Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American cowboy who led a gang of outlaws called the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West. He robbed trains and banks. Born on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah Territory, he was the first of thirteen children of English immigrants Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies. Both families had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints while still in the United Kingdom. Maximillian Parker arrived in Salt Lake City in 1856 at age twelve as a Mormon pioneer. Ann Gillies was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and immigrated with her family in 1859 at age fourteen. They married in July 1865. Robert Parker grew up on his parents' ranch near Circleville.
As a teenager, he left home and, while working on a dairy ranch, met cattle thief Mike Cassidy. He later worked on several ranches and had a short apprenticeship with a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory. That job gave him the nickname "Butch" (from "butcher"), and he later added the last name Cassidy in honor of his mentor.
His first criminal offense was minor. Around 1880, he broke into a closed clothier shop in another town, stole a pair of jeans and some pie, and left an IOU promising to pay later. The shopkeeper pressed charges, but a jury acquitted him. He continued ranching until 1884, when he moved to Telluride, Colorado, supposedly for work but possibly to deliver stolen horses. He lived as a cowboy in Wyoming and Montana territories before returning to Telluride in 1887, where he met Matt Warner, a racehorse owner. They raced the horse together and split the winnings.
Cassidy's first bank robbery was on June 24, 1889, when he, Warner, and two of the McCarty brothers robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. Businessman L. L. Nunn had taken a controlling interest in the bank the previous year. They stole about $21,000 and fled to the Robbers Roost, a remote hideout in southeastern Utah Territory.
In 1890, Cassidy bought a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming, across the state from the Hole-in-the-Wall, a natural hideout used by outlaw gangs. His ranching was likely a cover for criminal activity, as he never made money from it. His brand was "Reverse-E, Box, E." In early 1894, he began a romance with rancher and outlaw Ann Bassett, whose father supplied him with horses and beef. That same year, Cassidy was arrested in Lander, Wyoming, for horse theft and possibly running a protection racket. He served eighteen months of a two-year sentence at Wyoming State Prison in Laramie and was pardoned in January 1896 by Governor William Alford Richards. He briefly became involved with Ann's older sister Josie before returning to Ann.
Cassidy's circle of criminals included his close friend William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Ben "The Tall Texan" Kilpatrick, Harry Tracy, Will "News" Carver, Laura Bullion, and George "Flat Nose" Curry. They formed the "Wild Bunch" after Cassidy's release from prison in 1896, taking the name from the Doolin–Dalton gang. On August 13, 1896, Cassidy, Lay, Logan, and Bob Meeks robbed a bank in Montpelier, Idaho, escaping with about $7,000. Soon after, Cassidy recruited Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, known as the "Sundance Kid," into the gang.
In early 1897, Ann Bassett, Lay, and Lay's girlfriend Maude Davis joined Cassidy at Robbers Roost. They hid there until early April, when the men sent the women home to plan their next robbery. On April 22, 1897, they ambushed men carrying the payroll of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in Castle Gate, Utah, stealing a sack of silver coins and fleeing back to Robbers Roost. Police records identified the gang leader as "George Parker, his real name, alias Tom Cassidy and Butch Cassidy," noting that after the Castle Gate robbery he was caught, sentenced to two years in the Wyoming Penitentiary, and then pardoned. On June 2, 1899, the gang robbed a Union Pacific Overland Flyer passenger train near Wilcox, Wyoming, which brought them great notoriety and sparked a massive manhunt.
Cassidy engaged in crime for over a decade, but pressure from law enforcement, especially the Pinkerton detective agency, forced him to flee the United States. He escaped with his accomplice Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid) and Longabaugh's girlfriend Etta Place. They traveled first to Argentina, then to Bolivia, where Cassidy and Longabaugh are believed to have died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in November 1908; the exact details of their fate remain unclear. Cassidy's life and death have been widely dramatized in film, television, and literature, and he remains a well-known icon of the Wild West mythos.
