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Walter Punteney
| Name: Walter
Punteney |
| Aliases: None |
| Date of Birth:
May 1, 1870 |
| Location of
Birth: Frankfort, Kansas |
| Occupation: Outlaw |
| Relationships:
Alice Walker (spouse) |
| Affiliations: The
Wild Bunch |
| Date of Death:
April 19, 1950 |
| Cause of
Death: Natural Causes |
| Location of
Death: Pinedale, Wyoming |
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Walter “Walt”
Punteney was born May 1, 1870 in Frankfort, Kansas. Punteney has the
distinction of being the second oldest surviving member of the Wild
Bunch (the oldest being Ben Kilpatrick's girlfriend, Laura
Bullion).
Punteney participated in
just one robbery with the Wild Bunch, this being the assault on the Butte
County Bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota on June 28, 1897. Punteney was
17 years old at the time of the robbery.
After escaping from Belle
Fourche Punteney, along with the Sundance Kid, reunited with
Harvey Logan
and ventured into Red Lodge, Montana with the intention of bribing the
local town marshal. The three outlaws suggested to the marshal, Byron St.
Clair, that he could make a few bucks were he to “disappear” for a
couple of days while the outlaws robbed the local bank. This turned out to
be a very bad idea.
St. Clair not only
rejected their offer, he went straight to Sheriff John Dunn and told him
of the outlaws’ plans. Sheriff Dunn quickly organized a posse and set
out in search of Punteney, Logan and Sundance. The posse caught up with
the outlaws just outside Lavina, Montana on September 22, 1897. A
firefight broke out between the two parties and the outlaws were
eventually captured.
After their capture, the
three outlaws were placed in jail in Billings,
Montana. Harry Ticknor, a
bank employee present during the Belle Fourche robbery, was brought to
identify the men as participants in the robbery. He positively identified
all three men. The outlaws were then transported to Deadwood, South Dakota
for holding where they reunited with Tom O’Day who had been left behind
during the Belle Fourche robbery.
On Halloween night the
outlaws escaped the Deadwood jail along with another inmate. Tom O’Day
and Punteney were recaptured in Spearfish, South Dakota two days later on
November 2, 1897.
Despite breaking out of
jail, Punteney managed to escape trial as the case against him was dropped
due to lack of evidence.
Walt Punteney died in
Pinedale, Wyoming on April 19, 1950, eleven days before his eightieth
birthday.
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