Famous Cowboys and Cowboy Names

(To be more precise, Famous Cowboys and Cowgirls, i.e., Cowpeople)

Legends of the Old West

(Also see Western Movie Stars and Western Characters of Film and TV)

he following list (in alphabetical order of first name) is of 66 actual personalities of the Old West. Not included are the many lesser lawmen, outlaws, gunfighters and cowboys. Also not included are eastern pioneers, such as Daniel Boone, because they belong to, shall we say, the Old East. The source for much information here is from Legends of America and various Wikipedia entries.

(Visit my page of Famous Dogs or facts about U.S. Presidents.)

Sorted by Born Year
Popular Name sort by first or last name	Image cursor on image enlarges	Birth Name	Born - Died sort by 'Died' year	Claim to Fame	Cause of Death
Jedediah Smith		Jedediah Strong Smith	January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831	Hunter, trapper, fur trader and explorer of the American West Coast	killed by Comanche Indians
Kit Carson		Christopher Houston Carson	December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868	Scout, trapper; much involved with Indian affairs	aortic aneurysm
Oliver Loving		Oliver Loving	December 4, 1812 – September 25, 1867	First cattledriver; founded the Goodnight-Loving Trail; "The Dean of Texas Trail Drivers"	gangrene from a battle wound
Richard King		Richard King	July 10, 1824 – April 14, 1885	Riverboat captain, entrepreneur and founder of the King Ranch	stomach cancer
John Chisum		John Simpson Chisum	August 15, 1824 – December 23, 1884	Cattle baron	throat cancer
Black Bart		Charles E. Boles (Also Bolles)	1829 – February 28, 1888	Good-mannered stage coach robber	unknown, last seen February 28, 1888
Stagecoach Mary (Fields)		Mary Fields	circa 1832 – 1914	Mail carrier, driving a mail route by stagecoach in Montana	liver failure
Charles Goodnight		Charles Goodnight	March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929	Cattle-driver; founded the Goodnight-Loving Trail; invented the chuck wagon	old age
Wild Bill Hickok		James Butler Hickok	May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876	Marksman, professional gambler, gunfighter, scout, lawman	shot in the back of the head
Clay Allison		Robert Clay Allison	September 2, 1840 – July 3, 1887	Ruthless killer, gunfighter	broken neck from accident
“Texas John” Slaughter		John Slaughter	October 2, 1841 – February 16, 1922	Civil War veteran, trail-driver, cattleman, Texas Ranger, sheriff, gambler, and state representative	stroke
"Texas Jack" Vermillion		John Wilson Vermillion	1842 – 1911	Gunfighter, soldier, lawman, outlaw, Methodist preacher; participated in the Earp vendetta ride	died peacefully in his sleep
Frank James		Alexander Frank James	January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915	Bank robber; rode with William Quantrill's raiders; later shoe salesman	heart Failure
Cole Younger		Thomas Coleman Younger	January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916	Train and bank robber; lectured and toured with Frank James in a wild west show (2)	old age
John Ware		John Ware	1845 ? – September 12, 1905	Remembered for his ability to ride and train horses	killed in the fall when his horse tripped
"Curly Bill" Brocius		William "Curly Bill" Brocius	1845 – March 24, 1882	Gunman, rustler and outlaw cowboy	killed by Wyatt Earp
Buffalo Bill		William Frederick Cody	February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917	Organized Buffalo Bill's Wild West, an outdoor extravaganza	kidney failure
Texas Jack		John Baker Omohundro	July 26, 1846 – June 28, 1880	Frontier scout, actor, and cowboy; first performer to do roping acts on stage	pneumonia
Ike Clanton		Joseph Isaac Clanton	1847 – June 1, 1887	Cattle rustler; involved in the Gunfight at the OK Corral	shot dead resisting arrest
