Butch Cassidy Remembered at Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie

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Written by Lindsey Hoyt

Wednesday, 02 July 2008 14:04

John Mohr/The Branding Iron

Over the past weekend at the Wyoming Territorial Prison was Butch Cassidy Days, named for the frontier outlaw who's only jail time was spent in Laramie.

“Butch Cassidy was the most famous inmate ever incarcerated here,” the prison’s Visitor Services Supervisor, Lynette Nelson, said.

Among the “living history” activities and presentations on Saturday and Sunday was a biographical talk about Butch Cassidy, given by his great, great-nephew, Bill Betenson. Butch Cassidy and his extended family, including Betenson, are from Utah.Cassidy staged several train, bank and stage coach robberies in Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming , with one in Rock River being the closest to Laramie, Betenson said.

Cassidy was the oldest of thirteen born to the Parkers, who were Mormon emigrants from Britain. Despite the work and religious responsibilities he had when young, the outlaw life caught Cassidy’s attention, Betenson said.

When Cassidy was about 18, in 1884, he left home. Some of Cassidy’s first lawless pursuits involved stolen cattle or horses, Betenson reported. Cassidy was arrested for the first and only time in 1892. He was convicted of stealing at least one horse the year before, Betenson said

He served the majority of his sentence—eighteen months between 1894 and 1896— at the Wyoming Territorial Prison, Nelson said. Some call Butch Cassidy the Robin Hood of Wyoming. Betenson said he does not agree with that interpretation of his great, great uncle, because Cassidy rarely if ever gave away the money he stole.

In fact, while he was in prison, Cassidy decided he wanted to make his mark on this world with more serious outlaw acts, Betenson said.

After Cassidy was released, he was a robber with other men in the “Hole-in-the-Wall” gang, also known as the “Wild Bunch,” Nelson said.

They carried out a major robbery in Castle Gate, Utah in April of 1897, Betenson said. After that, Cassidy went to New Mexico and laid low working on a ranch under an alias. From there, Cassidy traveled to New York. He and the Sundance Kid went to Argentina and Bolivia from 1901-1905, Betenson said.

The remainder of Cassidy’s life is an unresolved mystery. Some believe he was shot in Bolivia, Betenson said, but others believe he returned to Utah and died there of pneumonia in 1937. The last Parker sibling who survived was his sister, Lula, who insisted her brother did not die in South America, Betenson said.

Other events at the Cassidy celebration featured antique tractors, frontier clothing, roping and draft horses. Butch Cassidy Days began in 2004 and is the Territorial Prison’s main summer event, Nelson said. She said 15,000-16,000 American and overseas visitors tour the prison each summer.

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