History of Butch Cassidy

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Butch Cassidy also known as LeRoy Parker started his life of crime by robbing the San Miguel Bank in Telluride Colorado. Born in Beaver, Utah on April 13,1866 he was the first of thirteen children born to Mormon parents who had migrated from England in 1856. The family moved to Circleville in 1879 and young Roy worked in ranches across western Utah. Things did not go well in Circleville for the Parkers, and his dad lost land to another homesteader in a property rights dispute;

In the robbery of the bank in Telluride, Roy and three others got away with $20,000. As a boy Roy looked up to a shady local rancher, Mike Cassidy. After Telluride he took on the name Butch Cassidy and his notoriety as an outlaw grew. He was seen as an outlaw fighting for settlers rights against the old time cattle barons. After the hard winter of 1886-87 small cattle operations were crippled by the loss of stock, and large operations paid a premium for rustled cattle.

During this time he began to assemble an elite corps of outlaws. Cassidy and his gang established what would become their greatest hideout, the Hole-in-the-Wall, in central Wyoming.

By 1902 the gang had disbanded, and Butch had gone to England and then to Argentina where Butch, the Sundance Kid, and his girlfriend Etta bought a small ranch. A stock buyer came through the country ending the gang's seclusion. From here , Butch went back to robbing trains and payrolls until his supposed death in 1908.

Butch returned to the United States as William Phillips. He met and fell in love with Gertrude Livesay. They were married in May 1908 and moved to Arizona and then to Spokane Washington where he founded the Phillips Manufacturing Company. He was diagnosed with cancer and died on July 20, 1937.

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