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Matt Warner Meets Butch
Cassidy
After months of
training, Matt Warner decided it was time to introduce his mare Betty, to
the racing circuit. Warner had purchased the racer from his good friend
Charley Crouse and trained it with his jockey, Johnny Nicholson. Feeling
they had the fastest thing on four legs, the two men brought Betty to
Telluride for her first race.
Betty’s initiation
into racing was against an unbeaten colt owned by a man named Mulcahy.
Confident of Betty’s chances, Warner placed a $500 bet on his mare.
While preparing Betty for the race, Warner met a fellow Utah cowboy going
by the name of Roy Parker. Sharing a common background and outlook on
life, the two men instantly hit it off. Believing himself to be a good
judge of character, Warner asked the future Butch Cassidy to act as one of
the judges in the race despite the fact that Parker was betting against
Warner’s horse. In his autobiography, The
Last of the Bandit Riders, Warner said the fact that Parker
was betting against him didn’t matter, he trusted a fellow cowboy above
the city folk any day. While reluctant at first, Parker agreed to judge
the race.
Warner’s horse won
the race and the cowboy was soon found by Parker who showed up to pay
settle his bet. Warner initially refused to take his winnings, which included three of
Parker’s horses, his saddle and riding outfit, but Parker insisted a bet
is a bet. Impressed with Parker’s forthrightness, Warner asked the
cowboy to partner up with him to which Parker agreed immediately. As a
condition of the partnership, Warner insisted Parker accept his wagered
gear on loan so that he was prepared to ride with Warner.
Warner and Parker raced
Betty all over southwestern Colorado, racking up an impressive string of
victories. It didn’t take long for Betty’s reputation as a race horse
to spread and finding suitable opponents became difficult as few were
willing to enter a losing proposition. In McElmo Gulch Betty was matched
against the notorious one-eyed Indian horse, White Face. Despite his
reputation, White Face lost the match. Needless to say losing their bets,
not to mention their horse, didn’t please the Indians who believed the
only way White Face could lose was by cheating.
Matt Warner's
brother-in-law, Tom McCarty, was with the two men in McElmo Gulch and was helping the men load their newly
won blankets to take back to McCarty’s Cortez, Colorado ranch. When one of
the Indians attempted to grab back one of the blankets he found
himself on the losing end of a fistfight with McCarty. Warner and Parker
turned their guns on the remaining Indians in case they got any similar
ideas. The Indians backed away and the trio made their way to McCarty’s
cabin.
Realizing the squabble in McElmo Gulch
wasn’t the last they would hear from the Indians, the three men prepared
for the worst. Sure enough, after nightfall, fifteen Indians showed up at
McCarty’s ranch demanding the return of White Face. McCarty confronted
the Indians, explaining they lost the horse fair and square. While he was
explaining himself, one of the Indians took aim at McCarty, but McCarty
was the faster draw and shot the man off his horse. The rest of the
Indians quietly picked up their dead friend, placed him on a horse and
left defeated.
McCarty, Warner and
Parker would soon go on to rob the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride,
Colorado.
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