Butch Cassidy: The Gentleman Bandit

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He is one of the most popular and enduring icons of the American West; the gentleman bandit who charmed his way through life, always keeping one step ahead of the law. With his fabled Wild Bunch, he became notorious for robbing banks and railways during the closing decade of the 19th century, then headed south of the border, only to meet his match at the hands of Bolivian troops. In this week’s Biographics, we delve into the life and death of Butch Cassidy.

**Early Life**

Robert Leroy Parker was born in Beaver, Utah on April 13, 1866. He was named after his grandfather, who had led a group of Mormon handcart refugees thousands of miles across the country to the utopia that was Utah. Traveling along the Mormon trail, they pulled all of their belongings in handcarts. With their faith in Brigham Young and the Lord, they headed into the snowdrifts of the Continental Divide. Robert Parker, senior, was a strong man, but the harsh winter was too much for him, and he was found dead one morning, frozen in his blanket. The party forged on and, after many trials, made it to Utah. Parker’s widow and twelve-year-old son, Max, settled at American Fork, some 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. In 1865, they moved to Beaver, where Max married Ann Campbell. The couple would go on to have thirteen children, with Robert, known as Bob, being the oldest. Max Parker became a successful businessman.

When Bob was a young child, his father purchased a ranch twelve miles south of Circleville and moved the family there. He employed a number of cowboys, including a petty criminal by the name of Mike Cassidy. Cassidy took a shine to young Bob, who appeared to idolize the swaggering outlaw. He taught the boy how to shoot a gun, ride a horse, rope and brand, and rustle cattle. Bob was a good student, and by the time he was sixteen, he had developed a reputation as a fine shot and a competent horseman. He developed into a solid, strapping teenager with a pleasant, jovial personality. There is not a lot known about Butch’s later teen years. It appears that he took work as a rancher in various locations until 1884. At some time, he gained work as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming. It was at this time that he took the nickname ‘Butch’. The surname Cassidy was an homage to his childhood hero, Mike Cassidy.

Cassidy’s first run-in with the law occurred around 1880. He wanted to buy some food and clothes but found the shop to be closed. Undeterred, he broke in and took a pair of jeans and a pie. However, he also left an IOU note indicating that he would return to settle his account later. The shopkeeper, though, was not impressed and had Butch arrested. The case ended up before the courts, where a jury acquitted him.

**The First Bank Heist**

In 1889, a twenty-three-year-old Butch Cassidy turned up in Telluride, Colorado. Located in the San Juan Mountains, Telluride was a wild mining town full of gold-hungry prospectors. The place was filled with saloons, gambling houses, and brothels. Sitting right in the middle of the town was the San Miguel Valley Bank. Cassidy teamed up with a fellow drifter named Matt Warner, and the two were joint investors in a racehorse named Betty. The money for the investment came through cattle rustling. Then they decided to set their sights higher, determining to rob the local bank. It is believed that they robbed a stage in Denver prior to the bank heist. They then made a show of spending money liberally around Telluride to show that they were not desperate men.

On the morning of June 24th, 1889, Cassidy, Warner, and two accomplices, one who is believed to have been Harry Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid, hitched their horses outside of the livery store in Telluride and then headed for a saloon not far from the San Miguel Valley Bank. Just prior to noon, they noticed one of the tellers exit the bank, leaving just one man on duty. Two of the outlaws kept guard outside while the other two entered the bank. Amazingly, none of the robbers bothered to wear a mask or otherwise conceal their identities. History does not reveal the role that each individual played. We do know that one of the men who went into the bank approached the lone teller and told him that he wanted to cash a check. When the man began to inspect the check, his head was grabbed and shoved into the desk. At this, the two outside came in, and all four began ransacking the bank in search of money. They got away with more than $20,000. On their way out of town, Cassidy and Warner were recognized by two men. Still, they managed to get away, hiding out in a remote area of southeastern Utah known as Robber’s Roost. This would become a favorite place of escape for Cassidy and his gang, who built cabins there and kept their stolen cattle, horses, and weaponry in the area.

Cassidy used some of the profits from the bank job to buy a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming. In 1894, he began a relationship with a teenage girl named Anne Bassett, who was the daughter of a wealthy cattle rancher. For four years after the San Miguel Valley Bank robbery, Butch managed to live the life of a law-abiding citizen. However, shortly after becoming involved with Anne, he was arrested for horse stealing. His trial took place in Lander, Wyoming, and resulted in his conviction and sentence to two years imprisonment in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Laramie. Cassidy proved to be a model prisoner. He applied to the Wyoming Governor for an early release. This was agreed to on the condition that he would stay out of trouble in the future. Butch agreed but had no intention of following through on the promise. Immediately upon his release on January 19th, 1896, he rejoined his gang at an area of their Robber’s Roost hideaway known as the Hole in the Wall.

