In August 1799 the Harpe’s were cornered in Webster County, Kentucky, below what is now Henderson, Kentucky. Little Harpe escaped, but his brother was wounded by a rifle shot before being felled with a tomahawk. Big Harpe remained alive, although grievously injured and confessed to more than twenty murders, (he expressed regrets over the murder of one of the infants) before his disgusted captor – Moses Steagall, the father of the second murdered infant – beheaded him and placed his head upon a pike, from which it was displayed at a crossroads. The site is today marked with a Historical Marker and the section of highway where it is displayed is known as Harpe’s Head Road.
Little Harpe made good his escape and once again got out of Kentucky by fleeing to the Illinois Territory, taking refuge for the second time with Sam Mason’s gang of pirates and thieves. Little Harpe convinced Mason and the others that it had been his brother who was the instigator of the mindless violence against their victims, and he soon joined the pirates in their raids on passing riverboats and murderous robberies on the Natchez Trace.
After Mason and his gang were driven out of Cave in Rock by Illinois settlers they moved downriver, through Missouri, and eventually to the area around Yazoo, Mississippi. There they continued to raid passing travelers and Mason expanded his territory to include the robbery and murder of travelers on the Natchez Trace. Eventually, they were captured by the Spanish authorities in Louisiana, and arrangements were made to transfer them to the Americans in Mississippi since none of their myriad crimes had been conducted against Spanish property or persons. During the transfer, Harpe and Mason, along with at least two other gang members, escaped by overpowering the Spanish troops guarding them. During the escape, Mason was shot in the head. Harpe needed money, since the Spanish had confiscated all that he had when arrested, and was aware of the sizable bounty on Mason, as well as it being collectible whether Mason was dead or alive.
Harpe, in disguise, took Mason’s head to the authorities with the intent of collecting the bounty. Along with Mason’s head, he took James May, another of the pirates. It remains unclear whether Harpe took May willingly or May insinuated himself into the plan but at any rate, May was recognized. He willingly identified Harpe to the authorities in the hope of obtaining a lighter sentence, but the authorities were unmoved by his action. Harpe and May – who went by multiple names and which, if any, were correct remains unknown – were arrested, tried and convicted of multiple crimes, including piracy, for which the penalty was death by hanging. Both were executed in Old Greenville, Mississippi Territory, in January 1804.
During the Harpe’s singularly violent and short career, they were credited – if that is the word – with the murder of at least 39 persons. The murder of slaves did not count towards that total in their lifetime, and those along with several others of which they were suspected because they happened to be in their paths bring the count to over fifty. It is not known how many murders are attributed to each brother, or which of the two was the most violent. What is known is that the majority of their murders were evidently for the simple reason that they enjoyed killing.
Sources For Further Reading
Illinois.gov – About Cave-in-Rock
The Southern Illinoisan – Cave in Rock is Filled with History and Intrigue
Legends of America – The Vicious Harpes – First American Serial Killers
The Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock by Otto A. Rothert
Legends of America – Samuel “Wolfman” Mason Takes on the Natchez Trace
The Vintage News – The Hunt for America’s First Serial Criminals
The Vintage News – The Harpe Brothers: The First Recorded Serial Killers in The United States