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Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy: America’s Robin Hood
Robert Leroy Parker—the infamous Butch Cassidy—was born on a hardscrabble ranch in Utah in 1866. The son of Mormon immigrants, he was one of 13 children. Life was hard for the Parker family, and young Roy, as he was known then, fell in with cattle rustler and horse thief Mike Cassidy while he was still in his teens.
Parker’s career as the West’s Robin Hood is a curious blend of fact and fiction. His first known bank robbery took place in Telluride, Colo., in 1888. He made off with $21,000 and used the money to purchase a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming in Wind River Country.He was based out of Dubois for a number of years, during which a cloud of suspicion hung over his comings and goings. Many believed he was using the ranch to conceal more clandestine operations, which seems likely since in 1894, Parker was arrested in Lander and convicted for stealing horses and running a protection racket.
According to local lore, Parker was much loved in Lander, and was, therefore, allowed to spend the night before going to prison on his own reconnaissance. He turned himself in the following morning and spent the next 18 months in federal prison in Laramie. Following his release, Parker, now known more commonly as Butch Cassidy, became associated with the Wild Bunch and his criminal activity increased.
Cassidy was linked to a number of bank and train robberies in the ensuing years, but throughout his career he maintained a reputation of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He boasted that he never killed anyone, although other members of his gang did and they quickly became among America’s most sought-after criminals. Cassidy and the Wild Bunch traveled back and forth along the Outlaw Trail during this period of time. The Outlaw Trail stretched from Mexico to Montana and included a number of infamous hideouts such as Hole-In-the-Wall in Wyoming’s Powder River Country and Robber’s Roost in Utah. Throughout his wanderings, Wind River Country remained a sanctuary. Cassidy had a long-time lady friend in Lander—Mary Boyd—plus the townspeople and ranchers had a fondness for him and were willing to provide him sanctuary when he was around. Eventually, however, the heat from the law got too intense and Cassidy fled to South America.
Stories about what happened next are murky. Some believe Cassidy was killed in a shootout in Bolivia—the version of the story made famous by the 1970s movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Others believe Cassidy faked his death, and went to Europe where he underwent plastic surgery before returning to life as a law-abiding citizen in the United States. According to this version of events, he died from cancer in 1937.
Butch Cassidy continues to capture people’s imagination years after his death. In 1976, actor Robert Redford wrote in National Geographic, “As technology thrusts us relentlessly into the future, I find myself perversely, more interested in the past. We seem to have lost something—something vital, something of individuality and passion. That may be why we tend to view the western outlaw, rightly or not, as a romantic figure.”
http://www.utah.com/oldwest/butch_cassidy.htm
http://www.wyomingbnb-ranchrec.com/History.ButchCassidy.html
Robert Leroy Parker—the infamous Butch Cassidy—was born on a hardscrabble ranch in Utah in 1866. The son of Mormon immigrants, he was one of 13 children. Life was hard for the Parker family, and young Roy, as he was known then, fell in with cattle rustler and horse thief Mike Cassidy while he was still in his teens.
Parker’s career as the West’s Robin Hood is a curious blend of fact and fiction. His first known bank robbery took place in Telluride, Colo., in 1888. He made off with $21,000 and used the money to purchase a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming in Wind River Country.He was based out of Dubois for a number of years, during which a cloud of suspicion hung over his comings and goings. Many believed he was using the ranch to conceal more clandestine operations, which seems likely since in 1894, Parker was arrested in Lander and convicted for stealing horses and running a protection racket.
According to local lore, Parker was much loved in Lander, and was, therefore, allowed to spend the night before going to prison on his own reconnaissance. He turned himself in the following morning and spent the next 18 months in federal prison in Laramie. Following his release, Parker, now known more commonly as Butch Cassidy, became associated with the Wild Bunch and his criminal activity increased.
Cassidy was linked to a number of bank and train robberies in the ensuing years, but throughout his career he maintained a reputation of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He boasted that he never killed anyone, although other members of his gang did and they quickly became among America’s most sought-after criminals. Cassidy and the Wild Bunch traveled back and forth along the Outlaw Trail during this period of time. The Outlaw Trail stretched from Mexico to Montana and included a number of infamous hideouts such as Hole-In-the-Wall in Wyoming’s Powder River Country and Robber’s Roost in Utah. Throughout his wanderings, Wind River Country remained a sanctuary. Cassidy had a long-time lady friend in Lander—Mary Boyd—plus the townspeople and ranchers had a fondness for him and were willing to provide him sanctuary when he was around. Eventually, however, the heat from the law got too intense and Cassidy fled to South America.
Stories about what happened next are murky. Some believe Cassidy was killed in a shootout in Bolivia—the version of the story made famous by the 1970s movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Others believe Cassidy faked his death, and went to Europe where he underwent plastic surgery before returning to life as a law-abiding citizen in the United States. According to this version of events, he died from cancer in 1937.
Butch Cassidy continues to capture people’s imagination years after his death. In 1976, actor Robert Redford wrote in National Geographic, “As technology thrusts us relentlessly into the future, I find myself perversely, more interested in the past. We seem to have lost something—something vital, something of individuality and passion. That may be why we tend to view the western outlaw, rightly or not, as a romantic figure.”
http://www.utah.com/oldwest/butch_cassidy.htm
http://www.wyomingbnb-ranchrec.com/History.ButchCassidy.html
