Historic Travels: Utah to Commemorate Cassidy

From Southwest Ledger

One of the benefits of my profession is that I get some time off in the summer. I use this time to research but also to travel. I love traveling for many reasons but one of which is that I get to visit historical sites and constantly learn new things.

My first trip this summer was to Utah. While the heat in southern Utah was insane there is so much natural beauty to see there. One stop I was excited about was the boyhood home of legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy in Circleville, in Piute County. I first visited the spot about 30 years ago while visiting my good friend Paul Morgan, whose family owns the ranch where the house sits. At that time the home was in bad shape, but it has recently been restored so I was excited to see the change.

Butch Cassidy, born Robert LeRoy Parker on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah, is possibly the most famous Wild West outlaw. His parents were Mormon immigrants from England who moved their large family from Beaver to Circleville in 1879. At the time, Cassidy’s family hit hard times and Roy began to steal cattle from neighboring towns. As his deeds became known, he started going by Butch Cassidy and began committing crimes along the Utah border with Wyoming and Colorado.

His first major score was a bank in San Miguel Valley in Telluride, Colorado, where he was believed to have stolen $20,000 (approximately $660,00 today). Cassidy’s fame grew especially as he established a pack of followers known as the Hole in the Wall Gang, named after their famous Wyoming hideout. There were several infamous men in the gang but the most notable was Harry Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid. Together this outlaw pack robbed banks and trains across the West. Eventually they became so famous it was hard to hide. Having their pictures taken in what is now a famous photo proved to be a down fall as law enforcement now knew what they looked like. Eventually the two men, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their way to South America where they were killed by police.

There are many directions to take this story. One is that it is widely believed in Circleville is that Cassidy did not die in South America. There are many reports and some good evidence to suggest that he faked his death and returned to America to live in peace, dying in 1929 in Washington state. Yet, I think the more interesting story is how a man like Cassidy went from being a criminal to a hero. There are a few explanations for this metamorphosis. First, by the 1920s, as America modernized and the wilderness had filled up, Americans became obsessed with the West and the legend of the cowboys, and everything associated with the Wild West culture. This nostalgia for all things Western included the outlaws as well as heroes. There became something romantic about the outlaws, who like Jesse James, were turned into Robin Hood characters where in fact he was actually a psychopathic murderer.

Starting in the 1930s, there was also another phenomenon as America slipped into the Great Depression. Suddenly outlaws were not seen as bad as Americans believed, as desperate times called for desperate measures. Outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde, again psychopathic murderers, were viewed as folk heroes.

With such hard times, people who were seen as brave enough to fight back against a system that left so many poor were applauded. Oftentimes those who robbed banks were seen as standing up to evil corporations and helping the little people. You can see these two movements in Hollywood in the 1930s as the biggest blockbusters were Westerns and gangster films. Cassidy fits both categories. So, how could he not be remembered so fondly?

There is a similar situation in the 1960s and 1970s. In many ways like today, the antiestablishment took their frustrations out on banks and corporations, like the 99% movement. The counterculture saw the establishment as greedy and evil and often the only way to fix it was outside the law. It is in this context that Hollywood gave us the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid played by Hollywood royalty Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The film portrayed Cassidy as a charming, clever and somewhat reluctant criminal, emphasizing his wit and loyalty to his friends rather than his criminal activities. This portrayal resonated with audiences and contributed to a more sympathetic, even heroic image of Cassidy.

This brings us back to today. As you drive into the small town of Circleville (population 544), you pass the Butch Cassidy Hideout Motel and Café and realize his legend is not lost on the locals. Cassidy’s old homestead has even become a tourist attraction. While the land is still owned by the Morgan family, the county wanted to preserve the home which was in decay. The only way to save it was to tear it apart, build a new foundation then rebuild it, all of which cost money. Several private and state agencies came together to raise the funds and now the home is safe for the future. This year the Utah Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution 8 to create a historical monument on the site. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed the bill in to law on Feb. 28. While the home now stands as a monument to a notorious outlaw of his day, in some ways it serves as a testament to how legends are made and how history changes over time.

James Finck is a professor of American history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He can be reached at HistoricallySpeaking1776@gmail.com.