OUTLAW TRAIL

“Flat Nose” George Curry

A Canadian Cowboy in the Wild Bunch

By DARYL DREW, PHD

George Sutherland Currie was known for his cowboy skills, but as a young man he fell in with bad companions. He became a key member of the train and bank robbing Wild Bunch and an associate of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Born on Prince Edward Island to Nancy and John Currie on March 20, 1871, he was the second of six children of Scottish ancestry, probably from the Dumfriesshire area. His first home was a mixed farm on the Little Pierre Jacques River near the West Point area of P.E.I.

Farm produce on P.E.I. was plentiful, and the local market was limited while high shipping costs reduced profits for off-island sales. However, the Currie family could sell all the beef they could raise. Cattle seemed the way to financial success, so they moved to Chadron, Nebraska to take up ranching where grassland was available for homesteading. George grew up working on local ranches, but while developing his cowboy skills, there were rumours that he might be rustling unbranded stock.

His alleged activities eventually caused him to leave Chadron, and at 15 years of age, he headed west, turning his hand to rustling cattle and horses full time. At some point, he was kicked in the face by a horse flattening the bridge of his nose resulting in his alias of “Flat Nose” George Curry. By this time, he was using the Irish spelling of Curry to avoid tarnishing his family name.

George Curry likely met Butch Cassidy at Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming and expanded his operations to the more lucrative robbing of banks, post offices and trains shortly after. His cowboy skills were essential because members of the Wild Bunch hid their real identities by living as working cowboys between criminal activities. They had to be expert horsemen to stay ahead of the law until they could reach a hideout or work undercover on a ranch. In the late 1890s, they worked at the William French ranch near Alma, New Mexico. George’s skills with horses were such that he mentored Harvey Logan (Kid Curry) the most violent of the Wild Bunch along with Harvey’s brothers John and Lonnie — who also adopted the Curry name.

In April of 1897, the outlaws were operating around the north fork of the Powder River and encountered Deputy Sheriff William Deane. During the ensuing gunfight, Sheriff Deane was shot and killed.

The Wild Bunch, ca. 1901. Back row from left, William Carver, he took part in six train robberies; “Kid Curry” (real name Harvey Logan) was the deadliest of the “Wild Bunch.” Front row from left, “The Sundance Kid” (real name Harry Longbaugh) was known as the fastest gun in the West. Ben Kilpatrick, alias “The Tall Texan,” was second in command. “Butch Cassidy” (real name Robert Leroy Parker) was the leader of the Wild Bunch.

Photo Courtesy Daryl Drew

“Flat Nose” George took part in robbing the Butte County Bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota on June 28, 1897. The gang was captured in Fergus County, Montana and placed in the Deadwood Jail but soon escaped. They stole horses and made their way back to Montana. In October a posse engaged them in a gunfight in the Bears Paw Mountains. The outlaws escaped, robbing two post offices on the way back to Hole-in-the-Wall.

Curry participated in the Wild Bunch raid on the Union Pacific Overland Flyer at Wilcox, Wyoming, on June 2, 1899. Converse County Sheriff Josiah Hazen formed a posse, but on June 6 during the chase, Hazen was killed.

The gang returned to the safety of Hole-In-The-Wall. A posse, led by Charlie Siringo, located and penetrated the hideout. A gunfight took place, and again, the outlaws escaped. They headed to Robbers Roost in Utah after getting supplies at the ranch of the female outlaw, Ann Bassett.

At some point, he was kicked in the face by a horse flattening the bridge of his nose resulting in his alias of “Flat Nose” George Curry.

The Wild Bunch did not live glamorous lives, but they have been glorified in movies and novels. They chose to be thieves taking from honest ranchers, and most came to violent ends. In the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Sheriff Bledsoe summed it up best with the line, “You‘re still nothing but two-bit outlaws on the dodge... you’re gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where.”

Death photo of “Flat Nose” George Curry, 1900

Photo Courtesy Daryl Drew

“Flat Nose” George Curry was killed by a posse led by Sheriff Jesse Tyler on April 17, 1900, on Rattlesnake Creek in Grand County, Utah while he was rustling livestock. Initially buried nearby, his father had George re-interred in the Greenwood Cemetery in Chadron, Nebraska.

Upon hearing of Curry’s death, Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan, vowed to get revenge for the shooting of his mentor. In May, he rode from New Mexico to Utah and took his revenge by killing Sheriff Tyler and Deputy Sheriff Sam Jenkins in a gunfight.

On June 9, 1904, Kid Curry died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being trapped by a posse near Parachute, Colorado. c

Historial Daryl Drew at the Outlaws Cabin on Robbers Roost Ranch, Utah

Photo Courtesy Daryl Drew