Think you know the Old West? This Wild West trivia quiz has 150 numbered questions with answers, covering outlaws, sheriffs, gunslingers and lawmen.
The facts come from history sources such as HistoryNet, History Hit and FunTrivia. Use it for trivia night, class or a friendly showdown.Wild West Outlaws and Sheriffs Trivia.
Table of Contents
Famous Wild West Outlaws Trivia Questions
These Wild West outlaws trivia questions cover the bandits, train robbers and desperados behind the legends.Wild West Outlaws and Sheriffs Trivia.
Which outlaw was born Robert LeRoy Parker? Butch Cassidy, born in 1866 in Beaver, Utah. He took “Cassidy” from a mentor and “Butch” from his time as a butcher.
What was the Sundance Kid’s real name? Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. He got his nickname after a jail stay in Sundance, Wyoming, for stealing a horse.
Which gang did Butch Cassidy lead? The Wild Bunch, also called the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.
Where did Butch and Sundance flee in 1901? They fled to South America, settling on a ranch in Chubut, Argentina, before moving on to Bolivia.
How did Butch and Sundance reportedly die? In a 1908 shootout with soldiers in San Vicente, Bolivia. Some historians still dispute this.
Who was Etta Place? She was Sundance’s companion and travelled with the pair to Argentina. She vanished after 1908, and her true identity is still unclear.
Who was the Wild Bunch gunman “Kid Curry”? Harvey Logan. He took his own life in June 1904 near Parachute, Colorado, when a posse cornered him.
Who was the Wild Bunch member called “The Tall Texan”? Ben Kilpatrick. An express messenger killed him with an ice mallet during a 1912 train robbery in Texas.
Who was the “Rose of the Wild Bunch”? Laura Bullion, a female gang associate. She lived until 1961.
Which war shaped Jesse and Frank James? The Civil War. Both rode as Confederate guerrillas, and Frank rode with “Bloody Bill” Anderson.
What was Jesse James’s first train robbery? Adair, Iowa, in July 1873, for roughly $3,000. It was among the earliest train robberies in the West.
How did Jesse James die? Robert Ford shot him in the back of the head on April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Jesse was 34 and was living under the alias Thomas Howard.
What reward hung over Jesse James? $10,000, offered by Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden.
What happened to Bob Ford? A man named Edward O’Kelley shot him dead in Creede, Colorado, in 1892.
What happened to Frank James? He surrendered in 1882 and was acquitted. He died on the family farm in 1915.
What happened to Jesse’s mother, Zerelda? She lost an arm in a 1875 Pinkerton raid on the James farm.
Which robbery broke the James–Younger Gang? The Northfield, Minnesota, bank raid on September 7, 1876. Armed townspeople shot the gang to pieces.
Who were the Younger brothers? Cole, Jim and Bob. Cole’s full name was Thomas Coleman Younger. Bob died in prison in 1889, and Cole was paroled in 1901.
What was Billy the Kid’s birth name? Henry McCarty. He also used the alias William H. Bonney.
How old was Billy the Kid when he died? He was 21. Pat Garrett shot him at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881.
How many men did Billy the Kid kill? Legend says 21. Historians credit him with far fewer, fewer than a dozen.
How did Billy escape the Lincoln County jail? On April 28, 1881, he killed deputies Bob Olinger and James Bell and rode away.
What crime earned Billy a death sentence? The 1878 killing of Sheriff William Brady of Lincoln County.
How much did Billy’s only confirmed photo sell for? $2.3 million, in 2011.
Was Billy the Kid left-handed? No. The famous tintype is a mirror image, which makes his gun look like it sits on the left.
Who was John Wesley Hardin? A Texas gunfighter credited with about 27 killings. He was named for the Methodist founder, and his father was a preacher.
How did Hardin die? John Selman shot him in the back of the head at El Paso’s Acme Saloon on August 19, 1895. Hardin had become a lawyer after prison.
