No other outlaws charmed the Old West quite like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Their legendary adventures even made it to the silver screen,
most notably with the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid. These are the mysterious lives of the most famous duo of the west.
Who were the members of the Wild Bunch?
The true number of Wild Bunch members is unknown. Some of the better-known outlaws
from the gang included Cassidy and Sundance, but also Will Carver, Ben the "Tall Texan" Kilpatrick,
Elzy Lay, Bob Lee, Lonnie Logan, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Flat-Nose Curry, Matt Warner and
many others. Some were married, some were single. Many of them were simply outcasts, forced by one
incident or another to step over the lines of the law. Within the confines of their many hideouts,
they found acceptance among each other, as well as a forum for their varied talents.
With or without the gang, each member of the Wild Bunch had a gentlemen's agreement to never betray
one another. Under Butch Cassidy's leadership, the gang was rarely violent. The outlaws were
instructed to shoot at the horses, not the riders, if the gang was pursued by a posse.
Butch Cassidy: the gentleman bandit
Because of his family ties and his reputation as a robber rather than a killer,
Butch Cassidy was able to retain relationships with "respectable" people.
According to Cassidy's sister, Lula Betenson, Cassidy came from a respectable Mormon family
and had a number of honorable friends scattered throughout the west. Often, proceeds from the
robberies Cassidy took part in went to needy families, earning him the title of the "Robin
Hood of the West." In return for his generosity and compassion, Cassidy's friends were willing
to put him up, feed him on the run, finance his escapes, and lie about his whereabouts.
Even law officers liked Cassidy. The outlaw was sentenced to prison for stealing a horse in
Wyoming in 1894. When Constable Henry Boedeker was asked why Cassidy wasn't shackled with the
other prisoners, he responded that the outlaw was the only one who could be trusted. Eighteen
months into his sentence, he met with Governor W.A. Richards to discuss early parole. Although
Cassidy told Richards he was far more interested in robbing banks than stealing horses, the
governor released him anyway—upon a promise from Cassidy that he would leave Wyoming banks alone.
The Sundance Kid: a reckless outlaw
An excellent marksman, the Sundance Kid sported a more reckless reputation than his
easy-going counterpart. In 1882, 15-year-old Harry Longabaugh [long-AH-baah] headed west
with his cousin in a covered wagon. The would-be robber was arrested for the first
and only time in 1887 for horse stealing and served two years for the crime at Sundance,
Wyoming. The young outlaw took his new name from the town where he served his time.
Upon his release in 1889, the young cowpoke took an honest job breaking horses.
In 1892, however, he was named a suspect following a train robbery at Malta, Montana.
The Sundance Kid met Harvey Logan in 1897, and the two robbed a bank in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
Both were captured and jailed in Deadwood, but were able to escape.
Eventually, Logan introduced Sundance to Butch Cassidy, and he officially joined up with the
Wild Bunch. But as much as Sundance sported a reputation as a gunfighter, sources confirm
that as far as anyone knows, he never killed anyone during his time with the Wild Bunch.
Rather, Sundance preferred the persona of a dapper-dan who was a favorite of the ladies.
It is he who kept company with an equally refined woman, the mysterious Etta Place.
A mysterious femme: Etta Place
As romantic sounding as her name is, Etta Place was not the lady's real
name. Pinkerton's earliest documentation about Place identified her first name as
Ethel, Etta, Eva or Rita. There are numerous theories as to her origins.
Other historians have said the woman at the hideout was not Place at all. The real Etta
Place claimed Cassidy and Sundance met Place at Fannie Porter's brothel in San Antonio,
Texas. But Place fails to appear in any documents related to Fannie Porter. All that is known for
sure is that the lady fell hard enough for the Sundance Kid to risk fleeing from the law with
him. Etta Place's story, or lack thereof, is a fascinating addition to the outlaws' tale.
The train robbery at Wilcox, Wyoming
In the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
a rather comical scene depicts Wild Bunch members accidentally blowing up a train car.
"Well that oughta do it."
The scene immortalizes the infamous robbery of a Union Pacific train near Wilcox, Wyoming on
June 2, 1899. Among those newspapers to report the incident was the Telluride Daily Journal in
Colorado, where a young Cassidy Cassidy had robbed his first bank back in 1889. Authorities scrambled
to find the culprits as Cassidy, Sundance, and their gang scattered in all directions.
It was not until October that Cassidy and his buddies were even identified as the robbers.
It would be two more years before authorities could put their finger on any of the bandits.
Pinkerton's and other detectives looked everywhere for the elusive robbers. Finally,
the men found what they were looking for in the way of "Lewis" Curry, aka
Lonny Logan, whom they tracked to a small town in Kansas. Logan was killed while trying to escape,
but the lawmen also found another important clue: the robber had recently been in Cripple Creek,
Colorado with a man identified as Bob Curry, better known as Robert Lee. The
Cripple Creek Morning Times verified that both men had been involved in the Wilcox Robbery,
and likely knew the whereabouts of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The beginning of the end for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Officers notified the Cripple Creek sheriff to find and arrest Bob Lee. When Lee was found,
he was dealing a game of stud poker at the Antlers Saloon.
