Red Shirt Gordon

Red Shirt Gordon was a criminal who escaped from Folsom Prison in California as leader of the "Big Break" in 1903. Gordon and twelve other prisoners overpowered guards, took hostages, and escaped from the prison, which at the time had no walls. Six fugitives were captured (one in 1910), and one was killed. Two of the men were executed and three received life sentences. Five escapees, including Gordon, were never recaptured.