Butch Cassidy

by W. C. Jameson

  Cassidy leaped into the saddle, and together the two robbers raced down the street toward the town limits as dozens of onlookers stared in shocked silence. Before the two bandits were out of sight, shots were fired at them from the second-floor office of the coal company, presumably by the deputy clerk.

  Cassidy and Lay had almost reached the town limits without experiencing any harm or resistance. Because it took such a long time for a posse to become organized, the two outlaws had time to stop, dismount, cut the telephone wires, remount, and continue their escape. (Some have claimed Meeks and Walker may have been stationed some distance out of town to cut the telegraph wires.) During the stop, the currency was removed from the satchel, which was discarded. The outlaws also apparently decided to abandon one of the sacks of coins because it was too difficult to transport, leaving behind $860 in silver.

  A town resident named Frank Caffey climbed into his buggy and undertook a half-hearted pursuit of the robbers. Near the town limits, he found the abandoned payroll satchel. Nearby lay the bag containing the silver.

  As Cassidy and Lay rode away to the south toward the town of Helper, paymaster Carpenter hurried to the depot to telegraph the sheriff at Price and quickly discovered the lines were dead. Noticing the locomotive was still running, he jumped into the cab and ordered the engineer to uncouple the engine from the rest of the train and make haste to Price where he would alert the sheriff in person.

  It has been written that, as the locomotive passed out of the town limits gathering speed, Carpenter and the engineer both failed to notice Cassidy and Lay hiding behind a section house located near the tracks. The likelihood, however, is that the outlaws were trying to get as much distance between themselves and Castle Gate as possible.

  Eventually, posses from Price, Huntington, Castle Dale, and Cleveland were formed and attempted to either overtake or intercept the bandits. Along their escape route, the outlaws bypassed the major roads, preferring to cut across unsettled country. Occasionally when they encountered a telegraph line, they cut it, further frustrating the coordination of pursuit. The posses, apparently inept to begin with, remained confused and ineffective. In one instance, a posse was so convinced another posse was the gang of outlaws they were pursuing that they opened fire on them, wounding at least one.

  Following the holdup, Cassidy, after separating from his companions, rode to the Dan Hillman Ranch, located along the east flank of the Big Horn Mountains. He posed as a traveler, introduced himself as LeRoy Parker, and was offered a meal. Following dinner, Cassidy asked rancher Hillman for a job and was hired to mend fences, milk cows, and put up hay.

  Hillman was quickly impressed with this new hand who worked harder than any of his others. Parker, as the stranger called himself, quickly established a friendship with Hillman’s thirteen-year-old son, Fred. During his stay at the Hillman Ranch, Parker also taught the youngster how to shoot.

  One afternoon while loading hay from the field onto the back of a wagon driven by Fred, Parker spied a rattlesnake. Impaling it with the tines of his pitchfork, he tossed it onto the wagon, much to the terror of the young Hillman, who leaped from his perch onto the ground. All enjoyed a good laugh over the incident, and young Fred Hillman never forgot the man who befriended him during his brief stay at the Hillman Ranch.

  Occasionally, Parker was visited by a friend, and the two men were often seen engaged in quiet conversation. Years later, Fred Hillman recalled that Parker called his friend “Elzy.”

  One morning, Parker failed to appear for breakfast, and Fred was told to go to the bunkhouse and summon him. On arriving at the bunkhouse, Fred found a note stuck in the door that read, “Sorry to be leaving you. The authorities are getting on to us. Best home I’ve ever had. LeRoy Parker (Butch Cassidy).”

  Cassidy and Lay eventually arrived at Robber’s Roost, carrying with them approximately $7,000 in gold and silver coins and a large wad of currency without encountering any lawmen. According to a number of sources, none of them verifiable, Cassidy and Lay cached some of the gold at some secret location in the Wind River Mountains.

