The Appalachian Mountains have always been a rugged, isolated land where survival meant being tough, self-reliant, and willing to fight. But some men didn’t just survive in these mountains – they ruled them. They outgunned sheriffs, defied the courts, and lived by their own brutal codes of justice.
These men were killers, lawbreakers, and sometimes folk heroes, depending on who you asked. Some fought against corrupt lawmen, others fought for power, but they all left a bloody trail behind them.
These are 10 of the most dangerous, fearless, and legendary outlaws Appalachia has ever seen.
10. Kenny (Kinnie) Wagner – The Escape Artist Who Couldn’t Be Caged
Kenny Wagner had a gift for two things – shooting and escaping. Born in Virginia, he grew up as a crack shot, able to pick off squirrels and rabbits without even aiming down the barrel. His skill landed him a job as a trick shooter in a traveling circus, but the excitement of show business didn’t last long.
Wagner fell into moonshining, outlaw life, and eventually murder. When police tried to arrest him in Mississippi, he killed a sheriff in a gunfight and disappeared into the woods. He would go on to escape from prison multiple times, even training the very bloodhounds used to track him so they would refuse to follow his scent. He lived on the run for decades, vanishing and reappearing like a ghost, until his life ended not in a shootout, but from a heart attack – holding a newborn puppy in his hands.
9. Devil Jim Turner – The Preacher Who Preached by Day and Killed by Night
Most outlaws don’t stand behind a pulpit on Sunday, but Jim Turner did. Known as “Devil Jim,” he grew up in Harlan County, Kentucky, where his family ran the most powerful general store and political machine in the region. While Jim preached the Bible, he also robbed, murdered, and fought a personal war against the rival Middleton Clan.
His first taste of violence came when he shot a neighbor’s cattle just for stepping onto his land. When the Middletons fired back and wounded him, Jim swore revenge. He and his brother ambushed and killed two Middleton brothers, setting off a blood feud that lasted years. During the Civil War, he joined the Confederates, but quickly deserted to form his own outlaw gang, robbing both sides and burning down the Harlan County Courthouse. After serving 26 years in prison, karma caught up with him – he suffered a stroke, fell into a wood stove, and burned alive before dying in agony the next day.
8. Michael John Shornock – The Real-Life Rambo Who Took On 400 Cops
Born in North Carolina, Michael John Shornock wasn’t raised in the mountains – but he made history in them. As a kid, he learned survival skills from an off-grid woman living deep in the woods, teaching him how to hunt, track, and disappear without a trace. These skills made him unstoppable when he turned to crime.
After a string of robberies, car thefts, and shootouts across four states, Shornock fled into the Appalachian Mountains. There, he became the target of the largest manhunt in North Carolina history – 450 officers, helicopters, and bloodhounds combing the mountains. But Shornock wasn’t just hiding – he was fighting back. He ambushed police, firing 50 rounds and wounding multiple officers, before making his final stand. In the end, a single bullet to the head ended his war against the law – but not before he became a legend.
7. The Allen Family – The Clan Behind the Deadliest Courtroom Massacre in U.S. History
Most outlaws were lone wolves, but the Allen Family was an army. For generations, they ruled their Virginia county with a mix of business, politics, and brute force. Their leader, Floyd Allen, was a man with a short temper, a love for violence, and the belief that no Allen would ever see jail time.
In 1912, Floyd was sentenced to one year in prison for beating up deputies – but he refused to accept it. As soon as the sentence was read, gunfire erupted in the courtroom. In just 90 seconds, Floyd and his relatives killed the judge, the sheriff, the prosecutor, and two others. The courtroom, riddled with 57 bullet holes, became a symbol of Appalachia’s lawless frontier. A national manhunt followed, but it was Floyd Allen himself who met the electric chair in the end.
6. Devil John Wright – The Bounty Hunter Who Became a Legend
Standing 6’1” with jet-black hair and a revolver on each hip, Devil John Wright was both lawman and outlaw. A former Confederate soldier, he spent his youth tracking animals, shooting on horseback, and mastering survival.
After the war, he became a bounty hunter, hunting horse thieves, murderers, and outlaws – but he played by his own rules. If the money was right, he’d fight for coal companies – and if it wasn’t, he’d fight for the miners. He was hired to catch criminals, but sometimes he was the criminal himself. Once, while hunting a fugitive, he shot him through his own pants pocket, too quick to draw.
By his old age, he had killed 28 men and fathered 27 children. At 86 years old, he was still riding horses and serving as deputy sheriff – a true outlaw to the end.
