Butch Cassidy (11 page)

A story is told that, within a short time after Murray’s arrival in Alma, a group of local outlaws learned of his presence. After stalking him for a few days, they jumped him and were only moments away from hanging him from a tree limb when Cassidy intervened, instructing the toughs to release their intended victim. Some have challenged the veracity of this tale, but if true, it serves as yet another example of the good side of the outlaw Butch Cassidy.

Following Murray’s departure, Cassidy realized the Pinkertons were closing in on him. He left the area in order to elude capture.

Nine

Betrayal

The longer Butch Cassidy lived the life of an outlaw, the more he regretted his decision to leave his parents’ farm. He thought about his family constantly, especially his mother, and felt remorse for what she must be going through. Cassidy was convinced his actions brought great shame upon his mother and father and siblings, and as much as he wanted to visit them, he could not bring himself to do so.

The initial excitement of riding with an outlaw gang was fading following the deaths of several of his companions and the imprisonment of his good friend, Elzy Lay. Day after day on horseback with little sleep and unable to build a campfire to prepare a warm meal and coffee took its toll. Although Cassidy found some level of satisfaction in bringing hardship via the robberies to railroads, banks, and large landowners, he had not accumulated much money in the process. He often led a near-poverty existence, occasionally taking jobs at area ranches. The only satisfaction he derived in his escapades of the previous few years was that he had not killed or harmed anyone.

Cassidy thought long, hard, and often about reforming and going straight, about finding a job wrangling horses and settling down and raising a family. He was thirty-three and had little to show for his time on earth.

In what might seem like a surprising decision to some, Cassidy, anxious to put his outlaw past behind him, arranged for a clandestine meeting with Fremont County sheriff Charley Stough (some researchers say it was Uinta County sheriff John Ward) at a remote and seldom-used train station located near Soldier’s Summit, a high pass in the mountains. The sheriff arrived by train, was dropped off, and hiked to the prescribed rendezvous about one mile from the station. Just after sundown, Cassidy arrived to find his old friend Stough waiting for him. The two, who had known and respected one another for a long time, were now adversaries where the law was concerned. After shaking hands, they sat down and discussed a number of topics. Most importantly, Cassidy asked Stough to intercede for the Wild Bunch with Wyoming governor W. A. Richards. He explained that many of the gang members, expert horsemen all, wanted to join the Rough Riders and travel to Cuba to fight for the United States. The Wild Bunch, said Butch, would be eager to offer their services for the defense of their country if they could receive amnesty for the previous offenses.

It is unclear exactly what measures Stough (or Ward) took in attempting to accomplish this aim, but amnesty was not forthcoming. Disappointed and angry, the Wild Bunch returned to their outlaw ways. In spite of Governor Richards’s refusal to consider the outlaws’ request, Cassidy still maintained hope that someday he would be allowed to go straight.

Consumed by his desire to change his life, and keenly feeling the increasing pressure of pursuing lawmen, in 1900 Cassidy sought and received an appointment with another old friend and Matt Warner’s former lawyer, Orlando W. Powers. Powers was now a judge in Salt Lake City. When he arrived for his meeting with Powers, Cassidy was thirty-four years old, and his blond hair was streaked with grey. The lines on his face suggested hard living and stress. He was dressed in overalls and a denim jacket, and held a well-used hat in his calloused hands. After exchanging small talk for a while, Cassidy told Powers he was growing weary of running and hiding, that he wanted to put his outlaw life behind him and seek gainful employment. He inquired about the possibility of standing trial for his crimes and receiving an acquittal. Powers told Cassidy there was very little chance for such a thing because there were too many presidents and other officials of banks and railroads who wanted to see him behind bars; they would likely bring intense political pressure to see that done.

Cassidy then asked the judge point blank if there was any way he could be pardoned for his crimes and not go to prison. Powers informed Cassidy that he could be pardoned only if he was convicted. At that point, Cassidy had not been convicted of anything in Utah. He was currently wanted for questioning about his role in the Castle Gate holdup, but according to the judge, sufficient evidence leading to a conviction was lacking. Besides, Powers told Cassidy, even if he were pardoned in Utah, he could still be extradited to other states where he was wanted for crimes.

Convinced Cassidy wanted to go straight, Powers told the outlaw he would give his plea some consideration. He also informed Cassidy that he would meet with Utah governor Heber M. Wells and make a request for amnesty. At the same time, Cassidy went to visit another friend, Juab County sheriff Parley P. Christensen, who agreed to arrange a meeting between the outlaw and Wells. During the subsequent meeting, Wells suggested amnesty was a possibility unless murder was involved—under law, a murderer could not be granted amnesty. Cassidy assured him he had never killed anyone, so the governor promised to look into the matter while Cassidy remained in Salt Lake City.

During a second meeting approximately one week later, Governor Wells told Cassidy he was informed by his attorney general that he was wanted for murder in Wyoming and, because of that warrant, he would be unable to provide amnesty. Furthermore, continued Wells, while he might have some influence in Utah, his rulings would carry absolutely no weight whatsoever in other states where the outlaw was wanted, which included Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Cassidy was clearly disappointed, but Powers soon invited him to a second meeting to consider other arrangements. Powers suggested he would personally approach the railroad officials and try to get them to drop all charges if Cassidy would agree never to rob any more trains. The judge stunned Cassidy by asking him how he felt about negotiating for an honest job as a railroad guard working for the Union Pacific. Cassidy agreed to the conditions, and Powers said he would arrange a meeting at the earliest possible date.

A few days later, Powers met with Union Pacific officials who expressed surprise, relief, and enthusiasm at the offer. They not only agreed not to prosecute Cassidy if the outlaw would promise never to rob another train but also agreed with Powers’s proposition to offer him a job as an express guard.

Powers explained to Cassidy that the railroads would much rather have a former outlaw on their payroll than have Cassidy stealing from them. Furthermore, once other would-be train robbers learned Cassidy was guarding a train, they would not be as likely to rob it. Powers told Cassidy that the railroad officials were interested in discussing the situation with him.

Through Judge Powers, arrangements were made for Cassidy to meet with representatives of the railroads during late 1899 or early 1900 at Lost Soldier’s Pass, a stagecoach station near the foothills of Green Mountain, a hard day’s ride north of Rawlins. Cassidy arrived at the selected location early and waited for the representatives of the railroad to show up. At his request, they would be accompanied by his friend and attorney Douglas A. Preston.

For the better part of a day Cassidy waited for the railroad officials to arrive, but they never did. Disappointed and angry, Cassidy penciled a note that said,

Damn you Preston you have double crossed me. I waited all day but you did not show up. Tell the U.P. to go to hell and you can go with them.

Cassidy placed the note under a small rock where it was certain to be found. Convinced he had been deceived by the railroad company, he rode away.

Unknown to Cassidy, the Union Pacific men and Preston had been delayed by a storm and arrived at the appointed site one day late. They found the note.

Preston tried to find Cassidy to straighten out the misunderstanding but was never able to locate the outlaw. He summoned Cassidy’s friend Matt Warner and asked him to try to find his companion, explain the circumstances, and perhaps convince him to agree to another meeting with the railroad officials.

Though he tried, Warner was unsuccessful in locating Cassidy. In the meantime, railroad officials were convinced Cassidy was somehow involved in the deaths of the two Utah sheriffs killed by Harvey Logan and withdrew their offer to excuse and employ the outlaw. Furthermore, they said, another train had been held up, and the robbery had all the earmarks of a job conducted by Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.

It is believed by some that Cassidy held up the Union Pacific train near Tipton, located between Rawlins and Rock Springs in southern Wyoming, because he was angered at being stood up by the railroad representatives.

Had Warner located Butch Cassidy and helped arrange another meeting with railroad officials, history would most certainly have taken a different turn, and the life and times of this famous outlaw would undoubtedly be quite different from what it is today.

As with many Butch Cassidy and Wild Bunch episodes, researchers disagree as to what transpired on the evening of August 29, 1900, during what has been called the Tipton train robbery, and exactly which gang members were involved. There is some consensus that it consisted of Cassidy, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan, Harry Longabaugh, William Cruzan, and perhaps a woman, Laura Bullion, Logan’s girlfriend. The modus operandi was similar to previous Wild Bunch train robberies, and it was reported the outlaws got away with approximately $55,000 and a large quantity of jewelry.

Some suggest one of the gang members, probably Harvey Logan, was aboard the train as a passenger. Others, writer John Burroughs foremost among them, suggest that at the previous stop he “darted out of the shadows beside the water tank, grasped the handrail at the rear of the tender, and swung aboard.” After tying a bandanna around his face, he climbed into the engine compartment and, at gunpoint, ordered engineer Henry Wallenstine to stop the train at a prescribed location about one mile ahead. Other accounts claim the train stopped to investigate a fire on or beside the tracks, but this is highly unlikely. When the train came to a halt, conductor E. K. Kerrigan was then instructed to uncouple the mail and express cars from the passenger cars.

Much to the surprise of Cassidy and his companions, the messenger in charge of the express car was Ernest Charles Woodcock, the same one who resisted the outlaws’ efforts during the Wilcox robbery over one year earlier.

After Cassidy told Woodcock to open the door before it was blown off, the stubborn, and apparently very loyal, employee once again refused. Not wanting to harm the gutsy Woodcock, Cassidy asked conductor Kerrigan to try to convince the messenger to open the door before he got hurt. Kerrigan spoke with Woodcock for several minutes, beseeching him to let the outlaws in, but he continued to refuse, stating that he would shoot the first man to enter the car.

Cassidy could not bring himself to blow out the door and subject Woodcock to harm again. He asked Kerrigan to try once more, and following several minutes of negotiation, the messenger finally slid the door open, allowing the robbers to enter. Before he allowed access, however, Woodcock took pains to hide two large packages of money, which the outlaws never found.

Cassidy attached an extremely large charge of dynamite to the big steel safe inside the car. The subsequent explosion not only blew the door of the safe open but also completely demolished the baggage car as well as the car coupled next to it.

Within an hour after stopping the Union Pacific train, Cassidy and his gang departed without harming a single person. The Union Pacific issued a news release stating that the robbers only got away with $54. Woodcock, however, was quoted as saying the take amounted to about $55,000. It may be that the railroad company wanted real and potential thieves to believe that the trains were not carrying much money in order to discourage would-be bandits.

Following this robbery, the Union Pacific’s private army, along with several posses, was once again on the trail of the outlaws. Ace tracker Joe LeFors came close to overtaking the outlaws, but the Wild Bunch, using relays of fresh horses stationed along the way, always managed to outdistance and elude him.

LeFors was considered by many to be the most competent tracker involved in the chase of the Wild Bunch. So quickly did he join the pursuit that, by late afternoon of the day following the robbery, he and members of his posse had ridden to within several hundred yards of the fleeing outlaws. Once again, the successful escape of the train robbers was due in large part to the several changes of fresh relay mounts along the escape route.

Within a few days, each member of the gang carried a $10,000 reward. On his wanted poster, Cassidy was described as five feet ten inches in height, one inch taller than when he was admitted to prison six years earlier.

Cassidy, as well as several other members of the Wild Bunch, was reputed to have buried some of the Tipton train robbery loot near their hideout at Diamond Mountain in Brown’s Park.

The Tipton train robbery provided even more reason for railroad officials to do everything in their power to chase down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. In the wake of the train holdup, even more posses were now in the field searching for Butch Cassidy, Harvey Logan, and other members of the Wild Bunch.

The outlaws, particularly Cassidy, were aware that law enforcement authorities were growing closer, ever tightening their network of pursuit around them. While some of the outlaws reveled in the chase, Cassidy knew it could not go on forever—the railroads had too much money and manpower and would never give up until every member of the gang was captured or killed.