  On June 28, 1897, the Belle Fourche, South Dakota, bank was robbed. To this day, there remains controversy over who participated in the holdup. Some have tried to link Cassidy and Elzy Lay with the robbery, pointing out that both were in the area at the same time. No evidence, however, has ever surfaced to suggest such was the case. Some are also certain that Harry Longabaugh was one of the bandits, but the contention lacks substantiation. The consensus is that the robbery was committed by at least four, perhaps as many as six, bandits, with one of them most likely being George “Flatnose” Currie. Three others, according to a wanted poster that was issued within days of the robbery, were Harvey Ray and two men both given the last name of Roberts.

  The identity of the man called Harvey Ray has never been established, the name probably being an alias. The two Roberts may very well have been Harvey Logan and his younger brother, Lonnie.

  During May 1898, it was reported that Butch Cassidy and Joe Walker had been shot and killed by lawmen following another robbery. The bodies of the two dead men were transported by wagon to the town of Price where they were “positively” identified by authorities as Cassidy and Walker.

  According to Betenson, Butch Cassidy, on learning he had been killed by lawmen, traveled to Price and, hiding in a covered wagon, viewed the body of the dead man through a hole in the canvas. If true, the event was yet another manifestation of Cassidy’s keen sense of humor. Later, Cassidy allegedly told relatives he thought “it would be a good idea to attend his own funeral just once during his lifetime.”

  While Cassidy observed the remains of the misidentified dead man, he was taken aback by the behavior of the crowd of onlookers. A large number of mourners passed by, many of them women who were crying.

  The dead man who was identified as Cassidy was placed in a coffin and buried the following day. As a result of some concern expressed by several law enforcement authorities, the body was exhumed a short time later and the dead man subjected to another identification. Cassidy’s lawyer, Douglas A. Preston, along with Uinta County sheriff John Ward, was summoned to make an identity. It has been written that Preston was so relieved the body was not that of his friend Cassidy that he undertook a celebration and stayed drunk for almost a week. The dead man was subsequently identified as John Herring, a petty outlaw known to rob travelers.

  Much to the dismay of lawmen, Butch Cassidy was still alive.

  Seven

  Enter the Sundance Kid

  The Sundance Kid, whose real name was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, has been inextricably linked to Butch Cassidy, most likely as a result of the popular 1969 Western movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In the film, as well as in subsequent print and film treatments, the two outlaws appear as boon companions, participating in bank, train, and payroll robberies together throughout their bandit careers, in both the United States and South America. At least, so goes a major Western mythology that has been created in recent years.

  In truth, Cassidy and Longabaugh were involved in a number of holdups, and, along with the woman known as Etta Place, traveled to South America where they participated in a series of adventures. The development of the close friendship and bond between Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was created for the film, but it nevertheless forged public perception as it related to the two outlaws, even though it was overstated and often exaggerated.

  For the better part of Cassidy’s outlaw career in the United States, the Sundance Kid was a relative latecomer. Most of the time, Cassidy’s more or less constant companion and best friend was Elzy Lay.

  Butch Cassidy researchers are unsure about when he met Longabaugh, and there are a number of possibilities to choose from. Most agree, however, that the two became well acquainted in Brown’s Park a short time after Butch returned from prison.

  Longabaugh was born near Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in the year 1867, the last of five children of Josiah Longabaug
h and Annie Place. Phoenixville is located just a few miles northwest of Philadelphia. The elder Longabaugh was the son of German immigrant Conrad Langenbach who came to the United States as an indentured servant. (Surnames were often changed on purpose by immigrants or accidentally by immigration officials.) According to writer Donna B. Ernst, Langenbach served in the Revolutionary War.

  Josiah Longabaugh was a common laborer who found it necessary to relocate often in order to find work. For the most part, the family was poor. Much of Harry’s youth was spent leaving one location and settling in another, and remaining in none of them long enough to consider them home or make many friends. One of the few constants in the lives of the Longabaughs was church—Josiah and Annie were devout Baptists and encouraged their children to participate in worship services regularly. Besides Harry, who was the oldest child, the Longabaugh’s had four other children—two boys, Elwood and Harvey, and two girls, Emma and Samanna.