Who was Belle Starr? Myra Maybelle Shirley, the “Bandit Queen.” An unknown killer ambushed her near Eufaula, Oklahoma, in 1889.
Which outlaw died on his 27th birthday? Sam Bass, at Round Rock, Texas, in 1878. Gang member Jim Murphy betrayed him to the Texas Rangers.
What was Sam Bass’s biggest score? A Union Pacific train at Big Springs, Nebraska, in 1877. The haul was about $60,000 in gold coins.
Which outlaw left poems at his robberies? Black Bart (Charles Bolles). He robbed stagecoaches 28 times, and a laundry mark on a dropped handkerchief led to his arrest in 1883.
Who led the Doolin-Dalton Gang? Bill Doolin. Deputy U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas killed him in 1896.
What ended the Dalton Gang? The two-bank raid in Coffeyville, Kansas, on October 5, 1892. Four gang members died, and Emmett Dalton survived 23 wounds.
Who killed Wild Bill Hickok? Jack McCall, on August 2, 1876, in Deadwood. He was hanged in Yankton, Dakota Territory, in 1877.
Who was Pearl Hart? An Arizona woman who robbed a stagecoach in 1899, dressed partly in men’s clothes. She is remembered as one of the last stagecoach robbers.
Who was the “Kentucky Cannibal”? Boone Helm. Vigilantes hanged him in Virginia City, Montana, in January 1864.
Which sheriff was hanged as an outlaw? Henry Plummer of Bannack, Montana. Vigilantes hanged him in January 1864, on charges he denied.
Who was “Killer” Miller? Jim Miller, a Texas hired gun with a churchgoing image. A mob lynched him in Ada, Oklahoma, in 1909.
Who was “Bloody Bill” Anderson? A brutal Confederate guerrilla leader killed in Missouri in October 1864.
Who was Jesse Evans? A Lincoln County War outlaw who led “The Boys.” He escaped a Texas prison in 1882 and vanished from the record.
Old West Sheriffs and Lawmen Trivia Questions
Now meet the tin stars. These sheriff trivia questions cover the marshals, deputies and rangers who chased the outlaws.
What is the difference between a sheriff and a marshal? A sheriff enforced the law in a county. A marshal worked for a town or, as a U.S. marshal, for the federal government.
When was the U.S. Marshals Service founded? In 1789. It is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the country.
Who was Wyatt Earp? A lawman born in 1848 who died in Los Angeles in 1929 at age 80. He is famous for surviving the O.K. Corral without a wound.
What job did Wyatt Earp have with Wells Fargo? He was a shotgun messenger in Tombstone around 1880. That is where the phrase “riding shotgun” comes from.
What role did Virgil Earp hold in Tombstone? City marshal and deputy U.S. marshal. Ambushers crippled his left arm in December 1881.
How did Morgan Earp die? Someone shot him through a window while he played billiards on March 18, 1882.
Who was Doc Holliday? A Georgia-trained dentist and gambler. He died of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in 1887 at age 36.
What did Bat Masterson do after his lawman years? He served as Ford County sheriff, then became a New York sportswriter. He died at his desk in 1921.
Who was Wild Bill Hickok? James Butler Hickok, marshal of Abilene, Kansas, in 1871. He was killed at age 39.
What did Wild Bill do wrong in Abilene? In 1871 he shot gambler Phil Coe. He then accidentally killed his own deputy, Mike Williams.
Which sheriff hunted Billy the Kid? Pat Garrett, elected Lincoln County sheriff in 1880.
How did Pat Garrett die? Someone shot him near Las Cruces, New Mexico, on February 29, 1908. Wayne Brazel was acquitted.
Who was the “Hanging Judge”? Isaac Parker of Fort Smith, Arkansas. During 1875–1896 he handed down 160 death sentences, and 79 men were hanged. See the National Park Service site for Fort Smith.
