20 Real Wanted Posters for Old West Outlaws
Genuine wanted posters from the so-called "Wild West" featuring real Old West outlaws are pretty rare. They were printed on cheap paper and meant to be thrown away after the fugitive was caught or killed. Luckily, a few Old West wanted posters have survived for our admiration. The existing Wild West wanted posters are typographical marvels, full of bold, jet-black serifs sprawled across audacious, ten-gallon headlines. The list below captures a few extant examples of the form for posterity.
John Wilkes Booth Wanted Poster (1865)
Photo: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain$500 Reward! (Year Unknown)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainAbduction of Katie Mary Curran (1874)
Photo: City of Boston / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain$500 Reward! Murder! Murder! Murder! (1867)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainReward. $1000 Reward! (1879)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainProclamation of the Governor of Missouri (1881)
Photo: Unknown / The State Historical Society of Missouri / Public Domain$10,000 Reward for WM. M. Tweed (1875)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain1,000 Dollars Reward (1872)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainPinkerton's National Detective Agency - "We Never Sleep" (1878)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain$100 Reward (1858)
Photo: George W. Young / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain$1000 Reward! (1863)
Photo: Union Army / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainLook For Him! (1879)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain$5,800 in Gold Certificates Stolen (1873)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainThieves Who Broke Into Our Premises (1875)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainBurglars Wanted! (1877)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainOne Thousand Dollars (1873)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainEmbezzling About $82,000 in Various Sums (1880)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainN. Appleton Shute (1873)
Photo: Nova Scotia Archives / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainJohn Hunt Morgan Escape from Prison Reward Poster (1863)
Photo: Union Army / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain"Ranaway" from Richard's Ferry (Year Unknown)
Photo: Wm. T. J. Richards / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain