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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Escapades, and Other Lesser Known Historic Events

Khalid Elhassan January 21, 2020 33 min

William Carver - Butch Cassidy — Butch Cassidy, far right, The Sundance Kid, far left, and other members of the Wild Bunch gang. Wikimedia

38. The Gringo Ranchers

The Sundance Kid and Ethel Place, just before they sailed to South America. DeYoung Photography Studio

In Argentina, Butch Cassidy posed as Ethel Place’s fictitious brother, James “Santiago” Ryan. The Sundance Kid went by Henry “Enrique” Place, and introduced Ethel as his wife. Remote Cholila, whose population rose to 43 by their arrival, was a great refuge. They built themselves a comfortable four-room cabin, and for years, they made a go of going legit.

One of the new arrivals’ first steps was to buy herds of cattle and fine horses to stock their ranch. They dressed like rich folk, rode handsome steeds, and bought the finest in saddles, bridles, and spurs. One thing that acquaintances noticed was that wherever they went, “James Ryan” and “Henry Place” went about well armed. They always had the newest state-of-the-art repeating rifles strapped to their saddles, an array of up to three pistols strapped holstered about their bodies, and a small derringer tucked into a coat pocket for good measure. Even Ethel sported a pair of pistols wherever she went.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.