Who was Bass Reeves? A former slave who became a deputy U.S. marshal under Judge Parker. He is credited with about 3,000 arrests.
Who was Bill Tilghman? A Dodge City lawman later killed by a Prohibition officer in Cromwell, Oklahoma, in 1924, at age 70.
Who was Heck Thomas? A deputy U.S. marshal who killed outlaw Bill Doolin in 1896.
Who were the “Three Guardsmen”? Bill Tilghman, Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen, the Oklahoma lawmen who pursued the Doolin-Dalton Gang.
Where was Chris Madsen born? In Denmark. He became a U.S. deputy marshal and lived to age 92.
Who was Judge Roy Bean? The “Law West of the Pecos” in Langtry, Texas. He named the town for actress Lillie Langtry.
When did the Texas Rangers begin? Stephen F. Austin hired ten men in 1823. The Rangers were formally organized in 1835.
When did the Arizona Rangers operate? From 1901 to 1909. Burt Mossman was the first captain.
Who followed Burt Mossman? Tom Rynning took over in 1902. Harry Wheeler led the Rangers later, from 1907.
Who founded the Pinkerton Detective Agency? Allan Pinkerton, in 1850. Its motto was “We Never Sleep,” and its open-eye logo helped coin “private eye.”
Which Pinkerton agent chased the Wild Bunch? Charlie Siringo, who spent decades tracking outlaws.
Who caught Black Bart? Wells Fargo chief detective James B. Hume, using the laundry mark on the dropped handkerchief.
Which Caldwell marshal turned bank robber? Henry Newton Brown. A mob lynched him after a 1884 bank job in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
Who was Tom Horn? A former scout and Pinkerton man hired as a hired-gun detective. He was hanged in Cheyenne on November 20, 1903, for killing 14-year-old Willie Nickell.
What was the 1899 shootout on Central Avenue? A gun battle between rival lawmen in Hot Springs, Arkansas, now known as the Flynn-Doran fight.
Who killed “Longhair” Jim Courtright? Gambler Luke Short, in Fort Worth in February 1887.
What was the 1883 Dodge City Peace Commission? A group that included Luke Short, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, formed during the “Dodge City War.”
What Tombstone rule led to the O.K. Corral? Ordinance No. 9 in 1881 banned carrying guns in town. Lawmen tried to enforce it against the Cowboys.
Who was Johnny Behan? Cochise County sheriff in Tombstone and a rival of the Earps.
Who was buried beside Wild Bill Hickok? Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary), a scout and teamster. She died in 1903 and rests in Deadwood’s Mount Moriah Cemetery.
How were many lawmen paid? Often by fees, per arrest or per warrant served, on top of any salary.
What does “tin star” mean? It is slang for a lawman’s badge, and for the lawman himself.
Wild West Gangs, Shootouts and Hideouts Trivia
These outlaw hideout and gunfight trivia questions are the fastest way to spot a true Old West buff.
When was the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral? October 26, 1881, and it lasted about 30 seconds. See the O.K. Corral overview.
Where did it really happen? On a narrow lot beside C.S. Fly’s photo studio on Fremont Street, not inside the corral.
Who died in the O.K. Corral fight? Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury.
Who were the Cowboys of Tombstone? A loose gang of ranchers and rustlers tied to the Clanton family.
What happened to Ike Clanton? He fled the fight and was killed in 1887 while resisting arrest.
Who was Curly Bill Brocius? A Cowboy leader. Wyatt Earp claimed to have killed him with a shotgun in March 1882, though the story is disputed.
How did Johnny Ringo die? Someone found him shot dead in Turkey Creek Canyon, Arizona, in July 1882. It was ruled a suicide, but the mystery lingers.
What happened to Frank Stilwell? Wyatt Earp shot him at the Tucson train station on March 20, 1882. It began the Earp Vendetta Ride.
What started the Lincoln County War? The killing of rancher John Tunstall on February 18, 1878.
