Robert Leroy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, was a train and bank robber who led the Wild Bunch gang of outlaws who operated throughout Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Here, in narrow Price Canyon a few miles from Helper, Cassidy and his gang stole the payroll simply by shoving a revolver into the gut of the paymaster, who forked over the loot. The graves of the banditos yanquis became something of a tourist attraction, but when a world-famous DNAdetective analyzed the remains in the 1990s, it was proven conclusively the dead men were not Butch and Sundance. Did Butch Cassidy, the notorious Old West outlaw who most historians believe perished in a 1908 shootout in Bolivia, actually survive that battle and live to old age, peacefully and anonymously, in Washington state? He quickly fled town, followed by a posse. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. We got back in the Jeep and decided to check the coordinates on our GPS, only to find that it was not working. Mr Boren: I live 20 miles from Johnnie and the folks there are my friends. Phillips' adopted son, William R. Phillips, believed his stepfather was Butch Cassidy, said Pointer, who interviewed him in the 1970s. Nevada and purchased my current home located in Pahrump, Nevada in 1987 and one of my lifes work has been researching the Johnnie Mine where Butch died. I am gratified to report that I have at last secured proof that Butch returned from South America. I was glad to hear you have written a book about him. As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. . In 1894, Butch Cassidy was born as Robert LeRoy Parker in Beaver, Utah. Stories about outlaws hardly dominate the historical narrative in Utah, and that is exactly why they pique my interest. Then, using an ingenious scheme, Cassidy and his gang rode hard for several days, employing a series of cached top-quality horses that could ride for hours at high speeds without tiring. The dirt road got bumpy quickly. AnnBassett visited the Johnnie mine in the 1930s. Thanks for your help! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Please feel free to contact me via email: authoroboran@gmail.com. According to my friend Charlie Overfield owner of the Crown Point mine, he met Butch as a kid and showed me his grave. The property is now owned by the PahrumpHistorical Society which not only says its off limits to the public, they dont even want us to tell you that it exists. Hundreds of people, including relatives, friends, and lawmen, reported seeing the men in the years after they supposedly died. Born Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver, Utah the eldest of Max and Anne Parker's thirteen children. Did Butch Cassidy, the notorious Old West outlaw who most historians believe perished in a 1908 shootout in Bolivia, actually survive that battle and live to old age, peacefully and. Advertisement. The first major crime attributed to Cassidy is the robbery of the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, on June 24, 1889. Those who knew Cassidy did not describe him as the ruthless fugitive type that many outlaws were painted to be.. By 1887, he had fallen in with the McCarty Gang who were responsible for robbing the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado in 1889. I will put my proof up against any opinion. Then I pass it out among those who really need it.'. In her autobiography, Emma Allene Savage Riddle recalled her experience: One day I went with Dad to visit Elijah Moore. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that Butch Cassidy could have buried some of his loot somewhere in Colorado. Strangely, she didnt know what we were talking about, but we did find that it is not to be confused with the Robbers Roost Ranch or Robbers Roost Spring, which are also in the area. Brian Mayes In her book, 'Butch Cassidy, My Brother,' she cites several encounters with Cassidy by numerous family friends long after 1908. Phil was a lawman turned desperado. Very few people would know just how much Butch was known around this area but it is a fact. Scenic, high-elevation trail systems like . Learn more about managing a memorial . Wild West Outlaw, Folk Figure. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. A modern gang of outlaws wants to grab the loot, too, and soon the intrepid heroes are fleeing for their lives on trains, raf. A collector of rare books and documents has obtained a manuscript with new evidence that Butch Cassidy wasnt killed in a 1908 shootout in Bolivia but returned to the U.S. and lived on in Washington State for almost three decades. My consolation is that he is perhaps now in their company, enjoying their reminiscences first hand. "The majority of those who were there believed that, believed it was him that came back," said Bill Betenson, who recalled that his great-grandmother, Lula Parker Betenson, used to talk about the visit by a man she identified as her brother, Cassidy. Utah book collector Brent Ashworth and Montana author Larry Pointer say the text contains the best evidence yet with details only Cassidy could have known that "Bandit Invincible" was not biography but autobiography, and that Phillips himself was the legendary outlaw. She talks about Cassidy's visit in her book Butch Cassidy, My Brother published in 1975 when Betenson was 90-years-old. Whats known for sure is that the gang plundered banks and robbed trains, then Butch and Sundance relocated to South America, along with the mysterious EttaPlace. "That's just really exciting to me because this is really ephemeral stuff," he said. Add to your scrapbook. This . He has more knowledge on the subject than anyone. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. The many reports of later Wyoming sightings have convinced Carol Thiesse, director of the Fremont County Pioneer Museum in Lander. Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, Although we werent in the right place, where Mike and I went was beautiful and it made for a fun day. "All of these people were bamboozled by this faker from Spokane ?" Weve updated the security on the site. Josh immerses himself in Wild West lore on a quest to find Butch Cassidy's missing money; he traces the iconic outlaw's footsteps through Colorado, Utah and Nevada, eventually learning he may have to find the man himself to locate the lost loot. His parents moved over the mountains to Circleville in 1879 and young Roy, as he was known about the house, worked in ranches across western Utah, including at Hay Springs, near Milford. I certainly know how difficult it can be. We ride with the outlaws because they had the nerve to buck the system, whether or not they were victimized by it. A scientist who helped identify the body of Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele says he may have found the remains of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Bolivia, where legend has it the two died in a shootout. Roy