The Life and Legend of Butch Cassidy - Part 1
The Life and Legend of Butch Cassidy
Few American outlaws have captured the public imagination quite like Butch Cassidy. Born Robert LeRoy Parker on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah, to Latter-day Saint pioneer parents Annie Gillies and Maximilian Parker, he grew up in a loving family environment that seemed unlikely to produce one of the West's most notorious criminals (Barton 1994; Meares 2020). The eldest of thirteen children, Robert spent his early years playing harmonica during family "home evenings" when they would read Church doctrine and play games together (Meares 2020).
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| Butch Cassidy Mugshot from the Wyoming State Prison in 1894 | Public Domain |
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| Butch Cassidy's Childhood Home in Garfield County, Utah | BLMUtah, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
The Making of an Outlaw
Robert's transformation from farm boy to outlaw began during his teenage years when he fell under the influence of an old rustler named Mike Cassidy while working on a nearby cattle ranch (Barton 1994). This mentor "seems to have indoctrinated the restless Robert into the lucrative business of stealing of livestock" (Meares 2020). At eighteen, probably on the run from crimes committed with Cassidy or alone, Robert left the family home, telling his mother, "Ma, there's not much here for me. No future. Pay in Utah is low – you know that. Maybe twenty or thirty dollars a month with board – and the board's not much to brag about in most places. There's no excitement around here. I'm not a kid anymore. Gotta be thinking about my future" (Meares 2020).
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| Butch Cassidy as a Young Man, circa 1880-89 | Uintah County (UT) Library |
Moving from rustler—for which he served a two-year stint in a Wyoming jail from 1894 to 1896—to master planner of robberies came naturally for the young man who would become Butch Cassidy (Barton 1994). The name itself came from practical circumstances: he took "Cassidy" in honor of his mentor Mike Cassidy, while "Butch" came from a job at a butcher shop in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where he worked to lay low for a while (Meares 2020). As he later told a friend, "Matt Warner nicknamed me Butch, he thought it was a big joke" (Meares 2020).
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| Wooden jailhouse in Wyoming Territory, photographed by C. Hart Merriam, 1893. National Archives (NAID 513123). |
The Wild Bunch Era
With his quick wit, native charm, fearlessness, and bravery, Cassidy never lacked willing companions to assist in his carefully planned schemes (Barton 1994). By 1896, his gang had dubbed themselves the "Wild Bunch," consisting of several well-known Western outlaws including Harry "The Sundance Kid" Longabaugh, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Ben "Tall Texan" Kilpatrick, Harry Tracy, and Elzy Lay, who was Butch's best friend (Barton 1994).
Operating around the turn of the century, Cassidy and his partners achieved remarkable success, "making off with a total of $200,000 (the equivalent of $2.5 million today) between 1889 and the early 1900s" (Meadows and Buck 1997). Their success stemmed from meticulous preparation: "Butch and a few selected gang members would spend days, sometimes weeks, scouting a robbery site and the best escape route. Wisely, they always chose the summer months for all their holdups, when the weather was favorable for eluding posses" (Meares 2020).
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| From The Great Train Robbery Film (1903) | Public Domain |
Despite his criminal activities, Cassidy maintained a reputation for avoiding unnecessary violence. "Although shots were fired during escapes, Butch was never known to have shot anyone during a holdup. The closest Butch ever came to harming a robbery victim was when he used explosives to force his way into an express car" (Meares 2020). Even then, "The gang always warned them when they would use dynamite, and they were wise enough to protect themselves by hiding behind the cargo" (Meares 2020).
Character and Generosity
Those who knew Cassidy remembered him as generous and kind-hearted, often displaying Robin Hood-like tendencies. Friend Josie Bassett recalled him as "a big dumb kid who liked to joke" (Meares 2020). His compassion extended even to animals—once, when he and childhood friend Jim Gass found a deer with a broken leg pinned under a fallen log, Gass suggested they shoot it to end its misery. But Bob said, "No, we'll fix that leg." He skillfully splinted the leg with a buckskin string so that as it healed, the deer's movements would wear it off naturally. Gass later said, "Bob couldn't kill a dog, let alone a man" (Betenson 1976).
Cassidy's generosity became legendary. He was known for paying people's taxes when they couldn't afford them and for helping struggling families in need. As Josie Bassett Morris would later say, "Butch took care of more poor people than FDR, and with no red tape" (Betenson 1976).
The Fatal Photograph
One of Cassidy's legendary larks nearly proved his undoing. In 1900, some of the Wild Bunch were in Texas "to visit their favorite brothels and blow off some steam. They decided to get a formal portrait taken as a joke" (Meares 2020). This formal portrait of the Sundance Kid, Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan (Kid Curry), and Cassidy was a rare misstep. "It is said a Wells Fargo agent recognized the outlaws when the photo was displayed in the photographer's Fort Worth studio window. It was soon on wanted posters throughout the West" (Meares 2020).
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| Front row left to right: Harry A. Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid, Ben Kilpatrick, alias the Tall Texan, Robert Leroy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy; Standing: Will Carver & Harvey Logan, alias Kid Curry; Fort Worth, Texas, 1900. |
Flight to South America
By 1900, the pressure from law enforcement had become intense. Successfully eluding the law became ever harder as the West grew more populated and organized, especially after the railroads hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to pursue them (Barton 1994). A lawyer claimed Cassidy came to visit him, curious if he could get a pardon and settle down for good. When told it would be impossible, Cassidy was understanding: "You know the law, and I guess you're right. But I'm sorry it can't be fixed some way. You'll never know what it means to be forever on the dodge" (Meares 2020).