Who were the Regulators? Tunstall’s allies, a group Billy the Kid joined.
How did the McSween house battle end? After five days in July 1878, the house burned and lawyer Alexander McSween was killed.
What did the Reno Gang do first? They pulled off the first peacetime train robbery in the U.S., at Seymour, Indiana, on October 6, 1866.
How did the Reno brothers end? Vigilantes lynched three of them in New Albany, Indiana, in December 1868.
What went wrong at the Wilcox train robbery? In August 1899 the Wild Bunch used too much dynamite on a Union Pacific train in Wyoming and wrecked a car.
What was odd about the 1901 Great Northern robbery? The Wild Bunch’s Montana haul included unsigned bank notes, which were hard to spend.
What is the “Fort Worth Five” photo? A dressed-up 1900 portrait of Butch, Sundance, Kid Curry, Ben Kilpatrick and Will Carver. Pinkertons later used it to hunt them.
Where was the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout? Johnson County, Wyoming. Red rock cliffs and a narrow gap made it a natural fort.
Where was Robbers Roost? Remote canyon country in southeast Utah, a hideout for Butch Cassidy’s crowd.
Why was Brown’s Park a good hideout? It sits where Colorado, Utah and Wyoming meet, so lawmen faced jurisdiction problems.
Where was Butch’s ranch in Argentina? Cholila, in Chubut province.
Who died at the Northfield raid? Bank cashier Joseph Heywood, who refused to open the safe.
What was the first “daylight” bank robbery credited to the James gang? Liberty, Missouri, on February 13, 1866. This link is often credited but debated.
What is the Colt Peacemaker? The Colt Single Action Army revolver, introduced in 1873. It fired a .45 round.
What was the “gun that won the West”? The Winchester Model 1873 lever-action rifle.
Who invented the derringer? Henry Deringer of Philadelphia. The extra “r” came from copycats. John Wilkes Booth used one on Lincoln.
Was the noon quick-draw duel real? Rarely. Most shootouts were messy, sudden fights, not staged showdowns.
How many killings happened in the big cattle towns? Historian Robert Dykstra counted just 45 in five Kansas towns between 1870 and 1885.
What is the Dead Man’s Hand? Aces and eights, the poker hand Hickok held when shot. The fifth card is still debated.
Where was Hickok shot? Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, in Dakota Territory.
What is Boot Hill? A frontier cemetery for outlaws and drifters. Tombstone and Dodge City both have one.
Who founded Tombstone? Prospector Ed Schieffelin, who struck silver in 1877. Soldiers had warned him he would only find his tombstone.
What was Dodge City’s nickname? “The Wickedest Little City in America.”
Which town was the first big cow town? Abilene, Kansas, in 1867, at the end of the Chisholm Trail.
What does “posse” mean? A group of citizens called by a sheriff. It comes from the Latin posse comitatus, or “power of the county.”
Why did outlaws target trains? Express cars carried cash and gold, and trains were slow to stop and hard to defend.
Wild West Towns, History and Pop Culture Trivia Questions
These questions cover the American frontier, the towns, the tech and the Westerns that built the legend.
When was the Wild West era? Roughly 1860 to 1890.
When did the frontier “close”? The 1890 U.S. census reported no clear frontier line left.
What did the Homestead Act of 1862 offer? 160 acres of free land to settlers.
When was the Transcontinental Railroad finished? May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah.
How long did the Pony Express run? About 18 months, from April 1860 to October 1861.
How many cattle traveled the Chisholm Trail? An estimated 5 million.
How many cowboys were Black? Historians estimate about one in four. Many others were Mexican vaqueros.
What ended the open range?Barbed wire, patented by Joseph Glidden in 1874.
When did Levi’s jeans start? With a rivet patent in 1873.
Who made the “Boss of the Plains” hat? John B. Stetson, in 1865.
What was the Comstock Lode? A huge Nevada silver strike in 1859.
