Earl Durand

Walter Earl Durand (January 9, 1913 – March 24, 1939) was an American from Wyoming who became known as an outlaw after he escaped from jail. He killed a total of four officers in the course of resisting capture, two at his house, and two who tried to apprehend him during an 11-day manhunt in the Beartooth Mountains (near the mouth of Clarks Fork Canyon) of Wyoming.

Early life and education Walter Earl Durand was born in 1913 to parents who were farmers in Powell, Wyoming, where he grew up. He learned all about farming and hunting.

Mountain man Durand was a mountain man who lived off the land in the mountains of Wyoming during the years following the Great Depression. He was arrested for poaching elk, as he did not believe in the new hunting license system and refused to get a license. before he returned to his home. Durand shot and killed two police officers who came to his house to take him back to jail; then he armed himself and headed into the wilderness of the Beartooth Mountains.

The prosecutor initially deputized 10 men to form a posse to find and bring Durand in for trial. Durand took several hostages, one of whom was killed by a citizen trying to shoot and take down Durand as they left the bank. Durand crawled back into the bank; there he killed himself with a shot to the neck. was included on The Best of Broadside 1962-1988.