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Georgie Mayhan (1879-1899) was a 19th-century American outlaw, train robber, and member of the Labelle Gang. Georgie notably participated in the North Platte Attack in which an estimated $70,000 USD (equivalent to about 2.5 million in 2022) in mining funds were stolen from a train passing through North Platte, Nebraska. Additionally, Georgie incited the Bloodbath Incident of 1899 which led to the closing of the Wyoming State Penitentiary. She has killed or assisted in killing an approximate 30 people, although remains of her journal claim more. Georgie is notably the daughter of the outlaw James Mayhan.

Early Life
Georgie Mayhan was born in Recovery, a now ghost town in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation of Oklahoma, to James Mayhan and Aine (née O'Neilldh) Mayhan on October 4, 1879. When Georgie was 4 years old, her father was captured by two Wyoming US Marshalls, leaving Aine and Georgie without a source of income, so they left for Little Rock, Arkansas, where they would live for the next 10 (approx.) years.

When Georgie was of age, she was admitted to Mount St. Mary Academy (Little Rock, Arkansas), then known as the Little Rock Girl's Academy. During her stay there, a professor known as Henry Kirkpatrick was killed by an unknown assailant in August of 1894. Georgie was then accused of his murder due to her parentage by the Sisters of Mercy of Little Rock and was expected to be imprisoned after a short trial. However, during a transfer to St. Louis, Georgie was broken out of the prison transport by an unknown individual which Georgie cites in her journal to be "the first outlaw I'd ever seen."

Records show Georgie and Aine Mayhan re-entering Recovery by Spring 1895, post-Land Rush of 1889. Georgie befriends one Beau Blackburn, who later becomes a US Marshal. In an article by the Cheyenne Transporter, Aine Mayhan is cited as missing in May of 1896. Georgie's journal reflects that she was "taken like my Papa," suggesting that Aine may have been a criminal such as her father, although no crimes have been found to be associated with her.

Life of crime
Georgie left Recovery approximately a month after her mother's capture to find her, her route taking her to the Wyoming State Penitentiary. No records state a Aine O'Neilldh or Mayhan ever residing at Wyoming State Penitentiary, however, a Mary-Ann Conner is noted to have taken residence around the same time of Aine's disappearance and the mugshot of Mary-Ann line up in terms of appearance with recovered photos of Aine.

Georgie travelled up from Oklahoma through Colorado and ended up in Dodge City, Kansas, where she got into a bar fight with a stranger after he suggested that her father was hung until dead in Rawlins, Wyoming. The bar fight ended in the man's death and was the first confirmed death caused by Georgie Mayhan. It was here that she garnered the title of 'Runaway May', as it is noted that as soon as the law arrived in town she ran, similarly to what she did after her first imprisonment. While on the run, Georgie meets the notorious Labelle Gang in Kit Carson, Colorado, where they strike a deal; The Labelle Gang promises to help Georgie get her parents out of prison if she becomes a part of them and help them rob a train in North Platte, Nebraska.

However, after only a month running with the Labelle Gang, Georgie got into another bar fight in 1898 with an unknown catalyst which resulted in Georgie's arrest in Culbertson. To Georgie's luck, she was not recognized by the officers, who she later killed with their own gun to escape. This incident solidified her membership with the Labelle Gang, who respected her tenacity.

Georgie's childhood friend, Beau Blackburn, now a US Marshal, catches up with Georgie in February of 1898 in Julesburg, Colorado. Beau doesn't arrest Georgie due to their childhood friendship, but rather "spent the night with me [Georgie Mayhan], never out of arm's reach for two days before they [The Labelle Gang] came back to take me away," suggesting that the Labelle Gang knew of Beau and disapproved of the relationship.

Georgie and the gang arrived in North Platte, Nebraska in March of 1898 to rob a mining supply and salary train that would be through in the next month. The gang's activity was quiet for that month whilst they planned their robbery which would become the one of most lucrative in the history of the West.

North Platte Attack of 1898
The North Platte Attack of 1898 is not only one of the most lucrative, but also one of the most well-documented on account of the high traffic in North Platte at that time for a stock show. In the morning of April 17, 1898, several members of the Labelle Gang were spotted sneaking around the Union Pacific Railway station of North Platte, getting onto the roof of the station around noon of the same day. When the train began to show on the horizon around 3pm, the Labelle Gang announced their intentions, clearing the station by taking hostages and jumping onto the train as it was brought to a forceful stop. The choice of robbery in the middle of a city was very bold, but very successful, as officers were occupied with keeping the stock show, which had experienced several fights and loose animals, under wraps and the hostages made it difficult to storm. The Labelle Gang stole luggage, payroll, alongside about $1,000 (equivalent to $35.6k in 2022) of foodstuffs and other supplies. The accumulative haul ended up being approximately $70,000 USD (equivalent to about 2.5 million in 2022).

After they realized they were surrounded by police, the Labelle Gang began a shootout while one apprehended the conductor and started the train and another gang member evacuated the train. The members of the gang all escaped via train which was found abandoned and having de-railed near Fort Morgan, Colorado where it still remains. The robbery itself only resulted in one casualty, a civilian, while the shootout resulted in ten, nine of them officers and then the tenth being the train conductor who later succumbed due to injury after being forcefully apprehended. The entire gang made it away safely.

