by Pam North

The West is full of heroes and villains - characters whose personalities have been misted over in the passage of time into mixtures of overlapping fact and fiction.  Of the desperadoes and villains who inscribed their identities on the pages of Western history, two of the most famous are Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh.  If these names don't immediately ring a bell, perhaps Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might register more familiarly.

The Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie classic, one of the highest-grossing cowboy films of all times, captured the fancy of the American movie-going public, acquainting it with this daring pair.  The real outlaws
were master bank and train robbers who seldom used their guns, depending instead on their wits and their ability to carefully plan their jobs.  These were the cornerstones to their success, and contrary to the majority of others in the occupation of robbery, Cassidy and Sundance actually lived long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor, accumulating enormous wealth in the course of their escapades.

Butch Cassidy (Parker) was born April 15, 1866 in Beaver, Utah, the son of Mormon parents, and the Sundance Kid (Longabaugh) was born in 1867 in Mont Clare, Pennsylvania.  Opinions differ on the motivation behind their exploits:  it may have been a reaction to an emerging monopoly capitalism (small ranchers and businessmen were being overwhelmed by the rich "robber barons" of the era), or perhaps it simply may have  been the result of bad company.  Their gang, known both as the Hole in the Wall Gang and the Wild Bunch, perfected a technique that made them spectacularly successful staging major heists; it was a three-man robbery in which one man held the horse, one held the gun, and another grabbed the cash.  Their method was stylish and attention-getting in train robberies; they used dynamite to blow up the baggage cars, but never harmed the passengers or crews.  Plans for heists were well thought out and perfectly executed, and their exploits became legendary.

The famous Pinkerton Detective Agency was in steady pursuit of the Wild Bunch by 1900, causing the number of the gang to diminish.  A very successful bank job executed by Cassidy, Sundance and a third man, and netting over $32,000 in cash, took place in a remote area of Nevada, and afterward the three split company to reunite later in Texas, indulging in a major spending spree with the money they had stolen.  In 1901, a final train robbery was pulled off; Cassidy and Sundance made off with thousands in bank notes after a typical demolishing of a baggage car.  The pair made a brief visit to New York City, then, along with Sundance's lover, went to Argentina.  After purchasing a ranch there, they lived quietly until 1906, when an apparent need for more money motivated them to rob a bank in a nearby town.

Photo for article is at:
http://www.pine-haven-wy.net/outlaws/Longabaugh_(The_Sundance_Kid).html
Caption:  The Wild Bunch, with the Sundance Kid (far left) and Butch Cassidy (far right) on the front row.
                  This photo fell into the hands of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, providing them with the  
                   identification needed to track the Wild Bunch.