Laura Bullion
USAThe Biography of Laura Bullion
Laura Bullion, an American criminal, was born in October 1876 in Knickerbocker, Texas. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but some sources suggest it was on October 4th. Other sources claim she was born in Kentucky in 1873 or on a farm in Arkansas, but it is widely agreed that Bullion grew up in Texas. Her mother was of German descent, and her father, a Native American, also had a penchant for living outside the law. He introduced Bullion to William Carver and Ben Kilpatrick when she was around 13 years old. In 1891, her aunt married Carver but died shortly after the wedding from fever. Bullion began a romance with Carver when she was 15, but he was also involved with Josie Bassett, the older sister of Ann Bassett, a companion of Butch Cassidy.
At the age of 16 or 17, Bullion worked as a prostitute and occasionally returned to this disreputable occupation, mainly in the brothel of Madame Fannie Porter in San Antonio, Texas, which often served as a hideout for the gang. In a 1901 arrest report in St. Louis, Missouri, it is stated that she was involved in prostitution.
Romantic involvement with Kilpatrick began in the early 1890s after Carver left her for a prostitute named Lillie Davis. When the gang robbed trains, Bullion aided them by selling stolen goods and finding suppliers for weapons, food, and horses. By 1901, Bullion had reconnected with Carver and was involved with other gang members. However, Carver was killed in April 1901, and Bullion returned to Kilpatrick, with whom she fled to Knoxville, Tennessee. They lived there for several months, but on November 6th, Bullion was arrested in St. Louis for counterfeiting banknotes and found with $8,500 stolen during their last train robbery.
While Bullion received a five-year prison sentence, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 20 years, serving half of it. During their time apart, Bullion had relationships with at least four other men. When Kilpatrick was released, they did not reunite, and in March 1912, he was killed during another train robbery. By this time, all the members of the Wild Bunch were either dead, in prison, or had moved on to new pursuits.
In 1918, Bullion relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, where she lived under false names, pretending to be a war widow and subtracting ten years from her age. She made a living by renting rooms, working as a seamstress, and even becoming an interior designer. However, by the late 1940s, her business declined. Laura Bullion died of heart disease on December 2nd, 1961, at the age of 85, in Shelby County Hospital in Memphis. She was buried at a local cemetery as Freda Bullion Lincoln.
