According to the first meaning mentioned by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), an outlaw is a person who dedicates himself to crime by staying away from cities and towns to avoid the security forces. The outlaw, therefore, commits crimes and then moves to escape the actions of justice. In this context, one of its most common synonyms is gunslinger .
The etymology of the term would come from the Old Catalan foraxit , which could derive from the Italian fuoruscito . These ideas can be translated as “going outside” and are linked to the escape of criminals.
In ancient times, outlaws were usually associated with bandits : armed individuals who assaulted travelers in the middle of a road or in environments that were not populated. This type of action allowed them to hide easily. Outlaws usually acted in groups, forming criminal gangs.
One of the most famous outlaws in history is Billy the Kid , an American criminal born in 1859 and died in 1881 . Also known as Henry Antrim and William Bonney , his real name was William Henry McCarthy .
Billy the Kid, who is also known in our language as Billy the Child, enjoys immense popularity worldwide, largely thanks to having starred in countless fictional stories, such as graphic novels. It is important to highlight that he was a murderer and thief who was very feared in his time, despite the fact that the figure we have of him today makes him a hero .
It all started when Billy murdered two men on his land before running away and becoming a real outlaw. From that moment on, his life revolved around robberies and cold-blooded shootings, all while moving from one point to another. At one point in his life he was imprisoned, but managed to escape before being sent to the gallows, for which he decided to kill six security guards. His nickname was due to his childish appearance, despite his age.
Another of the most famous outlaws in history was Jesse James , who holds the record for the highest reward offered for his capture: $100,000, a real fortune if we take into account that he lived between 1847 and 1882. In addition to This is the gunman about whom the most movies have been made. Unlike Billy the Kid, he was considered a popular martyr and hero in his time.
One of the deadliest in the Wild West was John Wesley Hardin , who "has" fifty-eight deaths, among which are people of great importance, such as commissioners. As a curious fact, it is known that the acclaimed actor and director Clint Eastwood intended to make a film about him, but that the project was canceled due to the immense and contradictory amount of information they found about this character .
Hardin always acted on his own and focused on train and bank robberies . One of his greatest feats was to stop a train of one hundred passengers by placing stones on the tracks.
Nowadays, an outlaw is usually called someone who lives outside the margins of the law or who does not respect social norms and conventions. For example: “Three outlaws destroyed the monument that commemorates the hero of independence” , “The young man was approached by outlaws when he was on his way to school and had all his belongings stolen” , “We cannot allow a group of outlaws to "is dedicated to frightening members who are trying to enjoy the club's facilities."