Christopher Evans

Born near Ottawa in 1847, Christopher Evans later settled in California, where he worked as a farmer and teamster before becoming notorious as the leader of the Evans–Sontag Gang. He was linked to a series of Southern Pacific train robberies in the late 1880s and early 1890s, and his capture after the Stone Corral shootout made him a widely reported figure of the Old West.

While imprisoned at Folsom State Prison, Evans turned to writing. He is credited with Eurasia, a speculative novel that stands apart from the violent story most people associate with his name, and Wikisource also identifies him as a writer.

He died in Portland, Oregon, in 1917. What makes him memorable as an author is the contrast itself: a man remembered in popular history as an outlaw who also produced an imaginative work from behind prison walls.