5. John Hunt Morgan – The Confederate Raider Who Terrified the Union
Not all outlaws fought against the law – some fought against an entire army. John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate cavalry commander who led some of the most daring raids of the Civil War.
Riding with his 2,400-strong “Morgan’s Raiders,” he burned bridges, cut off supply lines, and robbed Union towns. He was the first Confederate to invade Indiana and Ohio, causing widespread panic in the North. His hit-and-run tactics made him unstoppable – until he was captured.
Even then, he escaped from an Ohio prison, dug a tunnel, and stole a horse to freedom. He returned to battle, but in 1864, he was ambushed and shot dead by Union soldiers – his legend living on as one of Appalachia’s most feared cavalry raiders.
4. Bloody Bill Anderson – The Guerrilla Who Took No Prisoners
If John Hunt Morgan was a cavalry raider, “Bloody Bill” Anderson was a war criminal. During the Civil War, he led Confederate guerrillas who killed, looted, and burned their way through enemy towns.
He was notorious for executing prisoners, scalping Union soldiers, and leaving their bodies on display as warnings. His bloodlust even shocked fellow Confederates, but he didn’t care – he was at war with the world.
Union forces finally tracked him down in 1864. Surrounded and outgunned, he refused to surrender – and was shot over a dozen times. Even in death, he was so feared that soldiers took his body on tour to prove he was really gone.
3. The Harpe Brothers – America’s First Serial Killers
Before Jesse James, before Billy the Kid, before any well-known outlaw of the Wild West, the Harpe Brothers were already leaving a trail of blood across Appalachia. Micajah and Wiley Harpe, also known as Big Harpe and Little Harpe, weren’t just bandits – they were bloodthirsty murderers.
During the late 1700s, the Harpes roamed Kentucky and Tennessee, pretending to be loyalists or rebels – whichever suited them at the time – but they didn’t fight for a cause. They killed for pleasure, slaughtering entire families, children, and even their own associates. Unlike most outlaws, they didn’t rob – they just murdered.
Their preferred method? Slitting open a victim’s stomach, filling it with stones, and dumping the body in a river. Eventually, a posse caught up with Big Harpe and cut off his head – but Little Harpe escaped and kept killing until he was finally hanged in 1804. Even in a time of lawlessness, the Harpes were considered monsters.
2. The McCoy-Hatfield Feud – The Bloodiest Family War in Appalachia
The most infamous feud in American history wasn’t just about stolen hogs or land disputes – it was a full-scale mountain war. The Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky were two powerful families who spent decades hunting, ambushing, and executing each other.
It all started when Randolph McCoy accused Floyd Hatfield of stealing a hog. But the real bloodshed began in 1882, when three McCoy brothers stabbed and shot a Hatfield to death – and in response, the Hatfields executed all three McCoys. The violence escalated into open warfare, with both sides forming militias, burning homes, and ambushing each other in the hills.
The final straw came in 1888, when the Hatfields launched a brutal attack on the McCoy homestead, killing children and beating Randolph McCoy’s wife nearly to death. After more than a dozen deaths, the law finally cracked down, sentencing several Hatfields to life in prison – but not before the feud left an entire region scarred by generations of bloodshed.
1. Frank and Jesse James – The Outlaws Who Became Legends
No two names in American outlaw history are more legendary than Frank and Jesse James. But before they became famous bank and train robbers, they were Confederate guerrillas, riding with Bloody Bill Anderson and killing Union soldiers without mercy.
After the Civil War, the James brothers turned to robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches, building a reputation as Robin Hood-like heroes – even though they never gave a dime to the poor. Jesse, in particular, was a master of public relations, writing letters to newspapers defending his crimes and taunting the law.
For 15 years, they were unstoppable, with Pinkerton detectives and bounty hunters constantly on their trail. But Jesse’s luck ran out in 1882, when one of his own gang members shot him in the back for the reward money. Frank, however, surrendered and lived out his days as a free man – making the James Gang one of the few outlaw crews where one actually lived to tell the tale.
Legends, Lawlessness, and Legacy
The Appalachian outlaws weren’t just criminals – they were forces of nature. Some fought for vengeance, some for power, and some for pure survival, but they all shared one thing: an unbreakable will to defy authority. Their stories are filled with gunfights, escapes, and betrayals, shaping the very myths that still echo through the mountains today.
Whether they were folk heroes or fearsome killers, their legacies remind us of a time when justice was often decided by the barrel of a gun. Love them or hate them, these outlaws refused to be forgotten – and in the hills of Appalachia, their ghosts still ride.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.