Butch and Sundance - a tale of a saddle

[Skeeter Lewis]

In Oxford, England there is a museum called the Pitt Rivers Museum founded in the 19th. century by a wealthy career soldier of that name. He travelled widely, collecting artefacts. The museum has not been altered over the years and still has the original layout and the original cards written in copperplate longhand next to the objects. I  saw an American saddle there (I don't have a picture) that bore this hand-written description:

Texas Cowboy saddle used by Prof. J. A. Douglas in the Andes 1910-12. Originally belonged to a member of the Hole in the Wall Tribe wanted on a murder charge.

I thought I'd found the mother-lode! I sent the following email to the relevant academic at the museum:


Dear Ms. Nicholson

Forgive me for recapping a letter that may have been forwarded to you by your colleague Jeremy Coote.

You have in your collection a saddle that may have belonged to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The saddle in question, 1947-12-3, has the following hand-written label:

Texas. Cowboy saddle used by Prof. J. A. Douglas in the Andes 1910-12. Originally belonged to a member of the Hole in the Wall Tribe wanted on a murder charge.

There was no Hole in the Wall tribe; but there was a Hole in the Wall Gang, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who were driven from the USA by the Pinkerton Agency, who wished to arrest them for  murder, as well as train and bank robbery.

They sought refuge in South America. They bought a ranch on the east bank of the Rio Blanco near Cholilo in west-central Argentina, near the Andes. Later, they worked for the Concordia Tin Mine in the Santa Vela Cruz range of the central Bolivian Andes. They continued to commit robberies. On Nov. 3 1908, near San Vincente in Southern Bolivia, they robbed a courier for the Aramayo Franke y Cia Silver Mine. They were hunted down and either shot dead or possibly committed suicide on Nov 6 1908.

Summary:

1. There was no Hole in the Wall tribe - only the Hole in the Wall Gang.
2. As the label says, they were wanted on a murder charge.
3.They were in the Andes, as was Prof. Douglas.
4.They died in 1908: Prof. Douglas was there 1910-12.

It is perfectly possible that Prof. Douglas acquired the saddle and that he was given a garbled account of its provenance. May I ask you to consider the possibility that this bizarre story is in fact true, and that you have a piece of Americana of the greatest interest?

Yours sincerely

Mike


I received the following email in return from Ms. Nicholson:


Dear Mike

Thank you  for this information which was very interesting. Yes the caption on the saddle is very misleading and in fact we have been aware of this for some time. Below is some information from the catalogue entry for the saddle including information held in the related documents file from donor's son, James R. Douglas.

1947.12.3   Accession Book Entry - Prof J A Douglas, Dept. of Geology [University Museum, Oxford] - ... - 1947.12.3 - Texas - Cowboy's saddle, complete - used by Prof Douglas during geological travels in the Andes - NB: the saddle was bought from a member of a famous band of outlaws, known as the "Hole-in-the-Wall" Gang of Northern Wyoming, who was making a hurried exit from the country after shooting two Bolivian soldiers - Two other members of the gang, "Butch Cassidy" and "Longbar Brown" were later rounded up and shot in the courtyard of an hotel in Cochabamba, after holding up a train and robbing several banks - The original owner of the saddle was lent a fresh horse (his own being exhausted) by Prof. Douglas, and made good his escape
Added Accession Book Entry - Re-indexed under 'Western United States' as 'Double-rigged' (= two girths) stock saddle, used by donor ... 1910-12 - This type of saddle, with leather-covered horn to which the end of the cariat is tied fast in roping, is widely used by cowboys from Texas to Montana, being replaced in California-Oregon by the single-girth "center-fire" saddle with wrapped horn round which the bight of the rope is wound in "dollies" [?dallies] after the east - For Cassidy, alias Jim Jowe [?Towe], v. Hon. W. French: 'Some Recollections of a Western Ranchman', (London 1927), chs. 16-17 - (G.E.S.T)

Related Documents File - Please note additional information supplied by donor's son James R. Douglas. According to Mr J. R. Douglas, the saddle was not used by Professor J. A. Douglas but was acquired by him during geological survey work. The saddle was acquired from one James Hutcheon who was making a hurried exit from the country after shooting two Bolivian soldiers. The references to the 'Hole-in-the-Wall' Gang and to Cassidy and Brown are quite irrelevant. James Hutcheon's mule (not horse) was exchanged for an inferior one and, needing cash, he had part-exchanged his superior saddle for (again) an inferior one.  Along with this information is a transcript of a memoir written by Professor James A. Douglas in which he describes how he came to possess the Mexican saddle. There are also transcripts of emails between Julia Nicholson and Nick Alderson, James R. Douglas' nephew. [MdeA 21/11/2000]

Thanks for your interest and please get back to me if you have any unanswered questions.

