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Harry A. Longabaugh
(p.2)
Four months later
Longabaugh found himself on the wrong side of the law again when Sheriff
E.B. Armstrong and Deputy Sheriff James Swisher surprised Longabaugh,
Buck Hanby and another man outside of Sundance, Wyoming. Hanby was wanted
for murder and immediately drew his gun when confronted by the officers.
Swisher and Armstrong were too fast for Hanby and shot down the fugitive.
Swisher later filed a complaint against Longabaugh for threatening him,
but the matter was later dropped.
On June 24, 1889, Butch
Cassidy, Matt Warner and Tom McCarty robbed the
San Miguel Valley Bank in
Telluride, Colorado. They are said to have had assistance from a fourth
man. Among the names given towards the fourth man’s identity was the
Sundance Kid.
Sundance returned to
George Longenbaugh’s ranch and spent some time working alongside his
cousin. Afterwards he found himself working at the Bar U Ranch, about
thirty-five miles south of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In August 1891,
Sundance was charged with cruelty to animals in Calgary. The matter was
later dropped. In early 1892 Sundance bought a partial stake in the Grand
Central Hotel in Calgary with Frank Hamilton. Hamilton was also the owner
of the Pacific Livery Stables. The partnership quickly dissolved.
By the end of 1892,
Sundance’s outlaw career was in full swing. On November 29th
of that year, Sundance, Bert Madden and Harry Bass robbed a westbound
Great Northern train near Malta, Montana. The outlaws made off with $19.20
in cash. Rather than leave the scene of the crime, the outlaws returned to
Malta as if nothing was amiss. Bass were soon arrested in Alex Black’s
saloon, the Sundance Kid and Black were arrested a short time later,
ironically as they were boarding a train. Bass and Madden were sentenced
to prison for their crime, Black was eventually released and the
ever-slippery Sundance managed to escape.
Ann Bassett, The Queen
of Brown’s Park, states that Sundance, Butch Cassidy, Elzy Lay and other
members of the Wild Bunch spent Thanksgiving 1896 with the Bassett Family
in Brown’s Park. During this time it is rumored that Sundance and Etta
Place were staying in Robbers Roost with Elzy Lay, Lay’s girlfriend
Maude Davis, Butch Cassidy and possibly Ann Bassett.
Sundance joined the
Wild Bunch in the botched robbery of the Butte County Bank in Belle
Fourche, South Dakota on June 28, 1897. The robbers were only able to gain
$97.00 before the town was alerted to their presence. The aftermath of the
robbery saw the outlaws forced to leave bumbling Tom O’Day at the scene
of the crime. O’Day was later captured. Unfortunately for Sundance, he
would soon reunite with O’Day.
After successfully
eluding capture following the Belle Fourche robbery, the Sundance Kid
reunited with Harvey Logan and Walt
Punteney. The three outlaws rode into
Red Lodge, Montana to attempt to bribe the local town marshal to disappear
for a few days while they robbed the local bank.
Not only did the
marshal refuse to accept the bribe, he went directly to Carbon County
Sheriff John Dunn and told him of the outlaws’ intentions. The sheriff
organized a posse to track down the bandits. Four days later, on September
22, 1897, the posse caught up with the outlaws near Lavina,
Montana. A
gunfight broke out between the two parties and Harvey Logan was hit with
gunfire. Uncharacteristically, Logan surrendered. Sundance and Punteney
soon followed.
The three men were
brought to Billings, Montana for holding. While in jail they were
identified by a Butte County Bank employee as members of the gang who
robbed the bank. The trio was then transported to Deadwood, South Dakota
to await trial. Held in the county jail, the outlaws were reunited with
Tom O’Day.
On October 13, 1897,
Longabaugh filed an affidavit on behalf of his compatriots asserting their
innocence and requesting more time to prove their case. While the request
was being considered, the outlaws, along with a fellow inmate, escaped
from jail on Halloween night.
Tom O’Day and Walt
Punteney were recaptured several days later, while Sundance and Logan made
a clean escape.
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