Unsettling Photos That Show The Dark Side of the Wild West
By | December 13, 2022
Olive Oatman was abducted and sold to the Mohave tribe who gave her a noticable blue tattoo on her face
History books tell us a simple story about the old west. There are tales of cowboys, Native Americans, and law west of the Pecos... but it's not the whole story. These beautifully colorized photos tell the real story about the wild west.
These snapshots of gunslingers, lawmen, and '49ers on the search for gold will show you what the history books never could. Look closer... in each photo you'll find an entire life story full of ups and downs.
Each rare colorized photo collected here has the ability to transport you back to one of the most beloved eras of America... when the west was still being won. Keep searching and discover the true story of the old west.
After she was kidnapped by an unknown Native American tribe from her homestead in what we now know as Arizona in 1851, Olive oatman was sold to the Mohave people. She spent five years living with them. During that time they tattooed her face with the blue ink that you can see clearly in the photo.
Oatman was released after half a decade and she immediately returned home. A book was written about her time with the Mohave and she went on a tour that helped push sales to more than 30,000 copies. After the hubub died down she moved to Sherman, Texas where she became involved with charity work while wearing a veil over her tattoo.
The greatest shot in the wild west, Annie Oakley could take out a target on a moonless night in the middle of a dense fog. Born Phoebe Ann Moses, she started sharpshooting at the age of 15 and quickly rose to local fame after winning a marksmanship competition. It didn't take long before she started adding a flair of showmanship to her routine.
Shortly afterwards she joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show with Frank Butler - the man who she bested in the marksmanship contest. As her fame rose Oakley inspired women to follow in her footsteps. She went so far as to petition the U.S. government to let her take up arms during World War I with a group of female sharpshooters but her request was denied.
A gold miner with his bounty, 1851
The biggest problem with goldmining was the fact that there was very little of it to go around. There were only so many gold deposits in the 19th century and once those started to go it was pretty much game over for people coming out west by the end of the rush. As the 1850s came to a close it was no longer feasible for one person to strike it rich with a gold discovery.
Bass Reaves, the inspiration for the Lone Ranger
Following the ratification of the 13th Amendment Bass went on to have more than 10 children in Arkansas before returning Oklahoma where he began taking down criminals who flocked to the territory. As the first Black U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi he arrested more than 3,000 outlaws all without sufferng a single shot. Bass was one of the most well known and beloved lawmen of the era.
The mugshot of Goldie Williams after her arrest for vagrancy in Omaha, Nebraska in 1898
Take note of Goldie's feather hat and gorgeous overcoat, was she actually a vagrant or was she up to something else. Her arrest records sat that her left index finger was broken and she had a cut below her right wrist. Whatever happened that night, she wasn't happy about it.
William Cody before he was "Buffalo Bill"
The same year as he worked as a scout for the Grand Duke he was awared the Medal of Honor for documented gallantry, and going beyond the call of duty as an Army scout. Sadly, that medal was revoked in 1917. However it was then restored in 1988 and it was given to Cody's grandson.
Butch Cassidy mugshot
Even though he lived a wild west criminal lifestyle, Cassidy was known to be a faitly friendly guy. Not only did he rarely use his sidearm during a robbery, but he was kind to his neighbors and reportedly went out of his way to be friendly to his victims. That's exactly the kind of attitude folks like to see in an outlaw.
Wild Bill Hickok before he was caught with a "deadman's hand"
Wild Bill was shot during a game of poker in Nuttal & Mann's Saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. At his time of death he was holding two pairs: aces and eights, all black. That hand soon became known as the "dead man's hand."
The legend of the Wild West, Wyatt Earp
Earp is believed to arrested around a dozen major outlaws in his tenure as a marshall in Tombstone. However, he was also on the wrong end of a murder charge from criminals who claimed that Earp shot their friends who were attempting to surrender. None of those charges ever stuck.
One of the few photos of Billy The Kid
Not a clear cut and pure criminal, Billy was made a member of the Lincoln County Regulators, a deputized posse that went out in search of the men who killed ranch-owner John Tunstall. Word spread that he had 27 kills under his belt even though the number was likely much lower. He was only 21-years-old when he was taken out by the law in 1881.
Laura Bullion poses for a mug shot with Pinkertons
Bullion took park in Cassidy's Great Northern train robbery and earned herself five years in prison in 1901. After she was released from prison she moved to Memphis, Tennessee where she tried to live a simple life away from crime. She accomplished that feat, but she fell into poverty as the 20th century continued on.
Mugshot of James Collins, a 23-year-old tailor who was arrested for burglary in Omaha, Nebraska in 1897
It's unclear why Collins has his head bandaged in this photo. It's possible that he was bonked on the head during his arrest, or more likely during his recapture. Whatever the case, this mugshot is exactly the kind of look that you'd imagine seeing all the time in the old west.
