Wanted: Byway Outlaws

America's history is one of struggle, where the difference between right and wrong depended on the size of your posse or your skills with a gun. As you explore America's Byways, dig deeper into the history of good guys and bad guys and see how outlaws and lawmen shaped America.

Harriet Tubman () [1]

While the eastern U.S. doesn't have the same reputation for lawlessness as the Wild West, several courageous outlaws of the past did band together to fight society's evils and injustices there. The Underground Railroad helped over 100,000 slaves escape to Canada, despite increasing threats from the law and large groups of slave owners hot on the trail. Thomas Garrett of Wilmington, Delaware, defied the law and sheltered nearly 2,900 slaves over the course of forty years, despite paying $5,400 in fines. Follow the slaves' route along the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway in Pennsylvania, and imagine life on the run. Or take a side trip from the Great Lakes Seaway Trail in New York and visit the home of Harriet Tubman, whose courage led hundreds of slaves to freedom. As she put it, "a live runaway could do great harm by going back, but a dead one could tell no secrets." No one ever chose the wrong end of her gun, and they learned to have faith in their "Moses".

While the conductors on the Underground Railroad were outlaws with a noble cause, other outlaws took what they could from the nation's railroads. Such was the case of the Sontag brothers from Mankato, Minnesota, located along the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway. George and John Sontag turned to a life of crime early on in life, and eventually joined with Chris Evans to rob several trains across the west.

The Beautiful Scenery of the Rich Minnesota Farmland (MN) [2]

The Sontag-Evans gang had an ingenious method of robbing trains. They would ride ahead along the track, hide their horses, and then walk back to the station and sneak aboard the train. When the train neared their hiding spot, they would stick up the engineer, blow the safe, and make their getaway on the horses they'd stashed. They successfully robbed several trains in California, but had less luck in their hometown in Minnesota. When they held up a train between St. Peter and Kasota, the safe was empty. Although the gang rode away empty-handed, their activities came to the attention of railroad officials and the Pinkerton detectives, who were the most skilled manhunters in the nation. It wasn't long before George Sontag was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, while his brother died in a shootout in California. After being pardoned, George toured the nation, describing his experiences in a life of crime. Follow the Sontags' route along the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway, and picture life as a train robber.

Billy the Kid (NM) [3]

For a more classic picture of life as an outlaw, visit the Billy the Kid Trail in New Mexico. In the American West, law enforcement was selective and vengeful, often based more on personal friendships than strict justice. Such was the case for "Billy the Kid," aka Henry McCarty or William H. Bonney, who was practically orphaned as a young man and left to fend for himself.

Old County Jail in Lincoln (NM) [4]

As you tour the historic city of Lincoln, New Mexico, learn of the feuds and events that would lead to the last great shootout of the Old West. Corrupt Sheriff Brady deputized the Kid's gang to murder a rival businessman, and when the Kid killed Brady in retaliation, he was sentenced to hang. After a daring escape from the courtroom's outhouse, the Kid made his way across New Mexico before Sheriff Pat Garrett finally tracked him down and killed him. Commemorate the life and exploit of this legendary outlaw during The Last Escape of Billy the Kid, a folk pageant and reenactment held each August at the Lincoln State Monument in Lincoln.

Not all lawmen were corrupt, and justice and friendship sometimes clashed on the dusty streets of the Old West. One such sheriff is John T. Pope of Vernal, Utah, who lived and worked near what is now the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway. The common corner of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming was a criminal hotbed, driving out the four previous sheriffs. The fifth, Sheriff Pope, refused to be intimidated, and set up his ranch in the center of the outlaws' range. During this time, John Pope had a personal friendship with Butch Cassidy and several members of his Wild Bunch. Unfortunately, he was soon called on to arrest two members of the gang, placing him between an angry lynch mob and Butch Cassidy. Pope kept an all-night watch against the townspeople's frontier justice by the light of a fire he kept going using the lumber set aside for a new jail. Explore the towns and ranches John Pope helped protect as you drive the tumbled and tortured landscapes of the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway.

From freedom fighters to those caught in the middle, learn about the incredible lives of the outlaws along America's Byways.