Death of an Outlaw

PATRICK COUGHLIN was shot to death by a sheriff’s firing squad near Evanston, Wyoming, on December 15, 1896. “Have you anything to say?” asked Sheriff Dickson. “Nothing,” came the answer. Then, as he was fastened to the chair, he added: “I have one request to make and that is my picture may not be taken.”

In vain. These pictures were taken. Carl Pugliese of Yonkers, New York, found them and sent them on to us with a most flamboyant account of Coughlin’s career published in the Evanston News-Register. Coughlin was a thief who shot and killed two deputies in a posse that had tracked him down. He received extreme unction from the same priest who had administered communion to him as a young man.

WE CONTINUE to ask our readers to send unusual and previously unpublished old photographs to Carla Davidson at American Heritage Publishing Co., 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020. Please send a copy of any irreplaceable material, include return postage, and do not mail glass negatives. AMERICAN HERITAGE will pay $50.00 for each one that is run.