  By all accounts, Harry Longabaugh’s youth was unsettled and characterized by instability, and he often found refuge in reading books. In fact, during this time one of his proudest possessions was his library card.

  When he was thirteen years old, young Harry went to live with the Wilmer Ralston family in West Vincent, Pennsylvania, about ten miles from Phoenixville. Though technically in the employ of the Ralstons, Harry was little more than a servant. After Samanna married in 1880, Harry sometimes lived with her and her husband, Oliver Hallman, a blacksmith. Harry was never close to his family, save for Samanna.

  According to research, when Harry was fourteen, with only a few years of education, he left home and began wandering from one sorry job to another.

  During this time, it is believed that Harry Longabaugh discovered dime novels and used any and every spare coin he could save to purchase the books. He quickly became engrossed in the subject of the Civil War and in the adventures and escapades of outlaws and desperadoes of America’s Wild West.

  It has been written that, likely as a result of the influence of the novels, Longabaugh purchased a pistol and learned to shoot. In a short time, he became quite skilled with the weapon and manifested a deadly aim.

  In the process of looking for work, Longabaugh traveled to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Here and there he managed to hold down a menial job for a time but had no success in securing work that held his attention for long or that paid him a living wage. In 1882, when he was fifteen years old, Harry moved to Illinois to live with his cousins, George and Mary Longenbaugh. (Different clans of the Longabaugh family spelled the surname different ways.) On the Longenbaugh farm, many believe, Harry began learning the horsemanship skills for which he was later known.

  George and Mary Longenbaugh perceived greater opportunities for making a living in the West, so they sold their Illinois farm, packed up, and moved to Colorado. After settling near Durango, George raised horses and hired Harry to break and train them. After two years, George and Mary decided life would be better for them in Cortez, forty miles to the west, so they moved again. Around this time, Cortez was little more than a tent city.

  Harry continued to work for George breaking and training horses while at the same time holding down a job at a nearby ranch. George and Mary Longenbaugh grew quite fond of cousin Harry, even naming one of their sons after him. During his early residence in Cortez, Harry grew even more proficient with his horsemanship.

  During this time, a number of outlaws, including Butch Cassidy, Matt Warner, Dan Parker, and the McCarty brothers, lived in the area, and though there is no record, it is likely Longabaugh encountered them.

  A short time later, it is believed, Longabaugh hired on with a cattle drive to Montana. He arrived near Miles City in 1886 and found a full-time job on the N Bar N Ranch. He was nineteen years old. During his stay in Montana, some researchers contend that Longabaugh met Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner. He also became acquainted with another member of the Wild Bunch, Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan.

  Like many other cowhands, Longabaugh suffered the consequences of the disastrous winter of 1886–1887, the worst ever in the history of Wyoming. Throughout much of the American West, cattle froze to death and cowhands were laid off. Out of work and out of money, Longabaugh traveled to the VVV Ranch near Sundance, Wyoming, on the Belle Fourche River. On February 27, 1887, hungry and desperate, Longabaugh stole a horse, saddle, bridle, a pair of chaps, and a pistol from two cowhands named Alonzo Craven and Jim Widner and fled back toward Miles City.

  Before he could effect a complete escape, the now twenty-year-old, out-of-work cowboy was overtaken and arrested by Crook County sheriff James Ryan on April 8. Locked in handcuffs and leg irons, Longabaugh was placed aboard a train to be returned to Sundance. Since Ryan had a previous business appointment in St. Paul, Minnesota, the prisoner was forced to accompany the sheriff on the long journey before being turned in to the authorities at Sundance. At one point during the train ride near Duluth when Sheriff Ryan went to the bathroom, Longabaugh slipped out of the shackles and leapt from the moving train. Ryan ordered the train halted immediately and led a search for the fugitive, even offering a $250 reward. It was all for naught, for the slippery Longabaugh was nowhere to be found. It has been suggested that Longabaugh was aided in his escape by a confederate and that the ally was Butch Cassidy. No evidence to verify this notion, however, has been forthcoming.

