Van der Linde Gang

The gang with a stagecoach in New Austin, 1899.

Van der Linde Gang, also known as Dutch's Wild Bunch or Dutch's Boys was one of the loosely organized outlaw gangs operating out of the Western, Midwest and Southern states. In the beginning, the gang was referred to as the "Lost Heaven Brothers" during the Old West era in the United States. It was popularized by the 1960s movie, The Van der Linde Gang and Arthur Morgan. The gang was led by Dutch Van der Linde, and it included his closest friend Hosea Matthews, Arthur Morgan, John Marston, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, Charles Smith, Micah Bell, Lenny Summers, and Sean McGuire. They were the most successful robbing gang in history.

## History

The gang's roots lie in a fateful meeting between two petty hustlers, Dutch van der Linde and Hosea Matthews, around the mid-1870s. Van der Linde and Matthews met each other at a campfire on the road to Chicago. Hosea attempted to con and rob Dutch but realized that Dutch had done the same and stolen from him in the meantime. They both saw the skill that the other had and laughed, deciding to team up and face the future together. The Van der Linde gang was thus founded. Around this same time, Hosea met a woman named Bessie, who would eventually become his wife.

Dutch convinced Hosea, who described himself as a "degenerate", that they could find redemption from their sinful lives by robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, similar to the medieval tale of Robin Hood. Dutch had an anarchistic vision of a world without government or corporate interference, a "savage utopia" free from the pressures and intolerance of civilization. He saw himself as a revolutionary and thought that the gang could be an example to others who would follow their lead. They began pulling tricks and ripping off people they believed deserved it the most.

The pair found themselves in the town of Kettering, Ohio, where they began conning several people. They posed as international merchants, conning twelve locals into buying $300 worth of shares into a fictional Portuguese shipping company. They were eventually discovered and arrested by Sheriff Carmichael. On March 9th, 1877, the pair escaped from their cell by unknown means, tying up and robbing the sheriff in the process.

During the early years of the gang, Hosea and his wife tried to leave the gang and go straight. But, Hosea slowly drifted back to the gang, unable to fight against his own criminal nature. Bessie understood his struggle and stuck by him. Dutch ended his relationship with Susan, but she still remained in the gang. Dutch, at some point later, became romantically involved with a woman named Annabelle.

In 1887, the gang committed its first major bank robbery. At 2 o'clock, Hosea, Dutch, and the now young-adult Arthur burst into the banking house of Lee and Hoyt. The gang made off with $5000 in gold. After the robbery, they lingered in town, going to hovels, shanties, and orphanages handing out money, still going with the 'Robin Hood' ideals of Dutch. It was around this time (likely because of this bank robbery) that Dutch became a wanted man with a price on his head. Between 1887 and 1899, the gang carried out roughly 37 different bank robberies in various locations around the country.

For the next 6 years, the gang traveled throughout the frontier performing many other heists and crimes according to Dutch's values. In this time the gang picked up around a dozen new members, usually people who wished to escape and live outside of conventional society. It is unclear exactly when these gang members joined.

By 1899, the gang arrived in the state of West Elizabeth and decided to camp outside the town of Blackwater, a town undergoing the process of industrialization. Eventually, Micah convinced Dutch to rob a riverboat carrying money from the bank. Arthur and Hosea protested, believing the risks involved to be too great. Despite this, Dutch thought the heist would be worth the risk and went ahead with it. They scoped out several safe spots in the state of New Austin for the gang to use as a fallback after the robbery.

The heist did not go as planned with the Pinkertons arriving suspiciously quickly. Everything took a turn for the worse and a gunfight ensued between the gang and the law. In the heat of the moment, Dutch cracked and killed an innocent girl named Heidi McCourt, in a very cruel way, according to Javier. John, Jenny Kirk, Mac, and Davey were all shot in the ensuing chaos but managed to escape, for the time being, the latter two had much more severe injuries than John and they both died shortly afterward's. Sean and Mac ended up separated from the rest of the gang and each other, Mac apparently didn't make it very far. He was discovered by Detective Andrew Milton, on the verge of death from injuries sustained in the fight. Detective Milton attempted to question him about the gang but Mac refused to rat out his gang until the very end, he was promptly killed by the Detective who would go on to sarcastically describe it as a "mercy killing". Sean escaped Blackwater but was eventually captured by bounty hunters who planned to sell him over to the Pinkertons.

### End of the Van der Linde Gang

The gang was forced on the run, fleeing to Ambarino, New Hanover and Lemoyne while being pursued by Leviticus Cornwall's security guards, the Pinkerton detective agency, bounty hunters, the law, and rival outlaws such as the O'Driscoll Boys. The gang fell apart as Dutch devolved into insanity, more gang members were killed (including the gang's co-leader Hosea Matthews), and Micah Bell convinced the gang members Javier Escuella and Bill Williamson to turn against the others. After Arthur Morgan's death, the only survivors: Micah Bell, John Marston, Sadie Adler, Charles Smith, Uncle, Mary-Beth Gaskill, Tilly Jackson, Karen Jones, Josiah Trelawny, Javier Escuella, Bill Williamson, Orville Swanson, Simon Pearson, and Dutch parted ways, and the gang fell apart.

* Jenny and Davey was wounded during the robbery. They manage to flee to Ambarino, but both died from the injuries.
* Mac was caught by Milton, and was shot in the head after he refused to rat the gang.
* Sean was sniped in the head by a Gray sniper before the Battle of Rhodes 1899.
* Kieran was tortured by O'Driscolls for days before his death and the battle with the Van der Linde gang.
* Hosea and Lenny were both shot during the Saint Denis robbery.
* Molly was believed to be killed after ratting the gang out (which mostly not) at the Roanokes.
* Susan and Arthur were dead after the disbandment of the gang, Susan was shot in the chest by Micah, and Arthur dies from tuberculosis.
* Karen was believed to be drunk herself to death kin Saint Denis on 1907.
* Micah is killed at Mount Hagen of 1907 after he was believed to be ratting the gang before the disbandment.
* Javier and Bill were killed in 1911 during the Mexican Revolution. Javier was executed in Blackwater after Marston captured him and Reyes shot both Billa and Allende were shot.
* Dutch fell off the cliff to his death after all the things he has done, but Ross said to make Marston shoot him make it look better.
* Marston is believed to be killed during a confrontation with Ross in 1911; but because of that, Ross is led to his death during the confrontation with his son, Jack.

After its disbandment, the memory of the Van der Linde gang among society began to become romanticized, along with most other aspects of the Old West. By 1907 and 1911, the gang's history and exploits became the subject of folk songs and pulp novels.

## Influence

The gang's exploits are based on those of an amalgamation of several historical Old West gangs, particularly those of the 1890s that have become prominent in American literature, television, and film. Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch is the most notable example; as many similarities come with the Van der Linde Gang. Many similarities are:

* Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch robbed a train in Wilcox, Wyoming in 1899 and while the Van der Linde Gang robbed a Cornwall train in Ambarino of 1899. They both used dynamite to blow open a train car. This robbery also put the real-life Pinkertons on both of their trails.
* Butch Cassidy was said to be a natural born leader, charming mostly everyone he met, a familiar similarity to any of the followers of Dutch Van der Linde, said to be an exuberant and charismatic figure.
* Many members of the Wild Bunch met violent deaths, that is ultimately true for those in the Van der Linde Gang.
* Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid fled to South America in 1901, but they were said to be killed in 1908. A similar event happen where some of the Van der Linde Gang members after the Saint Denis bank robbery were said to head to Northern Cuba, but ended up in the island of Guarma.