𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚑 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕

Micah Bell III was born around 1860 into a family deeply steeped in crime. His father, Micah Bell Jr., was a cruel and small-minded outlaw, while his grandfather had also lived outside the law. From an early age, Micah was immersed in this criminal lifestyle. At seventeen, in 1877, he and his father were fugitives for the brutal double murder of Roscoe and Jean Briggs, who had been hanged from rafters with their throats cut. Evidence suggests Micah often worked alongside his father, and for a time, he also rode with his brother Amos. Eventually, however, the two fell out. By 1899, Amos had renounced his criminal past, living in California with his wife and daughters, and made it clear he wanted no further contact with Micah — even threatening to kill him if he ever came near his family.

During his early criminal career, Micah crossed paths with various outlaws. He rode with Cleet and Joe for a time, and at some point participated in a failed southern bank robbery with a man named Norman. These ventures shaped him into a hardened and volatile gunslinger with a reputation for violence.

In December 1898, Micah encountered Dutch van der Linde in Crenshaw Hills, a small town in the Grizzlies. Dutch was attempting to sell a stash of stolen gold, but the deal fell apart, nearly costing him his life. Micah intervened during the confrontation, saving Dutch, who in turn welcomed him into the Van der Linde gang. Despite his experience and effectiveness as a fighter, Micah quickly proved divisive within the group. While Dutch developed a strong fondness for him, others — particularly Arthur Morgan, John Marston, and Hosea Matthews — saw him as reckless, argumentative, and dangerously hotheaded.

After only a few months in the gang, Micah proposed robbing a ferry in Blackwater. Although Arthur and Hosea had identified a different target, Dutch chose to follow Micah’s plan, tempted by the promise of a much greater payoff. The heist, however, went disastrously wrong. The Pinkerton Detective Agency ambushed the gang, sparking a violent shootout. The aftermath was devastating: Jenny Kirk and Davey Callander were mortally wounded, Mac Callander was captured and killed by Pinkertons, and Sean MacGuire was knocked unconscious and later taken by bounty hunters. The survivors fled into the frozen peaks of Ambarino, struggling through a brutal blizzard to escape the law.