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Butch Cassidy Biography

Outlaw

Name at birth: Robert Leroy Parker

Butch Cassidy was one of the most notorious outlaws of the old American west, the leader of the Wild Bunch gang out of Wyoming. Butch and his gang robbed banks and trains throughout the west, retreating to their hideout called Hole-in-the-Wall (now identified in Wyoming). In 1901 Butch, his partner Sundance Kid and Etta Place fled to Argentina, where they lived for a few years on a ranch. Butch and Sundance had legitimate jobs off and on, but eventually they made their reputations in South America as outlaws. In 1908 they were apparently shot to death by Bolivian authorities, although there are those who believe the two escaped and returned to the U.S.

Extra credit: Cassidy was portrayed by Paul Newman in the successful 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford was the Sundance Kid).