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Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime—Season 5, Episode 3
The Perplexing Downfall of the van der Linde Gang
“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we’re going to be looking into the inexplicable collapse of the van der Linde Gang, one of the most notorious outlaw gangs in United States history.”
“So, we’re tackling cowboys this week?” Shane asked Ryan. He slapped his leg from under the table in mock annoyance. “Damnit, Ryan, I should’ve brought my cowboy hat with me.”
“You don’t own any cowboy hats,” Ryan said, playing in on the joke.
“I could’ve bought one! You know, like one of those ten-gallon hats? Maybe a six-shooter or something.” Shane quickly made finger guns, pointed at something off screen, and started making shooting noises to sell his point.
Ryan laughed. “I think that you’re kidding yourself if you think that your big head could fit a cowboy hat,” he teased. “Besides, this isn’t really a ‘cowboy’,” he made finger-quotes in the air as he spoke, “kinda story. If you actually believe some of these theories, it honestly reads more like a Shakespearian tragedy.”
“Like Othello?”
“Sure, Shane, like Othello.”
Shane quirked an eyebrow, then frowned. “I swear to God, Ryan, if you bring aliens into this, I’m fucking walking off this set,” he told his co-host.
Ryan let out a quick laugh, then gathered the script and folder full of papers. “Well,” he finished, “let’s get into it.”
-X-
The van der Linde Gang was rumored to have formed sometime in the Western region of the United States around the end of the 1870’s. Unlike the end of the gang, details about this particular history of the van der Linde Gang is actually relatively scarce, most likely due to the lack of members and lack of detailed journalism at the time. Over the years, however, the van der Linde Gang would grow in both size and notoriety, becoming one of the most prolific gangs in United States history.
What van der Linde historians definitively know was that the gang was formed under the leadership of the titular Dutch van der Linde. Van der Linde, the son of Dutch immigrants, was reportedly a charming and charismatic man, able to take in many people under his wing simply through charisma alone. For the longest time, the gang was only around five or ten members. In its prime, it perhaps reached somewhere around two dozen men, women, and quite possibly even children.
Women, too?
It’s actually very well documented that van der Linde was pretty
egalitarian when it came to who was in the gang or not.
That’s…hm, that’s pretty forward thinking, I suppose.
I think in its prime, historians estimate that a third of the gang were women.
Several were people of color too.
A third!?
Why are you so surprised?
I guess it’s just…good for him. Good for you, Mr. van der Linde.
(wheeze) You’re giving a criminal mastermind a pat on the shoulder
for having women in his merry little gang of murderers?
The van der Linde Gang was rumored to have viewed themselves as Robin Hood types, meaning they robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. The gang partook in many different types of crimes, including but not limited to homestead robberies, train robberies, stagecoach robberies, horse theft, cattle rustling, and the illegal selling of municipal and state bonds. Basically, if it was worth money, the van der Linde Gang would have no issues with attempting to steal it for themselves.
Throughout their nearly twenty-year history, the van der Linde Gang eluded the local authorities, the state authorities, the efforts of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and even the United States Army. Which is what making their sudden disappearance in November of 1899 all the more strange.
What I find awesome about this is that…the gang threw hands
with the fucking army.
You gotta have cojonies of fucking steel to do that.
Van der Linde Gang activities had been documented going as far east as the city of Saint Denis, but following the turn of the century, all of their criminal activity ceased. Dutch van der Linde would not resurface again until his death at the hands of the FBI in 1911, a full twelve years after the gang was last reported seen in it’s entirely. Many other famous members of the gang, who we’ll get into later, would not be heard from for multiple years, and some were never heard from again.
First, before we can get into some theories, it’s important to document the activities of the van der Linde Gang up until 1899 in order to understand the full story. Most historians seem to agree that what began the downfall of the van der Linde Gang was a botched heist in the growing town of Blackwater, West Elizabeth. There, the gang would have supposedly made off with $150,000 had the heist been successful. In today’s times, that would equate to around four million U.S. dollars.
Yeah, but, what would you do with that much money, Ryan?
…Are you kidding me?
It’s the 19th century! I’m just being realistic.
You are the only person in history who’d turn his nose up at
the equivalent of $4 million in today’s times.
Oh yeah? Well, what would you spend all that money on? Horses? A fancy hat?
More guns!?
Are you kidding me?
‘Oh I say, $150,000? At least I now have enough money to send a telegram!’
You are—could you be any more of a joy kill?
