Old west gangs

Was there ever any western outlaws organized even remotely on the order of OC? I mean with the loyal, honor, respect, etc.

With the most notorious, Daltons, James, Younger, being self-contained units related by kin and Southern-war loyalties, there must have been some sense of blood cohesion.

Did I hear years ago there was a sort of loose federation with Dillinger and some others, that they met in some type of early Appalachin which resulted in them being riddled with lead by the feds who were lying in wait. Somebody ratted

It's been said that the James-Younger Gang were part of a secret society called, I believe, the Knights of the Golden Circle which was a network of influential Confederate-sympathizers after the war. With being members of that group, they were awarded protection for their actions. One of the stories is that James was part of the network that helped finance resistance to Reconstruction in the South, partially through his robberies and partially by aiding in the transport of other funds raised by the Knights. Now I don't know how true this is but if it was, you could at the least consider James an OC figure in that he ran rackets (armed robbery, money laundering, etc) for an underground organization with a great deal of political and economic influence. But who knows?

Interesting. Looking forward to research. Much thanks,OS.

No problem. Let me know if you find anything good.