The Sundance Kid Biography

Outlaw

Name at birth: Harry Alonzo Longabaugh

One of the most famous outlaws of the American west, The Sundance Kid was a member of Butch Cassidy's gang of thieves known as The Wild Bunch. After years of working as a cowboy and thief in Wyoming and Montana, he hooked up with Butch Cassidy and his gang around 1899. They robbed banks and trains throughout the west from their hideout, Hole-in-the-Wall, in the mountains of Wyoming. On the run from the law, Sundance, his girlfriend Etta Place and Butch fled to Argentina in 1901. They lived in the small village of Cholila for a few years, robbing banks across the countryside with Etta as an accomplice. She eventually returned to the United States, but Butch and Sundance stayed on to become famous outlaws in South America. While in Bolivia in 1908, they were apparently killed by the authorities, although there are still those who believe they escaped.

Extra credit: Longabaugh got his nickname after spending 18 months in the Sundance, Wyoming jail... A glamourized version of his story was told in the hit movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), starring Paul Newman as Butch and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid. Redford later named the annual Sundance Film Festival (held in Utah) after his character.

Other famous "Kid"s include baby-faced outlaw Billy the Kid, tricky boxer Kid McCoy, and cartoon ragamuffin The Yellow Kid.