THORNY ROSE
Laura Bullion, born into a life touched by crime, was the daughter of a bank robber and grew up surrounded by outlaws. Immersed in this world from a young age, she eventually became a member of Butch Cassidy’s notorious Wild Bunch gang. Known as the "Thorny Rose," Bullion played an active role in the gang’s exploits, taking part in train robberies, forging documents, and even disguising herself as a man to aid in their escapes. She was also romantically linked to fellow gang member Ben Kilpatrick, known as "The Tall Texan," and the two became infamous partners in crime.
Their luck ran out in 1901 when both Bullion and Kilpatrick were arrested for their involvement in a train robbery. While Kilpatrick resumed his outlaw life after serving time, Bullion took a different path. After completing a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, she chose to leave the Wild West behind. Reinventing herself entirely, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, adopted the name Freda Bullion Lincoln, and built a quiet, respectable life as a seamstress and interior designer. She even fabricated a new identity, claiming to be a widow of a Confederate soldier, to maintain her low profile.
Laura Bullion lived out the rest of her years in obscurity, far from the gunsmoke and infamy of her youth. When she passed away in her 80s in 1961, she was buried under her assumed name, with few knowing the truth of her adventurous past. Her story remains one of the most compelling examples of transformation in the annals of Wild West history—an outlaw who found peace in reinvention.
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