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“Butch” Cassiday, the noted desperado, and his right-hand man, Joe Walker, were killed near Thompson’s just after dawn yesterday morning. Lay of Vernal, who is known as Cassiday’s side partner, was captured, as was also a man named Thompson. The victors in the battle were a posse mainly from Price, who had been on the trail for five days.

The pursuit that culminated in battle amid the rocks was begun on Sunday last. Two days before Bud Whitmore and Billy McGuire were help up in Box canyon and robbed of twenty-five cattle, which the hold-ups drove off along with other stolen stock. Sunday morning the two men, whose saddle horses had been taken along with the cattle, walked into Price and reported the matter to the Sheriff.

Sheriff Allred and City Marshal Anderson immediately organized a posse and started on the trail. Sheriff Tuttle of Emery county was notified of the hold-up and he too organized a posse with a view to catching the men on Green river should they attempt to escape in that direction. Joe Bush was in the Price party, having just left here lat Monday for the purpose of taking the trail with Sheriff Allred. Along with him was Jack Watson, who has spent the greater part of his life in running down criminals in Colorado, and who bears the scars of eleven bullet wounds sustained in that hazardous calling.

Thompson’s, Utah, May 13—A posse of eleven men, headed by C.E. Allred, Sheriff of Carbon county, and Joe Bush of Salt Lake, who have been on the trail of the notorious Robbers’ Roost leaders Joe Walker and Cassiday for five days, surprised them in their camp before they were up at 6 o’clock this morning. The outlaws, Walker and Cassiday, and two others, names unknown, were camped in some rocks at the spot near McPherson’s summer camp. Situated at the head of the Florence canyon, leading off Green river and on the southern limits of the Uncompahgre reservation. The posse surrounded the camp and called on the outlaws to hold up their hands.

Walker and Cassiday raised up in bed and immediately went to shooting. The posse returned fire, killing Cassiday and Walker almost instantly. The other two men held up their hands and were taken prisoners.

The posse got here tonight about 6 o’clock with the two prisoners and the bodies of Walker and Cassiday slung on two saddle horses. Walker’s right arm was riddled with bullets, the only part of him visible from the rock behind which he was shooting. He died game and tried to shoot several times after he was hit, but only shot once. Cassiday emptied five chambers of his revolver before receiving his death wound. There were about forty head of stolen saddle horses with the outfit. The bodies will be shipped to Price where an inquest will be held tomorrow. The posse was composed of Price boys, none of whom was hurt.

Price, Utah, May 13—Walker and Cassiday, the leaders of the Robbers’ Roost gang, have at last bitten the dust, and thus Utah is rid of two of the most desperate outlaw characters of the Western States of late years.

Sunday noon a posse from here consisting of J.M. Whitmore, George Whitmore, Jack Gentry, J.W. Warf, C.W. Allred, Pete Anderson, J. Inglefield and Jack Watson started in pursuit of five of the outlaws, who had held up W. McGuire and Bud Whitmore in Box canyon and driven away a bunch of cattle. The posse went direct to Lower crossing and have been in hot pursuit all the week.

This morning they came up with the gang about four miles north of Thompson’s among the Book cliffs, and a battle immediately took place. Cassiday and Walker both emptied their six-shooters, but to no effect, and were themselves riddled with bullets from the avenging Price men.

Lay and Thompson, two more of the gang who were captured, and they, with the two dead outlaws, are at Thompson’s Springs tonight.

Gov. Wells received two dispatched last evening, telling of the killing. The first came from Sheriff Tuttle of Emery county. It was dated Thompson’s and was sent at 6 p.m. It read: “Have killed Walker and Cassiday and captured two others.”

Half an hour later the Governor received a second dispatch, sent from the same place by Joe Bush. This telegram read: “Came up with the outlaws at 5 o’clock this morning. Killed Joe Walker and Cassiday. Captured Lay and one man. Have prisoners and dead men here. Sheriff Allred and posse did nobly.”

Gov. Wells said that the State would pay $500 reward each for Cassiday and Walker. No reward has been offered for Lay. As to the other captured man, the Governor was uncertain whether the prisoner is one of the list of men for whom rewards have been offered by the state.