  Illogically, Harry Longabaugh headed straight back to Miles City after escaping. Along the way, it is believed he stole seven horses and sold them in the small town of Benton, Montana. Longabaugh was finally located and arrested again in June, this time by Deputy Sheriff E. K. Davis and stock inspector W. Smith. Shortly thereafter, he was taken to the Sundance jail in shackles and chains. There, he was tried for horse theft, found guilty, and subsequently sentenced to serve eighteen months of hard labor.

  Since Longabaugh was a young man and his crime was borne of desperation, the judge proved relatively lenient. He allowed the cowhand to serve out his sentence in the county jail rather than the overcrowded Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie. During his incarceration, Longabaugh, along with other prisoners, made at least two attempts to escape, each one a failure. In spite of his spotty prison record, Longabaugh was finally released on February 4, 1889, and granted a full pardon by Wyoming governor Thomas Moonlight. While in jail, as one story goes, Longabaugh had acquired the nickname by which he was known for the rest of his life and throughout history—the Sundance Kid. Others have suggested a fellow Wild Bunch member provided the nickname weeks after he was released from prison.

  Now twenty-two years of age, the ex-convict was once again on his own. Blond, blue-eyed, and sporting a mustache, the tall and straight Longabaugh was often described as “handsome.” He was generally well dressed and well groomed, wearing monogrammed shirts, a vest, a clean and pressed suit, and a Stetson derby.

  A Pinkerton National Detective Agency file on Longabaugh referred to his hair as combed into a “pompadour, it will not lay smooth.” The same file stated Longabaugh “carries his head down not showing his eyes . . . bowlegged . . . walks with feet far apart. Carries arms straight by his side, fingers closed, thumbs sticking straight out.”

  For a while, he had a gold tooth but eventually replaced it with one made of porcelain. Women found him attractive, and they constantly sought his attention. Longabaugh was known to frequent houses of prostitution.

  Longabaugh’s personality has remained somewhat elusive and often contradictory to researchers. People close to him described the outlaw as “likeable,” “friendly,” “loyal,” and “kind-hearted.” On the other hand, others have referred to him as “sullen,” “morose,” and “mean-tempered.” It was well known that, when Longabaugh was drinking, he tended to become irritable and short. Lula Parker Betenson called the Sundance Kid a “killer,” but it remains unclear how she arrived at that description.

  Several who have studied Longabaugh in depth believe that, rather than sullen, he was simply very reserved, perhaps even al
oof, and maybe even a bit defensive in the company of people who were not his close friends.

  Still in need of work, Longabaugh traveled by stagecoach to South Dakota but had little luck in finding a job. He eventually came to the town of Deadwood, a bustling mining town filled with saloons and gambling dens. Here Longabaugh likely learned the tricks of the gambling trade.

  Also in Deadwood, the Sundance Kid took up company with a number of outlaws, including the killer, Bob Minor, also known as Buck Hanby. Longabaugh was with Minor when lawmen caught up with the outlaw and shot him dead. Incensed by the act, Longabaugh threatened to kill Deputy Sheriff James Swisher in revenge for Minor’s death. In turn, Swisher, presumably out of fear that Longabaugh would kill him, filed complaints against the Sundance Kid. Believing his life was in jeopardy if he remained in the area, Longabaugh returned to Cortez, Colorado, to go back to work breaking horses for his cousin George.

  After working for a short time with his relatives in Colorado, Longabaugh began running with Butch Cassidy, Matt Warner, and Tom McCarty. Though no solid evidence exists, it is believed by some that Longabaugh may have been involved with the robbery of the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride.

  Longabaugh eventually returned to Montana and worked on ranches for a time. He also ventured into Alberta, Canada, where he broke and trained horses for the H2 Ranch near Fort Macleod. It is believed he also worked for a short time for the Calgary and Edmonton Railway near High River. While employed at Alberta’s Bar U Ranch, Longabaugh was described by a fellow wrangler as “thoroughly likeable, a general favorite . . . a splendid rider, and a top-notch cowhand,” according to Edward M. Kirby in The Rise and Fall of the Sundance Kid.