Cowboy Dan Posse

The Cowboy Dan Posse is the name of a group of bandits and outlaws led by Daniel Kendall “Cowboy Dan” Baumgartner.

History
The Cowboy Dan Posse first emerged in Travis, Williamson, and Bexar Counties, Texas sometime in the 1870s. Consisting largely of disenfranchised Civil War veterans and out-of-work ranchers, the Posse quickly gained notoriety in a series of high-profile robberies and murders. After the 1885 attack on Fort Lackman near Lubbock, Texas, the Cowboy Dan Posse led US Marshals on a wild chase through the American west, which came to a head at the North Truckee Pass Shootout outside of Reno, Nevada. The shootout left 22 dead, including several lawmen and Doctor H. Edward Preston, and injured a further 48. Several members of the Posse eluded capture here and fled east towards the Rocky Mountains.

On October 3, 1891, the Posse was involved in an armed train robbery at Porcupine Canyon in San Juan County, Utah. During the robbery, the train derailed, sending itself, some 280 passengers, sixteen crewmen, and, presumably, the entire Cowboy Dan Posse plummeting some 1,000 feet into the canyon below. The wreckage was never fully recovered due to the rough terrain. There are only two known survivors, Gib Herbert and "Lucky" Lenford Kemp, who were arrested ten years later in Kansas City, Missouri, following a barfight.

Members
The Cowboy Dan Posse was made up of between twelve and fifty members at any given time, with an estimated 160 people being involved over the decades of gang activity.

Verified members
The gang was led by Daniel Kendall "Cowboy Dan" Baumgartner, and his right-hand man Mad Dog Grenfeld. Other verified members include Gib Herbert, Murphy Gerrick, Sterling Paul Beatty, Jonathan Potter, Raven Castro, Lenford Kemp, Jock Thurston, and Mikey Hooker.

Rumored Members
Over the year, many people have been accused of being parts of the Cowboy Dan Posse, including Vince Snelling, Bexar County Deputy Ollie Attaway Krakowski, Jim Sexton, Alf Patterson, and Thomas "Tex" Walthrop, two-time mayor of Little Jack, Texas.