Born: 1846
Died: September 2, 1913
AKA: George Budd, California Bill, George Edrrards, John Luck, William Morgan

In a career that spanned from the Civil War years (1861–1865) to the twentieth century, Bill Miner robbed trains and stagecoaches in five states and Canada. Regarded as a gentleman robber, he spent much of his life behind bars.

A fictional life

Imprisoned toward the end of his life, Miner recorded his life story while serving a sentence in a Georgia jail. His autobiography (the story his life) provided contemporary newspapers with engaging stories of his bandit exploits and later writers with ample material for detailed biographies. The trouble was, Miner was a bit of a storyteller.

Miner claimed to have been born in Kentucky in 1847. Deserted by his father at the age of ten, he ran away from home when he was thirteen to become a cowboy. After a daring trip...