There isn’t an exact reason as to why this robbery, now officially known as “The Blackwater Heist”, had failed. All that we know is that the gang was forced to pack their things and move north into the Grizzly Mountains, something that van der Linde, supposedly, was very against. Historians tend to agree that the gang’s ultimate goal with the money from the Blackwater Heist was to move as far west as possible, possibly even seeking to eventually leave the country in an effort to escape the law. But the heist’s failure was now forcing them further east than van der Linde wanted.
From there, the gang settled somewhere in New Hanover around an old livestock town known as Valentine, working several minor heists before moving camps again. The van der Linde Gang stayed in several different places in the state of Lemoyne before attempting another robbery—the famous Saint Denis Bank Robbery of 1899, perhaps one of the most ambitious bank robberies of all time. This time, the robbery failed due to intervention by the Pinkertons, who supposedly killed van der Linde’s right-hand man Hosea Matthews and one of the other bank robbers in the ensuing firefight. Despite this, those who participated in the robbery managed to escape, supposedly on a boat.
No one knows where the robbers ended up following the aftermath of the heist, but all historians know is that van der Linde and his men popped up again, this time in eastern New Hanover—
So they’re still moving east.
Yeah. I think the members of the gang who weren’t participating
in the Saint Denis Bank Robbery actually moved camps in between the end of the robbery
and when van der Linde was reported missing.
And then van der Linde met up with them again?
Seems like it.
--supposedly hiding out in the cave systems of what is now known today as Yellowtail Valley. The last major hurrah of the van der Linde gang happened a few weeks later in what is now Heartlands National Park. While heavily debated amongst experts, either one of the gang’s enforcers or van der Linde himself assassinated famous oil baron Leviticus Cornwall—
Alright, alright, hold up. If your parents take a look at you as a baby
and decide to name you ‘Leviticus’, then I’m sorry, but
you kinda deserve to get shot.
(wheeze)
It’s like…Jesus Christ. A name like Leviticus Cornwall—you can only be
an oil baron or one of those crazy people who quotes the bible while
buck-naked in the woods.
So you’re saying Cornwall had it coming?
Based solely on name…then yeah, I am. I’ll…I’ll stick my flag on that hill.
--and then supposedly led an attack on one of Cornwall’s oil factories, but for what reason is still heavily debated amongst historians and van der Linde Gang aficionados. After that, all mention of the gang ceases. No more heists. No more moving camps. They drop off the face of the Earth, never to be heard from again.
The only ones who are mentioned again, oddly enough, all reappear in 1911. Former enforcers Marion “Bill” Williamson, Javier Escuella, and John Marston, as well as van der Linde himself, were all either taken into custody or killed by forces led by FBI agent Edgar Ross. Williamson and Escuella were both apprehended in Mexico, while van der Linde and Marston were shot and killed in shootouts between themselves and the authorities. Agent Ross marked this, officially, as the end of the van der Linde gang, and with it, the end of the lawless West.
Now, it’s also vital to note just who was who in the van der Linde Gang. As mentioned before, there were as many as two dozen members of the gang around 1899, and multiple people throughout history have made claims to have belonged to the van der Linde Gang. Since hundreds of people have made claims, I’ll be going through claims that are either the most famous or, in my opinion, the most credible.
In 1923, a general store owner in the town of Rhodes, Lemoyne, now called Riverside, by the name of Simon Pearson, claimed to have been a part of the gang for several years. Pearson claimed to have been the gang’s cook, but left due to reasons he wouldn’t disclose. Whether Pearson was actually a member of the gang is heavily disputed, as he was apparently an avid collector of van der Linde Gang memorabilia. As a result, some think that he was a part of the gang as their chef, while others think of him as simply an overzealous fanboy.
In 1928, actress Elizabeth Macintosh tried to claim that she had run with the gang as a conwoman. However, this claim was heavily disputed by critics and historians alike as, around the same time, Macintosh was trying to secure the rights to make a movie about the van der Linde Gang, an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful. Macintosh would spent twenty years claiming she’d run with the gang, but many dismiss this as a ploy for attention and notoriety.
In 1934, a New York minister by the name of Orville Swanson—
Want to make fun of this name?
(wheeze) So, so badly, but I’ll refrain for now.
--asserted that he not only was a member of the gang, but that he at one point had saved van der Linde’s life, and that was how he’d fallen in with the gang. Most people questioned why van der Linde would require a minister in his gang, to which Swanson claimed; “Dutch was an enigmatic man. There was a fire in him that could’ve burned out of control but usually never did. That’s why we all followed him. He made us feel like we needed that fire, and many of us believed we did.”
