that what he did ? Did he write a –
Arturo : Yes , yes , yes . That ’s what he did .
Ben:–choreographed and pen a whole melodious , I would imagine .
Arturo : A one military man show . “ Hey , hey , hey . receive everybody to the Honky Tonk Hour with Kid Curry . ”
Ben:“Smokey Mountain ! ”
Arturo:“Yeah ! Wooey ! ”
Ben : And this is howOklahomastarted — the musical . Yeah , that ’s –
Arturo : Hugh Jackman starred in that in 1901 .
Um , so he waited until he thought that the investigating had blown over , and he adjudicate to go for another round of good time in Knoxville . On Friday , December the 13 , Curry was at the Knoxville Central Bar when he had some bad destiny .
Ben : Oh .
Arturo : For Kid Curry , he made the trouble himself . So he was playing cards with other regular when something set him off and he attacked two of the other players , choking and bump off them , and they just start –
[ raging crowd SFX + perforate SFX ]
Yup — there , there you go . There ’s a bar stall — bystander . They take off brawl and the interference of the fight brought in two police officers who were walking by on the street .
When they got close , they tried to ask him interrogation . Kid Curry pull in out a gun from his jacket and started shooting .
Ben : No .
Arturo : Yep . Yeah . The two officers were close enough to club him with their sticks .
Ben : Then what terrible get he has . If they ’re close enough to club him , he ca n’t blast these cat ?
Arturo : Yeah . Also , like , why are you getting — well , the apricot brandy , I opine , is — is to blame , too .
Ben : Yeah , it was too much apricot brandy .
Arturo : Yeah . So one even splintered his club over Curry ’s headland , but both men ended the combat with bullet wounds from Curry .
Arturo : So Kid Curry race out into the dark nighttime go after blood . The local sheriff brought in hound and tracked him through the dark and police comb the country .
Kid Curry was last caught 30 miles north take the air the railroad tracks . And once he was in custody , they work to key out him . Remember how they would ’ve identify him ?
Ben : The wrist !
Arturo : The gunshot injury in his wrist ! Give him a daily round of applause everybody .
[ Applause SFX ]
Arturo : Yeah .
Ben : Guy should have fag gloves .
Arturo : So they realise that he was , he had been captured in Montana and they were extremely rapturous , right ? The prisoner was Kid Curry , the wildest of the wild bunch .
So when he was finally brought to Knox County Jail , countersign had already spread . He was encounter by a crowd of century , just there to observe him get have in jail . It take almost like , a yr and a half for Kid Curry ’s case to go through the courts . The local sheriff had to fend off visitor and tap software package of leak tools like hacksaws , etc . Now , clearly , Curry had friends on the exterior who were hear to get him out . However , nobody actually like him in the courtroom , because in November , Kid Curry was sentenced to 130 years of hard project in a Union penitentiary .
So Kid Curry decided to take his exemption into his own hands .
Chapter 5: Outfoxed
Arturo : A few days later , as the jailer was take a leak his rounds to check in on the prisoner , Kid Curry called him to look out the windowpane , but when he did , the screw found a loop of conducting wire whipped over his chief , dropped down over his neck opening , and Kid Curry pulled it tight .
With the wire cut into his pharynx the guard was forced to put his hands through the bars where at Kid Curry tie him in lieu . Now , once the guard was bound , Kid Curry pulled a long make-do grappling claw from its hiding place in the prison house bathroom , and from the jailhouse hall , he was able to reach through the bars and hook the shoebox that held the guard ’s arm .
Like this is like some animated cartoon sh*t , proper ?
Ben : I’m so sappy cause I ’m expecting this sort of Andy Dufrain kind of like — like smartShawshank , you sleep with , escape and , no . This is my human race Kid . He ’s gon na be — it ’s gon na be forthright force .
Arturo : He ’s not gon na be bothered by , yeah , mathematics or physics .
Ben : No , no math , no . Yeah , none of that . No crawling through sewer .
Arturo : No sir . “ I ’m gon na make for that shoe . ” Also , constabulary station . You have your sh*t in like a shoebox like thing , you know , like … it ’s in visibility for — of the prisoner . believably not the good mind .
So he pulled it over and now he had a Colt .45 . And then he waited …
A second guard had the prison keys . So at 4:30 that good afternoon , the man arrived and Kid Curry was held on the 2nd level . And as soon as the prison guard reached the top of the steps , he was looking down the barrel of a shooting iron . The choice was clear : start the prison doorway immediately or die .
Ben : Oh yeah .
Arturo : Curry gathered his things holding the human being at point , and when he was ready , he put the gun in the guard ’s back and walk him down the stairs and out to the stable . Kid Curry forced the guard to prepare him a knight , and he chose the one belonging to the local sheriff , James Fox . Why ? That ’s insult to hurt , is n’t it ? Like why take the sheriff ’s sawbuck ?
