The Utah history lecture series continues this Friday with a lecture on Utah’s outlaws of the 19th century.
Dr. Jay Buckley is the Director of the Charles Redd center for western studies at BYU. He says that a number of very famous outlaws came from Utah.
“Quite a few of them actually come from families that belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Of course, the most well known is Butch Cassidy who we’ll be talking about, him and some of his friends. His first real friend was Matt Warner. People don’t know a lot about this young boy. As a 14-year-old he actually beats up a bully on the way back from a dance, because the guy insulted one of the girls he’s dancing with. He thinks he’s killed this bully and so he tells his parents he has to leave. So, he enters in this life of crime unwittingly and later learns that the boy didn’t die so he’s kind of sad that he was pushed into that, that way. We’ll also be looking at Elzy Lay who was another one of Butch’s good friends. He too is going to have a really interesting role in some of the bank robberies and train robberies and other thefts that are committed by Butch and his group. Another one is Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance Kid, who was kind of the third main friend in Butch’s life. So, we’ll be looking at whether this life was as glamorous as many people think it was or whether there were real privations and difficulties of this lifestyle.”
Buckley says that the Wasatch back was not a hotbed for criminal activity.
“They did occasionally but there’s not really any major jobs that are conducted in those regions that I’m aware of. There was a particular fellow though that was involved in stealing some strawberries in Park City. His name was Patrick Coughlin. Apparently, it was such a big deal they chased him for 200 miles. He ended up killing one of the sheriff’s that had chased him and then he was eventually sent to prison and killed for stealing some strawberries. Even in Park City there were some crimes that were going on just maybe not the ones we typically think of.”
Buckley says the men committed crimes all across the US.
“They tended to commit them all over the west but the three states we’ll look at the most are Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. Brown’s Hole is kind of the center of activity up in the eastern potion of the state over in Daggett county. They kind of have their hide out where they can go after they’ve committed the bank robberies or the train robberies. Some of them do commit crimes in Nevada, in Oregon, Washington, Montana some of these outlying states as well, but they almost always end up either at Browns Hole or Robber Roost; which is down by Hanksville/Moab area, or Hole in the Wall up in Johnson County in Wyoming.”
The evening will include discussion about why and how outlaws were successful in 19th century Utah.
“We’re going to set it up historically to talk about some of the reasons why Utah territory in particular became such a hotbed for some of the most famous outlaw activity in the country; and why it happened in that time period from roughly the end of the Civil War in 1865 until the onset of World War One in 1914. I think people will get a clearer picture of why outlaws then, and what they were trying to do and why the common people supported and, in many cases, aided and abided these outlaws. So, I think that’ll be really interesting for people to wrap their heads around those reasons. We’ll also be looking at a number of women both Latter-Day Saint and non, that were involved in outlawry including the Basset family from the Vernal area. Those will be fun stories to tell as well."
That’s Jay Buckley, he’ll be discussing Utah’s famous outlaws as part of the Utah history lecture series this Friday from 4:00 to 5:00 at the Park Meadows Country club. Seating is limited, you can RSVP by email to malena.stevens@parkcity.org