Undersheriff Harrington approached the man. Lee claimed he wasn't armed, but
when they searched him, sure enough, Lee was carrying a huge pearl-handled six-shooter.
Lee was extradited to Wyoming, where his trial was set for May.
Although noted Cripple Creek attorney J. Maurice Finn defended him,
the 1900 census verifies Lee as a prisoner at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Laramie, where he
was serving 10 years for his participation in the Wilcox robbery. Two years after he was released,
Lee's death certificate verifies he passed away from Bright's Disease at just 45. Lee never
implicated Cassidy and Sundance in the robbery. The Pinkerton's Agency, angered over the Wilcox
robbery and tired of the Wild Bunch's antics, set out for Cassidy and Sundance with a vengeance.
Pinkertons hunt down the wild bunch
As Bob Lee went through the wringer over the Wilcox robbery, others of the Wild
Bunch were having a high time. On November 21, 1900, Sundance, Cassidy, Will Carver,
Ben Kilpatrick and Harvey Logan had their portrait taken at a photography studio in Fort Worth,
Texas. A Wells Fargo & Company detective saw the image, recognized Will Carver, and sent a copy to
Pinkerton's Detective Agency. Shortly afterwards, Sundance took Etta Place to New Orleans to
celebrate the New Year before the couple traveled to Pennsylvania to meet Sundance's family. The two
next went to New York, where they saw a doctor for some unknown ailment and joined up with Cassidy.
During their time in New York, Cassidy, Sundance and Place used various aliases as they spent
three weeks seeing the sights. At Tiffany & Co., Sundance bought a fancy lapel watch for Place,
as well as a gold watch for himself. More telling to Pinkerton's was the only known photograph of
Place, with Sundance, that was taken at DeYoung Photography Studio. Just a few days later,
Sundance and Place were believed to have boarded the SS Herminius for Buenos Aires.
Anne Meadows also found that Sundance and Place checked into the Hotel Europa
upon their arrival, and that Sundance opened a bank account amounting to about $12,000.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid flee to Bolivia
Soon after their arrival in Bolivia, Cassidy, Sundance and Place traveled to Argentina.
There, they purchased a 12,000 acre ranch in the Cholila Valley. Cassidy purchased cattle,
sheep and horses, and built a cozy cabin for the three to live in.
Cassidy now went by James Ryan, while Sundance and Etta masqueraded as Mr. and Mrs. Harry Place.
Their aliases would change over time, especially when the three returned to robbing banks around
1904. Soon, wanted posters were appearing throughout South America
looking for the pair. But Place must have sensed some uneasiness about remaining in South America,
as she traveled back and forth to the United States at least four times. The last time was in
1905. It would be the last time anyone would hear any official news about the mysterious Etta Place.
Did Butch and Sundance die in Bolivia?
History reports that on November 4, 1908 Carlos Pero, a messenger for a Bolivian mine,
was accosted by two men wearing bandanas over their faces. The pair relieved Pero of the payroll
he carried and disappeared. Authorities were notified and headed to the village of San Vicente,
where two men had been identified per Pero's description of the robbers. When a soldier
approached a house where the bandits were hiding, he was shot dead. After the ensuing gun battle,
lawmen entered the house and found the bandits, who appeared to have committed a murder-suicide.
The corpses were laid out on the patio and later buried in the cemetery.
The trouble was, the men were only assumed to be Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Some people believe Lula Betenson's story that the duo's friend,
Percy Seibert, purposely started the story that Cassidy and Sundance had been killed
so that the outlaws could "go straight" without further interference from the law.
Soon afterwards, stories began circulating that the outlaws had returned to the United States.
Did Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid come home?
For years, numerous people claimed to have seen Cassidy, or Sundance, or both after 1908.
Wyoming Tales and Trails reports that one of the earliest claims came from Milton David Hinkle,
who said he saw Cassidy and Sundance in Argentina in 1909 and again in 1913. Anne Meadows gives
citations of additional sightings reported in 1910, 1915, and 1918. The stories went on and on.
The most believable tale of those claiming to have seen Cassidy came from members of his own family.
Cassidy's nephew, Bill Betenson, claimed there were roughly twenty "well-documented" sightings
over the years. Betenson also supported his mother Lula's claim that the outlaw came home
in 1925 and spent time with the family. Lula said Cassidy died in 1937, a date which lines
up with the death of William T. Phillips who claimed he actually was Butch Cassidy.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: the movie
The debates about whether Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really died in 1908
likely would be less famous were it not for the classic film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Most captivating to audiences at the time was a disclaimer in the opening credits of the film
reading, "Most of what follows is true." In the years since the movie was released,
dozens upon dozens of books and articles have been written about Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid,
Etta Place, the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, and the Wild Bunch. Although hundreds of new clues
and evidence has surfaced regarding the deaths of Cassidy and Sundance,
no solid conclusions have been reached. In life, the outlaws eluded the law with
finesse. And in death, the elusive pair has managed to give history the slip.
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