Free Butch Cassidy by W. C. Jameson

Orlando W. Powers.
    According to legend, Butch Cassidy buried some or all of his share of the Montpelier bank loot somewhere in the Wind River Mountains. The most commonly related version of the story maintains the outlaw dug a shallow hole in some sand with the butt of his pistol, deposited the money, and covered it up. Nearby was a lightning-struck stump to which he could refer as a landmark. Several years later when the tale of outlaw-buried loot spread throughout the region, treasure hunters and hikers came to the Wind River Mountains in search of this lightning-struck stump in hopes of finding the buried loot.
    Charges immediately surfaced that Preston had received payment from bank robbery money. He steadfastly denied it, claiming he had been provided an advance by friends of Warner long before the Montpelier bank was robbed. He further maintained he was not retained by Cassidy or any of his gang members.
    Despite the efforts of Preston, Warner was ultimately convicted of the killing and sentenced to a five-year term in the Utah State Penitentiary. While Warner was incarcerated, Cassidy often visited his wife and provided her with money until her husband was finally freed. Meeks was arrested a short time later, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison for thirty-five years.
    With the passage of a few months, Butch Cassidy began hanging out with a group of outlaws called the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. From time to time, these men were involved in a variety of criminal activities, and it is believed Cassidy participated in many of them.
    The Hole in the Wall was a well-known hideout for outlaws in central Wyoming and was located along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains some sixty miles northwest of Casper. According to writer Gail Drago, the Hole in the Wall consisted, in part, of a “great cliff of red rock, a red wall composed of a fifty-mile sandstone ridge . . . divided only by a narrow, twisting V-shaped notch, barely wide enough for a man on horseback. The entrance to the Hole in the Wall could be easily guarded. With little difficulty, a man armed with a rifle could pick off a rider slowly making his way up the narrow, winding trail.”
    The Hole in the Wall was, and still is, not a hole at all but a V-shaped notch in a high canyon rim. Even today, this region remains somewhat remote and isolated. It was these same geographic characteristics, however, that provided sanctuary to rustlers, robbers, and killers whose presence was more or less tolerated by the few ranchers and farmers scattered throughout the region. The Hole in the Wall has sometimes been referred to as the northernmost point along the so-called Outlaw Trail.
    Researchers generally agree that Butch Cassidy grew to be the acknowledged leader of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, although the position was entirely informal. Occasionally, Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan served as leader, but more often than not he deferred to Cassidy when the latter was present. Cassidy, say some historians, apparently possessed natural leadership skills and appeared to get along well with practically everyone. Evidence suggests that, during the time Cassidy was in prison, the gang conducted its outlawry in a loose, careless, often bungling, and clearly leaderless manner.
    According to most who have studied the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, it was considered a loose-knit and often changing association of bad men. On various occasions Dave Atkins, Will Carver, Nate Champion, Bill Cruzan, Pegleg Elliot, O. C. “Deaf Charlie” Hanks, Ben Kilpatrick, Elzy Lay, Bob Lee, Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), Tom McCarty, Bob Meeks, Tom O’Day, Walt Punteney, Will Roberts, and Harry Tracy were members of the gang.
    During this period Cassidy met Harry Longabaugh, who eventually gained a level of outlaw fame as the Sundance Kid. Longabaugh, originally from Pennsylvania, had recently arrived in the area and joined the gang of outlaws. Almost all of Longabaugh’s biographers refer to him as