Bose Ikard		Bose Ikard	July, 1847 – January 4, 1929	Cowboy, helped in opening up the Goodnight Loving Trail	?
Jesse James		Jesse Woodson James	September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882	Bank and train robber, killer; member of outlaw Clement gang	shot from the back by Robert Ford
"Big Jim" Courtright (Tim Isaiah)		Timothy Isaiah Courtright	1848 – February 8, 1887	Lawman, outlaw and gunfighter	shot in a gunfight
Wyatt Earp		Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp	March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929	Lawman, gambler; in gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone, Arizona	natural causes
Belle Starr (The Bandit Queen)		Myra Belle Shirley Reed Starr	February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889	Rustling, horse stealing, bootlegging whiskey	shot from ambush
Jim Younger		James Hardin Younger	January 15, 1848 – October 19, 1902	Rancher, train and bank robber (2)	committed suicide
Dutch Henry		Henry Borne	July 2, 1849 – January 10, 1921	Horse thief	pneumonia
Frank Canton		Josiah Horner	September 15, 1849 – September 27, 1927	Lawman, gunslinger, cowboy and at one point in his life, an outlaw	old age
Pat Garrett		Patrick Floyd Garrett	June 5, 1850 – February 28, 1908	Sheriff in New Mexico, bartender, and customs agent; killed Billy the Kid	shot during an argument
Johnny Ringo		John Peters Ringo	May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882	Robber, killer; member of Clanton gang	gun shot suicide
Heck Thomas		Henry A. Thomas	January 3, 1850 – August 15, 1912	Peace officer, tracked down and killed outlaw Bill Doolin	of Bright's disease
George McJunkin		George McJunkin	1851 – January 21, 1922	Cowboy, amateur archaeologist and historian	old age
John Younger		John Harrison Younger	1851 – March 17, 1874	Train and bank robber, killer (2)	shot in the neck
Sam Bass		Sam Bass	July 21, 1851 – July 21, 1878	Train robber	gun shot wounds
Doc Holliday		John Henry Holliday	August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887	Dentist, gambler, and gunfighter; at the O.K. Corral gunfight	consumption (tuberculosis)
William Longley		William Preston Longley	October 6, 1851 – October 11, 1878	Outlaw, ruthless and ill-tempered gunfighter; killed at least 32 people	hanged
Chris Madsen		Christian "Chris" Madsen	December 25, 1851 – January 9, 1944	Danish born gunfighter; U.S. Deputy Marshal in Oklahoma; member of the Three Guardsmen crimefighers	old age
Calamity Jane		Martha Jane Cannary	May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903	Sharpshooter, prospector, rowdy prostitute, gambler, heavy drinker	alcoholism
Perry Owens		Commodore Perry Owens	July 29, 1852 – May 10, 1919	Arizona lawman and gunfighter	Bright's disease
Captain Bill McDonald		Charles Goodnight	September 28, 1852 – January 15, 1918	A Texas Ranger who served briefly as a bodyguard for both U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson	pneumonia
John Wesley Hardin		John Wesley Hardin	May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895	Gunfighter, killer; claimed to have killed 44 men	shot in the back by lawman John Selman
"Bat" Masterson		William Barclay Masterson	November 27, 1853 – October 25, 1921	Gunfighter, gambler, sheriff's deputy alongside Wyatt Earp, newspaper columnist	heart attack
Bob Younger		Robert Ewing Younger	October 29, 1853 – September 16, 1889	Train and bank robber (2)	tuberculosis in prison
Luke Short		Luke L. Short	1854 – September 8, 1893	Noted gunfighter, who had worked as a farmer, cowboy, whiskey peddler, army scout, dispatch rider, gambler and saloon keeper	congestive heart failure
Deadwood Dick		Nat Love	June 14, 1854 – 1921	Cowboy; won every competition and $200 prize at July 4, 1876 Deadwood cowboy contest	?
