No other outlaws charmed the Old West quite like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00No other outlaws charmed the Old West quite like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
00:06Their legendary adventures even made it to the silver screen, most notably with the 1969
00:12film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
00:15These are the mysterious lives of the most famous duo of the West.
00:19The true number of Wild Bunch members is unknown.
00:22Some of the better-known outlaws from the gang included Cassidy and Sundance, but also
00:27Will Carver, Ben the Tall Texan Kilpatrick, LZ Lay, Bob Lee, Lonnie Logan, Harvey Kid
00:33Curry Logan, Flat Nose Curry, Matt Warner, and many others.
00:38Some were married, some were single.
00:39Many of them were simply outcasts, forced by one incident or another to step over the
00:44lines of the law.
00:46Within the confines of their many hideouts, they found acceptance among each other, as
00:50well as a forum for their varied talents.
00:53With or without the gang, each member of the Wild Bunch had a gentleman's agreement
00:57to never betray one another.
00:59Under Butch Cassidy's leadership, the gang was rarely violent.
01:02The outlaws were instructed to shoot at the horses, not the riders, if the gang was pursued
01:07by a posse.
01:09Because of his family ties and his reputation as a robber rather than a killer, Butch Cassidy
01:14was able to retain relationships with respectable people.
01:18According to Cassidy's sister, Lula Bedenson, Cassidy came from a respectable Mormon family
01:23and had a number of honorable friends scattered throughout the West.
01:27Often, proceeds from the robberies Cassidy took part in went to needy families, earning
01:31him the title of the Robin Hood of the West.
01:34In return for his generosity and compassion, Cassidy's friends were willing to put him
01:39up, beat him on the run, finance his escapes, and lie about his whereabouts.
01:43Even law officers liked Cassidy.
01:45The outlaw was sentenced to prison for stealing a horse in Wyoming in 1894.
01:50When Constable Henry Bodecker was asked why Cassidy wasn't shackled with the other prisoners,
01:55he responded that the outlaw was the only one who could be trusted.
01:59Eighteen months into his sentence, he met with Governor W.A. Richards to discuss early
02:04parole.
02:05Although Cassidy told Richards he was far more interested in robbing banks than stealing
02:08horses, the governor released him anyway, upon a promise from Cassidy that he would
02:13leave Wyoming banks alone.
02:16An excellent marksman, the Sundance Kid sported a more reckless reputation than his easygoing
02:21counterpart.
02:22In 1882, 15-year-old Harry Longabaugh headed west with his cousin in a covered wagon.
02:28The would-be robber was arrested for the first and only time in 1887 for horse stealing,
02:34and served two years for the crime at Sundance, Wyoming.
02:37The young outlaw took his new name from the town where he served his time.
02:41Upon his release in 1889, the young cowpoke took an honest job breaking horses.
02:46In 1892, however, he was named a suspect following a train robbery at Malta, Montana.
02:53The Sundance Kid met Harvey Logan in 1897, and the two robbed a bank in Belle Fouche,
02:58South Dakota.
03:00Both were captured and jailed in Deadwood, but were able to escape.
03:04Eventually, Logan introduced Sundance to Butch Cassidy, and he officially joined up with
03:09the Wild Bunch.
03:10As much as Sundance sported a reputation as a gunfighter, sources confirm that as far
03:15as anyone knows, he never killed anyone during his time with the Wild Bunch.
03:19Rather, Sundance preferred the persona of a dapper Dan who was a favorite of the ladies.
03:25It is he who kept company with an equally refined woman, the mysterious Etta Place.
03:31As romantic-sounding as her name is, Etta Place was not the lady's real name.
03:36Logan's earliest documentation about Place identified her first name as Ethel, Etta,
03:41Eva, or Rita.
03:43There are numerous theories as to her origins.
03:45Other historians have said the woman at the hideout was not Place at all.
03:49The real Etta Place claimed Cassidy and Sundance met Place at Fannie Porter's brothel in San
03:54Antonio, Texas.
03:56But Place fails to appear in any documents related to Fannie Porter.
04:00All that is known for sure is that the lady fell hard enough for the Sundance Kid to risk
04:04fleeing from the law with him.
04:06Etta Place's story, or lack thereof, is a fascinating addition to the outlaw's tale.
04:12In the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a rather comical scene depicts Wild Bunch
04:17members accidentally blowing up a train car.
04:20Well, that ought to do it.
04:26The scene immortalizes the infamous robbery of a Union Pacific train near Wilcox, Wyoming
04:31on June 2, 1899.
04:34Among those newspapers to report the incident was the Telluride Daily Journal in Colorado,
04:39where a young Cassidy had robbed his first bank back in 1889.
04:43Authorities scrambled to find the culprits as Cassidy, Sundance, and their gang scattered
04:47in all directions.
04:48It was not until October that Cassidy and his buddies were even identified as the robbers.
04:53It would be two more years before authorities could put their finger on any of the bandits.
04:57Pinkertons and other detectives looked everywhere for the elusive robbers.
05:01Finally, the men found what they were looking for in the way of Lewis Curry, aka Lonnie
05:06Logan, whom they tracked to a small town in Kansas.
05:10Logan was killed while trying to escape, but the lawmen also found another important clue.
05:15The robber had recently been in Cripple Creek, Colorado, with a man identified as Bob Curry,
05:20better known as Robert Lee.
05:22The Cripple Creek Morning Times verified that both men had been involved in the Wilcox robbery,
05:27and likely knew the whereabouts of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
05:32Officers notified the Cripple Creek sheriff to find and arrest Bob Lee.
