Dutch Van Der Linde (Concept Game AU)

Dutch was born in 1855[1] to a woman of English descent named Greta and a father of Dutch ancestry somewhere near Philadelphia. His father fought for the Union in the American Civil War and died in a battle that occurred in Pennsylvania; because of his father's death, Van der Linde developed a sworn grudge against Southerners. At the age of 15, he left his home as he was a disobedient child and rarely got along with his mother, who died in 1881 and was buried in Blackwater, although Dutch only found out several years later from an uncle of his.

Van der Linde valued freedom and liberties above all else and dreamed of living an independent existence. To attain these desires, Dutch began to resort to a life of crime. In the mid-1870s,[2] Dutch met a con artist named Hosea Matthews at a campfire on the road to Chicago. Hosea attempted to con and rob him only to realize that Dutch likewise had done the same and stolen from him. Impressed by the other's skills, the pair laughed and decided to partner up and face the future together, founding the famous Van der Linde gang.