Butch Cassidy

DOSSIER

Robert Leroy Parker

aka: Butch Cassidy

Height: 6’1″

Weight: 225

DOB: April 13, 1866, Beaver, UT

Died: November 7, 1908, San Vicente Canton, Bolivia

Background: Cattle Rustler, Extortion, Robbery,

Allegations still linger that Butch did not die in South America.

A stellar tintype photograph of Butch Cassidy with Jesse and Frank James.  The leather wrangler chaps, fringed shirts, wide brim hats and weapons are the typical outfitting for life on the open range. The appearance of Butch Cassidy here with the James Boys adds a new twist to the outlaws’ saga. Could they have been involved in the racketeering out West?

Butch Cassidy with Frank and Jesse James / RJ Pastore Collection

Butch Cassidy worked as a cowboy in New Mexico and made a business of rustling strays, then selling them as his own. He began operating a protection racket extorting monthly bribes from ranches to ensure their cattle were not stolen. If they refused to pay then their cattle would mysteriously disappear. Butch and his cowboys would drive the stolen herd to Dodge City and sell them at auction.

Cowboys, lawmen and outlaws from all points came to ply their trade in the Lincoln County Cattle Wars.

Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch joined by Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett in Folsom, NM.

See more about the meeting at: http://jessejamesphotoalbum.com/billy-the-kid/

Maxwell's Regulators Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Butch Cassidy, Sundance and the Wild Bunch. RJ Pastore Collection

Maxwell’s Regulators
Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Butch Cassidy, Sundance and the Wild Bunch.
RJ Pastore Collection

 

 

More images from the public domain below.

Wikipedia info:  Robert Leroy Parker, named for his grandfather, was the first of the 13 children of Maximillian and Ann Parker. He grew up on their ranch near Circleville, Utah, 215 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah. He left home during his early teens, and while working at a dairy farm, looked up to, and was mentored by a cowboy and cattle rustler who called himself Mike Cassidy (an alias for John Tolliver “J. T.” McClammy). Parker subsequently worked at several ranches, in addition to a brief stint as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming, when he acquired the nickname “Butch”, to which he soon appended the surname Cassidy in honor of his old friend and mentor.

Butch Cassidy when he worked as a cowboy while robbing banks

Butch Cassidy when he worked as a cowboy (rustler). / Jay Robert Nash Collection

While not all of the photos below have a known provenance, they are still accepted as the Wild Bunch. The same validation applies to other photos of groups of known associates. Once a group is validated, the individual subjects have baseline photos that are then used for comparisons to other historical specimens. The advent of facial recognition software is a great leap forward in the validation process. Quantitative analysis by an objective software outweighs expert opinion.

The saloon hangout of The Wild Bunch in 1889. Circled are Harry Longbaugh (The Sundance Kid) and the man sitting on the chair beside him is Butch Cassidy

The saloon hangout of The Wild Bunch in 1889. Circled are Harry Longbaugh (The Sundance Kid) and the man sitting on the chair beside him is Butch Cassidy

 The caption may have Butch and Sundance reversed since Butch was thinner and Sundance was stocky build.

Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch 1892 / Gilman Collection

Butch and the Wild Bunch, Ft Worth, TX 1900

Butch and the Wild Bunch, Ft Worth, TX 1900