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Question: What happened to a lawman or outlaw's gun or gear after their capture or death!?
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If it were a lawman most likely it would go to the family like in any other instance!.AS for outlaws sometimes like in the case of Billy the Kid or Cole Younger the sheriff kept the weapon as a souvenir!.As far as gear and things of that nature most of the time it went to family of friends or other outlaws for one reason or another like Doc Holliday's playing cards which are on displace in Griffen Georgia loaned from his Cousin/Lover,or Bat Masterson's Cane and Dirby hat which were given to western movie star Tom Mix!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Most often it became a 'trophy' piece often falling into the possesion of the lawman who made the capture!. The other man who 'profitted' was the undertaker, not only snagging guns and belts but often putting the corpse on display and charging eager town folks to view the body!. The livery stable might claim an outlaw's horse and saddle for an unpaid bill!. Finally the boarding house or hotel might lay claim to items left in a room again citing an unpaid bill!.

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PS Some towns would auction off the effects of an outlaw to help defray expenses in the process of tracking down and killing the outlaw!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Varies, but I'm sure a lot of them would have been put into evidence!. Later they may have either been destroyed, saved as a trophy (in the case of a someone really famous), sold in state or government auctions, put into use for police training, "pocketed" by a corrupt official, put into semi pernament storage and forgotten about, or even put into the arsenal!. Kind of depends on where and when the item was taken up!. If you know in a case in particular you were interested in you could probably ask an older cop at the station about what policies used to be in their districts!. I think now most places tend to try to ensure they don't wind out on the streets, but I don't think that was the case even 20 years ago always!.Www@QuestionHome@Com