Author Charles Kelly provides a somewhat different explanation of Parker’s first brush with the law. Based on an alleged interview with a former Juab County sheriff, Kelly determined Parker had been arrested for stealing a saddle. While in jail, the boy was “mistreated by the sheriff of Garfield County.” Angered by his treatment, Parker, according to Kelly, swore vengeance then and forevermore against lawmen. There is no evidence that such a thing actually happened.
Following his employment at the Ryan Ranch, Robert, along with his mother and two brothers, soon found work closer to home at the Marshall Ranch and Dairy around 1881 or 1882. Initially, Maxi was not in favor of the arrangement but was finally persuaded when he became convinced that the extra money earned, along with free milk, cheese, and butter, would help get them back on their feet. Kelly wrote that Maxi Parker actually purchased the Marshall Ranch, but the majority of Cassidy scholars are in agreement that neither evidence nor likelihood of such a thing happening was apparent.
According to local gossip recorded by some researchers, the Marshall Ranch occasionally served as headquarters for gangs of horse thieves and cattle rustlers. One of the outlaws who frequented the ranch was a man named Mike Cassidy, who, some say, was the generally acknowledged leader of the rustlers. It was at the Marshall Ranch during his second year of employment that Robert Parker met Mike Cassidy. The event amounted to a significant turning point in the life of the boy.
Mike Cassidy was many things. He was a competent cowhand with years of experience with horses. Cassidy was well known throughout the region for his skills in breaking horses and often found himself in demand with area ranchers. Cassidy was also highly skilled with a pistol. He was considered a marksman who allegedly could place a bullet through a silver dollar at forty paces.
Mike Cassidy was charismatic. A likeable man, he was often idolized by area youth who considered him a kind of hero. He was well liked and respected by the group of cowboys he associated with and never lacked for friends.
Mike Cassidy was also an outlaw. He was known to be a cattle rustler and a horse thief. It is maintained by some historians that while working at the Marshall place Cassidy continued stealing horses and cattle from other ranchers. In fact, he held a large herd of his own in Bryce Canyon, a rugged, dissected maze of sandstone canyons located some sixty miles to the southeast.
Some have argued about the legitimacy of Mike Cassidy’s reputation as an outlaw: A few have claimed he was, pure and simple, one who broke the law. Others attribute to him a certain prankishness modified by a skewed perception of what justice actually was, or should have been. In truth, the West was filling up with railroaders and cattle barons, leaving very little land for men and families of modest means. The smaller ranchers and cattlemen, such as Cassidy, often roped and branded strays, called mavericks, from the larger herds owned by the corporate ranchers. In many parts of the country, such activity was recognized and accepted, and the maverickers assumed a few cattle here and there would not be missed. Men like Mike Cassidy regarded the strays as the price the larger cattle ranchers had to pay for pushing the smaller operators out.
However, the wealthy cattlemen held the money and the power. They were capable of manipulating laws and lawmen to serve their own interests, and often did. For many, mavericking was not tolerated. Soon the maverickers were deemed nothing more than common rustlers who were hunted down and sometimes hung on the spot.
It has never been entirely clear whether or not Mike Cassidy was simply a hardworking cattleman trying his best to get ahead or if he was little more than a common cattle thief. In any case, he often found himself at odds with laws and lawmen.
Like other young men, Robert LeRoy Parker was attracted to Mike Cassidy from the very first time he met him at the Marshall Ranch. Parker was impressed with the older cowboy’s skills with livestock. It may be assumed that he also admired the experienced cowman’s attitude relative to the wealthy cattle barons.
The outlaw’s life must have seemed quite glamorous to the young Parker. It was a life filled with excitement and a certain level of danger, whereas Parker’s was one filled with menial duties, hard work, and growing boredom. Author Larry Pointer wrote that it was no small stretch for Parker “to rationalize Cassidy’s rustling as retribution for the transgressions of religious hypocrites and greedy land barons.”
The outlaw Mike Cassidy likewise took a liking to Parker. He was impressed with the youth’s already well-developed skills with livestock. During the days of their relationship on the Marshall Ranch, Cassidy passed along much of his knowledge and technique of horse breaking and training to the boy. Cassidy gave Parker a saddle and spent time teaching him the fine points of horsemanship. In a short time, Robert LeRoy Parker was almost as good a horseman as Cassidy.
Cassidy also gave Parker a pistol, along with money for cartridges. When time was available, he taught the youngster how to handle the weapon. Before long, Parker was nearly the marksman Cassidy was known to be. By the time he was sixteen years of age, the youngster could shoot with remarkable accuracy, even from the back of a galloping horse. With the passage of several weeks, Parker was regarded as the best shot in the valley, replacing Mike Cassidy with that distinction.
When Cassidy’s herd of stolen cattle became too large to be contained by the Bryce Canyon environs, he decided to move them to the Henry Mountains, another sixty miles to the southeast, near the Colorado River. In need of some extra cowhands to work the herd, it is believed that he asked young Parker to go along. The experience, if it actually happened, likely further solidified the relationship between the two, and Parker probably learned even more about handling livestock and shooting a gun.
A short time later, Mike Cassidy ran afoul of the law again. He fled to Mexico where, according to most reports, he remained until he died.
The growing relationship between the boy Robert LeRoy Parker and the outlaw Mike Cassidy did not go unnoticed by Ann Parker. Concerned that the two were spending far too much time together, and worried about the potentially harmful influence the outlaw could have on her son, she eventually moved Robert and his two brothers back to Circleville.
In spite of his mother’s concerns and admonitions, young Parker maintained contact with Mike Cassidy for a time. Several months later, when Cassidy indicated he would be leaving the Marshall Ranch and moving on, Parker asked to accompany him. Perhaps aware of the concern evinced by the boy’s mother, and perhaps in a sincere attempt to keep the youth from going astray, Cassidy discouraged him. He counseled Parker to remain with his family.
With the continuous hard work on ranches, and with constantly practicing his horsemanship skills, Parker’s frame filled out with hard muscle. When he was eighteen years of age, he was five feet nine inches tall and weighed approximately 155 pounds. Though strong and durable, Parker remained soft spoken and friendly to all. He was characterized as having a disarmingly charming smile and was quick to laugh and generally liked. He continued to be regarded as dependable, hardworking, and loyal to his employers and to his friends.
Though Mike Cassidy had departed, Parker was still guided by many of the lessons he learned from the older cowboy. Though he was unable to follow Cassidy at the time, he did so later, at least figuratively.
Shortly after turning eighteen years of age in 1884, Robert told his mother he was leaving, that he needed to find opportunities above and beyond those offered at the southern Utah ranch. He spoke of traveling to Telluride, Colorado, and finding a job in the mines.
According to his sister, Lula Parker Betenson, on the day Robert decided to leave, his father was working at some distant location. His mother carefully packed him a supply of provisions and rolled them into a blue woolen blanket his grandfather had made for him when Robert was a baby.
As Robert saddled his horse, the family dog, Dash, grew excited at the prospect of going along, as was his custom on the ranch. Robert asked his mother to hold the dog so he wouldn’t follow. After mounting his mare, Babe, and
taking the reins of his colt, Cornish, Robert LeRoy Parker rode away from the family homestead.
According to writer Richard Patterson, Mormons had a tradition of planting Lombardy poplar trees wherever they settled. Years earlier, Robert and his mother worked together to plant a row of poplars along the path that led to the main road. As he now rode down the path, Robert remembered that time of planting as he passed the line of trees.
The incident was to be recalled forty years later.
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 w
as 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.
Butch Cassidy Page 3