Archives West Finding Aid

Robert Leroy Parker (1866-1908?), later know as Butch Cassidy, was born 13 April 1866, in Beaver, Utah. His parents were Maximillian and Annie Gilles Parker, who had both come to Utah with their parents during the handcart migrations. The Parkers came from England and Scotland, respectively, as converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Robert Leroy was the first of eleven children, and when he was thirteen years old, the family moved to Circle Valley along the Sevier River, south of Circleville Utah. Their first winter there proved to be the most severe ever recorded, and they lost all but two head of their cattle. Maximillian had also homesteaded additional land, but the claim was "jumped" by another, more wealthy and influential Mormon. Since there was no civil law in the area, the case was heard in a Bishop's Court of the LDS Church, and the Parker's lost the land.

Robert was the eldest and shared greatly with his father in the back-breaking work of supporting the family. He was incensed about the decision of the Bishop's Court, and there is some speculation that the Bishop's decision prompted Cassidy's strong feelings about bankers and other wealthy men cheating poor, hard working men out of their land. Cassidy later gave money he had gotten from a robbery to the widow and children of a friend to keep the bank form foreclosing on their farm, saying "The only difference between him [the banker] and myself is that he uses the law when he holds people up, and I use a six-shooter."

After the harsh winter of 1879-1880, the Parker family's financial situation became grim, and Robert was hired out to the Marshall Ranch, about twelve miles from home. It was there, according to Lula Betenson, author of Butch Cassidy, My Brother, that Robert met and became entranced with a sometime hired hand, sometime cattle rustler and horse thief named Mike Cassidy. Mike was an expert with horses and an excellent shot, and regaled his fellow hired-men with stories of his exploits and easy money. He taught Robert marksmanship and how to handle animals.

In June, 1884, Robert left home hurriedly. According to Betenson, it was because he signed a false bill of sale for two local men who had rustled a number of cattle. The cattle were traced to them and they produced the phony document for the sheriff. Since young Parker was the only unmarried man, he decided to take the blame and then leave the area so that the other men might continue their lives unaffected. He had a close and loving relationship with his family and it was painful for him to leave, but Cassidy's stories had by this time stirred his wanderlust, and it seemed an opportune time to go.

Robert then changed his name to George Parker and went to Telluride, Colorado, where he worked in the mines. He met Matt Warner there, and toured with him, racing horses. In 1892, calling himself George Cassidy, Robert and a friend, Al Hainer, set up a small horse ranch in Wyoming. They were arrested and tried for horse theft: verdict, not guilty. Charges were brought again the following year, and this time Hainer was found innocent and released, but Cassidy was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.

Upon his release, Cassidy began his career of bank and train robberies. There is still controversy over the exact number and location of the robberies he planned and participated in. News reports of the day were notoriously inaccurate, partially due to the fact that there were only the descriptions provided by witnesses and victims to identify the bandits. Many hold-ups were attributed to Cassidy that he probably did not commit, while others that he did plan and direct were blamed on other bandits. Adding to the confusion was the fact that Cassidy had a reputation for being an amiable and generous man, and therefore had many friends who helped hide him from the law.

It is documented that Cassidy left the United States for Argentina, where he homesteaded land and actually had a prosperous ranch for a number of years. When Pinkerton detectives came to South America looking for him, he left the ranch and returned to his old trade of robbing banks. In Bolivia in 1909, he was reported killed in a gun battle with government troops, along with his long-time partner, Harry Longbaugh, the "Sundance Kid."

In her book,Butch Cassidy my Brother, Lula Betenson, Cassidy's sister, maintains that he visited the family in 1925, long after he was reported dead in Bolivia. She states that she knows where he died, as well as the name he was using at the time, but confirms that both facts will remain family secrets. The family fears that curiosity seekers will exhume the body, so as Robert Leroy's father stated, "All his life he was chased. Now he has a chance to rest in peace, and that's the way it must be." Few of the outlaws of the old west have aroused as much curiosity, interest, and speculation as Butch Cassidy