Butch Cassidy's great-nephew pens new book about outlaw's time in Wyoming

Mar. 6—Bill Betenson developed a fascination with his famous great uncle at a young age. His great-grandmother, Lula Parker Betenson, was Butch Cassidy's younger sister, and she often shared enthralling stories of her brother and the secondhand fame his life brought her.

Ever since her death at age 96, Betenson's been committed to continuing his great-grandmother's work to "set the record straight" on her brother. Her efforts, including co-writing the book "Butch Cassidy, My Brother," inspired a great deal of research that eventually led Betenson to publish the book "Butch Cassidy, My Uncle: A Family Portrait" in 2012.

The piece was so well-received, he decided to write a second book focusing on Cassidy's time in the Cowboy State. In December 2020, "Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years" debuted.

"I wanted to focus on the Wyoming aspect because that was such a significant part of his life," Betenson said. "As I researched it more, (I found) he really came to Wyoming and tried to be — I mean, he'd done some things in the past and robbed a bank in Colorado, but he legitimately tried to be an honest rancher in Wyoming, and things worked against him."

It's unclear when Cassidy first visited Wyoming, but Betenson said it was likely in his late teens. He's rumored to have ended up on a ranch on the Wyoming-Utah border in the early 1880s, and several accounts say he bounced around, working on several properties in the state until 1886.

After moving to Telluride, Colorado (likely for the mining boom), Cassidy robbed his first bank in 1889: the city's San Miguel Valley Bank. Cassidy and accomplices Matt Warner and Tom McCarty then quickly fled Colorado for Wyoming, and that's when Betenson's research got difficult. People such as Rock Springs butcher shop owner Otto Schnauber claim to have worked with Cassidy, but there isn't sufficient evidence to say for certain.

How to buy

What: "Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years"

When: Now available

Where: Amazon.com

Cost: $19.95 (only available in paperback)

Online: www.highplainspress.com/butchwy.html

The following years involved a great deal of ranching, and Betenson's research lead him to believe his great uncle was eventually set up by the police.

"He was arrested ... and all the cattle he had were basically stolen and sold off by the bigger ranchers," he said. "So you get a sense of why he went the way he did."

Betenson's research materials come from a variety of sources, including the archives he inherited from his great-grandmother. He also spent a great deal of time at the American Heritage Center in Laramie, combing through old newspapers and other documents, such as the leger from Buffalo's Occidental Hotel, which included at least a dozen signatures of Cassidy's. Betenson also poured over old photographs and prison records at the Wyoming State Archives, all of which he's glad he was able to do pre-pandemic.

The research is the fun part, Betenson said, but compiling it all into a book is a challenge. As a full-time mechanical engineer and father of four, Betenson considers writing a side hobby, so much of that work must be done on evenings and weekends.

Although it's not his profession, writing has proven to be a great escape from life's many stresses.

"I was working on it with the publisher in the fall when my mother passed away," he said. "It's a good diversion to be able to take your mind off other things going on."

Betenson grew up in Utah, but he's always spent a great deal of time in Wyoming. He loves the state and said he's formed several lifelong friendships with its residents through his Cassidy research. Some of those friends, particularly in Kaycee, even have ties to Cassidy, helping him gain a sense of why his great uncle loved the Cowboy State.

"I've always joked that Wyoming doesn't really look at Butch like an outlaw, he's more of a hero figure to some people," he said. "I really wanted to focus on that time and that period and kind of give something back to Wyoming because I felt like they really embraced the first book. ... Wyoming really made Butch Cassidy, so I wanted to dedicate and give back to the state because, for good and bad, that's where he was developed and went through the early days that set him on his path."

Niki Kottmann is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's features editor. She can be reached at nkottmann@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3135. Follow her on Twitter at @niki_mariee.