Butch Cassidy and his members of the Wild Bunch left a remarkable chapter in the history of the old American West. Interestingly, Butch was no mean robber, but someone full of charm. The story of the group was made more interesting with the addition of Butch’s constant partner-in-crime, Sundance Kid.
Originally named Robert LeRoy, Butch changed his name after working with Mike Cassidy, an infamous cattle and horse rustler. The name “Butch” was taken from Robert’s brief stint as a butcher in town. He joined Mike in raiding cattle in Colorado and Utah. It was also Mike who taught the young Butch on how to shoot dead center within fifty paces. During this time, Mike was the leader of a small band of rustlers and robbers. However, he suddenly disappeared after a fight with a rancher in Wyoming. As the second hand, Butch took over.
Butch was not bloodthirsty as one would expect from a robber and a rustler. It was believed that he always spared the lives of their robbery victims. In 1889, Butch had his first taste of major robbery at a bank in San Miguel Valley in Colorado. There, the group took off more than $20,000. In 1890, Butch already had a ranch of his own, in Wyoming. There, he continued his work as a cattle and horse raider. Around 1894, he was imprisoned for his wrong-doings and spent two years in jail.
Butch was released in 1896 and he continued the life of a criminal. It was at this point that he established the Wild Bunch, a group famed for their longest and successful stint in bank and train robberies. Upon forming the group, Butch made sure that the members are taught of how to conduct successful robberies based on the mistakes that he and his previous groups committed which led to death or imprisonment.
Butch does not believe in merely going to a town and randomly robbing a bank. It was the group’s practice to first scout the town and check the current condition of the local sheriff, if a local vigilante group, and most importantly if the bank does have a substantial amount of money. All of these aspects were assessed prior to conducting the heist. The group’s success can be attributed to how Butch used strategic thinking in performing their infamous heists. Butch always made sure that they never hurt people and if they were ever chased, to just shoot the horses. The name came about for their opulence and flamboyant ways of spending the money they robbed.
The Wild Bunch was made of distinct characters, all with previous histories of being outlawed. Will Carver was a fun-loving cowboy from Texas who worked with the Black Jack Ketchum Gang on the train and bank robberies. Another was Matt Warner, known as the “Mormon Kid”, who had a record in cattle rustling. George Curry or “Flat Nose” or “Big Nose” was a stock thief. Ben Kilpatrick or the “Tall Texan” was previously with the Ketchum gang, but joined the Wild Bunch after a failed train robbery. William Ellsworth, also known as “Elzy” was a cowboy, but turned to robbery and have helped plan several of the successful heists of the group. Lonie Logan was a livestock rustler before joining the Wild Bunch. Tom McCarty was Matt Warner’s brother-in-law and worked a bandit. Harvey Logan or “Kid Curry” was considered to be the most bloodthirsty in the group. There was also Harry Tracy, who was a burglar in Utah. The membership of the Wild Bunch changed from time to time, although the leadership was always under Butch and his sidekick, Harry Longabaugh, also known as “Sundance Kid.”
The group thrived for more than five years from their inception in 1896 up until 1901. The group was usually composed of around ten and their base was at the Hole in the Wall in Wyoming‘s Big Horn Mountain, where other outlaws also had their hideouts. With the location near the borders of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, Utah became another base for the Wild Bunch group.
Shortly after the group was established, they set on their first job. On August 1896, the Wild Bunch robbed a bank in Montpelier, Idaho took off with $7000. The succeeding heists included banks and trains in New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota. The group’s biggest heist was that of the new Union Pacific Train which took place on June 1899 in Wilcox, Wyoming. They made off around $30,000. It was followed by another train robbery in Folsom, New Mexico, where it was reported that they took $70,000 with them. Butch was not part of that robbery and gang members died or were captured.
On August 1900, Butch, Sundance, Carver and Logan robbed another of the Union Pacific trains in Tipton, Wyoming. Shortly after, they had their next bank heist at the First National Bank of Winnemucca in Nevada. The group made off $32,640. The next year was also lucrative when they raided the Great Northern Train in Montana and got $65000.
In the early part of 1901, Butch convinced Sundance Kid to go somewhere safer as they have already gained notoriety in the Old West. He, Sundance and Etta Place, Sundance’s girlfriend, moved to New York and further towards Bolivia. Butch and Sundance worked as miners while continuing their errant ways. Soon, Etta left the two and returned to America, while the duo made their way to South America. In 1908, the pair robbed a Bolivian payroll, leading to a wide manhunt for the two all over the country. Accounts claimed that the pair were trapped and killed in a shootout in San Vicente on November 6, 1908.
However, even after their supposed deaths, there was still a mystery that haunted the story. According to reports, Butch was able to survive and escaped. He returned to Utah, assumed another named and stayed there until his death in 1929. Other accounts claimed that the Wild Bunch leader moved to Nevada and that he lived until 1944. Whatever the story was of his death, there was no question that up until the end, Butch’s exploits captured the attention of the world.
