The biker brawl in Waco, Texas, that left nine dead and 18 injured served as a reminder that motorcycle gangs remain a force in the U.S., an outlaw subculture steeped in its own mythology.

He said being an outlaw biker is not about breaking the law, but living free. Advertisement. Article continues below this ad. July 8, 2015. Dane Schiller. Reporter, Houston Chronicle.

Comparatively little has been published about the Cossacks, but according to Bill Hayes, who wrote the book on outlaw motorcycle clubs, they were founded around 1969 in Texas.