Wanted! by Patti Sherry-Crews

"Sulky bulldog appearance: looks rather like a blacksmith coming from work; wears cap pulled well down over face."

I came across this wanted poster some time ago and thought it was fake. But, no, Dan Breen was a member of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence and later a major player in Irish politics. This was the poster issued seeking his arrest. 

Curious, I wondered if such hyperbole on a wanted poster was an Irish thing (because, you know...the Irish like to use their words to embellish), but after looking further, I found similarly descriptive Wanted posters in early American criminal history.

I suppose in a time before TV coverage and video recordings, the authorities had to provide the details the best they could, though I expect even the Irish in the early 20th century were scratching their heads over the description, "looks rather like a blacksmith coming home from work."  (by the way, I love the quantifying word "rather" thrown in that sentence.)

I live across the street from a commuter train station, and if someone was described as looking like a "patent lawyer after a grueling week, coming home and looking forward to a G&T," I doubt I'd be able to nab the miscreant.

With the innovation of photography, the police were able to drag the criminal off to the local photographer to have his or her mug shot taken before throwing them in the cell; and thus ending many a criminal career. Newspapers, telegraphs, and now their faces plastered in quick order all over the country!

One incident to illustrate the point is the famous Fort Worth Five Photograph taken in 1900 by John Schwartz, which put an end to Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.

Infamous "Fort Worth Five" Photograph of the Wild Bunch

Butch and the boys had gathered together in Fort Worth, TX for the occasion of  Will "News" Carver to Lille Davis, a prostitute he met at Madame Fanny Porter's brothel (spoiler alert: not a long and happy union). Someone had the bright idea that it would be a hoot to get dressed up like dudes and have their picture taken. Huge mistake!

One version of the story is that Schwartz was so proud of his work he put the photo in the window of his shop, and when the local law next brought in a criminal for a mugshot, he recognized some the gang. Keep in mind that at this time the law still wasn't clear on who was in the Wild Bunch. So, this was an important development. 

Bam! The Fort Worth Five portrait went directly onto a wanted poster. Go directly to jail, do not pass go. 

To make matters worse, Wanted posters could be churned out and disturbed so quickly, an outlaw had to be almost constantly on the move. There was one incident where "News" Carver had an unfortunate encounter with a skunk. Immediately, posters went out adding the detail that one of the gang stunk like a skunk.

Though some of the gang were slow to realize it, the days of train robbing was over for the Wild Bunch, and in fact for all the gangs. 

Butch and  the Sundance Kid along with Etta Place definitely got the memo saying the game was up and escaped to South America to start a new life.

But....

"Wedding" (if they were legally married) Photo of Harry Longabaugh, AKA, The Sundance Kid and Etta Place (if that was even her name).

...before embarking on their fresh start, Sundance and Etta had their picture taken in New York, even sending copies to friends and relatives. And, you guessed it, the picture was used on Wanted posters traveling even as far as South America. Now the Pinkertons had Etta as well.

Spanish language poster provided by Pinkerton detectives to local authorities in South America (photo courtesy of True West)

I note with amusement the following description on one of the Wanted poster for the Sundance Kid:

"Complexion, dark (Looks like a quarter breed Indian)

Eyes, Black

Features, Grecian type"

There are so many things wrong about this description, I hardly know where to begin. Okay, let's begin with "black eyes." Unless he has two shiners, I doubt "black" eye color is an accurate description. And then I picture folks in the old west puzzling over Grecian features while they are comparing various skin tones. This description seems more likely to confuse than aid the good citizens.

In any case, this exposure spelled the end for their brief experiment in going straight. They went back to a life of crime on the run--even Etta at times. She eventually had enough of it and went back to the states to disappear from history. Butch and Sundance, depending on which version of history you subscribe to, either were killed in Bolivia or went on to live peaceful lives under assumed names.  But whatever their fate the Wanted posters certainly contributed to their end as train and bank robbers.

Just like the Wanted poster helped end the careers of many a notorious outlaw in the Old West, it is a wanted poster that brought down a character in my new release, Den of Thieves. 

Blurb:

When his identical twin brother is arrested, the Pinkerton Detective Agency enlists Wynne Palmatier to go undercover and impersonate his outlaw brother, Ennis. His mission is to infiltrate his brother’s gang. Ennis tells Wynne everything he needs to know. Except for one thing: there are two women with the outlaws, and one of them is his wife. 

Lucy House is still paying for the day she strayed away from decency. Now the handsome outlaw she ran away with has lost his appeal and she longs to get away from this life. As the danger mounts, can Wynne and Lucy escape this den of thieves?

Excerpt:

Wynne tied up his horse at the hitching rail and walked in. The sheriff sat with his boots up on his desk. He dropped his boots back down to the floor with a dull thunk when Wynne filled the doorway.

“Sheriff Holden? I’m—”

 The other man stood up, fingers looped in his belt. “I know who you are.” He studied him a good long moment. “Incredible. You look just like him.” The sheriff pointed over Wynne’s shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s one of the defining aspects of identical twins,” he said, turning to see what the sheriff had pointed at.

He gasped. It was a shock to see his visage on a wanted poster.

Mesmerized, he wandered across the room to come face to face with the mugshot. His stomach dropped at the sight. It was one thing to know your brother was an outlaw, but it was another thing entirely to see his face on a poster. “So this is the poster that brought him down.”

Flashes of that same face in more innocent times. Flirting with girls at dances. Singing along with everyone else while Dad played the guitar. Wrestling with a younger cousin and laughing when he pretended to be pinned down by the much smaller boy.

