Travel Secrets by V

One of the oldest buildings in Wyoming, the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site is the only prison to have held Butch Cassidy. Also it was the location where he met the Sundance Kid and other convicts whom eventually became the Wild Bunch group. All in all, the Wyoming Territorial Prison has emprisoned one thousand sixty-three convicts in it’s thirty years as a prison. However, in the begining it was notorious for prison escapes. When it opened in 1873, out of the fourty-four convicts incarcerated that year, eleven of them escaped! So they built a retaining wall and by 1877 it was overcrowded with inmates.

More than just a prison

By 1901, the prison closed and the building was transfered to the University of Wyoming as a Agricultural experimenting station until 1989. Because of that, there is a vast agricultural exhibit at this prison as well as a restored ghost town. Best of all, they have a Butch Cassidy exhibit with lots of artifacts and interesting information. Come learn all about his days as the United states most famous train and bank robber of all time.

Who was Butch Cassidy?

Born Robert Leroy Parker, on April 13, 1866 he was convicted of stealing a horse and sentenced to serve time at the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Where he was released after eighteen months for good behavior. Little did they know, he started to form the Wild Bunch group while he was serving time. In this very location is where he met Clark Benton, aka the Sunshine kid. Who also got pardoned for good behavior from the prison. Afterwards, Butch went on to become one of the nations most successful bank and train robber of all time with his Wild Bunch group. Overall, they stole more than $233,905 from trains, banks, and payroll. In 1901 the gang dissolved and it is unknown if Butch died in a gun-fight with authorities in Bolivia or if he returned to the United states under a different identity.

Interesting Convicts

Arthur Hinman:

The youngest convict to get incarcerated at the Wyoming Territorial Prison. He was incarcerated for grand larceny and was only fourteen years old.

Julius Greenwald:

Was a cigar maker,  who went to have fun in a brothel and found his wife working there so he shot her dead. Sadly he never served his life sentence because he died of heart disease in prison cell 10 three years after his conviction.

James Brown:

Convicted of forgery and sentenced to three years. With one year left on his sentence, he escaped the prison while cleaning the chicken house on May 30, 1903. When he was recaptured, punished and another thirty years was added to his sentence which he served at the state penitentiary in Rawlins. He was released in May 1935 at the age of ninety-nine.

William T Wilcox:

While he was incarcerated, he became friends with Butch Cassidy. It is believed that he rode with the Wild Bunch when he and Cassidy were released from prison. Later on, he started to impersonate Cassidy, leading many to believe that Cassidy had returned from South America.

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