Are Texas Seven the Stuff of Legend?

Jan. 24 -- Could the Texas Seven be remembered as modern-day heirs to Jesse James and Billy the Kid?

At least since the days of the Old West, the feats of outlaws, including some vicious killers, have captured the imagination of the popular culture.

"The outlaw figure has been very strong in our culture," says James Hoy, a professor at Emporia State University in Kansas and an expert on Western folklore.

But, Hoy notes, "It's hard to romanticize these guys."

Like other historians of the American West, Hoy says most legendary outlaws were associated with larger causes or issues with which the public had some sympathy — resisting corrupt or intrusive authorities, supporting the Confederacy, or displaying Robin Hood-style generosity.

Like Hoy, David Stanley, a professor at Westminster College in Utah and another Old West expert, doesn't see any larger, sympathetic cause associated with the recently recaptured Texas fugitives.

"I'll be rash enough to predict they won't become folk heros," says Stanley.

Still, neither will rule out the possibility of a few corridas — Mexican traditional ballads about bandits and outlaw — being sung about the Texas Seven, if they take hold as symbols of defiance toward the U.S. justice system.

Fear and Fascination in the Eyes of the Public

Whether they are remembered in the Western outlaw tradition or not, the Texas Seven's saga gripped the country for over a month.

It began Dec. 13 with a daring prison break, and soon their faces were on everything from the nightly news to T-shirts and pizza boxes as the nation followed their story with a mixture of fear and fascination.

Before authorities tracked down the last two members of the fugitive group today, they had been linked to a brazen robbery and brutal slaying on Christmas Eve and had generated possible sightings everywhere from New Mexico to New York.

Many elements helped bring the band of fugitives to national attention. First there was the concern for public safety — the group was made up of seven hardened criminals, including two convicted murderers and a pair of rapists.