I remember when I first saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But I don’t remember the exact year. I just know I was in our dining room on East Bruce Avenue, watching the movie on the TV that sat on our buffet. That’s where we watched TV. The dining room table was moved over along one of the walls when weren’t using it. Which was mostly all the time except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. We had some throw pillows in one corner, and that is where the “kids” sat. Mom and Dad each had a La-Z-Boy chair in the living room, and they would turn them around, facing the dining room, so they could watch TV. Again, most of the time.
So, that is where I saw and fell in love with the movie. It was probably sometime during the early 1970s, making me around ten years old or so.
The movie, released in 1969, was based loosely on fact. It told the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (Robert Redford). The two of them were on the run after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance’s lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), fled to Bolivia to escape a relentless posse.
I’m thinking of this fine movie because today, April 13, 1866, is the birthday of none other than Butch Cassidy.
Here is something most people don’t know. He was born in Beaver, Utah. I like that about Butch. I think Utah is about my favorite state, although I have not been to all 50. And — my Native America Zodiac sign is the beaver. I love those hard-working beavers. They are smart, too.
Back to Butch. For an outlaw, I sure did love him in the movie. C’mon. Paul Newman. And Robert Redford as his sidekick? This is the ultimate in “buddy” pictures. They were friends beyond friends.
Butch started out with God on his side or something along those lines. You see, little Bobby was raised as a Mormon. Yes, born in 1866, he was a religious guy in his youth. His parents (both from England) were among the first wave of Mormon pioneers to settle in Utah. And his mommy, Ann, was especially devout.
Bobby didn’t stick with the church, obviously. Sometime early in his childhood, his father, Max, had some sort of legal dispute. It ended up being settled by the local Mormon bishop. And not in Max’s favor. So dear old Dad Max had a falling out with the church. That probably influenced Bobby to go away too.
And then he turned into Butch.
He ended up robbing banks and trains throughout the West and into South America. He was also a big drinker. He gambled heavily. And then, he had a real liking for his time with prostitutes.
Here is something, though. They say as a kid, Burch was an organizer. He paid attention to detail. He was a planner. And It stayed with him as an adult, which is probably what made him so successful in his crimes. Like. He would station fresh horses a few miles from the site of their robberies. They always had steady, fast horses and outran their pursuers.
But as robbers go, he was an okay guy on many levels. Butch stole only from big businesses — banks, trains — and never from individuals. He would not engage in gunplay either on or off the job. He was friendly and gregarious. Overall, he was pretty harmless as Wild West outlaws can go.
In the end, they got tired of running from the law, so they (Butch, Sundance, and Etta) moved to Argentina to avoid capture. They settled on a big ranch there in 1901.
It worked for them until 1908. That’s when the law in Bolivia cornered them. Nowhere to hide. Both of them had taken bullets and were injured badly. So Butch shot his severely wounded partner in the forehead and then put a gun to his own temple and took his life.
Butch was 42. Sundance was about 41. Friends until the very end.
And another life story. And I learned about all from the dining room on East Bruce Avenue.
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One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
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I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.
— Walt Whitman
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Bob and Harry. Friends until the end.