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| Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Letterhead | From The Spy of the Rebellion by Allan Pinkerton, 1884 |
In 1901, Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, along with Etta Place (likely Sundance's girlfriend), fled to South America and purchased a ranch in Argentina under assumed names (Barton 1994). After steaming into Buenos Aires on the British ship Herminius in March and taking the train to Patagonia in June, they settled in the Chubut Territory, calling themselves James "Santiago" Ryan and Mr. and Mrs. Harry "Enrique" Place (Meadows and Buck 1997).
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| Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid) and Etta Place just before they sailed for South America | By DeYoung Photography Studio, PD-US, via Wikimedia Commons |
For a time, they lived peacefully, homesteading "a ranch in the Cholila Valley, raising sheep, cattle and horses. All three got on well with their neighbors, and if anyone came to know about Butch and Sundance's shady past, it never interfered with those good relations" (Meadows and Buck 1997). So highly were they regarded that "when Territorial Governor Julio Lezana visited the valley in early 1904, he spent the night in their home, a well-kept four-room log cabin on the east bank of the Blanco River. During the welcoming festivities, Sundance played sambas on his guitar and Lezana danced with Ethel" (Meadows and Buck 1997).
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| Butch Cassidy’s Cabin in Cholila, Argentina | Rowanda, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
Return to Crime and the Bolivian Finale
After a few years of honest ranching, the trio was suspected of bank robberies in South America. Etta Place eventually returned to the United States, disappearing into history, while Cassidy and Sundance found work at the Concordia Tin Mine, 16,000 feet up in the central Bolivian Andes (Meadows and Buck 1997). Assistant manager Percy Seibert, who became well acquainted with both men, "never had the slightest trouble getting along with" either of them, finding Sundance somewhat taciturn but growing quite fond of Butch (Meadows and Buck 1997).
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Still dreaming of settling down as a respectable rancher, Cassidy wrote to friends in late 1907 about finding "just the place [he had] been looking for 20 years" in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Now 41, he was burdened with regret: "Oh god, if I could call back 20 years…I would be happy" (Meadows and Buck 1997).
The end came on November 6, 1908, when Cassidy and Sundance allegedly robbed a mining company payroll near the remote town of San Vicente, Bolivia. According to official reports, they were cornered by Bolivian soldiers, and after a brief shootout, both men were found dead, apparently victims of a murder-suicide pact (Meadows and Buck 1997). But as we shall see, this may not have been the end of Butch Cassidy's story at all.
(To Be Continued)
Coming Next Post: Did Butch Cassidy really die in that Bolivian shootout in 1908? Part 2 will examine the compelling evidence that suggests America's most famous outlaw may have faked his own death and lived quietly for decades afterward. You won't want to miss the family testimonies, witness accounts, and mysterious sightings that challenge everything we thought we knew about Butch Cassidy's fate!
💬 Join the Conversation
- What do you think shaped Butch Cassidy's transformation from a Mormon farm boy to the West's most charismatic outlaw? Was it purely the influence of his mentor Mike Cassidy, or were there deeper social and economic factors at play in the American West of the 1890s?
- The Wild Bunch's meticulous planning and non-violent approach set them apart from other outlaw gangs of their era. Do you think this methodical, almost professional approach to crime reflects Cassidy's intelligence and leadership, or was it simply practical survival in an increasingly law-enforcement-conscious West?
- If you had been in Butch Cassidy's position in 1900—with Pinkertons closing in and the West becoming too civilized for outlaws—would you have chosen to flee to South America as he did, or tried to negotiate a pardon and go straight?
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📚 For Further Reading
Barton, John D. "Cassidy, Butch." In Utah History Encyclopedia. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/CASSIDY_BUTCH.shtml.
Bassett, Josie. "A Personal Interview with Josie Bassett." Interview by Kerry Ross Boren. Transcript, August 19, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100819052014/http://www.prospector-utah.com/bassett.htm.
Benson, Lee. "About Utah: Little Left of Butch's Life in Circleville." Deseret News, July 24, 2006. https://www.deseret.com/2006/7/24/19965117/about-utah-little-left-of-butch-s-life-in-circleville/.
Betenson, Lula Parker. Butch Cassidy, My Brother. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.
Betenson, W. J. Butch Cassidy, My Uncle: A Family Portrait. Glendo, WY: High Plains Press, 2012.
"Butch Cassidy's Buried Secrets." TV Broadcast. Mission Declassified. Travel Channel, May 19, 2019.
Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia. New York: Penguin Books, 1988.
De Groote, Michael. "Butch Cassidy Imposter Exposed." Deseret News, August 17, 2011, sec. Utah. https://www.deseret.com/2011/8/17/20209992/butch-cassidy-imposter-exposed/.
Jameson, W. C. Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing ; [S.l.] : Distributed by National Book Network, 2012.
McPhee, John Angus. Annals of the Former World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.
Meadows, Anne, and Daniel Buck. "The Last Days of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Wild West, February 1997.
Meares, Hadley. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The True Story of the Famous Outlaws." Biography, September 8, 2020. https://www.biography.com/crime/butch-cassidy-sundance-kid-real-story.
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