What It Was Like Being a Wild West Bounty Hunter

Although settlements on the American frontier existed for hundreds of years prior to the Civil War, when historians talk about life in the Old West, they are generally referring to the period between 1865 and 1890. Outlaw activity in the “Wild West” extended into the early 20th century and the vocation - although not the actual term - of “bounty hunter” existed both prior to the Civil War and in other areas of the country.

#wildwest #bountyhunter #weirdhistory

[scarecrowlego]

"You're a wanted man Mr. Morgan"

[catalinacurio]

What puzzles me is how they recognised people in such a huge country even with photo’s or drawings. Must have been so easy to disappear.

[markrobbins]

A little over 6 years ago I semi-retired after working a little over 35 years as a full-time Fugitive Recovery Agent ( The modern name for bounty hunters)
Yes, the occupation still exists albeit with far more stringent background checks rules and regulations, required training, and licensing involved. However, the negative stigma associated with historical bounty hunters is still associated and seemingly permanently imprinted in the minds of many Americans to this day and If I am, to be honest, there exist a small percentage of Fugitive Recovery Agents who have through their unprofessional actions provide some justification for our negative public perception. ( Dog Chapman is an example)
However, the one thing that hasn't changed is that there are very few individuals who make a living as Fugitive Hunter, to be able to make a good living in this field you need years of experience, along with a reputation for being honest and for getting consistent results, along with other hard-to-obtain qualifications.

[skyden]

Being that I was born in the mid 1970s, my first knowledge of bounty hunters did not come from the wild west. Instead, my first awareness and understanding of bounty hunters came from a galaxy far, far away; that is my first memories of bounty hunters was from "The Empire Strikes Back."

[masterjay]

They're were no FBI back in those times. Bounty hunters really had to do some really good search in those times because it was hard finding information in those times to find criminals hiding.

[JaelaOrdo]

“I just might take a liking to being law. It's kind of fun.”

- Bass Reeves (first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi, arrested over 3, 000 dangerous fugitives)

[RoninAvenger]

$100 is still more of a bounty reward than what I get as a bounty hunter on Red Dead Online 😂

[breezecardenas]

"You a bounty hunter ?"
" It's a living"
"Well... Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy!"

[Son-of-Tyr]

$100 in 1865 was worth about $1800 today. Not a whole lotta scratch. I can see why it was more of a side gig. I'd definitely only go after the higher(preferably dead or alive)bounties.

[Casket_Music]

Just binged 2 hours of weird history videos to catch up and was wondering when the next video would come out, not thinking right after I got done catching up lol, thanks for spoiling us

[catmandude]

"In my pocket youll find a warrant signed by Circuit Court Judge Henry Allan Laudermilk of Austin Texas. You're encouraged to wire him. He'll back up who I am and who your dear departed sherrif... was. In other words Marshall, you owe me $200."

[pamelamays]

Suggestion: What was it like to be an Old West blacksmith?

[mikenixon]

This is what I played as a kid. I didn't want to be like ever other 5-year-old cowboy.

[JerseySwanBeezy]

And what about Bass Reeves?! He's probably the most if not one of the most badass bounty hunter in history! Especially when you take into consideration that he couldn't read or write and still managed to always bring in the correct person and that he was in law enforcement for over 30 years which is pretty much unheard of when you look back at people like Wyatt Earp and Hickok whose careers only spanned somewhere around 10 years. Bass Reeves brought in some like 200 300 odd bounties over his career or something like that and only ended up killing 14 of his bounties. There's even some speculation that the lone ranger was actually based off Reeves. Dude is one of those legends that most people have never heard of before.

[demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy]

The Motley Crue joke provided me with the first laugh of the day.

[Kagihoshi]

I think it’d be cool to see a video on what previous civilizations thought about extreme weather like tornadoes and hurricanes and what kind of effects it had on their religious views if there were any. Unless you’ve already made one.

[Casioo]

Dear Weird History
Love your Channel
Can you tell us more about the time Period in California where they used Ranchos and People used to Stage Pitfights between Bears vs Bulls, Lions etc.?

[ms.biancan]

Please do a video on the weird history of the fda when it originally started. it’s so interesting to see how much their regulations have updated over the years

[gaigejones]

Weird history on barbers! Keep up the awesome videos!!

[EthanTone]

When I hear tales of the wild west I say *"shoot I'd be the Baddest gun slinger unrecognized in the west".*
In reality I'd get slaughtered by a ginseng swindler for ¢50.