The Detara Gang
The Henry Lee Williams Gang
In the spring of 1898, amid the wild lawlessness of the time, Henry Lee Williams, a man of ambition and ruthlessness, crafted his notorious gang. His team comprised an array of highway thieves, cattle rustlers, and petty criminals, each in pursuit of infamy and ill-gotten wealth. The fledgling gang launched into a series of daring escapades, from audacious bank heists in broad daylight to stealthy train robberies under the cover of darkness. Yet, their initial exploits, while bold, were marred by violence and poor planning. A particular caravan robbery went awry, resulting in three victims brutally slain and two of the gang members critically wounded. The gruesome affair left a distinct mark on the gang, and with their ranks depleted, fresh blood was needed.
Charles Floyd and Albert Earnest Heartfield, two small-time highway thieves, stepped into the void. Their introduction into the gang would be a turning point in the narrative of the Henry Lee Williams gang. The pair had a chance encounter with Williams in a dusty backwater saloon, a meeting that led to their recruitment. Driven by the allure of infamy and the promise of bountiful riches, they quickly became integral members of the outlaw outfit.
However, their life in the gang was far from what they had envisioned. Williams' increasing recklessness, coupled with a spiraling gambling addiction, started pushing the gang towards a dangerous precipice. More botched robberies followed, as well as brutal, rewardless killings. The dire state of affairs prompted Floyd and Heartfield to hatch a plot against their leader. Realizing that their survival was at stake, they conspired to overthrow Williams, devising a daring plan to assassinate him.
In a move as shocking as it was ruthless, the pair acted on their plot. Williams was shot multiple times in his sleep, marking the abrupt end of his reign over the gang. The violent overthrow was a clear display of the lengths the duo would go to protect their own interests, revealing a new level of ruthlessness within their ranks.
The grim events that transpired sent shockwaves through the remaining members of the gang. Many, fearing a similar fate, decided to abandon the outlaw life, leaving behind a skeleton crew of hardened criminals. Bereft of a leader and with nothing left to lose, these men represented the remnants of the ill-fated Henry Lee Williams gang. Their future, like their past, would undoubtedly be marked by chaos, violence, and a desperate struggle for survival.
The Floyd-Heartfield Gang
thumb|The early days of The Floyd-Heartfield Gang.
THE FLOYD-HEARTFIELD GANG would be established and the pair would move their small gang out east, robbing people in and around towns before finding themselves in the state of Monroe, more specifically New Austin. Seeing the county to be the shining image of the old west, the gang settled down and setup shop.
Having set up a camp just above Tumbleweed, the gang consisting off, Floyd, Heartfield, Marquez, Grover, Yates and Amir began establishing connections in New Austin, opting to take their 'business' to the neighboring county of West Elizabeth to avoid shitting where they ate. Floyd and Heartfield began leading highway robberies, typically in and around Big Valley teaching their newer members the in's and outs of it all before forcing them to lead their own robberies.
As they took more and more, the gang quickly moved into extortion, taking their victims telegrams and names so they could present them with the ability to buy their items back if they so wished. As their antics grew and grew, the gang began focused on extortion as a major way to make money, planning to find isolated businesses and homesteads to fleece of their goods and money on a weekly basis.
Alone, Albert Earnest Heartfield would be confronted by Red Water and a large group of natives at Wallace Station, accusing him of shooting a native lady and attempting to rob her. Red Water, sure of himself in his accusation, offered Albert a deal, his life for his honesty. Believing "honest men don't exist", he continued his lie, of which was partially true. As it would so happen, he had attempted to rob the native lady in question but he was not the man that had shot at her and as a consequence of this lesser wrong, Red Water severed his trigger finger seeing it as a fitting punishment. Being humiliated and having such a major thing taken, Albert would descend into a bitter and hateful man.
During this time, the gang met up with old friends of theirs. Two siblings by the names of Vall and Dash Detara, of which they had met when Henry Lee Williams ran the gang. The siblings would quickly join the small group in their antics from time to time, even hitting the McCoys as a series of revenge hits for the loss of Alberts finger.
The Floyd-Heartfield Gang and The Five County Crooks
Weeks later, the gang would meet up with two other gangs consist of a small group by the name of The Mercenaries and the other by the name of The Kamassa Boys, after Albert found himself roped into a plot against a United States Marshals life. Liking how they operated and the power it gave all of them with their stronger numbers, the groups would almost instantly become allied with each other, taking the name "The Five County Crooks" as their handle.
Deciding that they could finally take on all of their enemies and finally fulfil their revenge fantasies, the three groups began collating a list of people that had wronged them for one reason or another. The first on the agenda, Red Water, Chief of the Apache tribe. Having cut his trigger finger off and leaving him unable to shoot a side arm, Albert wanted his own back in blood. After hitting the Apache camp and taking down 3 people the day prior, the group stumbled across a lonesome Red Water and took him at gun point, taking his trigger finger and affording him the same mercy he had show Albert.
With this off the checklist, the gang moved to hitting a group in Lemoyne by the name of "The Lost" on behalf of members of the mercenaries. After multiple robberies and minor hits, the groups would have a major shootout in the town of Rhodes with 'The Five County Crooks' coming out the victor, managing to escape with all their members.
Waiting to hit them again, the group would see USMS Fitzpatrick and Heart, both of which were on their little list of people that had wronged them. Stalking them out of town as they travelled by a patrol wagon alongside LSO Undersheriff Ylva Heart, the group kidnapped all three of them and dragged them to an abandoned and isolated homestead nearby. After much back and forth a dead US Marshal Fitzpatrick was left in their wake, leaving the group, more specifically Zann Imamovic, at the top of Monroe's wanted list.
Whether it be a result of blood lust, the thrill or just the group spiralling to some extent, they also stalked US Marshal Sirius and stabbed him multiple times in the streets of Saint Denis. This moment snapped them back into reality as they all realised how risky and worthless such an action was.
Getting their shit back and gear, the group would continue crossing out names from their list one by one in a far more planned and strategic manner than before. One of these being another hit against 'The Lost' more specifically Beth Blackwell, managing to kidnap her right in front of her group and taking her to an isolated camp location where they would torture her for a slight against one of The Mercenaries.
Following this, one of the members of the Kamassa Boys decided he wanted to take down US Marshal Deerwood, a man he had been feuding with for months. A failed attempt to grab him in Valentine left the man in Sisika and another one of the groups members being set free in hopes he would come through for them and rat the gang out in exchange for his friends freedom.
During this, Deerwood let on to him that he had incriminating information yet to be sent in against his friend and on return to the group, made this fact well aware. Seeing the only realistic cause of action being to murder Deerwood to prevent this from getting out and to get him written of their list, The Five County Crooks began stalking him, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
After finding Deerwood in Blackwater they wait for a perfect time to snatch him without having to fight their way out and the opportunity surely prevented itself. The group manage to kidnap him in the stables and escape Blackwater without being chased. In the clear, they take him up to an isolated cabin and execute him in a rehearsed, death sentencing and firing line akin to that of the ones many marshals before him have carried out. Shot multiple times, Deerwood was left dead.