Bull Chief of the Crow people
The life of Bull Chief is one of great adventure that was sadly cut short by western expansion. His early years as a warrior were spent raiding settlements with the Crow people, but that all changed as more and more settlers came to the area. Even though he lived well into his twilight years, the changing landscape of the American west left him with nowhere to go.
Jesse James, 1892
As his legend grew, James is alleged to have written in defense of his criminal actions, saying:
We are not thieves. We are bold robbers. I am proud of the name, for Alexander the Great was a bold robber, and Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
"Bandit Queen" Belle Star in Fort Smith Arkansas
After her husband passed away she went on to become a horse thief who had a knack for evading authorities. After a short marriage in 1882, she got back to her horse thieving ways and spent a little time in jail. After a few months she was released and then hooked back up with her crew. She went back to her life of crime before she was ambushed in Arkansas and passed away on the trail.
Miners Camp in Colorado
These men became trappers, traders, and business owners, and a few of them became extremely wealthy after discovering vast deposits of silver. The brief period of gold and silver mining that took the west by storm didn't just create an American mythology, it turned men into tall tales. After all, many miners believed that all one had to do was find the right plot of land to strike it rich.
Railroad Tracks In Green River Wyoming
By 1880, the transcontinental railroad was moving at least $50 million worth of goods and services per year. Everything from gold, to food, to raw materials was being transported by rail. Henry W. Brands, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, explained:
Together they gave the United States the single largest market in the world, which provided the basis for the rapid expansion of American industry and agriculture to the point where the U.S. by the 1890s had the most powerful economy on the planet.
A covered wagon on the Oregon Trail
In this era there were multiple types of covered wagons, but it's the prarie schooner that's the most well known wagon. Because horses were so expensive in this era most covered wagons were pulled by a mule or oxen. These early vehicles were built strong and sturdy to make it all the way across the country.
Geronimo, photographed by the U.S. Army
This photo (or at least the pre-colorized version) was actually taken by the U.S. military to use as a part of their longterm propaganda plan for the leader. Aside from photos he appeared at Wild West shows and he even attended the inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt. Geronimo passed away on February 17, 1909 while living at Fort Sill.
Railroad laborers pose for a rare photo
By 1882, anti-Asian sentiment grew so loud that Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law essentially slowed Chinese immigration to just a little over 100 peiple a year. It wasn't until 1965 that the ban was lifted by the U.S. government.
"Buffalo Bill" Cody
Not just an entertainer, Cody played a major part in founding the town of Cody, Wyoming. He traveled through that part of Wyoming in 1870 and ten years later he returned to found the town. He passed away in 1917 - his funeral was attended by a king, a kaiser, and a president.
Stick 'em up, a lawman watches over the wild west
While speaking about the history of African-Americans in the old west, William Loren Katz explained:
Right after the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who wanted to not serve as elevator operators or delivery boys or other similar occupations.
Calamity Jane was one of the greatest sharpshooters of the old west
In 1876, Jane stuck around the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, where she helped nurse people through a massive smallpox outbreak. After leaving Deadwood she went back to working as a scout and began winning fans in the publishing world who started writing about her life. She was happy to tell the story of her life to anyone who wanted to put pen to paper.
California prospector, 1881
By the peak of the gold rush in 1852, some $2 billion in precious metal was taken from the surrounding area. With so many '49ers coming to California, gold mining towns popped up across the state. Because of the transient nature of the inhabitants these tows were often lawless - they were the wildest places in the wild west.
Cattle don't move in a straight line, but rather they're stretched out over a long line. On these long drives a heard of 1,000 cattle can take up two miles in width with various members of the crew working the cows that were out front. To make those bad boys move cowboys had to use hand signals to communicate with one another while flanking and swatting the the animals.
Black cowboys watching over Bonham, Texas
While history focuses on white cowboys, African-American cowboys played a major part in settling the wild west. Not only did they have the skills and know-how to get things done, but they shared a brotherhood that many people who stayed out east didn't. In his 1907 autobiography, cowboy Nat Love wrote:
A braver, truer set of men never lived than these wild sons of the plains whose home was in the saddle and their couch, mother earth, with the sky for a covering. They were always ready to share their blanket and their last ration with a less fortunate fellow companion and always assisted each other in the many trying situations that were continually coming up in a cowboy's life.
The Arltington Motel in Tombstone, Arizona
What's known as the gunfight at the O.K. Corral really only lasted about 30 seconds on October 26, 1881. The explosion of gunfire was the culmination of a feud between a group called The Cowboys and the Earp family. This battle didn't end the feud, it only exacerbated the tensions between the two groups.
