Violent bank heists, bold train robberies and hardened gangs all tear across the history of the wild west--western Pennsylvania, that is. The region played reluctant host to the likes of the infamous Biddle Boys, who escaped Allegheny County Jail by romancing the warden's wife, and the Cooley Gang, which held Fayette County in its violent grip at the close of the nineteenth century. Then there was Pennsylvania's own Bonnie and Clyde--Irene and Glenn--whose murderous misadventures earned the "trigger blonde" and her beau the electric chair in 1931. From the perilous train tracks of Erie to the gritty streets of Pittsburgh, authors Thomas White and Michael Hassett trace the dark history of the crooks, murderers and outlaws who both terrorized and fascinated the citizenry of western Pennsylvania.

A look at the folklore surrounding the legendary Pennsylvanian witch, and the facts behind them. In the ancient hills and misty hollows of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, generations of locals have passed down stories of a woman with mysterious magical powers. People came from near and far to seek healing and protection through her strange rituals. Some even believed she could fly. Named Moll Derry and nicknamed the Witch of the Monongahela, her legend has been documented by writers and folklorists for more than two hundred years. She is intertwined in many regional tales, such as the Lost Children of the Alleghenies and Polly Williams and the White Rocks. Author Thomas White separates fact from fiction in the many versions of Moll Derry and recounts Western Pennsylvania's folk magic history along the way.

The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Pennsylvania is the ultimate guidebook to the crime, injustice, and seedy history of the Keystone State. With photographs, maps, directions, and sites to visit, this collection of outlaw tales serves as both a travel guide and an entertaining and informational read. It is a one-of-a-kind exploration into well-known and more obsure sites in Pennsylvania that retain memories of bandits and their scandalous deeds. The Crime Buff series offers indispensable guidebooks for criminal-history enthusiasts and travelers. Each site description includes a brief summary of the spot’s significance, historical context, maps, directions, and photos. Appealing to both residents and visitors, the books reveal the exploits of famous and less famous outlaws in an irresistable and informational manner. Readers will be shocked, unsettled, and captivated by the true stories and secrets illuminated in the Outlaw collection.

The interior of South Carolina was a Lawless place. In fact, Northern Georgia to western Pennsylvania has always been lacking in law and order, but in South Carolina, after the Cherokee Indian War in 1761, what little law had existed, deteriorated to almost none. Indians were no longer a threat, but bold outlaw gangs roamed and ravaged the country, robbing, killing and kidnapping, ever bold enough to challenge the few Militia. Here, there was no law, therefore, no court or jail for any legal transaction, a weeklong trip had to be made to Charlestown. Seeing no help coming from the government in Chrlestown, citizens of the back country began organizing into vigilante groups called Regulators. In 1766, John Poston II migrated from Pennsylvania with his two sons, John III and Anthony to settle by Lynches Creek in Qyeensboro Township. Here in the lawless frontier, they struggled to make a home among the outlaws and Regulators.

In the ancient hills and misty hollows of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, generations of locals have passed down stories of a woman with mysterious magical powers. People came from near and far to seek healing and protection through her strange rituals. Some even believed she could fly. Named Moll Derry and nicknamed the Witch of the Monongahela, her legend has been documented by writers and folklorists for more than two hundred years. She is intertwined in many regional tales, such as the Lost Children of the Alleghenies and Polly Williams and the White Rocks. Author Thomas White separates fact from fiction in the many versions of Moll Derry and recounts Western Pennsylvania's folk magic history along the way.

Train robbers, horse thieves, murderers. These are only a few of the accusations leveled against the Dalton Gang, the fraternal band of Western lawmen turned outlaws in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Daring in their exploits, the gang members turned their backs on laws they found to be criminally flawed and stole horses, bootlegged whiskey into Indian Territory, and committed the first American train robbery. A rare firsthand account originally published in 1918, this volume details the time when sheriffs were paid for each man they hanged, law enforcement rode under the banner of "Smith & Wesson" rather than "To Serve and Protect," and outlaws ruled the rails.