Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in the middle of a series about two of America's most famous and successful outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In case you haven't been following the series, the boys have moved to Argentina in South America to start their lives over and to avoid capture in the U.S.
Their plans to build a ranch and cattle, sheep and horse operation were very successful and they were working hard. Not only on the ranch but also working to fit into the local community.
They had earned the respect and friendship of the local community, even the local Sheriff. Or maybe I should say ESPECIALLY the local sheriff who, like several local men, was said to be infatuated with the lovely Etta Place.
I need to put her picture on here once again for those who haven't been following the series. This is the only known photo of her.. here she is with Sundance:
Nice mustache on Sundance.
Sundance and Etta actually took another trip back to the United States late in 1903. I'm not sure what they were doing here but they spent time in Fort Worth, historians think that she had family there as Sundance had referred to her as being a Texas girl.
I knew there was something special about her! lol. No wonder she could ride and shoot so well!
Anyway, then they went to the World's Fair in Saint Louis. Sundance sent an unsigned postcard to his sister in Pennsylvania which of course the Pinkertons had intercepted.
Hindsight is 20/20 but man...
In fact, Sundance and his sister had been writing letters back and forth, ALL of which the Pinkertons had intercepted. So the Pinkertons knew where they were. Not smart on Sundance's part.
These guys were smart and savvy but they must not have thought they were in danger of being picked up way down there. The trip for Etta and Sundance lasted for several months and then they headed back for the ranch.
Apparently, although the Pinkertons had wanted posters and alerts at all the ports of entry they were able to get in and out without being noticed. No computer data bases back then!
Banditos Americanos?
Another year has passed, it is now the year 1905. At the southern tip of Argentina in a town called Rio Gallegos a couple of American cowboys showed up. They rented a house outside of town, most reports say that they had a lady living with them.
They made it known that they were definitely American and were reps for a big livestock company and were looking for land to purchase. They made themselves very well known around town. One way they did this was to ride their horses at top speed up and down main street when they came in to buy supplies.
Damn Yankees!
This of course attracted alot of attention and the locals would call them "those crazy Yankees." They also dined in town and left generous tips and were very friendly. All well and good right? Not bad representatives of Americans. Very likeable.
But one day they walked into the local bank at closing time with their six shooters drawn and demanded all the money. They got $100,000 worth of cash and silver in a bag and ran out, jumped on their horses and disappeared.
I don't even know if a posse was assembled or if they had the horses for a posse but it was an extremely successful robbery. And way too easy.
Getting the calculator out..
Ok guys, that 100 grand back in 1905 would be almost 3 million dollars today! So it was a breath-takingly successful haul. And, it looked like a classic Butch and Sundance operation...it was a vintage Butch design.
The problem is, Butch, Sundance and Etta were hard at work on their ranch at the time and no where near Rio Gallegos. Not to mention that the bank robbers were way too young at about 25 and 30 years old. Butch and Sundance were 40 years old at the time.
A rather brilliant deception
But the way the job was set up and when the police chief in Buenos Aires found out about it, staring at the wanted poster on his wall for Butch and Sundance that the Pinkertons had distributed...well he thought he knew who done it.
By the way, one of the special agents that the Pinkertons had assigned to the Wild Bunch case had tracked Butch, Sundance and Etta to Buenos Aires and had even gone there and talked to the American Consul who had recommended the Patagonia area to them. So they already knew the general area where they were.
The police chief ordered the local Sheriff, who was good friends with the three, (especially Etta)to arrest them immediately for the bank robbery at Rio Gallegos.
This guy is secretly in love with Etta, will he actually arrest them?
Their story continues in the next post.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
PS- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
Your idea of "Web-TV" is the spiders hanging off the rabbit ears!
