Butch Cassidy
• Early Life: Butch Cassidy was born Robert Leroy Parker on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah Territory, to English immigrants Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies. He grew up in a Mormon household, but he was not particularly religious. Cassidy was the oldest of 13 children, and his family struggled financially. He left home at a young age to work various odd jobs.
• Cassidy was influenced by his grandfather, who was a pioneer and a scout, and his father, who was a rancher and a hunter. He learned how to ride, shoot, and track animals from them. He also developed a love for reading and adventure stories.
• Cassidy attended school sporadically, and often got into trouble for fighting and stealing. He ran away from home several times, and worked as a farmhand, a cowboy, a butcher, and a miner. He also traveled to different states, such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, where he encountered the lawless frontier life.
• Cassidy's first brush with the law occurred in 1884, when he was arrested for stealing a saddle in Lander, Wyoming. He was acquitted by a sympathetic jury, but he decided to change his name to Butch Cassidy to avoid further trouble. He took the name Butch from his previous occupation as a butcher, and Cassidy from his friend and mentor Mike Cassidy, a notorious cattle rustler and outlaw.
• Life of Crime: Cassidy's criminal career began in his late teens when he started rustling cattle and horses. He soon formed friendships with other young outlaws and became involved in more serious crimes, such as bank and train robberies. He adopted the alias "Butch Cassidy" around this time. The Wild Bunch gang, named for their unpredictable and often violent behavior, became notorious for their daring robberies across the western United States.
• Cassidy's first major robbery occurred in 1889, when he and three other men robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado. They escaped with $21,000, which was a huge sum at the time. Cassidy used his share of the money to buy a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming, where he tried to live a respectable life. However, he soon returned to crime, as he found ranching boring and unprofitable.
• Cassidy met his most loyal and famous partner, Harry Longabaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid, in 1896. They became friends and joined forces to rob banks and trains. They also recruited other outlaws, such as Elzy Lay, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan, Will Carver, and George Curry, to form the Wild Bunch gang. The gang operated in several states, such as Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Nevada. They used remote hideouts, such as the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming and the Robbers Roost in Utah, to plan their heists and evade the law.
• Cassidy was known for his charisma, intelligence, and leadership skills. He was also known for his sense of humor, generosity, and compassion. He avoided killing people during his robberies, and often shared his loot with the poor and the needy. He also had a code of honor, and never betrayed his friends or partners. He was respected and admired by many people, including some lawmen and journalists.
• Robberies: The Wild Bunch gang carried out numerous heists, targeting banks, trains, and even mining payroll shipments. One of their most famous robberies was the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train robbery on August 29, 1900, near Wilcox, Wyoming. The gang dynamited a railcar and made off with a significant amount of cash.
• The Wilcox train robbery was one of the most spectacular and daring robberies in the history of the West. The gang used dynamite to blow up the express car, which contained $50,000 in cash and valuables. They also exchanged gunfire with the train crew and the passengers, who tried to stop them. The gang escaped with $30,000, leaving behind $20,000 that was too heavy to carry.
• The Wilcox train robbery also triggered one of the largest manhunts in the history of the West. The Union Pacific Railroad hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to track down and capture the robbers. The Pinkertons, led by Joe Lefors, pursued the gang across several states, using bloodhounds, telegraphs, and informants. They also offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
• The gang managed to elude the Pinkertons for several months, using disguises, aliases, and decoys. They also split up and regrouped at different locations, such as Fort Worth, Texas, and Winnemucca, Nevada, where they committed more robberies. They also sent taunting letters and photographs to the authorities, mocking their efforts to catch them.
• The Pinkerton Pursuit: The Pinkerton Detective Agency, hired by banks and railroads, pursued Butch Cassidy and his gang relentlessly. The Pinkertons were known for their aggressive tactics, and their pursuit forced Cassidy and his gang to constantly evade capture and move from place to place.
• The Pinkerton Detective Agency was founded by Allan Pinkerton in 1850, and became one of the most powerful and influential private detective agencies in the world. The Pinkertons specialized in solving crimes, protecting clients, and hunting down outlaws. They had a motto of "We Never Sleep", and a logo of an eye, symbolizing their vigilance and surveillance.
• The Pinkertons were notorious for their ruthless and violent methods, such as infiltrating gangs, setting traps, staging ambushes, and shooting to kill. They were also accused of violating civil rights, such as breaking into homes, torturing suspects, and bribing witnesses. They were feared and hated by many people, especially the outlaws and the labor unions, who saw them as agents of oppression and corruption.
• The Pinkertons pursued Butch Cassidy and his gang for more than a decade, from 1896 to 1908. They used every means possible to track them down, such as following their trails, interviewing their associates, and analyzing their handwriting. They also offered large rewards for their capture or death, and distributed wanted posters and circulars with their descriptions and photographs. They came close to catching them several times, but the gang always managed to escape or fight back.
• South America: Faced with increasing pressure from law enforcement, Cassidy, along with the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh) and Ethel "Etta" Place, fled to South America in 1901. They initially settled in Argentina, where they purchased a ranch near Cholila in the Patagonia region. They attempted to live quiet lives as ranchers, but their criminal past eventually caught up with them.
• Cassidy, Sundance, and Etta left New York City on February 20, 1901, aboard the British steamer Herminius, bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina. They traveled under the aliases of James Ryan, Harry A. Place, and Mrs. Place, respectively. They arrived in Argentina on March 9, 1901, and took a train to San Antonio de los Cobres, where they bought four mules and a wagon. They then traveled south to Cholila, a remote and scenic valley in the Andes mountains.
• Cassidy, Sundance, and Etta bought a 15,000-acre ranch in Cholila, where they raised cattle and horses. They also befriended the local settlers and the native Tehuelche people, who called them "the three gringos". They lived peacefully and comfortably for four years, enjoying the natural beauty and the simple life of the Patagonia. They also made occasional trips to other towns and cities, such as Bariloche, Esquel, and Buenos Aires, where they spent some of their stolen money.
• Cassidy, Sundance, and Etta's idyllic life in Argentina came to an end in 1905, when the Pinkertons and the Argentine police discovered their whereabouts and raided their ranch. The trio managed to escape, but they had to abandon their ranch and most of their belongings. They then resumed their outlaw activities, robbing banks and trains in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. They also parted ways with Etta, who returned to the United States in 1907, never to see them again.
• Death: The circumstances surrounding Butch Cassidy's death remain shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to one account, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were tracked down by a group of Bolivian soldiers after a series of robberies in Bolivia. A shootout ensued, and both Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were reportedly killed in San Vicente, Bolivia, on November 6, 1908. However, there are conflicting accounts and theories suggesting that Cassidy may have survived and returned to the United States under an assumed identity.
Butch Cassidy Media
The log cabin in Circleville, Utah, where Robert LeRoy Parker grew up
The building that housed the San Miguel Valley Bank, the site of Cassidy's first bank robbery in 1889.
Butch Cassidy's cattle brand of "Reverse-E, Box, E"
Cassidy's mugshot from the Wyoming State Prison in 1894