The Bloodbath Incident, 1899
After assisting the Labelle Gang as promised, they all headed for Rawlins, Wyoming where Georgie believed her parents were. They arrived in late November of 1898 and began planning what would be known as The Bloodbath Incident that would occur in 1899.

The Labelle Gang successfully broke into the Wyoming State Penitentiary on the night of January 14, 1899. They were able to kill approximately five guards to avoid detection while trying to find where Aine and James Mayhan were being held. However, it was a futile effort as records suggest James Mayhan had escaped and died of hypothermia four years prior. An unknown member of the gang was spotted in the yard and law was quickly alerted. Nearby U.S. Marshals Beau Blackburn, Rick Kuss, and Bennie Green were quickly on the scene and a shootout occurred. Georgie later notes in her journal that Blackburn kept her gun aimed to the sky.

Seven of the twenty-one guards at the Wyoming State Penitentiary, not including the five killed prior, died during the shootout, alongside two inmates, assumably from ricocheted bullets. Of the Labelle Gang, Henry Labelle, Jesse Mayfield, Elli Fischer, and an individual of unknown birth name nicknamed "Boysenberry" were found dead on the scene, several from gunshot wounds and one from hypothermia alongside loss of blood. Georgie and the last member of the Labelle Gang, Alice Labelle, were immediately arrested by the remaining officers. Aine O'Neilldh, assumably using the pseudonym of Mary-Ann Conner, was set to be hung by the neck a week later and died on the 21st of January, 1899, buried in Rawlins, Wyoming, where she remains today.

Escaping prison, again
Alice and Georgie were placed under arrest and tried for several counts of murder alongside breaking and entering, of which they were both found guilty. However, after a half-month long stay, Georgie was broken out by one Beau Blackburn on February 4, 1899, leaving Alice Labelle behind to serve her sentence and die in 1941 of old age at Missouri State Penitentiary.

In the first month of their journey back to Recovery, Georgie details spending every day with Beau and evading the police. However, at the end of their first month together, they stayed in a hotel in Denver, Colorado, where Georgie left behind her journal detailing much of her life and journey. The journal was later discovered in 1981 when the hotel burnt down and was recovered, restored, and now remains at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum alongside Georgie's pistols, saddle, and several photos of her, which were recovered from Recovery in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation of Oklahoma.

However, before the journal was recovered in 1981, a hotel maid found it and notified police of Georgie's approximate whereabouts and the information that Beau had helped her escape. This information allowed for nationwide printing of wanted posters and notices for the two. However, as Oklahoma hadn't yet established more than 5 post offices by the year of 1899 and thus news arrived slowly, which was perfect for Georgie and Beau, who would arrive in Recovery again by early December 1899.

Death
Georgie and Beau re-entered Recovery society under the pseudonyms Rose English and Eva Clauser, under which they bought a small house slightly outside of town. They utilized stories of being widowed and needing to get away from the city air of Denver for the quaint town of Recovery, as a short blurb in the short-lived Recovery Gazette stated. Georgie and Beau excited the town, as not many city goers or tourists came let alone stayed, part of the reason for the town's eventual fate as a ghost town.

However, halfway through the month, the supposed Eva Clauser is discovered to be Beau Blackburn, who is hailed as a hero for returning and surviving. Georgie does not leave the house after this town discovery, and in another article by the Recovery Gazette in which Beau is questioned on her journey and girl-friend she is stated as saying that Georgie was "a lonely little widow I'd met out in the plains. I suppose she's gone by now, though."

Through unknown circumstances it is discovered that Beau is harboring the criminal, and with no more lies to give, Beau is pressured into arresting Georgie and turning her over to the government in Oklahoma City. Arguments between Beau, Georgie, and the local law of Recovery resulted in a full-town shootout. The events were detailed in the historical biography Oklahoma Plains by Cheyenne Recovery-born historian Billie Hornelk as follows;

"They were yelling and pointing until someone shot a gun up in the air. The shot provoked the law hidden behind buildings and horses and before I knew what was happening, there were bodies on the ground and the snow had turned red. She [Hornelk's mother] was too shocked to think to turn me away, so I stayed. People began crawling out of their homes with rifle and pistol in their hands, ready to aim. Before half of them could even push the trigger, though, they fell victim to the shots. The count of bodies afterwards amassed to be 23 of Recovery's then 200 residents, one of them being the individual I would later understand was Georgie Mayhan. It was strange to watch a notorious death without even knowing it- the very woman who had harbored her aimed at her in the confusion of the snow-dust and bloodbath and shot a bullet straight between her eyes."

Legacy
Georgie was buried in the now-abandoned Recovery Cemetery outside of El Reno, Oklahoma, with a now-refurbished grave marking her and all 23 other victims of the Recovery shootout's resting place. Recovery has since become a popular tourist destination after its abandonment due it being Georgie's birthplace. Georgie's journal, pistols, saddle, and several photos of her were recovered from Recovery to Rawlins and now are on display at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma.

Beau Blackburn details her life and involvement with Georgie in her biography, I Know How the Outlaws Live, published after her death in 1935 as detailed in her will.

A few comics were published in 1964 called The Life and Adventure of an Outlaw; Mrs. detailing dramatized versions of Georgie's life. Only three were published before the series was scrapped.

Georgie's journal was transcribed and later published for public consumption in 1995 with full inclusion of sketches, maps, and photos that can be found in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.