Ever wondered what happens to a person’s body after they die? Most of us hope for a dignified rest, a peaceful burial. But what if, instead, your remains embarked on a bizarre, decades-long road trip, becoming a star attraction in a traveling sideshow? Sounds like something out of a dark comedy, right? Well, buckle up, because today we’re diving into the unbelievable true story of Elmer McCurdy, the outlaw whose post-mortem adventures make for one of history’s strangest tales.
The Outlaw Who Couldn’t Stay Down
Elmer McCurdy wasn’t exactly a household name during his lifetime. A small-time outlaw and train robber, his criminal career was less ‘legendary’ and more ‘tragically inept.’ His story took a truly wild turn, however, on October 7, 1911. After a botched train robbery, McCurdy was cornered by lawmen in Oklahoma. He went down in a hail of bullets, true to the outlaw code, earning him the rather dramatic moniker, ‘The Outlaw Who Would Never Be Captured Alive.’
From Funeral Home to Freak Show
Now, here’s where things get really weird. Because no one claimed his body, the local undertaker, Joseph Johnson, decided to take matters into his own hands. He embalmed McCurdy’s body with a blend of arsenic and other chemicals, hoping to keep him preserved until a relative showed up. When no one did, Johnson had a ‘brilliant’ idea: he put McCurdy on display in his funeral home, charging a nickel to see ‘The Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up.’ Yes, you read that right. A nickel to see a dead guy. And people paid it!
This morbid curiosity proved surprisingly popular. So popular, in fact, that McCurdy’s mummified remains were eventually sold off for a tidy sum – for a dollar, if you can believe it! From there, his ‘career’ as a traveling exhibit truly blossomed. He joined various carnivals and sideshows, often billed as a ‘dead man’ or ‘mummy,’ sometimes even as ‘The Oklahoma Outlaw.’ For over six decades, Elmer’s dried-up corpse was a staple of the American sideshow circuit, an anonymous prop in a parade of curiosities. Imagine him next to the bearded lady and the sword swallower – talk about a diverse cast!
The Accidental Rediscovery of a ‘Dummy’
Fast forward to 1976. A film crew was setting up for an episode of ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ at an amusement park in Long Beach, California. They were moving what they thought was a wax dummy from a dark ride attraction – a rather realistic one, they noted. But when a prop man accidentally broke off an arm, exposing bone and muscle tissue, the horrifying truth became clear: this wasn’t a dummy. It was a real human corpse. Elmer McCurdy, still on tour, had finally been ‘captured’ for real.
Finally Laid to Rest (For Good This Time)
The discovery sent shockwaves through the local authorities and medical examiners. After a thorough investigation, including dental records and historical research, the identity of the ‘dummy’ was confirmed: it was indeed Elmer McCurdy, the outlaw who had been dead for 65 years but never truly rested. In 1977, Elmer was finally given a proper burial in Guthrie, Oklahoma, in a grave so deep that no one could ever disturb his peace again. A concrete slab was even poured over it, just to be sure. Talk about a posthumous sigh of relief!
Elmer McCurdy’s story is more than just a bizarre historical footnote. It’s a fascinating, if somewhat macabre, peek into the stranger corners of human entertainment and our often-complex relationship with death. It reminds us that sometimes, truth really is stranger – and a lot more unsettling – than fiction. So, the next time you visit a museum or an old amusement park, just remember: you never know what ‘props’ might have a story to tell!
Caracole