WHEN THE WILD BUNCH FIRST GRABBED GOLD

On this day in 1900 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid committed their first robbery together taking $32,640 from the First National Bank of Winnemucca, Nevada. They were a part of the "Wild Bunch Gang," a group of ruffians and robbers who committed the longest string of successful bank robberies in American history. Most of the Winnemucca loot was in gold coin. Witnesses said the robbers wore masks. It was a midday robbery and quite daring, though the escape left something to be desired: as the robbers fled, they dropped a sack of gold by a creek and had to go back and retrieve it. They had fresh horses waiting, though, and soon were on their way. The citizens of Winnemucca organized a posse and even used a yard locomotive to pursue the robbers.

The money was never recovered and, in fact, no one really knew for sure if Butch Cassidy was even there; some said he was actually in Tipton, Wyoming, planning another robbery during the Winnemucca escapade. The American Bankers Association even brought in the famed Pinkerton Detective Agency, but they never discovered the robbers' identities either.

The Wild Bunch committed robberies across New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota. They robbed banks, trains, whatever they felt they could get away with. One of their largest hauls was from a train outside Folsom, New Mexico, when they stole away with more than $70,000.

No one knows for sure what happened to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Pinkertons got closer to apprehending them every day, and one theory is that they hotfooted it to Bolivia where they were killed by soldiers in 1908. Others claim they returned and settled down to lives of anonymity in small western towns.

One thing is for sure: Winnemucca, Nevada, doesn't seem to hold a grudge against Butch Cassidy or the Sundance Kid. Every September, the town stages "Butch Cassidy Days," a rollicking re-enactment of that long-ago robbery.

To read the complete article, see:
The Writer's Almanac for Sunday, September 19, 2021 (https://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio/twa-the-writers-almanac-for-september-19-2021/)

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