David Rudabaugh was a cowboy, outlaw and gunfighter in the American Old West.
22 Facts About Dave Rudabaugh
1.
2.
Dave Rudabaugh's father was killed in the Civil War when Dave was a boy.
3.
The outlaw career of Dave Rudabaugh began in earnest in Arkansas in the early 1870s.
4.
Dave Rudabaugh was part of a band of outlaws who robbed and participated in cattle rustling along with Milton Yarberry and Mysterious Dave Mather.
5.
Sometime around 1876, Dave Rudabaugh joined Mike Roarke and Dan Dement to form the outlaw band known as the "Trio".
6.
In October 1876, Dave Rudabaugh robbed a Santa Fe Railroad construction camp and fled south.
7.
Dave Rudabaugh arrived at the frontier town on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River ahead of Earp by just a few days.
8.
Shanssey told Earp that Dave Rudabaugh had passed through town earlier in the week, but he didn't know where he was headed.
9.
Holliday said he thought Dave Rudabaugh was headed back towards Kansas, and Earp telegraphed the new information to Bat Masterson, which led to Dave Rudabaugh's later capture.
10.
Dave Rudabaugh's gang attempted their first train robbery, on January 22,1878, near Kinsley, Kansas.
11.
Dave Rudabaugh took a deal for immunity offered by the prosecuting attorney, and testified against his former gang members.
12.
Shortly following his release, Dave Rudabaugh accepted Masterson's offer to join a group of gunfighters to fight for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the Railroad Wars.
13.
The attempt failed, and Dave Rudabaugh shot and killed deputy sherriff Antonio Lino Valdez in the process.
14.
Dave Rudabaugh fled to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where he eventually joined a gang, one of whose members was Billy the Kid.
15.
In February 1881, while in court, Dave Rudabaugh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison for several counts of mail robbery.
16.
Dave Rudabaugh was then found guilty for the murder of Las Vegas deputy Lino Valdez and was sentenced to death by hanging.
17.
Dave Rudabaugh fled to Arizona where he joined the Clanton faction in their feud against the Earps.
18.
On February 18,1886, Dave Rudabaugh was involved in a gunfight with locals in Parral, Chihuahua.
19.
Dave Rudabaugh drew his pistol and killed two men and wounded another.
20.
Dave Rudabaugh left the saloon unharmed, but unable to find his horse, he re-entered a few moments later and was shot several times and died.
21.
Dave Rudabaugh's body was then decapitated with a machete and his head placed on a pole.
22.
Dave Rudabaugh was said to be the only outlaw who crossed paths with Dave Mather, Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett, Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday.