BUTCH CASSIDY
On this date back in 1866 Robert Leroy Parker was born in Beaver, Utah Territory. But we know him as Butch Cassidy.
Supposedly, he picked up the name “Butch” from the short period of time he worked in a Rock Springs, Wyoming butcher shop. The last name came from a minor criminal mentor by the name of Mike Cassidy…I also suspect he didn’t want to bring shame on his strict Mormon family by using Parker.
Although Butch’s organizational skills and personality were probably suited more for a legitimate business life, he assembled a group of ruffians known as the “wild bunch.” Even though they could be considered misfits, Butch was able to meld them into a sophisticated criminal operation.
By the 1900’s the wild days of the West were fading and law enforcement was becoming more effective. So Butch, The Sundance Kid and Etta place fled to Argentina.
Here’s where legend and fact get blurry. Some say Butch and the Sundance Kid were killed by Bolivian troops. However members of his family maintain Butch came back to the United States and died of old age under another name.
Just as an aside. There are more than a dozen Old West outlaws, including Billy the Kid, who were supposedly not really killed, and they lived a long life under an alias. Sometimes I wonder if any Old West outlaw was ever killed.
Filed under: Old West History
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My husband is a HUGE old west fan and he loves Butch Cassidy. He saw that movie Blackthorn when it came out and turned in to an 8 year old again! He just got done reading this book called “Legends Lost” by Charlie Mac http://www.charliemacbooks.com
It’s all about Butch and Sundance. I just started reading and it’s really a great read! I would recommend it to anyone, but especially western lovers!
Butch is a favorite of mine also. Do you and your husband think he came back to the states and lived a long life under a different name?
We’d like to think so, there’s excitement in the mystery of it all! We were watching something on TV about how they think Jesse James staged his own death and lived a long full life. It’s incredible what kind of comparisons modern technology was showing between Jesse James and the people who claim to be his grandchildren. We figure if he could do it, why not Butch? I supposed there will always be some speculation, but I think that if they were smart enough to pull off as much as they did, they could have very well pulled off “dying”!
Jackie, I’m more inclined to believe that Butch survived to an old age than either Jessie James or Billy the Kid. Too many people saw their bodies after they were killed.
Jackie, my problem with that theory is that I’ve talked to a lot of people who have had wrecks on horses, myself included. I’ll tell you, a person just doesn’t have the time, or the ability, to pull his pistol and shoot the horse.
Very true! I guess that’s what makes history like this so exciting, the idea that we may never know the truth, but we can certainly try to figure it out ourselves!