After the robbery of Mr. Carpenter at Castle Gate, the P.V. Coal company posted a reward of $1000 for the capture of the robbers, dead or alive. This reward still holds good. Five hundred dollars reward is offered also for Walker by Carbon and Emery counties and, it is believed, a similar amount for Cassiday.

Roy W. Parker, alias Butch Parker, alias Butch Cassiday, was born in Circleville, Piute county, Utah, and is, according to a record at police headquarters, was a little more than 31 years old at the time of his death. The description given at the station shows him to have been 5 feet 9 inches in height and weighing 165 pounds.

His father was “Macksey” Parker, a well-known Piute county rancher, and “Butch” was one of a large family. All of the Parker boys were known to be dead shots and good riders. One of them was thrown from a horse in southern Nevada about a year ago and had his neck broken. When about 20 years of age, young Parker took the name Cassiday, presumably adopting the name of a former employer. He worked for several cattlemen in that section, among them being P.J. Ryan, the well-known mining man of Salt Lake. He was a good cowman, and save for his dare-devil propensities, was well liked. Little by little, however, he grew bad, and finally went over into Wyoming and stole a bunch of cattle. For this he was sentenced on July 15, 1894 to serve two years in the Fremont county jail, being pardoned out by Gov. Richards.

After his release he took up his abode to Emery county, and gathered about him a crowd of the worst men in the Western country.

At the conference of Governors of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah held here in March, Sheriff Davis of Carbon county, Wyo., was one of the men summoned. The Tribune elicited an interesting story from Mr. Davis upon that occasion. It was that “Butch” Cassiday had actually been identified by E.L. Carpenter, sales agent of the P.V. Coal company, as one of the men who robbed him of nearly $5000 at Castle Gate. The identification was by a photograph of Cassiday taken when an inmate of the Wyoming penitentiary at Laramie. Cassiday was arrested by “Bob” Calverley, the stalwart deputy of Sheriff Ward at Evanston for horse-stealing. He fired three shots at Calverley, but like pretty nearly everybody who has tried that game on Calverley, he landed in jail, and in due course of time in the pen. While there the photograph was taken. Mr. Davis got a hold of the photograph and brought it down some time ago to Salt Lake. Mr. Carpenter identified it readily. He remembered very well the face, and he gave a description of another man that tallies with the general appearance of Cassiday’s side partner, Lay, whose wife lives in Vernal.

Sheriff Davis said that after the Castle Gate robbery a good deal of gold found its way into the Snake river country. Everybody knew where it came from, but no one deemed it his duty to keep it from getting into circulation. According to Sheriff Davis, nearly all the currency in that country was given in exchange for the gold which the men from the mountains brought in to be changed.

Joe Walker, who met his death beside Cassiday at the hands of the posse at Box canyon, was a Texan, 41 years of age. He came to Utah seven years ago and located at Price, where he lived for a time, later going to Huntington, Emery county. At Huntington he drove a team for Day Bros.’ sawmill for quite a time. He was a good horseman and a find shot, and found employment among the cow-camps. He was of an unsettled disposition, however, and as an acquaintance of his said last night, wanted to be a bad man. In 1895 his real criminal career began, so far as Utah is concerned. One day during the summer, in company with a half-witted cow-puncher, Walker rode into Price, filled up on poor whisky, and made an attempt to capture the town. The other man was captured and jailed, but Walker managed to elude the officers and went to the cabin of Cass Hite, who advised him to leave the county. The advice was taken, and Walker joined a gang of Carbon county roughs. Later, while in a saloon row, he made an attempt to kill a man named Milburn. Last fall Sheriff Tuttle and a posse made an effort to arrest Walker for stealing some horses near Mexican bend in the San Rafael. The outlaw shot Sheriff Tuttle through the hip, crippling him for life.

He has led gangs in raids after horses and cattle and was very much feared by ranchmen in the vicinity of Thompson’s. He told Cass Hite four years ago that he had killed three men in Texas, but the statement was doubted by Mr. Hite.