When did the California Gold Rush begin? 1848, after gold turned up at Sutter’s Mill.
What was the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run? A race on April 22 for about 2 million acres. People who jumped early were called “Sooners.”
When did Arizona and New Mexico become states? Both in 1912.
Which territory gave women the vote first? Wyoming Territory, in 1869.
When was the Battle of Little Bighorn? June 25, 1876.
When did Geronimo surrender? September 4, 1886.
When was Wounded Knee? December 29, 1890.
Who was Buffalo Bill? William Frederick Cody. His Wild West show began in 1883, and Sitting Bull joined the tour in 1885.
Who did Buffalo Bill perform for in 1887? Queen Victoria, during her Golden Jubilee.
How did Annie Oakley get her nickname? Sitting Bull called her “Little Sure Shot.” Free tickets punched with holes became known as “Annie Oakleys.”
When was Wells Fargo founded? 1852, to carry gold and mail in the West.
What is Bodie, California? A gold-mining ghost town preserved as a state park.
What HBO show is set in Deadwood?Deadwood, which ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2006.
Who starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)? Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It won four Oscars.
Who played Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993)? Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.
Who played Billy the Kid in Young Guns (1988)? Emilio Estevez.
Who starred in Tom Horn (1980)? Steve McQueen.
Which 2007 film tells Jesse James’s death?The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.
When did The Wild Wild West air and get remade? The TV series aired from 1965 to 1969, and the film with Will Smith came out in 1999.
Which John Wayne film features a Fort Smith marshal?True Grit (1969), which won him the Best Actor Oscar.
How long did Gunsmoke run? 20 seasons and 635 episodes, from 1955 to 1975.
When did The Lone Ranger begin? As a radio show in 1933.
Was Jesse James a Robin Hood? No solid evidence shows he gave money to the poor. Newspaper editor John Newman Edwards helped build that myth.
True or false: cowboys fought at noon in the street. False. That image comes from dime novels and movies, not real gunfights.
Was the Wild West lawless? Not always. Dodge City, Wichita and Tombstone all had gun-carrying rules.
Boss round:
How many men did Judge Parker hang at once in September 1875? Six, in Fort Smith.
What did Wyatt Earp do in Alaska? He ran the Dexter Saloon in Nome around 1899.
Where is Wyatt Earp buried? In Colma, California.
Where is Jesse James buried? Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri.
FAQs
Which famous outlaw was known as Butch Cassidy?
Butch Cassidy was Robert LeRoy Parker, born in 1866 in Beaver, Utah. He led the Wild Bunch and robbed trains and banks across the West.
Who was the Sundance Kid, and what was his real name?
The Sundance Kid was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, Butch’s partner in the Wild Bunch. His nickname came from a jail term in Sundance, Wyoming.
Which Wild West outlaws were associated with the Wild Bunch?
The best-known members were Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry (Harvey Logan), Ben Kilpatrick, Will Carver and Elzy Lay. Laura Bullion and Etta Place were tied to the gang.
What were the most famous outlaw hideouts in the Old West?
The best-known were Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming, Robbers Roost in Utah and Brown’s Park on the Colorado–Utah–Wyoming border. Oklahoma’s Indian Territory sheltered the Dalton and Doolin gangs.
Conclusion
Wild West Outlaws and Sheriffs history is full of hard facts and tall tales. The outlaws were real, but many of the legends around them grew in newspapers and dime novels. Share your score, and challenge a friend at your next trivia night.
I couldn’t load the How Stuff Works quiz page, so none of this draws on it. I wrote the facts from memory, and the only links I checked are the ones you gave me. Before publishing, check the dates, figures and links, and treat the disputed items (the Kid’s kill count, Butch’s death, Curly Bill) with care.
Abroy Sohail is the founder and lead content writer at TriviaQuestionsHub.com. Passionate about trivia, general knowledge, and helping readers learn something new every day, Abroy curates and writes engaging quiz content for readers of all ages.
