Henry Wilbur "Bub" Meeks

Henry Wilbur “Bub” Meeks was never what you would call the sharpest knife in the drawer. Still, Meeks earned his place in history with a brief, though unintentionally funny, outlaw career riding with the Wild Bunch before his life took a tragic turn.

It is believed Meeks first met Butch Cassidy while Cassidy was living with Al Hainer near Lander, Wyoming. Meeks’ family lived on a neighboring ranch and were familiar with the outlaw and his partner.

Bub Meeks joined Cassidy and Elzy Lay in the robbery of the Bank of Montpelier in Montpelier, Idaho on August 13, 1896. While Cassidy and Lay went inside to rob the bank, Meeks waited outside with the horses as a lookout. Standing outside in broad daylight meant Meeks couldn’t wear a mask and as a result the bank’s assistant cashier, Bud McIntosh, was able to get a clear look at Meeks’ face.

After the robbery Cassidy and Lay laid low in Robbers Roost; Meeks may have joined them in hiding. It is believed that Meeks assisted Cassidy and Lay during the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in Castle Gate, Utah by setting up relay horses for the outlaws escape along with Joe Walker. Ironically, Joe Meeks, Bub’s brother, may have been a member of the posse that left in pursuit of the Castle Gate robbers.

Following Castle Gate, Meeks found himself in Fort Bridget, Wyoming. On June 15, 1897, Meeks was drinking in Charley Guild’s bar late into the night after the other patrons had left for the evening. Meeks excused himself from the bar, telling Guild he had some business to take care of and would be right back. Immediately after his departure two masked men entered the bar and robbed Guild of $123.00. As soon as they left, Meeks reappeared.

Guild accused Meeks of signaling the robbers and Bub soon found himself arrested and transported to the county seat in Evanston for holding. On a hunch, Uinta County Sheriff John Ward brought Bud McIntosh of the Bank of Montpelier take a look at the prisoner. McIntosh positively identified Meeks as the man standing outside with the horses during the Montpelier robbery. Meeks was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 35 years in the Idaho State Penitentiary on September 7, 1897.

Meeks entered prison a month later on November 7, 1897. He attempted to escape four years later on Christmas Eve 1901 only to be captured the next day. Two years after that he made another escape attempt on February 23, 1903. This time he was shot in the leg as he was making his way out of the prison gates; the leg was later amputated. Meeks was sentenced to an additional twelve years in prison and later served a portion of that sentence in an insane asylum.

Henry Wilbur "Bub" Meeks died in Evanston, Wyoming on November 22, 1912.

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