The History of Outlaw Elmer McCurdy

Elmer McCurdy in his coffin.

Alright, let’s talk about the history of outlaw Elmer McCurdy. McCurdy was an American Outlaw, but that’s not why he’s famous. After his death, his corpse went on to live in infamy.

While alive, McCurdy was dubbed the bandit that wouldn’t give up. He was born in Washington Maine in 1880. He struggled with alcoholism, and though he was trained as a plumber struggled to hold a job for very long. 

In 1907 he joined the Army. And was trained in nitroglycerin to detonate explosives. Remember that, that’s foreshadowing. After he was discharged, McCurdy became an outlaw and a bandit, he attempted to use nitroglycerin in his robberies but to mixed results. 

For example in 1911, McCurdy and a group of men decided to rob the Iron Mountain-Missouri Pacific Train. They managed to successfully board, stop the train and find the safe. But McCurdy used too much explosive material and the safe (and it’s contents) was completely destroyed. 

McCurdy was killed by three sheriffs in 1911, after they tracked him down in a Hay Shed. 

But now the real story starts. Because his body was unclaimed, the undertaker used a specific type of embalming fluid that was an arsenic based preservative. Joseph J. Johnson, the undertaker wouldn’t release or bury the body as he wasn’t paid for his services. Eventually he decided to display the well preserved body as a way to make money. For a nickel, you could see the Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up. It was a fairly popular attraction. 

On October 6th 1916, a man claiming to be the brother of McCurdy finally left with the corpse. But he wasn’t McCurdy’s brother, he was the owner of the Great Patterson Traveling shows. And he took the body on the road. Until 1922, McCurdy was displayed as “The Outlaw Who Would Never Be Captured Alive.”

Then, a new owner took over the carnival company, Sonney, who put the body in the traveling “Museum of Crime,” alongside wax figures of outlaws like Jesse James. In 1928, it was part of the sideshow for the Trans-American Footrace.

Side note, the trans-american footrace that started in LA and ended in NYC. In 1933, director Dwain Esper used McCurdy to promote his film Narcotic!—he displayed the corpse in theater lobbies as a “dead dope fiend”. 

By this point, the body was mummified and shrunken, and Esper claimed the shriveled skin was proof of drug abuse. McCurdy was put in storage for many years until 1964, when it made an appearance in the film She Freak, which came out in 1967.

Next the body of Elmer McCurdy arrived at the Hollywood Wax Machine. Then it was on display at Mount Rushmore, where it suffered wind damage. 

Finally it was sold to The Pike, an amusement park in Long Beach, California. And in 1976 it was discovered by a film crew in production for the six million dollar man, hanging as part of the Dark Funhouse exhibit at The Pike. 

Elmer McCurdy was finally buried on April 22nd, 1977. To make sure it wouldn’t be stolen, two feet of cement was poured on top of the casket. 

Dead Outlaw, a musical currently on Broadway tells the story of Elmer McCurdy, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the area. 

For more strange history, listen to the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast