Butch Cassidy (4 page)

Three

Telluride

Robert LeRoy Parker had been gone from Circle Valley for several months when Maxi rode into the town of Circleville one day to purchase some supplies. While there, he received some troubling news. Maxi learned that several of the area cattle ranchers had discovered some of their stock had turned up in a herd belonging to two companions of Mike Cassidy. The two men, however, produced bills of sale for the cattle. According to the documents, the seller was none other than Robert LeRoy Parker.

Maxi met with area constable James Wiley, who offered some explanation. Robert, knowing he was going to be leaving the area, apparently agreed to put his name on the phony bills of sale. The two friends who had possession of the herd had families to support and wished to remain living in the region, and Robert may have simply wanted to help them. As it eventually turned out, the stolen cattle were returned to their rightful owners, the two friends of Cassidy were not suspected of doing anything illegal, and Robert Parker had fled the jurisdiction of the state. There was little the constable could, or wanted to, do.

In signing the phony bills of sale, Robert may not have overtly intended anything illegal. Perhaps the rather naïve youth was completely unaware of the ultimate consequences of his act. It is doubtful that criminal mischief was his motivation, but at the very least his action indicated a serious lack of judgment. Because of the incident, however, Robert was now known in the community as a criminal. A seed for his eventual reputation as an outlaw had been planted.

When Robert LeRoy Parker rode into Telluride, Colorado, in the summer of 1884, he was eighteen. Once known as Columbia, the town was reveling in a successful gold mining boom. Tons of ore were being dug from the mountainsides, and poor men became wealthy almost overnight. The name Telluride came from tellurium, a semimetallic element related to selenium and sulphur and considered one of the most important elements found in combination with gold. Telluride was located at the bottom of a deep canyon in a location known as San Miguel Park.

During its peak, the town of Telluride was referred to by many as the Sodom of the American West. Telluride offered numerous diversions for the hardworking miners—saloons, dance halls, whorehouses, and gambling dens abounded. Killings and robberies were a common occurrence, many of them going unsolved. Mercantiles and supply stores were everywhere, and large amounts of money changed hands around the clock.

In a short time, Robert, who by this time was calling himself Roy, secured a job some distance from Telluride. He was hired to pack ore onto mules and escort them from the mines to the mills. The days were long and hard, but Roy, always a hard worker, reveled in it at first. He also made good money for the first time in his life. A portion of his paycheck was sent home, but the saloons and women of Telluride accounted for much of the rest.

Not long after his arrival in Telluride, Roy sold his mare and made an arrangement with a local rancher to keep his unbroken colt, Cornish. The demands of his job prevented Roy from spending much time with the colt, and his visits to the animal were rare.

During the first spring following his arrival, Roy decided it was time to break the colt, so he visited more and more. With each visit, the rancher made an offer to purchase the animal, but Roy always turned him down.

One evening after work, Roy went down to the pasture, removed the three-year-old colt, and took him elsewhere to break. The rancher charged Roy Parker with horse theft and asked the town police chief to place him under arrest. The rancher stated that the colt belonged to him and could provide several witnesses to support his claim.

Roy decided it was time to leave. He rode away to the northwest and was arrested a short time later and placed in the county jail at Montrose, located about forty miles north of Telluride. A few of Roy’s friends, convinced he was innocent, sent a wire to Maxi explaining the situation. Maxi left immediately for Montrose to try to help his son.

During the subsequent trial, Roy was found not guilty. Following his courtroom experience, Robert was urged by his father to return with him to Circleville. Roy refused, explaining that he felt trapped in Utah, that he had few opportunities beyond the dullness of working on a ranch. He longed for adventure and excitement, and it was not to be found in the Mormon communities of Utah. Maxi returned alone.

A short time after Roy was found innocent of stealing his own horse, he departed Telluride and traveled to Wyoming, earning his living by taking odd jobs. Not only was he eager to leave the town in which he was nearly judged a criminal, but also he was still searching for adventure. In the spring of 1887, he wound up in Miles City, Montana. Life in Wyoming and Montana was not what he expected. He suffered one employment disappointment after another. After a time, he realized he missed the excitement of Telluride and the prospects of making money. He made the decision to return to Colorado.

The year was 1888. Soon after arriving in Telluride a second time, Roy found employment. Unfortunately, he returned to another job with long hours. Though he was making money, he quickly grew bored with the day-to-day drudgery of earning a living. He had not been back in town long when he met Matt Warner, an adventurous, free-living person who appealed to Parker. Warner, whose real name was Willard Erastus Christiansen, was from Levan, Utah. Like Roy, he had grown up in a Mormon household.

Warner’s father was a Mormon bishop. According to research, Warner ran away from home in the belief he had killed another youth in a fight. Cassidy and Warner soon became fast friends. They discovered they both had a common interest—horses.

Other than drinking, gambling, and whoring, the only diversion in Telluride during those times was horseracing, which quickly became established as the main spectator sport of the area. Since Warner was earning his living at this time racing horses, he found Telluride quite to his liking. Roy, whose horsemanship skills were soon apparent to Warner, became the principal jockey.

During a horseracing event in Cortez in southeastern Colorado, Roy and Warner encountered Tom McCarty. Warner and McCarty were old friends. McCarty had married Warner’s sister, making them brothers-in-law. Around this time, McCarty, who was over forty years old, had a reputation as a horse thief, cattle rustler, and gambler. Some believe he had robbed a bank only a short time before meeting Cassidy and Warner in Telluride. McCarty was wanted in at least one state. It has been written by some that McCarty, as well as Warner, had once been companions to Mike Cassidy, perhaps even members of his gang that rustled cattle. Though often stated, the relationship between Cassidy, McCarty, and Warner has never been verified to anyone’s satisfaction.

Parker, McCarty, and Warner began spending a lot of time together racing horses. During the next several days they experienced a number of successes and were soon stuffing their pockets with their winnings.

As a result of a disagreement on the outcome of a horse race, the three men found themselves involved in an argument with a group of Indians. At one point during the quarrel, one of the Indians raised a rifle in a threatening gesture. McCarty responded by pulling his revolver and shooting the man, killing him instantly. The death of their companion took the fight out of the rest of the Indians, and after loading the dead man onto his horse, they rode away.

The incident, however, bothered Roy. He didn’t mind a scrape now and then, but killing was something he hadn’t bargained for. He didn’t like it at all.

During the next few days, the three men spent most of their winnings at the Telluride taverns and were soon looking forward to the next opportunity to race. What little money they had left was given to a family of immigrants that was on the verge of starvation. Now broke, the three cast about for some opportunity to make more money. They had a difficult time drumming up horse races. Because they had been so successful, few Telluride residents were willing to take them on. After going several more days without money, they found work on a nearby ranch, but compared to the thrill and excitement of horse racing and winning purses, the three now found ranch work boring. When Parker, McCarty, and Warner finally returned to Telluride on June 22, 1889, they decided to rob the San Miguel Valley Bank.

Most historical accounts aver that, on the morning of June 24, Robert LeRoy Parker—a.k.a. Roy Parker—and Matt Warner dressed as successful businessmen and calmly strolled into the San Miguel Valley Bank. Outside, Tom McCarty held the reins to the three men’s horses. A few researchers are convinced that Harry Longabaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid, was somehow involved with the robbery, but his actual role, if any, is unknown and certainly undocumented. John Burroughs, the author of
Where the Old West Stayed Young
, claimed that Roy’s brother, Dan, was also a participant in the robbery. In fact, Dan was later identified by a lawman as one of the robbers. A Denver newspaper that reported the robberies on June 27 stated authoritatively there were four outlaws involved.

Still others maintain a man named Bert Madden, a sometime member of the Wild Bunch, was linked to the Telluride bank robbery. Persistent research into the event reveals enough information to strongly suggest that Dan Parker, along with another man named Bert Charter, and possibly Madden, might have been associated to the degree that they helped arrange relays of fresh horses along the escape route.

Most accounts of the robbery state that Matt Warner walked up to the nearest available teller. The man looked up from his work and asked how he could be of service. In response, Warner pulled his revolver and pointed it at the man’s head. As the teller raised his hands in surrender, Roy produced a sack from under his coat, walked around behind the counter, and began filling the sack with bills.

When the sack was full, the two men ran out of the front door of the bank only five minutes after entering it. By this time, however, onlookers and passersby determined a robbery had taken place. A number of citizens, following several moments of stunned silence and inaction, began shouting at the outlaws and calling for help. Quickly, the bank robbers climbed onto their mounts and, according to witnesses, leisurely rode through town heading southwest in the direction of the nearby Mancos Mountains.

After putting considerable distance between themselves and Telluride, the robbers encountered two men riding toward them. As they grew closer, the two were recognized by the bandits as acquaintances from town. Instead of stopping to greet them, however, the outlaws, concerned that a posse was not far behind, simply spurred past the pair without saying a word. Several minutes later when the two men arrived in town and were told the bank had just been robbed of $31,000, they identified Parker, Warner, and McCarty as the likely culprits. Later, it was discovered the actual amount of money taken was $20,750.

Near a location called Keystone Hill, the outlaws exchanged their weary mounts for fresh horses they had stationed there earlier. As a result of covering their tracks and setting false leads, they tricked the pursuing posse into thinking they rode in another direction. There was a total of six exchanges of horses, all likely arranged by companions for a share of the robbery money.

Now Roy Parker was officially an outlaw. In no time at all, wanted posters were out on him, McCarty, and Warner for bank robbery. The outlaws remained in hiding in the mountains for awhile, venturing now and then into small communities in the region to purchase supplies.

Most likely, the robbers remained for a time in southwestern Colorado hiding out in the mountains not far from the small town of Dolores. Some researchers are convinced this same group also robbed a train near Stoney Creek sometime during the first week of July. A search of the records indicates a train robbery did, if fact, take place, but the perpetrators were never positively identified. It is known that both McCarty and Warner had participated in at least one earlier train robbery. Some researchers suggest the two introduced young Roy Parker to the practice. After remaining in Colorado for a time, the robbers fled into Utah, convinced a Colorado posse would not pursue them into another state.

Roy Parker had over $6,500 in his saddlebags, more money than he had ever dreamed. His first thought was to send it home to his family, but he could not bring himself to pass along the ill-gotten gains to his loved ones.

When the initial thrill and excitement of the robbery finally passed, Roy was bothered deeply about his role. With his short experience thus far, living the life of an outlaw appealed very little to him—running and hiding, and seldom able to show his face in town. Roy Parker decided he wanted no more of this particular kind of adventure and was determined to lead an honest life. During his flight, his thoughts were primarily with his family and how much he missed them.

In time, Roy and his companions found themselves in Milford, Utah, just forty miles northwest of Circleville and home. Here, Roy and Dan spent some time together discussing the family. Some claim Dan arrived in Milford in the company of the robbers, but Lula Parker Betenson wrote the younger brother was living there and gainfully employed at a local business at the time.