Harvey Logan

"He has not one single redeeming feature, he is the only criminal I know of who does not have one single good point." - William Pinkerton

Perhaps the most notorious of all the Wild Bunch, certainly the most vicious, Harvey Alexander Logan was born sometime in 1867 in Tama County, Iowa. He was the third of six children born to William and Eliza Logan. After Logan’s father died, the family moved on to Dodson, Missouri.

Logan would go on to be known as Kid Curry, one of the most feared outlaws in the West. The name served as a tribute to Logan’s friend and mentor, “Flat Nose” George Currie.

Harvey, Johnnie and Lonnie Logan eventually moved on to Landusky, Montana. The three brothers led a relatively peaceful life in Landusky, until a series of incidents brought an end to the calm.

On October 2, 1894, Harvey and John Logan, along with Lee Self, got into a altercation with a neighbor, James Ross. As a result of the confrontation, Harvey found himself charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

The Logan brothers also found themselves embroiled in a long-running feud with Powell “Pike” Landusky, the namesake of Landusky, Montana. The feud took a turn for the worse when Landusky’s stepdaughter, Elfie, announced she was pregnant, presumably by Lonnie Logan.

The Logan-Landusky feud came to a head on December 27, 1894. On that night, Harvey Logan and Landusky got into a fistfight in the local saloon. During the scuffle, Logan’s gun fell out from his coat. Landusky reached for his own weapon and squeezed the trigger, but the gun misfired. By this time Logan recovered his own gun and killed Pike Landusky.

Fearing retribution from the law, Harvey Logan left the area in a hurry. His brothers, Lonnie and Johnnie, chose to stay in the area. A little over a year after Harvey’s departure, Johnny Logan was killed by a neighboring rancher, Jim Winters, in February 1896. The two men had been feuding over homesteading rights.

On June 28, 1897, Harvey Logan joined the Wild Bunch in the robbery of the Butte County Bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The robbers only secured $97.00 before having to flee the area. During their escape, the outlaws were forced to leave behind one of their own, Tom O’Day. O’Day’s horse was spooked off by the gunfire, leaving the hapless bandit with no means of escape. It is believed that Lonnie Logan joined his brother in the robbery.

A month after the Belle Fourche robbery, Harvey Logan reunited with the Sundance Kid and Walt Punteney. The three men rode into Red Lodge, Montana in an attempt to bribe the local marshal, Byron St. Clair, to “disappear” for a few days while the outlaws robbed the town bank. St. Clair refused their offer and immediately notified authorities. Carbon County Sheriff John Dunn formed a posse and set off in pursuit of the outlaws.