Bill Tilghman		William Matthew Pickett	July 4, 1854 – November 1, 1924	Deputy sheriff, gunfighter, saloon owner	shot by a corrupt prohibition agent
King Fisher		John King Fisher	1854 – March 11, 1884	Gunfighter, gang leader, rancher	shot as he leapt from a theater balcony
Charlie Siringo		Charles Angelo Siringo	February 7, 1855 – October 18, 1928	Lawman, detective, and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency	bronchitis
Blue Duck		Sha-con-gah (Cherokee)	1858 – 1895	Outlaw and boyfriend of Belle Starr	tuberculosis
Bill Doolin		William Doolin	1858 – August 24, 1896	Bandit, founder of the Wild Bunch gang	shot by US Marshall Heck Thomas
Billy the Kid		William Henry McCarty (Aka: Henry Antrim, William H. Bonney)	said to be 1859 – July 14, 1881	Outlaw, gunfighter, member of the Regulators gang	shot by Pat Garrett
Pawnee Bill		Gordon William Lillie	February 14, 1860 – February 3, 1942	Showman, created the Wild West show: "Pawnee Bill's Historic Wild West"; later joined with "Buffalo Bill" Cody	died in his sleep
Tom Horn		Tom Horn (Aka: James Hicks)	November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903	Lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, detective, outlaw and assassin	hanged
Annie Oakley		Phoebe Ann Oakley Moses	August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926	Sharpshooter and exhibition shooter; starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show	pernicious anemia
Frank Eaton		Frank Boardman "Pistol Pete" Eaton	October 26, 1860 – April 8, 1958	Author, cowboy, scout, Indian fighter, and Deputy U. S. Marshal	old age
Grat Dalton		Gratton Hanley Dalton	1861 – October 5, 1892	Train, bank robber (1)	Shot during a bank robbery
Bob Ford		Robert Newton "Bob" Ford	January 31, 1862 – June 8, 1892	Outlaw; the man who shot Jesse James	shotgun blast to the chest
“Black Jack” Ketchum		Thomas Edward Ketchum	October 31, 1863 – April 26, 1901	Cowboy turned robber, member of Hole in the Wall gang	hanged January 28, 1888
Elfego Baca		Elfego Baca	February 10, 1865 – August 27, 1945	Lawman, lawyer, and politician; "Frisco Shootout" incident where Elfego faced 80 men firing 4,000 shots at the home where he was cornered	old age
Butch Cassidy		Robert LeRoy Parker	April 13, 1866 – November 6, 1909	Robber; member of the Wild Bunch gang	suicide while surrounded and trapped
Sundance Kid, the		Harry Alonzo Longabaugh	Spring, 1867 – November 6, 1909	Robber; member of the Wild Bunch gang	suicide while surrounded and trapped
Kid Curry		Harvey Logan	1867 – June 17, 1904	Outlaw, gunman,"wildest of the Wild Bunch"	suicide during gun battle
Bob Dalton		Robert Rennick Dalton	1869 – October 5, 1892	Train and bank robber (1)	shot during a bank robbery
Arkansas Tom Jones		Roy Daugherty	January 1, 1870 – August 16, 1924	Outlaw and a member of the Wild Bunch gang	killed during a gunfight
Bill Pickett (The Bull Dogger)		William Pickett	December 5, 1870 – April 2, 1932	Rodeo cowboy; introduced bulldogging	kicked in the head by a horse
Emmett Dalton		Emmett Dalton	1871 – July 13, 1937	Train and bank robber, real estate agent, author and actor (1)	fatal illness
Will Rogers		William Penn Adair Rogers	November 7, 1879 – August 5, 1935	Humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, actor, newspaper columnist	plane crash over Alaska
Connie Douglas Reeves		Connie Douglas	September 26, 1901 – August 17, 2003	Cowgirl who taught thousands of girls how to ride horses at Texas's Camp Waldemar	thrown from a horse at age 101
Note 1: Dalton brothers gang included George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, "Blackfaced" Charlie Bryant, Bill Doolin, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers.
Note 2: The Younger gang included Clell Miller, Arthur McCoy, Charlie Pitts, John Jarrette, and Bill Chadwell.