Description:

Butch Cassidy
Price, UT, May 14-24, 1898
Butch Cassidy Dead? 3 Fascinating Docs from 1898 Carbon County, Utah Re: Burial of "Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy"
Archive
A fascinating group of three documents relating to the burial and dispersal of possessions of two men slain in a posse-led shoot-out on May 13, 1898, believed to be Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy of the "Wild Bunch" criminal gang. May 14-24, 1898. Price, Carbon County, Utah. The documents include two partly printed, partly manuscript pages issued on "County of Carbon" letterhead, one entitled "Burrial Exspences of Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy," and the other "Expencies." The third document is a retained clerical copy of a deed of sale signed by the Carbon County coroner. Condition issues to be elaborated below, else very good to near fine. The average size is 8.25" x 11." Accompanied by an Auction Certificate from RR Auction (Amherst, New Hampshire.)

On May 13, 1898, several men suspected of being members of Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch" were surprised by a posse near Thompson's Springs in northeastern Utah. The resulting shoot-out led to the death of two men, and the capture of two others. Initially, the dead men were identified as Joe Walker (1850-1898) and Butch Cassidy (1866-1908), leader of the "Wild Bunch" (also known as the Hole-In-The-Wall Gang, Robbers' Roost Gang, etc.) The bodies were brough to Price, the county seat of Carbon County, for postmortem preparation and burial.

Utah Governor Heber Manning Wells had issued a reward for the capture of "Wild Bunch" gangsters on April 6, 1898, with head prices of $500 each on Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy. Since the "Wild Bunch" had formed in 1896, its gang members had participated in deadly train, bank, and livestock robberies in four Western states. The posse of Utah lawmen that killed Joe Walker on May 13th had assembled about 10 days earlier in response to a modest raid that Walker had led on Whitmore cattle and saddle horses earlier that month.

Local authorities, including Price, Utah Sheriff C.W. Allread, immediately identified Walker's body because a Whitmore - part of the family Walker had robbed - was part of the posse. They believed that Butch Cassidy was the second dead man. Evidently, however, questions persisted about identity, even after the criminals had been buried. On May 16, 1898, a Wyoming sheriff examined the exhumed remains of the second man and determined that he was not Butch Cassidy. The May 17, 1898 issue of the "Salt Lake Herald" proclaimed "Butch Cassidy Is Still Alive." Although the sheriff resolved the question of Butch Cassidy, he inadvertently complicated the situation by positing that the dead man was "Red Bob" Culp, a Wyoming cattle rustler. By mid-June 1898, the second man was positively identified as a third man, one John Herring!

The lot includes:

1. An itemized list entitled "Burrial Exspences of Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy," being a 1p partly printed and partly manuscript document on watermarked "County of Carbon" letterhead. March 14-15, 1898. Price, Utah. Public officials listed over $75 of expenses ranging from the washing, shaving, and dressing of the criminals' bodies, to the cost of shrouds, coffins, and grave-digging, to the herding and feed costs of the gang's stolen horses. The most interesting item on this page - considering later developments - is the item "Diging up Body for identification / Hyrum Herriman 1.25 / Geo Youngherg 1.25…" Expected wear including flattened folds, isolated stains to the bottom edge, and staple holes near the top edge. Else near fine. 8.25" x 11."

2. An itemized list entitled "Expencies," being a 1p partly printed and partly manuscript document on watermarked "County of Carbon" letterhead. N.d. [Price, Utah.] Public officials listed over $54 of expenses related to the feeding, transport, and guarding of horses, including some at "Thompson Springs," site of the shoot-out. Expenses minus the sales of the criminals' possessions yielded just over $5 that was "Turned over to Treasure." Expected wear including flattened folds, isolated stains to the bottom edge. Calculations and a few notes in pencil found verso. Else near fine. 8.25" x 11."

3. A 1p retained clerical copy of a deed of sale pertaining to the sale of two sorrel horses, signed by P.J. Olsen in his capacity as Coroner of Carbon County, Utah. May 24, 1898. Price, Utah. Partly printed on laid onion skin paper with ink drawings of horse brands. Expected wear including flattened folds, a few extra wrinkles, and minor chipped edges. Else near fine. 8" x 9.5."

Butch Cassidy's supposed death in the May 1898 shoot-out was only one of dozens of instances of false claims, some surfacing as late as the 1970s. The pervasiveness of these rumors suggests not only the unreliability of information circulating in the Old West, but also the popularity of the "Wild Bunch" legend. Butch Cassidy was killed in a shoot-out in Bolivia in 1908, a full decade after his "death" in northeastern Utah.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Provenance: RR auction certificate.
  • Dimensions: largest items measure 8.25" x 11"
  • Medium: Archive

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