In 1937, a Californian rancher named Langston Miller also claimed to have run with the gang as their sharpshooter. However, aside from the fact that he provided no evidence to back up his claim, multiple van der Linde experts claimed that there was never any evidence of the gang taking on a sharpshooter. Thus, his claim was dismissed as false. Miller, like Macintosh, insisted that he was telling the truth up until his death.
In 1940, famous romance writer Mary-Beth Gaskill, more commonly known by her penname Leslie DuPont, also claimed to have run with the van der Linde Gang as a thief. Around the same time, a woman named Matilda “Tilly” Pierre also confessed to running with the van der Linde Gang as well. The reason that I mention both of these together is that Gaskill and Pierre were actually very close friends, having claimed to know each other for nearly forty years. Both backed up each other’s claims that they were in the gang, insisting to have run together in their youths. While it’s widely accepted that they were telling the truth, a lack of concrete evidence means that the validity of the claims is still up in the air.
Now here’s a question; why don’t they just gather up everyone
making these claims, put ‘em in a room, and just let them be
like “Oh, there’s Pearson! Your cooking sucked back in the day!”
I think they might’ve tried, but—
“Oh hey Mr. Miller, who the hell are you?”
I think they would’ve tried it, but a lot of these claims were made
when the person claiming it was on their deathbed.
Oh.
Yeah. So, to me, it comes more across as like “Yeah, I rode with the van der
Linde Gang. What’re you gonna do about it, copper?”
And then flatline.
Exactly.
It’s, like, the death equivalent of a middle finger.
Perhaps the most famous unofficial claims were those of famed bounty hunter Sadie Adler, who claimed to have ridden with the gang for a few months before it’s downfall, and Canadian civil rights activist Charles Smith, who also asserted to have actively ridden with the van der Linde Gang before and up until the events of 1899. Unlike the other claims mentioned before, both Adler and Smith claimed to play active roles in the heists, meaning that eyewitness reports of the time could peg them to multiple van der Linde activities. And, as fate would have it, both Adler and Smith were in the United States around 1899. Furthermore, van der Linde was reported to have at least one black enforcer and one woman enforcer at the very end of the gang’s life. It’s quite possible that these were Smith and Adler, respectively.
But undoubtedly, the most well-known claim has to belong to author Jack Marston. Marston, in his semi-autobiography Red Dead, claimed to be the son of enforcer John Marston and camp follower Abigail Roberts-Marston, having been born into the gang and leaving with his parents when he was around four years old. One photo taken around 1895 of the van der Linde gang does show a woman, believed to be Abigail, holding a young child, further backing these declarations.
But the most important piece of evidence was actually the fact that Red Dead indicated where John Marston and his wife had been buried, something that has long puzzled historians for decades. Experts and scientists alike flocked to Beecher’s Hope—the supposed home of the Marston’s after they left the gang—and found three graves overlooking the property. DNA testing in 1997 confirmed that these were the bodies of John and Abigail, meaning that it’s virtually certain that the majority of Red Dead is true. This means that Jack is the only claimer that is actually confirmed to have been a member of the van der Linde Gang.
But then, of course, the problem becomes that he was four when the gang fell
apart, so…
You never know. Kids can have some real impressive memories.
What do you remember from being four years old, Shane?
(silence)
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Every single person that claimed to be a part of the van der Linde Gang has given their own account of what happened; some sync up with others, while some are vastly different. With that being said, let’s get into the theories as to why the gang fell apart. It’s important to note that due to the lack of evidence and eyewitnesses, it’s quite possible that multiple or none of these theories are true.
The first theory was that Dutch van der Linde split the gang up himself. In Red Dead, Marston claimed that the gang was as close as an actual family, composed of multiple people who’d lost parents, siblings, and other kin before joining up. Therefore, it’s possible that van der Linde, sensing the inevitable, disbanded the gang in November of 1899 as to ensure that some members would get out alive. However, many critics of this theory claim that van der Linde was “too prideful and borderline narcissistic” to ever disband the gang. None of those who claim to be in the gang support this theory either, instead stating that Dutch was looking out for all members in order to get them to safety. The propensity for the van der Linde Gang to try and pull off such large heists seems to support this theory as well, as van der Linde would need to pull in enough money for twenty or more people to live comfortably.
“Dutch was many things, but he wasn’t a coward,” said Smith in 1939. “He believed that he could save everyone. And we bought it, at first. But things quickly turned south, and that faith in him…became more and more shaken.”
The second theory was that van der Linde became so unstable that the gang disbanded itself. This is a theory supported by Pearson and Gaskill, who both claimed to have left the gang of their own accord. According to them, Dutch van der Linde cracked more and more under the pressures of keeping such a large gang together until many felt as though they simply could not be with him anymore, fearing for their safety.