- field
- Outlaw, train and bank robber
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Leader of the Wild Bunch; partner of the Sundance Kid
Lore & Background
Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy, was born in Beaver, Utah Territory, to English immigrant parents who had converted to Mormonism. He was the first of thirteen children and grew up on his family’s ranch near Circleville. As a teenager, he left home and, while employed on a dairy ranch, met a cattle thief named Mike Cassidy, whose surname he later adopted. Cassidy’s first criminal act was minor: he broke into a closed clothier shop, stole a pair of jeans and some pie, and left an IOU; he was acquitted at trial. He worked as a cowboy and briefly as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, where the word “butcher” evolved into his nickname “Butch.” In 1889, he committed his first bank robbery in Telluride, Colorado, with accomplices, escaping with about $21,000 to a remote hideout called Robbers Roost in southeastern Utah. He later purchased a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming, using an unmistakable cattle brand of “Reverse-E, Box, E,” though his ranching was never financially successful and may have masked outlaw activities. Cassidy was imprisoned in 1894 for horse theft and served eighteen months before being pardoned. He led a criminal group known as the Wild Bunch, which included associates like Elzy Lay, Harvey Logan, and the Sundance Kid. After a decade of crime, pursuit by the Pinkerton agency forced him to flee the United States with the Sundance Kid and the Kid’s girlfriend, Etta Place. They traveled to Argentina and then Bolivia, where Cassidy and Longabaugh are believed to have died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in November 1908, though their exact fate remains unclear.
Reader's Guide
Butch Cassidy’s criminal career spanned more than a decade, beginning with a minor childhood theft of jeans and pie, for which he was acquitted, and escalating to bank and train robberies across the American West. He led the “Wild Bunch,” a gang that included close associates such as Elzy Lay, Harvey Logan, and the Sundance Kid. The group used remote hideouts like Robbers Roost in Utah and the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming to evade capture. Cassidy’s ranching operations, including a Dubois, Wyoming, property with a distinctive cattle brand, may have served as a cover for illicit activities. His imprisonment for horse theft in Wyoming and subsequent pardon did not deter him; after release, he resumed robbing banks and coal company payrolls. The relentless pursuit by the Pinkerton detective agency forced Cassidy to flee the United States with the Sundance Kid and Etta Place. They traveled to Argentina and later Bolivia, where both men are believed to have died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in 1908, though the exact circumstances remain uncertain. Cassidy’s life reflects the closing of the frontier, as his robberies targeted symbols of industrial and corporate power, while his mythologized story endures in film and literature as a central icon of the Wild West.
Did You Know?
- Butch Cassidy's real name was Robert LeRoy Parker.
- He got the nickname 'Butch' from a brief apprenticeship with a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Butch Cassidy?
Butch Cassidy was the popular nickname of Robert LeRoy Parker, a cowboy born in 1866 in Beaver, Utah Territory, who grew into one of the most recognized outlaws of the American West. He is best remembered as the leader of a gang of train and bank robbers active in the 1890s and early 1900s.
What was the Wild Bunch and what role did Butch Cassidy play in it?
The Wild Bunch was a loose gang of criminal outlaws that Cassidy organized and led during the closing years of the 19th century. Under his direction, the group carried out a string of train and bank robberies across the western United States until mounting pressure from agencies like the Pinkerton Detective Agency forced them to scatter.
How did Butch Cassidy's story end?
Cassidy is believed to have been killed on November 7, 1908, in Bolivia, where he had fled with the Sundance Kid and Etta Place to escape American law enforcement. The precise details of his death remain uncertain, but he is thought to have been shot during a confrontation in South America.
Why is Butch Cassidy considered an important figure in American history?
Cassidy became the quintessential symbol of the Old West outlaw era, representing the era when charismatic criminals defied federal and state authorities before being relentlessly pursued by private detective agencies. His legend, cemented alongside the Sundance Kid, has been retold in countless films, novels, and popular culture references well into the modern day.
Who was the Sundance Kid and how did he connect to Butch Cassidy?
The Sundance Kid was Harry Longabaugh, Cassidy's closest partner and co-leader of the Wild Bunch. The two men planned and executed robberies together for years and ultimately made the decision to flee the United States as a pair, traveling to South America with Etta Place.
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