Parker has been called a sort of Robin Hood of the Western frontier, a man who bristled at the notion that large cattle outfits were squeezing the smaller rancher out of business. One soldier was shot and killed up front, then more shots and some screaming could be heard from inside. Born Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver, Utah the eldest of Max and Anne Parker's thirteen children. I only wish my Dad was still here to tell more stories about his favorite Grandfather and his days as Butchs friend and employer. Cassidy figured Seibert did this so he could make a new start for himself without being chased by the law, either in the United States or in South America. Elijah introduced us to them and one of them was an outlaw by the name of Leroy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy. I laughed out loud when I read this. Castle Gate was the Wild Bunch's one and only major holdup in Utah. Bill Cooper. He embarked on a few desperate trips back to Utah and Wyoming in hopes of finding some buried caches, but he apparently was unsuccessful. One of the men was Butch Cassidy, another was the outlaw who had stolen Ogdens horse and was still riding it. Maybe. Regarding the Parker family, I feel they should get our respect, no matter what Robert did or did not. The day to head south came quickly, and with the Jeep fully stocked with water and supplies, my husband, Mike, and I left our home in Ogden early in the morning excited for the upcoming adventure. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Wallace Ott, interview with Linda King Newell, 4 July 1995, transcript in possession of authors. Forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow said in a recent interview he is ``guardedly optimistic'' that the bones uncovered in a cemetery in the Andean village of San Vicente last month are those of the . . Born Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver, Utah the eldest of Max and Anne Parker's thirteen children. The duo reportedly died in a shootout in Bolivia 1909, the same story told in the hit movie. We have set your language to Butch Cassidy's first bank robbery is generally agreed to have happened in June 1889, at the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado. He died at Leeds, Utah, and was buried in the desert near Johnnie. "What's really remarkable to me is that, who else cares?" He was the ring leader of the Wild Bunch outlaw gang that robbed trains and banks during the Wild West days. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid accurately asserts that the eponymous villains died (probably) in a hail of bullets in Bolivia in 1908, thereby ending their hitherto successful criminal. 1866 - 1937 Butch Cassidy 1866 1937 Utah Washington. Claims that the dead men were Cassidy and Longabaugh have never been proved despite modern forensic examination of the remains. It is said that Butch Cassidy buried loot on or near Wild Mountain, and another $50,000 near Powder Springs in the northwest corner of Colorado. Cassidy eventually made his way back to Circleville, where he packed up and headed for Colorado. Try again later. Real Name: Robert Leroy Parker Case: Historical Events Location: San Vincente, Bolivia Date: 1908 Case []. "Who else would have remembered it in that kind of detail about an offer of a handshake and refusing it in a prison in Wyoming in 1895?". If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Butch Cassidy. In 1901, Cassidy and Longabaugh threw off pursuers by traveling to New York City with Longabaugh's paramour, former prostitute, Etta Place. The two dead thieves were then buried in unmarked graves in the local cemetery. Franklin, Tennessee 37064. Im just glad that people are now seeing that Butch Cassidy didnt die in Bolivia but lived his life. The bandits then made their way over a choice hideout, Brown's Park, along the Green River at the Utah-Wyoming border. Book is huge More of an encyclopedia. Small cattle operations were crippled by the loss of stock, and larger operations paid a premium for rustled cattle. was a companion of the American outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, alias Sundance Kid. The Gang often came back to Utah, either for protection or transportation, and once to ask Gov. Cassidy's sister, Lula Betenson, claimed that he returned to the United States and lived in anonymity for years. Best local shops and healthy eats near Moab and Capitol Reef. It was almost as if Robbers Roost Utah wasnt meant to be found. A system error has occurred. Butch Cassidy is perhaps Utah's most notorious - and beloved - outlaw, whose romantic reputation as a "Robin Hood of the West" complicates our ideas about the value of an "honest living.". "It doesn't bear a great deal of relationship to Butch Cassidy's real life, or Butch Cassidy's life as we know it.". I would appreciate you contacting me. They did it in ITALY at the Catacombs, they would do it here. Over one hundred years ago, outlaws used the Roost as one of several hideouts along the Outlaw Trail a series of trails and safe houses that ran from Texas to Montana. The grave is located about 18 miles north of my home in Pahrump, Nevada. I still check on it periodically. There is a plethora of tales told about Cassidy and the only thing one can do at best is to review the evidence and to rely on peoples accounts who knew him or knew of him much more intimately than self-appointed experts of these modern times. His parents moved over the mountains to Circleville in 1879 and young Roy, as he was known about the house, worked in ranches across western Utah, including at Hay Springs, near Milford. Rugged and starkly beautiful desert public lands of Southern Utah. The unexpected encounter jolted us back to the mission at hand. Cassidy grew up working on ranches around his hometown of Circleville, Utah. If you want to find it yourself, check out the coordinates and direction on the. He was killed at the Chispa mine (near the Johnnie) in 1895. Abandoning that idea, the group later traveled across the Great Salt Lake Desert en route to Nevada, where they robbed the bank in Winnemucca. Well I for one appreciate anyone who has the tenacity to dig through these old cold cases. She made the long trip just prior to her death in 1980, and KerryBoren came with her. tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today's world. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. From here, Cassidy went back to robbing trains and payrolls up until his supposed death in 1908. DNA testing is unlikely to determine that Phillips, who was cremated, was Cassidy. He left the area before cattle barons hunted down cattle-rustling homesteaders in the 1892 Johnson County War. We were dazed and settling into the ongoing drive when heading up a large hill, an antelope doe and baby appeared running toward us. That is exactly why they pique my interest reportedly died in a in... 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