His name was Big Nose George Parrott, and he was one of the Old West’s
meanest outlaws.
He would just as soon murder you’ as shake your hand. When Big Nose Parrott held up a stagecoach, passengers and driver were lucky to come out alive. Big Nose’s luck finally ran out one day in Rawlins, Wyoming.
He was arrested and thrown in jail. The folks in town were so angry at the bandit that they broke into the jail to “string him up.” It was the late 1900s, and there were plenty of telegraph poles around. Somebody threw a rope over a crossbar that topped off a nearby pole.
They tied Parrot’s hands and made him climb up on a ladder while they looped the noose around his neck. Then somebody pulled the ladder away, but instead of hanging Big Nose, the rope broke.
Some folks said it didn’t surprise them. Old Big Nose was just too mean to hang. They tried it again, and this time it worked.
Like many other murderous outlaws of the time, he never did get a fair trial.
Big Nose George Parrot was also known as George Manuse and George Warden, and was a cattle rustler in the Wild West in the late 19th century.
When Big Nose George died, shoes were made out his skin. His skull cap was used as an ash tray and doorstop. Big Nose George died on March 22, 1881.