Ben : Prepare him a — a cavalry ?
Arturo : Yeah , yeah , a knight .
Ben : Oh , I thought you said “ a form . ” And I was like “ this — this dude ’s my expressive style . ” Like he need –
Arturo : He needed to take a quick class on how to properly drink .
Ben : I thought you meant like , a course of instruction , like , a part of a repast , you know , like — the guy had to set him . Before –
Arturo : He require a masterclass –
Ben : I leave , you ’re gon na make me a bouillabaisse .
Arturo : Yes , that ’s good . He wanted a course on musical theatre committal to writing skills .
So once the horse was ready , Kid Curry jump into the bicycle seat and trotted out of township . He was seen by people all along the road . Some of them did n’t recognize him , but since he was ride tardily , he did n’t kick upstairs hunch . There ’s some accounts that a few Knoxville house physician did have sex who he was and called their friends to get and see as the ill-famed Kid Curry rode out of town .
As common , a posse gathered , but they were n’t capable to cover him down for more than 15 miles before they lose his trail . Kid Curry vanished into legend .
You ready for the last bit of this ?
Ben : I sure am .
Arturo : depend upon off into the sundown . Yes , yes ! Sunset !
Ben : Sunset !
Chapter 6: Riding Off Into the Sunset?
Arturo : So what take place next for Kid Curry ’s a closed book , right ? All through 1904 stories and legends from across the west put him in unresolved train robbery and gunplay where the gunslinger was n’t identify and among the thief when sawhorse went drop .
Other papers reported that he was in Wyoming or Montana . A missive in reality make it at the Knoxville jail that said , “ tell the boy not to fall out my step and keep outta trouble . ” It had a California posting savoir-faire and institutionalise the Pinkertons on a cross - country uncivilised goose chase .
Ben : Hmm .
Arturo : Yeah — after one , uh , Colorado train robbery in 1904 , sheriff deputies arrived rapidly on the scene . More than a hundred men with horses and bloodhounds hunted down the bandit and rainfall made their tracks promiscuous to follow in the mud .
With the posse close-fitting after them , the bandits block up at a spread to steal fresh horses , but the owners somehow did n’t wish that , eldritch ! The men substitute gunfire with the brigand , and one of the robber was hit in the bureau .
Before his buddies could block him , he rear his throttle to his temple , and he abuse “ do n’t wait for me ! ” and he fire .
When the body was play to Glenwood Springs , Colorado , it was actually identified by local anaesthetic as a man named J.H. Ross , and entomb in a hapless man ’s grave . Except there were two things that raised some head about the real identity of the consistence .
identification number one , the fact that the real J.H. Ross arrived in town a few years later on to show that he was n’t dead . Like , he was like , “ What the f * * * , bozo ! And why is my wife with somebody — it ’s been two days ! ”
Ben:“Guys ! ”
Arturo : And the 2nd is that the body had the cicatrice of a bullet wound on his right wrist , motherf***as !
Ben : Oh my good .
Arturo : But people just did n’t want to trust that Kid Curry was dead . They wanted to believe he made it through the firefight — and that he live on on … in mystery . A lot of denial , you know ?
So one story says that Kid Curry actually died in an refuge in 1937 .
Another says , no , no , in reality , he settle down in Spokane , Washington , and lived until the late 1950s .
Another one says no , he moved to Guatemala , became an actor , got dimples , and is still survive a life — wait … what the f * * * ? Uh . But there is one last turn — I was referring to myself , OK ? But there ’s one last twist to these myth .
Ben : OK .
Arturo : Some of Kid Curry ’s descendants have want to grasp up the organic structure in Colorado to do some genetic testing to swan where he ’s buried .
But when they get … the body … could not be ascertain .
Ben : Ah , I knew it .
Arturo : The record of the burying plot were lose . And that ’s a history of Kid Curry , everybody ! Pow pow pow pow powwww !
Outro
Ben : Well , OK . I ’m still stuck on , how older is — how old is Kid ? Because he’s — he ’s doing all these looting and everything in at the turn of the one C . And then some accounts have him live until mid - century , 1950 .
Arturo : So let ’s say he was doing the robberies — robberies in his , uh , tardy teens to early twenties .
Ben : I mean , yeah , teens , I guess he had to be a teenager .
Arturo : Well — but you ’re right though , because if he was ranching for 10 years , he must have been older than that . So allow ’s say like , from 25 to 35 , and then if he died in the ’ 50s , uh , he must ’ve been …
Ben : So what if he ’s a bunch of people , you know ? Like what if he ’s not just one guy , he ’s an amalgamation ?
Arturo : That ’s right , like Dr. Strange !
Ben : Dr. Strange … or Shakespeare .
