Robert LeRoy Parker

Robert LeRoy Parker, born April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah Territory, was better known as Butch Cassidy, the infamous American outlaw, train robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch gang. Raised in a Mormon pioneer family near Circleville, Utah, he adopted the alias “Butch Cassidy” to distance himself from his family’s name after taking up a life of crime. His early mentor, rustler Mike Cassidy, influenced his path, and he earned the nickname “Butch” while working briefly as a butcher in Wyoming.

Cassidy became notorious in the late 1880s and 1890s for leading the Wild Bunch, a gang responsible for a string of daring bank and train robberies across the western United States, including the 1897 Castle Gate payroll heist in Utah and the 1899 Wilcox train robbery in Wyoming. Known for his charisma, meticulous planning, and non-violent approach—avoiding killing during robberies—he gained a “Robin Hood” reputation, often sharing stolen money with local communities. He operated out of hideouts like Robbers Roost in Utah and Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming.

Early Life and Background

Robert LeRoy Parker, later known as Butch Cassidy, was born on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah Territory, to Mormon pioneer parents, Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies. As the eldest of thirteen children, Robert grew up in a devout family of English immigrants who had converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom. His parents arrived in Utah in the 1850s, with Maximillian crossing the plains in 1856 at age twelve and Ann immigrating in 1859 at fourteen. They married in 1865, settling on a ranch near Circleville, Utah, by 1879, when Robert was thirteen.

The Parker family’s homestead, a modest two-room cabin south of Circleville, was where Robert, known as Roy to family and friends, spent his formative teenage years. Despite his religious upbringing, young Roy showed early signs of restlessness and a disinterest in church attendance. Working on local ranches to support his large family, he encountered Mike Cassidy, a cowhand and small-time cattle rustler, at Jim Marshall’s ranch twelve miles south of Circleville. Mike became a mentor, teaching Roy horsemanship and marksmanship, skills that would later define his outlaw career. To distance himself from his family’s reputable name, Roy adopted the surname Cassidy, likely in honor of his mentor, and later earned the nickname “Butch” from a stint as a butcher’s apprentice in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Early Brushes with the Law

Roy’s first recorded run-in with the law occurred around 1880, at a young age, when he entered a closed clothing shop in another town, took a pair of jeans and a pie, and left an IOU promising to pay later. Though he intended to settle the debt, the shopkeeper pressed charges. Roy was acquitted at trial, but the incident marked the beginning of his friction with authority. By 1884, at age eighteen, Roy left Circleville, disillusioned by his family’s loss of land in a property rights dispute and seeking greater opportunities. He drifted to Telluride, Colorado, working as a mule-skinner in silver mines and possibly delivering stolen horses, a path that led him toward a life of crime.

The Outlaw Trail and the Wild Bunch

In 1889, at age twenty-three, Roy—now Butch Cassidy—committed his first major crime: the robbery of the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado, alongside Matt Warner and two McCarty brothers. The group stole approximately $21,000 (equivalent to about $735,000 in 2024), fleeing to Robbers Roost, a remote hideout in southeastern Utah’s rugged canyon country. This marked Butch’s entry into the Outlaw Trail, a loosely connected network of hideouts stretching from Mexico to Montana, including Robbers Roost, Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming, and Browns Park near the Utah-Colorado-Wyoming border.

By the mid-1890s, Butch had formed the Wild Bunch, a loosely organized gang of outlaws that included Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), Elzy Lay, Harvey Logan (Kid Curry), Ben Kilpatrick (the Tall Texan), and others. Known for their charisma and meticulous planning, the Wild Bunch executed a series of daring bank and train robberies across the western United States. In Utah, Butch and his gang became local legends, often hiding out in Robbers Roost and Browns Park, where sympathetic ranchers provided shelter and supplies. Butch’s reputation as a “Robin Hood of the West” grew from stories of him sharing stolen money with the poor, a strategy that ensured community support and protection.

A notable Utah exploit occurred on April 21, 1897, when Butch, the Sundance Kid, and Elzy Lay robbed the Pleasant Valley Coal Company payroll in Castle Gate, Utah. Posing as bystanders, they stole $7,000 in silver coins in broad daylight without firing a shot, escaping to Robbers Roost. This heist, one of the largest payroll robberies in the Old West, cemented their notoriety. Another significant robbery took place on August 13, 1896, when Butch and Elzy Lay hit the Bank of Montpelier in Idaho, reportedly to raise funds to bail out Matt Warner. They escaped with loot, evading a posse led by Sheriff Jefferson Davis.