**Hardened Criminal**

It was following Butch’s release from the Wyoming State Penitentiary that he and his Wild Bunch gang began their crime spree in earnest. The gang was enlarged to more than thirty members, with a core of such notables as the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, and Elza Lay. On the mid-afternoon of August 13th, 1896, three men rode into Montpellier, Idaho. They dismounted in front of the bank, and then two of them pulled their bandanas over their faces. Two men on the sidewalk were observing them. The bandits quickly pulled out their revolvers, and the two wearing bandanas herded the men into the bank. Inside were a number of customers and three bank employees. Everyone except for one of the cashiers was ordered to line up against the wall. One of the robbers, who is believed to have been Cassidy, kept his gun trained on the terrified customers, while another filled bags with cash, gold, and silver. Before leaving with their $7,000 booty, Cassidy ordered the people to wait for ten minutes before raising the alarm. The robber who had remained outside, Bob Meeks, was the only one who did not cover his face. He was recognized by a town resident and ended up being the only one of the three who was captured and convicted of the crime.

Cassidy was well known in Utah and, as a result, had a general rule of not committing crimes in that state. However, in April 1897, he made an exception to that rule. His target was the payroll of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in Castle Gate. This was the largest coal mine in Carbon County, Utah. Furthermore, it was ideally located between the gang’s favorite hideouts of Robber’s Roost and Brown’s Hole. The company knew that their payroll was an enticing prize for bandits and so they tried to prevent heists by keeping irregular paydays. The payroll came in on a train that was heavily guarded. Butch decided that going up against the train was too risky and so he determined to take the money directly from the paymaster. In order to do so, however, the gang would need to know when the payroll was going to arrive.

On April 17th, Cassidy rode into the town of Castle Gate and went to one of the saloons, where he inquired if there was any work going for a ranch hand. He was told that there might be if he was patient enough. With his excuse for hanging around now established, he made his way to the train depot. He watched the goings-on as the train came and went and then returned to the saloon. For the next week, he repeated this process, observing every train that came into town. On April 22nd, Cassidy’s patience was rewarded. A whistle from the mine announced that it was payday. When the train arrived, Butch watched from a distance as the paymaster, F.I. Carpenter, and a couple of aides carried money bags from the train to his office. The bags were heavy, containing more than $7,000 in gold and over $100 in silver, and it was slow going for the three men. Then, just as they readied to climb the stairs to the paymaster’s office, Carpenter was approached from behind, and a revolver was poked into his ribs. Butch informed him that he was about to relieve him and his pals of their load, adding that he’d hate to have to shoot any of them. Carpenter was stunned that such a brazen attack would be attempted in broad daylight. There were plenty of miners around, but very few of them spoke English or would have been aware of what was going on. Gang member Elza Lay emerged from the shadows and helped Butch take possession of the money bags. Carpenter and his helpers left them to it, seeking protection in the nearby hardware store. The paymaster then began yelling out that he had been robbed.

Cassidy and Lay attempted to mount their horses while stowing the money in their saddlebags. However, Butch’s horse got spooked and took off, leaving him standing in the middle of the street with a bag of gold in his hand. Lay managed to track the horse down and bring it back, and the two made their escape with over $7,000 in gold. They left the bag of silver lying in the street. Paymaster Carpenter now sprang into action. He ran for the telegraph office and instructed the clerk to send an urgent message to the authorities in Price, some ten miles away. However, the clerk told him that the lines had been cut. Thinking fast, he then made for the train and told the driver to hurry to Price. As the train chugged along, it went right past the fleeing robbers. It took several hours before the sheriff at Price could get a posse organized. In addition to having this head start, Butch was also very familiar with the countryside and was able to easily evade his pursuers. Local ranchers were also happy to provide him and his gang with fresh horses, having no loyalty to the big mining companies or the banks. Cassidy and Lay made it back to their base at Robber’s Roost, where they laid low with the other gang members. The officials in Utah were well aware of where the robbers were but showed no enthusiasm for going after them. As a result, the local papers began to accuse the lawmen of cowardice. For three months, Butch and his men spent their time drinking, gambling, and horse riding. Then, when the boredom was too much, they decided to go out and start spending their takings. They ranged around, buying fine clothes, getting haircuts, and spending lavishly in the saloons and brothels.

**Belle Fourche**

By the end of June 1897, it was time to get back to the business of robbery. The gang set their sights on the town of Belle Fourche, north of the Black Hills. On June 28th, Butch sent gang member Tom O’Day in to scout out the town. The plan was to rob the bank once O’Day had gotten back. However, O’Day managed to get himself drunk and didn’t return to camp until it was far too late. An angry Butch had to delay the heist for 24 hours. The next day, Butch selected the Sundance Kid, along with George Curry, Walt Putney, and Tom O’Day to do the job at the Butte County Bank. The three men followed the usual procedure, drawing their revolvers and forcing the customers to stand along the wall with their hands in the air. However, a passerby saw this through the window and raised the alarm. Chaos erupted on the street as people rushed to get off the street while others went for their guns. The bandits inside quickly realized that they’d been found out. They rushed out, firing their guns in the air and attempting their getaway. A couple of townspeople returned fire from behind cover. Kid Curry was unable to get to his horse, so he tried to mount a mule only to discover that it wouldn’t move. As the other two rode out of town, Tom O’Day attempted to sneak away into a side street but was caught and held overnight in the local bank vault before being transported to the jail in Deadwood the next day. The robbery had been an unmitigated disaster. It had cost a valued gang member and earned the gang just $97, leaving another $3,000 in the vault.

