Elmer McCurdy - The Worlds Worst Outlaw

Citation Needed

Citation Needed Media

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4.8 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Elmer J. McCurdy (January 1, 1880 – October 7, 1911) was an American outlaw who was killed in a shoot-out with police after robbing a train in Oklahoma in October 1911. Dubbed "The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up", his mummified body was first put on display at an Oklahoma funeral home and then became a fixture on the traveling carnival and sideshow circuit during the 1920s through the 1960s. After changing ownership several times, McCurdy's remains eventually wound up at The Pike amusement zone in Long Beach, California, where they were discovered by crew members for the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and positively identified in December 1976.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to citation needed, the podcast where we choose a subject to read a single article about it on Wikipedia and pretend we're experts because this is the internet and that's how it works now.
0:30.0	I'm Noah and I'm going to be the mastermind this week, but to pull off this job, I'm going to need a few accomplices.
0:34.7	So please welcome the getaway driver and the guy's trying to get away from him, Eli, Tom, and Cecil.
0:40.5	All right, to be fair, when Eli is driving, everyone's trying to get away.
0:43.8	It's true.
0:44.4	Yeah, and sadly, indoors is not a safe place to hide.
0:47.1	We know that.
0:47.5	That's where I park is indoors.
0:50.2	You got to be way indoors.
0:52.3	Or in a baby carriage, for example.
0:54.0	No, not safe.
0:54.8	No, that's not safe.
0:55.8	It's not safe.
0:56.2	No.
0:56.9	Listen.
0:57.7	And so before we get going, I want to remind everybody that without the support of our patrons, we too would have to turn to a life of crime and we'd probably suck at it.
1:06.7	So if you'd like to help keep us on the straight and arrow, be sure to stick around to the end of the show.
1:11.2	And with that out of the way, tell us, Tom, what person, place, thing, concept, phenomenon, or event we'll be talking about today.
1:16.3	We were discussing Elmer McCurdy, the world's worst outlaw.
1:21.4	And with a thanks to patron Rufflebutt Sarah for the suggestion, we're going to turn to Cecil.
1:25.8	Cecil, you read the article,
1:31.8	are you ready to weave the tail for us? I will weave it better than Elmer's final form.
	...

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