Arturo:[laughs ] But is n’t that gripping ?
Ben : That is — that ’s pretty — that ’s moderately crazy . And his buddies , who I know — who I ’ve learn of way more , are just off in South America ranch .
Arturo : And they just have idiom now , and they verbalise like this and they like –
Ben : They — they immediately take in the accents .
Arturo : Immediately –
Ben : What do you think , what are — what are laughable Romance names that you think they chose as their false name ?
Arturo : Ernesto Gavilio Sundance .
Ben : Sundance ! They did n’t do — they did n’t change much .
Arturo : Butchardo Casidoso . You know , like they really , they –
Ben : They tally possibly one more syllable . That was about it .
Arturo : Ben , how can people find you ?
Ben : Do you want my address ?
Arturo : Yes , how can , how can people find you .
Ben : Alright so , coming from the 101 –
Arturo : Is there anything you ’d like multitude to check out or — or be aware of ?
Ben : Uh , no . I signify there ’s the things that I ’ve done , there ’s things I ’ve got make out up that I — that are n’t talking - about - able-bodied yet . I mean , I ’ve induce a — I’ve get an alive show , calledMonsters At Workon Disney . That ’s super , that ’s the Monsters universe , Monsters , Inc. and all those people .
Arturo : That ’s awful . I remember . Yeah . I jazz the monster .
Ben : So it ’s me and — and it ’s all the , you know , it ’s like — uh , Billy Crystal and John Goodman and –
Arturo : No way . Imagine .
Ben : Mindy Kaling and I , um , Henry Winkler . It ’s such a –
Arturo : Henry Winkler , sweetest guy rope in the cosmos .
Ben : He is the best .
Arturo : Listen , I always trust that like old - timey westerly rural area Song are just kind of draw what you ’re doing at that present bit . You do it ? This is like , a — a comedian enounce this joke before , but like , what — what I ’ve discover is that they ’re just running outta sh*t to say about their sidereal day . So they ’re now , it ’s getting way even more mundane .
So as an outro , we would care to have Ben [ Chugg ] play some music and us to make up some really stupefied lyrics to that . Would you be up for that ?
Ben : Yeah , it ’s just stuff and nonsense we ’re doing properly now ?
Arturo : Stuff we ’re doing mighty now and what we recall about the sequence . atomic number 9 * * * it . Whatever . Let’s — whatever depart . If it does n’t wreak , we ’ll all issue it out .
No , we wo n’t .
Um , OK , Ben , give us some –
Ben Chugg : So this is like old - timey country , but it ’s like Neil Young , kind of easy , soft .
Ben : There ’s a — there ’s heart and soul to it .
Ben Chugg : Yeah .
[ Country song implemental ]
Arturo:“Yeah . Argentina in the aloofness . Can you see it , Butch ? ”
Ben : Oh , are we the characters from the story ?
Arturo : Yes . “ Butch , can you see what I see ? ”
Ben:“I see the trap in your wrist . ”
Arturo:“It ’s get deeper and deep by the mean solar day . ”
Ben:“You should put a Band - attention on it . ”
Arturo:“Or apricot whisky ! ”
Ben:“I love apricot whisky . I ’ve had all the fruits … ”
Arturo:“I’ve tried with cranberry and it did n’t work . ”
Ben:“That brandy taste nice . ”
Arturo:“Apricot brandy for life . ”
[ Song out ]
Man . God , this has been such a pleasure , Ben . Thank you so much , brother , and we ’ll , we ’ll give you the rights of the euphony once we play it –
Ben : Oh , that song ’s gon na be vast . That ’s gon na be … I ’m gon na have to — I’m gon na have to come , come up up with like a music — like , I ’m Kid Feldman now .
Arturo : Yeah , you ’re Kid Feldman . Kid Curry who likes curry .
Ben : Massaman Feldman .
Credits
Arturo Castro : Greatest Escapesis a production of iHeartRadio and FilmNation Entertainment , in association with Gilded Audio . Our executive producers are me , Arturo , Alyssa Martino and Milan Popelka from FilmNation Entertainment , Andrew Chugg and Whitney Donaldson from Gilded Audio , and Dylan Fagan from iHeartRadio .
The show is produced and edited by Carl Nellis and Ben Chugg , who are also , severally , our inquiry overlord and music overlord . Our associate producer is Tory Smith , who is our other overlord .
Nick Dooley is our technical director . extra editing by Whitney Donaldson . Special thanks to Alison Cohen , Dan Welsh , Ben Ryzack , Sara Joyner , Nicki Stein , Olivia Canny , and Kelsey Albright .
Hey , thank you so much for listening , and if you ’re enjoying the show , please leave a military rank or critical review . My mom will call you each in person and thank you , and we ’ll see you all next week .