Dodge City, Kansas
This colorized photo, taken in 1878, shows Dodge in its heyday. The hustle and bustle of horses and carts on the street often gave way to rowdy young men looking to make a name for themselves. As much as Dodge was a cattle town it was also a rough and tumble place that required lawmen to constantly patrol the area.
Trappers and hunters in the Four Peaks country of Brown's Basin, Arizona territory
There were a large amount of freelance trappers, but there were some hunters who worked for a specific company. Either way, these men lived in the mountains all year around to stay close to their prey. These trappers changed the landscape of North America and made fur a lifestyle.
Judge Roy Bean was the law in the Old West
Even though Bean is known for being quite ferocious, most of his judgements ended with him telling the criminals to get the heck out of his saloon. He tended to rule on misdemeanors while sitting in his rocking chair on the porch of his bar. He was definitely an old west character.
Everyone sought their fortunes in the wild west
During the 19th century the women who shaped the old west often had to be larger than life. Anyone who didn't do whatever they could to be as well known as possible was lost in the shadows. That's the way things went in the old west.
Settlers didn't even have to put money down on the 160 acre lots. All they had to do was stake a claim, live there, and promise that they would improve the area. It didn't take long for the entire territory to be picked up.
The Klondyke dance hall and saloon at the Alaska-Yulon-Pacific Exposition
There's very little said as to how the saloon became too realistic, but it's likely that things just got out of hand. Or maybe some cowboy holdovers took the whole thing to heart and started slamming sasparilla and throwing punches. You never know what's going to happen at a good ol' fashioned exposition.
Abductee Jimmy McKinn with the Apachee tribe
Abductions by indigenous peoples were believed to be common in the old west, but it's not clear exactly how many people were actually kidnapped as settlers moved west. It definitely happened, but it wasn't the epidemic that people at the time (and westerns of the early 20th century) made it out to be. Even so, people had to be vigilant with life on the plains.
A Navajo man in full ceremonial regalia, complete with mask and body paint, in 1904
In the late 1800s, U.S. Army leader Kit Carson led a scorched earth campaign against the Navajo people, leaving them decimated. Those who survived the brutal battles with the military were forced to walk a 350 mile trail to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. It was there than the Navajo Tribal Council was created.
An elderly Wyatt Earp, 1920s
Later in his life, when asked about his decision to get into a vendetta with a group of cowboys at the O.K. Corrall, Earp stated that he had no regrets. He said:
For my handling of the situation at Tombstone, I have no regrets. Were it to be done over again, I would do exactly as I did at that time. If the outlaws and their friends and allies imagined that they could intimidate or exterminate the Earps by a process of murder, and then hide behind alibis and the technicalities of the law, they simply missed their guess. I want to call your particular attention again to one fact, which writers of Tombstone incidents and history apparently have overlooked: with the deaths of the McLaurys, the Clantons, Stillwell, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill, and the rest, organized, politically protected crime and depredations in Cochise County ceased.
A picture of Portsmouth Square in San Francisco, California, 1851, during the Gold Rush
As soon as the gold rush hit, the square became the place to be. It was a meeting place for miners and panhandlers alike, as well as for folks just trying to hear the latest gossip. Portsmith Square is still going as strong as it was in the 19th century today.
Trappers in an old saloon
The earliest saloons catered to fur trappers and tradesmen in the early 1800s. By the 1880s there were multiple saloons per town vying for the attention of newcomers. No matter which saloon a cowpoke called home they rarely served anything but room temperature beer or straight whiskey. These fellows would have handed anyone their hat if they ordered a "skinny marg" or a cosmopolitan.
Immigrant laborers in the old west
The Los Angeles Times reports that many Chinese immigrants took on some of the most low paying and dangerous jobs to show just how hard they could work. on June 24, 1867, the whole of the Chinese laborers stopped working to demand the same pay as their white counterparts. After eight days their pay was raised although it's likely it wasn't paralleled with the pay of their fellow workers.
“The Interview,” taken after the Battle of Little Big Horn
Few members of the military survived, and many of the men is General Custer's family were wiped out. However, Evan S. Connell of the Son of the Morning Star reported that one member of Custer's crew survived:
Comanche was reputed to be the only survivor of the Little Bighorn, but quite a few Seventh Cavalry mounts survived, probably more than one hundred, and there was even a yellow bulldog. Comanche lived on another fifteen years, and when he died, he was stuffed and to this day remains in a glass case at the University of Kansas.
A mountain of bison skulls
To go about their plan the U.S. Army was given the go ahead to indiscriminatly take out bison. Entire herds were wiped out, bringing the numbers of bison down from 60 million to something like 300(!) by the end of the 1800s. Thanks to Congress, bison numbers have risen to 200,000 today.