There isn’t much to back this theory up other than the testimonies of Pearson and Gaskill. While Pierre, Swanson, Adler, and Smith all generally seem to agree with this statement, but historians tend to dispute whether van der Linde became more mentally unstable throughout the years or was always unstable and just led his followers to believe there was nothing wrong with him. All claimers reported that van der Linde was notoriously compelling yet became more and more unhinged the further east he went, clashing with the historical notion that their leader was always “a sociopathic individual”.
Not to play devil’s advocate, but it’s possible that he was just
better at hiding how crazy he was.
I mean, he did see a lot of people die. Had a lot of plans fall through.
Yeah.
Not saying that this excuses his actions, but I’d probably go pretty crazy
if I saw gangs, law enforcement, etcetera, gun down my friends and family.
But if he really was a sociopath, how much did those connections actually
mattered to him?
Ah.
The third theory is the one most consistent with the rest of those who claimed to be van der Linde gang members; that they managed to leave the gang with the help of senior enforcer Arthur Morgan. Not much is known about Morgan, but he was reportedly one of the most trusted and loyal members of the van der Linde Gang. Eyewitnesses describe him as a “bear of a man”, six foot one inches tall, with blonde hair, green eyes, usually sporting a beard, and with two distinctive scars on his chin. Morgan had been running with the gang since his teen years, having been unofficially adopted by van der Linde and Matthews in 1878. He was the unofficial third-in-command, described as the “workhorse” of the van der Linde Gang.
“He was usually the one that Dutch went to when he needed something sorted out,” Pierre said, “Arthur could shoot, rob, ride; he could do just about anything Dutch wanted.”
In spite of his terrifying outward appearance, Morgan was supposedly a very cultured and well-spoken man, at least for an outlaw. Those who knew or met him stated that he was a surprisingly good artist, was an avid animal lover, and cared for many members of the gang like his own family. Throughout the course of 1899, members of the gang, particularly Adler and Smith, claimed that Morgan became disillusioned with van der Linde’s end goals and started making plans to leave the gang himself, but what actually brought about this change in attitude is unknown. Several point to this severe change in opinion to Morgan being mentally unhinged himself.
Many historians view this as Morgan trying to save himself, but almost every claimer says that Morgan helped members of the gang leave behind van der Linde’s back. Swanson and Pierre both claimed that they left the van der Linde Gang with Morgan’s blessing. In Red Dead, Marston stated that Morgan entered a confrontation with van der Linde about allowing John Marston, Abigail, and Jack to leave peacefully before the authorities found the gang’s latest hideout. Whatever his motivation for the change of heart was, Morgan himself disappeared sometime right after November of 1899. It’s a very popular urban myth that Morgan managed to escape to California, though this is very unlikely due to his high bounty at the time. It’s more than likely that Morgan was killed, either by van der Linde or the authorities, but his body nor any grave has ever been found.
Damn.
Yeah. It’s kinda sad.
‘Kinda sad’’s a bit of an understatement, Ryan.
I think the worst part of it all is the implication that van der Linde may or may
not have killed him because he helped people get out.
Ah jeez.
Yeah. It’s a gut punch regardless of how you look at it. But, just wait a
little, because it gets somewhat of a happy ending.
The fourth theory, and by far the most popular, is that the gang was betrayed and ratted out by one of their own. This was the plotline of the 2007 Oscar-nominated movie Red Dead Redemption, starring Colin Farrell as Dutch van der Linde and Gary Oldman as Tacitus Kilgore.
(snort)
Yeah, I think that takes the cake for ‘dumbest name in this entire episode’. But
just hold on, because this next guy’s a real piece of work.
The character of Tacitus Kilgore didn’t exist in real life, but was loosely based on that of Micah Bell III, a member of the van der Linde Gang who ran with them for a year before breaking his ties with the group and starting his own gang of outlaws at the turn of the century.
Bell, a career criminal wanted for multiple homicides even before he fell in with the van der Linde Gang, was described by Adler and Smith as “unpleasant” and “outright deplorable”. Supposedly, no one in the gang, particularly Morgan, liked Bell. He was reportedly racist, sexist, had little moral compass, and described as only out for himself. He was still well-liked and respected by van der Linde, however, which was most likely why he was allowed to stay for as long as he did.
According to Adler, Smith, and Marston, Bell was picked up by the Pinkerton Detective Agency sometime after the gang’s failed Saint Denis Bank Robbery, who then ratted the entire gang out to the authorities in exchange for immunity. This allowed Pinkertons to swarm the gang’s camp, seeking to take van der Linde dead or alive.
