Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy (born April 13, 1866 as Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver , Utah , † probably 1908 in Bolivia ) was an American outlaw .
Early years
Butch Cassidy was the oldest of 13 children of Mormon settlers from England. He spent his childhood on his parents' homestead in Circleville, Utah . He was a cattle breeder before he later became a bank and railroad robber and leader of the gang "Butch Cassidy's wild bunch".
Gangster career
Cattle thief
He first came into conflict with the law when he broke into a shop in Hay Springs where he worked on a farm. He stole a pair of pants and left a note saying that he would pay them later. It is not known whether he ever did that. After his parents lost their farm in a lawsuit, he began to admire a local rancher, Mike Cassidy. This was known for his questionable career and may have been involved in Parker's first cattle theft. In about 1884 Parker adopted the name "Butch Cassidy". He used to steal cattle from larger farms trying to put smaller ones out of business. Many historians believe that his deeds were initially well-intentioned. He is often referred to as the " Robin Hood of the Wild West ".
crime
His first recorded crime was the robbery of the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado in June 1889, where he and his gang looted about $ 24,000. He was one of the pioneers of the infamous "Outlaw Trail", which moved from Canada through Montana and Utah to Mexico .
After serving in prison for horse theft from 1894 to 1896 , he organized a group of criminals known as The Wild Bunch. The Wild Bunch was part of the "Hole in the Wall" gang, a loose association of gangster gangs whose common refuge was the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming . The most famous member of the Wild Bunch was Harry Longabaugh, also known as " The Sundance Kid ". Between 1896 and 1901 the gang robbed over a dozen banks and trains. In 1901 Cassidy and Sundance fled together with his girlfriend Etta Place via New York City to Argentina , where they lived peacefully as farmers on a ranch in Cholila ( Cushamen Department ) in Patagonia for a few years . After Etta returned to the States in about 1905, Butch and Sundance resumed their criminal activities and earned a reputation similar to that of the United States. They reached Bolivia via Chile , where they are said to have been captured by Bolivian soldiers around 1908 . It is believed that they were shot by them. There are no reliable sources as to the exact date and whether they were actually killed or only injured.
Whereabouts
In the Bolivian miners' town of San Vicente ( 4500 m ) there is a plaque commemorating the death of the two outlaws. Allegedly they were buried in the local cemetery. However, this is completely unproven and only the version common in some travel guides.
In 1992 the bones of "American desperados" were exhumed in that village. However, the subsequent DNA test in early 1993 showed that the recovered remains were not Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Some people at the time claimed to have seen them later. There were also rumors that the two injured survived and spent the rest of their lives under false names in Uruguay or the United States .
Butch Cassidy's sister Lula Parker Betenson claimed he had returned and continued to live in the United States. Another allegation is that he started a new life under the name William K. Phillips and died in Spokane in 1937. There were similar rumors about the Sundance Kid.
popularization
The duo was portrayed in the 1969 film Two Bandits (alternate title: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the leading roles. In 1979 a prequel called Butch & Sundance - The Early Years " came out. The film Blackthorn (2011) shows the story of the two protagonists after their supposed death in 1908.
literature
- Anne Meadows: Digging Up Butch and Sundance
- Richard Patterson: Butch Cassidy
- James D. Horan: Desperate Men
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Fun Facts About Telluride, Colorado. Retrieved August 19, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cassidy, Butch |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Parker, Robert Leroy (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American outlaw |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 13, 1866 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beaver , Utah |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1908 |
| Place of death | unsure: Bolivia |