Robert Leroy Parker alias Butch Cassidy had his first major robbery on June 24, 1889, when he joined Tom McCarty, Matt Warner, and Bart Madden in a clean robbery of the Telluride, Colorado bank for $10,000. The next spring, Tom's brother Bill and his son Fred joined the group. They robbed the Wallowa National Bank at Enterprise, Oregon on October 8, 1891.

           Butch worked as a ranch hand in Utah and Wyoming after that and saved enough to buy a horse ranch in Wyoming. In 1893, he was arrested for stealing horses but he was never charged. In 1894 he was caught with a stolen herd and sentenced to two years in the Wyoming State Prison in Laramie. He was pardoned after 1½ years with a promise not to commit any more crimes in Wyoming. He was released on January 19, 1896. From there he went to Brown's Hole where he formed his own band, later called the Wild Bunch

           The first job for the Wild Bunch led by Butch Cassidy was robbing the bank at Montpelier, Idaho. This robbery, on August 13, 1896, was to finance an attorney to defend Matt Warner in a murder trial. After this they robbed the bank at Belle Fourche, South Dakota. On June 28, 1897, Kid Curry, Sundance, O'Day, and Punteney only got $100 from the bank. O'Day was captured at the scene; the others were caught a month later by a posse. After each robbery the gang would hole up at Fanny Porter's Sporting House in Texas.

          The Overland Flyer train near Wilcox, Wyoming, was soon targeted as a possible job. They pulled the job on June 2, 1899. They got $30,000 this time. There was a shootout, but the bunch got away. They next robbed the Union Pacific train at Tipton, Wyoming on August 29, 1900. There was only $50.40 on the train. But this time the robbers were identified by people on the train as Butch, Sundance, Kid Curry, Tall Texan, and Bill Cruzan. By this time Butch had going to South America in mind, for fresh pickings and no barbed wire. To finance the plan, he took the Bunch to Winnemucca, Nevada to rob the bank. One September 9, 1900, they got $32,640 from the bank. Then the Wild Bunch gathered for a final hurrah.  See the rest of Butch's story near the end of "The Sundance Kid."

 

      In 1887 Harry A. Longabaugh stole a horse, gun and saddle froma fellow employee. He was then captured after a 4 month chase, and sentenced to 18 months in the Sundance town jail. After he served this term Harry laeves town with a new name - The Sundance Kid.

       Sundance, using the name Harry Alonzo, lives and works for various ranchers around Baggs and Dixon, Wyoming.  He develops lasting friendships with many of the local citizens, as well as with the outlaws who use the nearby Powder Springs hideout. The area is later used by Sundance as a safe haven when he is on the run after a robbery.

       In Wild Bunch fashion Sundance and 5 other outlaws stop a train by detaching the passenger cars, dynamite the bridge, and blow open the safe, stealing about $34,000 and some jewelry. A year later Sundance, Will Carver and Butch Cassidy hold up a National bank in Winnemucca, Nevada.  Sundance's share of $32,640 is his Spending money for His venture into South America.

       Soon after, the Wild Bunch gathers for a last hurrah and have their picture taken. This picture is well received by the local law officials and used as identification of the Wild Bunch outlaws.  US Marshals, local sheriffs, and two high profile detective agencies are on on the lookout for these outlaws.In 1901 Sundance Picks up his Texan girlfriend and goes to visi his family back home in Pennsylvania. Then the pair meet up with Butch Cassidy in Buffalo, New York before departing aboard the Herminius, bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina.  They live nicely for about three years before the law finally catches on to their whereabouts. Ethel returns home to the US, while Sundance and Butch return to their life of crime. The two become as infamous as they had been back in the states.

      In 1908 Sundance and Butch steal 15,000 bolivianos and a pack mule. Two days later somebody recognizes the mule and reports them to the town mayor. Both Sundance and Butch Cassidy are wounded in a short gun fight and decide to commit suicide rather than be caught and jailed. The next day they are buried in a local cemetery at San Vicente, Bolivia. 

 

       As a teenager during the Civil War, Belle Shirley reported the positions of Union troops to Confederacy.  In 1866, Belle married James C. "Jim" Reed, a former guerilla whom she had known since her childhood in Carthage. Their daughter Rosie Lee "Pearl" was born in 1868 and their son James Edwin "Ed" was born in 1871. While Jim initially tried his hand at farming, he would grow restless and fell in with bad company. Then in 1869, Jim shot a man who shot his brother in a quarrel. Wanted by the law, he fled to California with Belle and Pearl in tow. Here two years later Jim again ran afoul of the law for passing counterfeit money and with Belle, Pearl, and newborn son Ed fled to Texas. In November 1873, Jim Reed and two others robbed a wealthy Creek Indian farmer of $30,000 in gold coins. They both went into hiding from the law in Texas. She wore tight black jackets, black velvet skirts, high-topped boots, and twin holstered pistols. She spent much her time in saloons, drinking and gambling at dice, cards, and roulette. At times she would ride her horse through the streets shooting off her pistols.  This wild behavior was partially what gave rise to her rather exaggerated image as a pistol-wielding outlaw.

       In April 1874, Jim held up the Austin-San Antonio stagecoach and robbed the passengers of about $2,500. The law caught up with him near Paris, Texas and Jim Reed was shot to death trying to escape from the custody of a deputy sheriff. The young widow of an outlaw, Belle left Texas, put her children in the care of relatives, and took up with the Starr clan west of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Here Belle went back to her old time outlawry. During this period she married Samuel Starr, a member of the infamous Starr clan, in 1880. Judge Isaac C. Parker became increasingly pressing with bringing Belle Starr to justice, but she eluded him at every turn. Then in 1882, charges of horse theft were brought against Belle and Sam. The jury returned a guilty verdict for each and Judge Parker sentenced Belle and Sam to a year in the House of Correction in Detroit, Mich. They were both released after nine months and returned to the Indian Territory. 

Over the next several years Belle Starr would continue to find herself arrested for charges of robbery, however, Judge Parker would be forced to release her for lack of evidence.    Sam Starr was soon killed by a longtime family nemesis. And in 1888, when her son Ed was arrested for horse theft, her lawyers contacted President Grover Cleveland, who overturned Judge Parker's seven-year prison sentence with a full pardon.

The unlawful life of Belle Starr ended on Feb. 3, 1889, two days short of her forty-first birthday. While riding from the general store to her ranch near Eufaula, Okla., Belle was killed by a shotgun blast to the back.  However, the identity of the murderer of Belle Starr was never identified.  Belle Starr was buried on her ranch with a marble headstone on which was engraved a bell, her horse, a star and the epitaph written by her daughter Pearl