Criminal

A criminal was anyone who did something illegal, be it smoking pot or doing something much worse. Types of criminals included rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.

Depending on the system of government, criminals faced a wide variety of punishments—if they were caught.