Butch’s time in Utah was not solely about crime. He cultivated a reputation for charm and non-violence, paying for meals and horses and avoiding killing during robberies. In Browns Park, he and the Wild Bunch were known for their generosity, even hosting a lavish Thanksgiving dinner in the mid-1890s at the Davenport ranch, complete with roast turkey and pumpkin pie, served to thirty-five locals. Such acts endeared him to communities resentful of wealthy cattle barons.

Legal Troubles and Imprisonment

In 1894, Butch was arrested in Wyoming for horse theft, a charge stemming from his rustling activities. He served two years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Laramie, from 1894 to 1896. His time in prison did little to deter him; upon release, he resumed his criminal career with renewed vigor, organizing the Wild Bunch for their most prolific period. However, the increasing presence of law enforcement and the Pinkerton Detective Agency, hired by railroad companies, made evading capture more difficult.

Life in Utah’s Outlaw Havens

Utah’s rugged terrain provided ideal hideouts for Butch and the Wild Bunch. Robbers Roost, located between the Colorado, Green, and Dirty Devil Rivers, was a labyrinth of canyons where outlaws could disappear. Browns Park, a remote enclave along the Green River, offered another safe haven, where ranchers like the Carlisle family provided jobs and cover. Butch’s ability to blend into these communities, coupled with his genial demeanor, allowed him to operate with relative impunity for years. His romantic involvement with Ann Bassett, a Browns Park rancher’s daughter, further tied him to the region, with some speculating she was Etta Place, the Sundance Kid’s companion.

Escape to South America

By 1901, the Wild Bunch was unraveling under pressure from relentless manhunts. With bounties on their heads and Pinkerton detectives closing in, Butch, the Sundance Kid, and Etta Place fled to New York City, then sailed to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 20, 1901. Posing as James Ryan, Butch settled with his companions in a four-room log cabin on a 15,000-acre ranch near Cholila, Chubut. They attempted a legitimate life, raising 300 cattle, 1,500 sheep, and 28 horses, as noted in a 1902 letter Butch wrote to Elzy Lay’s mother-in-law. However, by 1906, they returned to banditry, robbing banks and trains across South America.

The Mystery of Butch Cassidy’s Fate

The traditional narrative holds that Butch and Sundance died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army on November 7, 1908, near San Vicente, Bolivia. After robbing a mine payroll, they were cornered in a boarding house, where a firefight ended with two gunshots, presumed to be suicides. However, the exact circumstances remain uncertain, fueling speculation that Butch survived. Family members, including his sister Lula Parker Betenson, claimed he returned to Circleville in 1925, visiting family and sharing stories of his exploits. Others, including residents of Utah and Wyoming, reported sightings of Butch in the 1930s, living under aliases like William T. Phillips, a Spokane engineer who wrote an unpublished manuscript, The Bandit Invincible, believed by some to be Butch’s autobiography.

Historian Larry Pointer, in In Search of Butch Cassidy, argues that Butch faked his death in Bolivia, underwent facial surgery in Paris, and lived quietly in Washington until 1937. A 1930s account from a Utah doctor, Francis Smith, claimed Butch showed him a repaired bullet wound, supporting the survival theory. However, other historians, like Charles Kelly, found it odd that Butch never visited his father, Maximillian, who died in 1938, if he were alive. DNA tests in 2008 on remains exhumed in Bolivia failed to confirm Butch’s identity, leaving the mystery unresolved.

Legacy in Utah

Butch Cassidy’s legend looms large in Utah, where his boyhood home in Circleville remains a historical site, restored and open to visitors. The Cassidy Trail in Red Canyon and the Robbers Roost region in Capitol Reef National Park attract adventurers seeking traces of his life, including rumors of buried treasure from the Castle Gate robbery. His story, romanticized in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, has cemented his status as a folk hero. In Utah, he is celebrated as a charismatic outlaw who challenged powerful institutions, embodying the rebellious spirit of the Old West.

Butch’s reputation as a “gentleman criminal” stems from his non-violent approach and generosity. Stories of him aiding poor families, like the Thanksgiving feast in Browns Park, and his refusal to harm victims during robberies, earned him admiration. His connection to Utah’s rugged landscapes and communities, from Circleville to Robbers Roost, makes him a central figure in the state’s cultural and folklore heritage. Whether he died in Bolivia or lived on in obscurity, Butch Cassidy’s legacy as Utah’s “Robin Hood of the West” endures.