A REAL MYSTERY -- WHO WAS ETTA PLACE? by Pam North One of the Old West's true enigmas was a woman known as Etta Place. Attempts to research her real name, her origin and her fate inevitably lead to frustrating ambiguity; her life is an unsolved puzzle. The role of Etta Place in the Wild Bunch saga emerged with a photograph taken in DeYoung's Studio in New York; it shows her standing next to the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh) prior to the couple's February 20, 1901 departure on the S.S. Herminius. The picture depicts a young, pretty woman with her long, brown hair piled high on her head. Pinned to her left lapel is a watch, supposedly a gift from Robert LeRoy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy. Cassidy and Sundance were notorious Utah outlaws, legendary throughout the West for their daring train, bank and payroll heists. Exactly how Place linked up with Sundance is a riddle. Marvel Lay Murdock, daughter of Wild Bunch member, William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay, has stated her belief that Etta was originally Cassidy's girlfriend in Robber's Roost during the winter of 1896-1897, but Cassidy's sister, Lula Parker Betenson has disputed that account, saying Etta was with Sundance. There is some indication that Place may have had relationships with both men. A Pinkerton detective got the impression that Sundance had become acquainted with Etta in a house of ill repute, after which she became his common-law wife. Etta Place may not even have been her real name, but rather an alias. Sundance's mother's maiden name was Place, so Etta may have begun using Place as her surname when she traveled with him. She later used Longabaugh as well, Sundance's actual last name. One theory suggested that Place was her real name, and that she was the illegitimate daughter of Emily Jane Place, a relative of Sundance's mother, and George Capel, alias George Ingerfield, the son of the Sixth Earl of Sussex. The fact that Capel is an anagram of Place was a basis for this idea. No documentation has ever supported this theory, however. Even her first name is uncertain. A 1904 Pinkerton memorandum referred to her as Ethel, and later Pinkerton documents called her Eva and Etta. A copy of a hotel register signed as Ethel Place may indicate the name she actually used. A researcher, Doris Karren Burton, at the Outlaw Trail History Center in Uintah County, Utah, has proposed the idea that the name Etta Place was an alias used by another colorful woman in Utah's history, Ann Bassett, so-called Queen of the Cattle Rustlers. Burton's theory is based on physical resemblances between Bassett and Place. An unusual, tiny, elongated hairless area at the top center of the forehead was noted in surviving photographs of both women in a later computer comparison study, lending considerable credence to Burton's proposal that Bassett and Place might have been one and the same. While similarities in appearance might be coincidental, numerous other parallels exist beween the two women; both were known for their classic beauty, intelligence, prowess with guns and expert horsemanship, as well as a wild reputation for being "loose" ladies. Etta Place often would turn up with Cassidy and Sundance just after Bassett would disappear from Brown's Park, on the Green River. The rugged terrain of Brown's Park provided both an ideal hideout for outlaws and excellent winter and summer range for stolen livestock, and Bassett, a rancher, had engaged in some cattle-rustling herself. She had met Cassidy and Sundance there, and forged a friendship with them. Bassett eventually married Frank Willis, a cowboy and prospector, in 1923, and settled in Leeds, Utah until her death in 1956. Bassett never admitted to being Etta Place, and reportedly even claimed to have met Place in the 1950s. There also is no evidence that Bassett ever left the United States, while Place traveled to Tahiti and Argentina, After a few more south-of-the-border rendezvous with Sundance, and possibly Cassidy, in the early 20th century, Etta Place faded into obscurity. Perhaps she actually was Ann Bassett, and settled into a quieter life in Utah. Then again, she may have left Argentina for Paraguay, where she married a government official and reared a family. Or she may have ended up in Fort Worth, Texas, using the name Eunice Gray, and operating first a bordello, and then a hotel until her death there in a fire in 1962. Again, no documentation exists to prove any of these theories, so Etta Place's life after her association with Cassidy and Sundance is unknown. The 1991 exhumation of the alleged grave of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in San Vicente, Bolivia, has renewed public interest in the history of the Wild Bunch. Perhaps the real story of Etta Place will surface in the future, but until then she remains one of the most intriguing riddles of the American West. Photo to accompany article is at: http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/butch.html Caption: Etta Place with the Sundance Kid in a 1901 photograph.