**The Great Train Robbery**

In the early morning hours of June 2nd, 1899, the Wild Bunch pulled off one of their most celebrated crimes. Two members of the gang with red lanterns flagged down the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train just outside of the Wilcox Station in Wilcox, Wyoming. The driver thought the two men were warning him that the driving rain had washed out an approaching bridge. He threw on the brake to bring the train to a screeching halt. But when he saw that the men had guns drawn, he realized the truth and began running down the track to warn a coming train to back off. The bandits let him go and jumped onto the train, where they ordered the engineer to pull the train into a nearby trestle on the far side of the bridge. Once the train had crossed over, one of the bandits lit the fuse to a stash of dynamite that had been placed on the bridge. The bridge was damaged enough that the second train would be unable to follow. The train engineer was then ordered to take the train forward another two miles, where the rest of the gang were waiting. The robbers then made their way to the Express Car, only to find that the guard wouldn’t open the door. They then proceeded to blow it off with dynamite. This rattled the guard to the extent that he couldn’t remember the combination to the safe. The robbers blew that open as well, with the result that the cash went flying in all directions. Still, the gang managed to get away with more than $50,000 worth of cash, gold, and jewelry. The robbery made national headlines and brought the Wild Bunch to the attention of the nation’s premier crime fighters, the Pinkerton Detective Agency. For the next two years, the Pinkertons doggedly tracked down the gang. Meanwhile, a posse was formed to chase down the train robbers. They caught up with three of the bandits on June 6th at Castle Creek. A gun battle ensued in which Kid Curry shot and killed the sheriff leading the posse. The other posse members then withdrew as the outlaws escaped.

**Going Straight**

Butch Cassidy was not of the rough and tumble mold of most of his contemporary outlaws. He was an extremely sociable man who was a great conversationalist. When not engaged in criminal activity, he impressed others with his strong work ethic. By 1899, he had a thriving ranch in Dubois, Wyoming, and was growing tired of the outlaw life. In the summer of that year, he visited the office of Attorney Orlando Powers in Ogden, Utah. He explained to the attorney that he had been portrayed as a vicious criminal when in fact he had never hurt anybody and had only ever robbed from large corporations. Butch then urged Powers to approach the governor on his behalf seeking an amnesty deal. The lawyer responded that a deal was extremely unlikely and the best thing that Butch could do was to go back into hiding. Undeterred, Butch sought out another attorney. This time a meeting was arranged with Utah Governor Herbert Wells. Wells was impressed by Cassidy and told him that, as long as there were no outstanding murder warrants out for him, he was sure an amnesty could be arranged. A second meeting was arranged, which Butch attended full of confidence. He was surprised to learn, however, that the Governor’s office had uncovered an outstanding murder warrant in his name. Butch protested that he’d never killed a man in his life. He didn’t have to, the Governor responded; the mere charge was enough. It meant that amnesty was out of the question.

**Back to Crime**

With the failure of his attempt to go straight, it seems that Butch carried out a string of further robberies around the turn of the century. He and the Sundance Kid have been linked to a train robbery in Tipton, Wyoming in August 1900 and the Winnemucca, Nevada bank heist a month later, though there is no concrete evidence that they took part. With no prospects to end the fugitive life in the West, Butch began making plans to head south of the border. When he proposed the idea to his gang members, only two were interested – the Sundance Kid and Kid Curry. Before the gang split up for good, its five core members had a final rendezvous in Texas. After having their fill of liquor, fine dining, and entertainment, they sat for a group photograph in new suits. The photo that was taken on that day made its way to the Pinkerton agency and was used on wanted posters. Butch and Sundance then split up, promising to meet up again in New York City. This they did, with Sundance being accompanied by his longtime girlfriend, Etta Place. The trio boarded the ship Hermanus bound for Buenos Aires on February 20th, 1901.

**Argentina**

Immediately upon arrival, Butch, using the assumed name of Jim Ryan, deposited $12,000 in a local bank as the first step in putting in a land claim. They ended up purchasing 17,000 acres of land in Cholilo. To their neighbors, they appeared to be hardworking individuals, except for one disturbing fact – wherever they went, they wore their guns. Butch and Sundance had presumed that a move out of the country would bring an end to their pursuit by the Pinkertons. In this, they were mistaken. Robert Pinkerton, the head of the agency, sent a letter to the Buenos Aires police