05:35When Lee was found, he was dealing a game of stud poker at the Antler Saloon.
05:40Under Sheriff Harrington approached the man.
05:42Lee claimed he wasn't armed, but when they searched him, sure enough, Lee was carrying
05:47a huge pearl-handled six-shooter.
05:49Lee was extradited to Wyoming, where his trial was set for May.
05:53Although noted Cripple Creek attorney J. Morris Finn defended him, the 1900 census
05:58verifies Lee as a prisoner at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Laramie, where he was
06:03serving ten years for his participation in the Wilcox robbery.
06:06Two years after he was released, Lee's death certificate verifies he passed away from Bright's
06:11disease at just 45.
06:14Lee never implicated Cassidy and Sundance in the robbery.
06:17The Pinkerton's agency, angered over the Wilcox robbery and tired of the Wild Bunch's antics,
06:22set out for Cassidy and Sundance with a vengeance.
06:26As Bob Lee went through the ringer over the Wilcox robbery, others of the Wild Bunch were
06:30having a high time.
06:32On November 21, 1900, Sundance, Cassidy, Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, and Harvey Logan had
06:39their portrait taken at a photography studio in Fort Worth, Texas.
06:43A Wells Fargo & Company detective saw the image, recognized Will Carver, and sent a
06:48copy to Pinkerton's detective agency.
06:51Shortly afterwards, Sundance took Etta Place to New Orleans to celebrate the New Year before
06:56the couple traveled to Pennsylvania to meet Sundance's family.
06:59The two next went to New York, where they saw a doctor for some unknown ailment and
07:04joined up with Cassidy.
07:06During their time in New York, Cassidy, Sundance, and Place used various aliases, as they spent
07:11three weeks seeing the sights.
07:13At Tiffany & Company, Sundance bought a fancy lapel watch for Place, as well as a gold watch
07:18for himself.
07:20Carver telling to Pinkerton's was the only known photograph of Place with Sundance that
07:24was taken at de Young Photography Studio.
07:27Just a few days later, Sundance and Place were believed to have boarded the SS Verminius
07:32for Buenos Aires.
07:34Ann Meadows also found that Sundance and Place checked into the Hotel Europa upon their arrival,
07:39and that Sundance opened a bank account amounting to about $12,000.
07:44Soon after their arrival in Bolivia, Cassidy, Sundance, and Place traveled to Argentina.
07:50There, they purchased a 12,000-acre ranch in Cholilla Valley.
07:54Cassidy purchased cattle, sheep, and horses, and built a cozy cabin for the three to live
07:59in.
08:00Cassidy now went by James Ryan, while Sundance and Etta masqueraded as Mr. and Mrs. Harry
08:06Place.
08:07Their aliases would change over time, especially when the three returned to robbing banks around
08:121904.
08:13Soon, wanted posters were appearing throughout South America looking for the pair.
08:18But Place must have sensed some uneasiness about remaining in South America, as she traveled
08:22back and forth to the United States at least four times.
08:25The last time was in 1905, and it would be the last time anyone would hear any official
08:31news about the mysterious Etta Place.
08:34History reports that on November 4, 1908, Carlos Perro, messenger for a Bolivian mine,
08:40was accosted by two men wearing bandanas over their faces.
08:44The pair relieved Perro of the payroll he carried and disappeared.
08:48Authorities were notified and headed to the village of San Vincente, where two men had
08:52been identified per Perro's description of the robbers.
08:55When a soldier approached a house where the bandits were hiding, he was shot dead.
09:00After the ensuing gun battle, lawmen entered the house and found the bandits, who appeared
09:04to have committed a murder-suicide.
09:07The corpses were laid out on the patio, and later buried in the cemetery.
09:11The trouble was, the men were only assumed to be Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
09:16Some people believe Lula Bedenson's story that the duo's friend, Percy Siebert, purposely
09:21started the story that Cassidy and Sundance had been killed so that the outlaws could
09:26go straight without further interference from the law.
09:29Soon afterwards, stories began circulating that the outlaws had returned to the United
09:34States.
09:35For years, numerous people claimed to have seen Cassidy or Sundance, or both, after 1908.
09:41Wyoming Tales and Trails reports that one of the earliest claims came from Milton David
09:46Hinkle, who said he saw Cassidy and Sundance in Argentina in 1909, and again in 1913.
09:53Ian Meadows gives citations of additional sightings reported in 1910, 1915, and 1918.
10:00The stories went on and on.
10:02The most believable tale of those claiming to have seen Cassidy came from members of
10:06his own family.
10:07Cassidy's nephew, Bill Bedenson, claimed there were roughly 20 well-documented sightings
10:12over the years.
10:14Bedenson also supported his mother Lula's claim that the outlaw came home in 1925 and
10:19spent time with the family.
10:21Lula said Cassidy died in 1937, a date which lines up with the death of William T. Phillips,
10:27who claimed he actually was Butch Cassidy.
10:31The debates about whether Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really died in 1908 likely
10:36would be less famous were it not for the classic film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
10:41Most captivating to audiences at the time was a disclaimer in the opening credits of
10:45the film reading,
10:46"...most of what follows is true."
10:48In the years since the movie was released, dozens upon dozens of books and articles have
10:53been written about Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Etta Place, the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang,
10:58and the Wild Bunch.
10:59Although hundreds of new clues and evidence has surfaced regarding the deaths of Cassidy
11:03and Sundance, no solid conclusions have been reached.
11:07In life, the outlaws eluded the law with finesse, and in death, the elusive pair has managed
11:13to give history the slip.