“My father had said that there’d been a rat, but they all thought it was someone else. A young woman from Ireland who loved the bottle almost as much as she loved Dutch. They must’ve thought their problems were over when she was killed as a traitor, but Micah Bell proved otherwise. He is the sole reason that the gang fell apart: nothing more, nothing less,” Marston said.
Of course, with so many people claiming to have disliked Bell, it’s obvious that the gang falling apart would lead it’s surviving members to peg him as an obvious scapegoat. Much like with the rest of this case, there’s no definitive proof that Bell ratted the gang out to the authorities; only the testimonies of those who claimed to have personally known him.
Regardless of his involvement in 1899, Bell fell further into a life of crime and eluded the authorities. Rumors claim that he committed as many as twenty-seven more homicides, including child murder—
Fuck this guy.
(wheeze)
I mean, fuck the racism, fuck the sexism, fuck all that stuff too.
Just needed to get one of those off your chest?
You know, it didn’t seem like Dutch was the best judge of character.
Yeah. It’s like—
‘Oh, you’re a killer? So am I!’
‘Wanna make some money, Mr. Bell?’
‘Boy do I!’
‘Just don’t try and betray me out to the authorities, because that would really harsh all
our mellows.’
‘Okie dokie, boss!’
--with his new gang for the next eight years. Funnily enough, FBI agents finally tracked him down to the peak of Mount Hagen in Ambarino, only to find his gang decimated and Bell dead. He’d been shot eight times—seven times in the chest, once in the head. Even stranger, bullets found in his body were confirmed to have come from at least two different kinds of revolvers, implying that more than one person was responsible for Bell’s death.
For years, depending on who you ask, the person or people that killed Micah Bell III varies. Some claim that it was van der Linde himself. Others claim it was Morgan. Marston claims that it was a combined effort of his father John, Sadie Adler, and Charles Smith who eventually tracked Bell down and killed him. When asked about it, Adler said, “If I had the opportunity to kill Micah, you know I would’ve taken it. That son of a bitch destroyed the gang from the inside out. My only comfort in life was that I’m not going to the same circle of hell that that rat landed in. The ninth was made and reserved especially for him, so the devil had a home he could return to.”
Holy shit, that’s awesome.
Between the Dante references and the general badassery, Sadie Adler sounds like
she’d be a really fun drinking buddy.
I wonder if every time she meets someone, she just tries to guess where
they’d land in hell.
I bet every single person she meets, she’s just like ‘Oh yeah, that guy’s totally a
shoo-in for level six.’
‘Welp, we get a real fourth circle kind of guy right here!’
(wheeze)
-X-
“So what do you think?” Ryan asked. “What caused the gang to fall apart?”
Shane leaned back and stared at the ceiling, lost in contemplation. “I think Micah definitely had something to do with it,” he concluded, drumming his fingers on the desk. “And I think that it’d make sense that if Dutch was going crazy, that he’d probably trust someone like him.”
“I personally would find it awesome if Arthur Morgan was involved in it too,” Ryan jumped in, “because he seemed like the only other guy who was talking any sense in that entire gang, and I respect that.”
Shane laughed slightly. “Of all those guys who claimed to be a part of the gang, who do you think was telling the truth?”
After a moment to think, Ryan piped back up. “We know Jack definitely was,” he said, counting on his fingers, “I think Sadie and Charles were too, just because they seemed to know a lot about the gang, and it’d be pretty awesome to imagine them as cowboys. And I think Mary-Beth, Tilly, and the priest probably rode with the gang for a little while as well.”
“Eh, throw the cook guy in there,” Shane said abruptly.
“Who, Pearson?”
“Yeah. I mean, he probably seemed like a fanboy because those were his guys, right? His boys? Remembering the good old days?”
“The good old days of being an outlaw?” Ryan clarified, voice dubious.
Shane shrugged. “I mean, sure, why not?”
Ryan just shook his head and picked up his papers.
-X-
The truth about what really happened to the van der Linde Gang has baffled historians and fanatics alike to this day. As recently as 2018, archeologists discovered an isolated grave in the Grizzly mountains with human remains dating back to the late 19th century. While DNA testing has been inconclusive so far, many hopeful van der Linde aficionados speculate that this is the missing grave of Arthur Morgan, due to its proximity to the van der Linde Gang’s last known hideout. Regardless of it's downfall, the van der Linde Gang rode themselves into American history.
With all remaining eyewitness testimonies having long since passed on, America can only speculate what happened to the infamous van der Linde Gang. But until then, the case remains…unsolved.