WILLIS NEWTON The Last Texas Outlaw

Softcover. Willis Newton and his outlaw gang robbed trains and over 70 banks - more than Jessie James, the Daltons, and Bonnie & Clyde combined. They robbed a number of banks at gunpoint, but their speciality was hitting banks in the middle of the night, blowing the vaults with nitroglycerine. One night in January of 1921, they even hit two banks, back to back, in Hondo, Texas. They robbed banks and trains in a number of mid-western states and travelled to Toronto, Canada where they held up money couriers for a bank clearing house. Their biggest haul occurred in 1924 when they robbed a train outside of Rondout, Illinois - getting away with $3,000,000. They still hold the record for the biggest train robbery in U.S. history. The author interviewed Willis Newton a few months before the outlaw died in 1979 at age 90. Using transcripts from his interviews, first-hand accounts from eye witnesses, newspaper articles, police records, and trial proceedings, the author tells the true story of the Last Texas Outlaw. Illus., Bibliog. and Index. 263pp. trade size softcover. F. with no creasing to covers.