Julia Nicholson


So it looks as though the saddle didn't belong to Butch or Sundance! That was a rough moment. I wrote a final email:


Dear Ms. Nicholson

Ah well, it was a nice theory. It looks as though a connection can't be made, according to Douglas's son.
Longbar Brown, by the way, is certainly a nom de guerre of the Sundance Kid, whose real name was Harry Longabaugh.

Yours sincerely

Mike


Okay pards, it didn't work out but I hope I haven't wasted your time with posting this. There are points of interest. And it would be interesting to find out who James Hutcheon was.

[FEATHERS]

G'Day Skeeter,Just did a google search for James Hutcheon Bolivia.It took me to a site for a book by Richard M Patterson,that has a James Hutcheon mentioned along with his half brother Enrique.Feathers

[Skeeter Lewis]

Thanks for that Feathers. I'll see if I can follow up.

Sadly the museum doesn't have an image of the saddle on file and it's not easy to take a picture of it while it's on display.

[Skeeter Lewis]

You're right, Feathers. It's the same James Hutcheons.

[Stillwater]

If you will get the book, "LAST OF THE BANDIT RIDERS REVISITED." You will find that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid didn't die in Bolivia.

The original 1938 book,"LAST OF THE BANDIT RIDERS," was written by Matt Warner, an original Wild Bunch member. I have a copy of this book.

The word revisited, added to the title is another book that adds onto, and updates the original book, written by Matt Warner. This updated version was written by Matt Warners daughter, Joyce Warner and Dr. Steve Lacy.

In this book there are pictures of Butch Cassiday and the Sundance Kid, taken in the 1930's well after they had returned from Bolivia. Butch Cassiday died in 1943, and the Sundance Kid died in 1955, according to this book.

Bill

[River City John]

Also In Search of Butch Cassidy by Larry Pointer, 1977 University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN: 0-8061-2143-2

Makes a very good case for Sundance having died in the Bolivia shootout, and Robert Leroy Parker making his way back to the U.S. and changing name to William T. Phillips.
RCJ

[Stillwater]

Also In Search of Butch Cassidy by Larry Pointer, 1977 University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN: 0-8061-2143-2

Makes a very good case for Sundance having died in the Bolivia shootout, and Robert Leroy Parker making his way back to the U.S. and changing name to William T. Phillips.
RCJ

I have that book, "In Search of Butch Cassidy." somewhere in that book is a picture of a man, taken through a doorway, which is purported to be Butch Cassiday, alias William T. phillilps. However, that picture, I think taken in Spokane, WA, wasn't very clear.

I have located the book and read it again. If you look at a picture of Butch Cassiday, in the book, and a picture of William T. Phillips, also in the book, you will readily see how Phillips couldn't be Butch cassidy.

Phillilps has a long, oblong face, where Butch Cassidy has a relatively short "Square" face.

In the book, "Last of the Bandit Riders, Revisited," there is an extemely clear enlargement of a picture, which is Butch Cassidy, working on a section gang here in the United States.

Also printed in "Last of the Bandit Riders, Revisited," several original letters from Butch to his friends, and Matt Warner, are printed.

One cryptic passage in the Matt Warner book, remarks about Matt Warner's birth day, and Butch Cassidy's birthday, were one day apart. And, that they used to get together and celebrate their birth days. This was after Cassidy retured from Bolivia.

In the above book, there is a very blurry photo of Matt Warner and some people in front of a saloon that Warner owned. Two the people are identified as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This picture was also taken a long time after they returned from Bolivia.

Personally, I hope both Cassidy and Sundance did make it back to the United States, and live out their lives incognito.

Bill