The Legend Of Earl Durand, Wyoming’s Teton Outlaw

It was 86 years ago when the story of an eccentric Wyoming woodsman was immortalized as the Tarzan of the Tetons captured the imagination of an entire nation.

The date was March 13, 1939, and Earl Durand of Powell, Wyoming, along with three friends, had killed four elk out of season near the North Fork of the Shoshone River, just west of Cody.

It was the great depression. Earl and his friends were hunting for food for friends and family. However, the laws changed, and new limits on hunting were introduced, requiring permits.

People decribed him as larger than life, and he was, in real life, coming in at 6 feet 2 inches tall and nearly 250 pounds of solid muscle.

Durand was a wanted man. He was believed to have been the leader of the Shoshone River outfit and had escaped game wardens at the Shoshone National Forest.

Durand, rifle in hand, reportedly jumped from the passenger side of the vehicle and disappeared into the surrounding wilderness.

The next morning, a North Fork rancher reported that two of his cattle had been shot, one of which was dead and missing meat from its flank.

Two game wardens and a posse tracked Durand to the Shoshone River Canyon, where they surprised him, disarmed him, and brought him back to Cody.

Durand was sentenced to six months in jail and a $100 fine after he pleaded guilty to killing two elk. But do you think anyone can keep a man like that?

On March 16, Park County Undersheriff Noah Riley brought the prisoners their evening meal. Durand reportedly smashed a milk bottle over the man's head.

Durand took Riley hostage, grabbed his pistol and a rifle, then escaped and forced Riley to drive him to his parents’ home near Powell.

The sheriff soon arrived with a deputy, and Durand shot them both dead. Big mistake. The sheriff was unarmed and was a friend of Earls, also, the sheriff was a World War 1 veteran with a wife and two kids at home. Public opinion turned sharply against Earl.

Listen to The Ballad Of Ear Durand, below.

Durand escaped into the wilderness.

So began a nine-day hunt in the woods of Wyoming.

But they were chasing a young man who knew the wilderness too well.

Wyoming Governor Nels H. Smith authorized the Montana National Guard to enter Wyoming, and Montana Governor Roy Ayres directed his adjutant general to provide all necessary assistance.

They came well armed. The Montana National Guard brought with them a 3-inch trench mortar and a 37-mm howitzer, to which the Wyoming National Guard added another trench mortar, dynamite, and tear gas bombs.

Durand had picked his rocky hideout well. It was between Little Rocky Creek and the mouth of the canyon. Two posse members were killed trying to overtake his position.

Durand fled from his rocky fortress and, the next day, hijacked a car that he took back to his parents’ home.

After saying goodbye to mom and dad, he made his way back to Powell, where he intended to rob the First National Bank.

He cut his hair and beard so nobody knew who he was when he walked back into town.

The national guard was still back at Clark’s Fork Canyon, thinking he was hiding there.

With a rifle in his hand, Durand entered the bank and emptied out several cash drawers. Then, he began shooting. Nobody knows why.

Durand emerged from the bank, and a 17-year-old by the name of Tip Cox is credited with firing a single, well-aimed shot that dropped Durand where he stood. Durand managed to crawl back into the bank, where he died.

Later, he became the topic of comic books, and a movie was made about him.