“Yep. He was in Fort Worth having himself a good old time at a faro table when somebody recognized him as one of the gang who robbed a train the week before. They took him into custody without a struggle.”

Listening to the sheriff, he studied the details on the poster. Wanted. Notorious Outlaw Ennis Green. Six foot tall. 165 pounds. Auburn hair. Green eyes. Reward $500.

 “And then, he escaped. Tricked a deputy into thinking he was having a heart attack and then took the man’s gun off of him when he went to his aid.”

“Nice fellow, my brother.”

“He escaped, but now the Pinkertons have a face to put to his name.”

“Yes, I heard. Someone from our hometown happened to see a copy of the wanted posters and recognized Ennis Green was the Ennis Palmatier who he grew up with. A Pinkerton detective came knocking on our door. Gave my mother quite a shock.”

“Didn’t she know he was an outlaw?”

Always burned in his memory was that day his nephew ran into the store and told him to lock up and come directly home. Then, walking in the parlor to see his mother, her face drained of color and her lips pinched tight as she twisted a handkerchief in her hands. A stranger in the room turned when he came in, his mouth falling open with surprise. “You look exactly like him.” The man, it turned out, was with the Pinkerton’s Detective Agency.

“We weren’t sure if he was even alive. The last thing my father did before he died was kick him out. We knew whatever he was up to, it probably involved being on the wrong side of the law. But we didn’t know how successful he become in his chosen profession.”

What he didn’t add was that he never thought his brother was dead. He knew he’d sense it if he died. Even with the intervening years and miles, he had a feeling in his gut he was out there somewhere, much like the man who loses an arm can still feel it. Right now, with only a floor separating them, he felt a peculiar buzzing in his body.

Available on Amazon

Bad Girls, Bad Girls Whatcha Gonna Do? Ladies of the Wild Bunch Gang, Part 1

Since my current work in progress involves outlaws and the women who ran with them, I've been researching the members of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. Interesting characters indeed, but their female consorts are just as interesting, if not more so. I thought I'd write one single post about them, but their own stories are so rich, I'm take them in parts. We'll look at Etta Place, Laura Bullion, and the Bassett sisters, Ann and Josie separately.
Facts to keep in mind:
The Wild Bunch consisted of Butch Cassidy (Robert Leroy Parker), the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh), Elzy Lay, the Tall Texan (Ben Kirkpatrick), News (Will) Carver, Camila "Deaf Charlie" Hanks, Laura Bullion, Flat-Nose (George) Curry, Kid Curry (Harvey Logan), and Bob Meeks.
The Outlaw Hideouts: Places  to shelter strung out along the outlaw trail where different gangs could rest, restock ammunition, and refresh horses. Place such as Hole-in-the-Wall, Robbers Roost, and Brown's Park. Often there was a give and take between the outlaws and the surrounding ranchers.

As I've mentioned on more than one occasion, because a classmate's father worked on the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, we were treated to a showing of that film every year from late grade school to jr. high. One of the results of those repeated screenings was that The Wild Bunch became my gate-way drug to a more serious addiction to all things western, and I am always delighted to return to this topic.

The "Wedding Picture" of the Sundance Kid and Etta Place. Later this picture would be used on "Wanted" posters to identify Etta

If you look up Etta up on Wikipedia, you find this information on her birth and death: "c 1878-?" Which about sums her up. Her life is bracketed in uncertainty and speculation. Nobody knows where she came from or where she went post Sundance, though in contrast the years between 1900 and 1907 are well documented as the Pinkerton Detective Agency was on the case enlisted by the Union Pacific railroad who'd had it with being robbed.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency's description of her says, "Classic good look, 27 or 28 years old, 5'4' to 5'5" in height, weighing between 110 and 115 lbs, with medium build and brown hair." It was reported by those who met her that she spoke in a refined and educated manner.

Another fun fact: she was one of only five women allowed into the hideout Robbers Roost in Utah.

We can also thank the Pinkertons for her name. Because it wasn't Etta but Ethel (...sometimes). When the first "Wanted" posters with her picture went up in South America, her name went from Ethel to Etta when a detective misheard her name spoken with the local accent.

And, Place was probably not her real surname. Longabaugh sometimes used the alias Harry Place, Place being his mother's maiden name.

There are various rumors of her origin. One says she left her two children and school teacher husband for Longabaugh, or that she was a school teacher herelf. Another version is that she was a prostitute from Texas who had relations with both Butch and Sundance.

Madame Fannie Porter ran a bordello in San Antonio frequented by the Wild Bunch. One prostitute there, Madeline Wilson, is sometimes put forth as Etta. Madeline was originally from England (thus the refined speaking manner) and disappears from the census after Butch and Sundance left the area. Another prostitute, Ethel Bishop, from a neighboring establishment is another likely candidate. She was an unsuccessful music teacher which reflects back on the stories where a school teacher is mentioned, and she has the right first name.

The infamous Fortworth Five picture, which helped identify gang members and went straight onto "Wanted" posters, necessitating the disbanding of the Wild Bunch. Sundance on the lower left, Butch Cassidy on the lower right. Note to outlaws: When on the run, don't stop to have your picture taken--even if everyone is having a good hat day at the same time.

Here's what we do know about Etta. In 1901 Longabaugh and Etta went to New York City. They had a photo taken and sent copies of it to friends and relatives, announcing their marriage (though if they were legally married or not is not known). Longabaugh wrote a friend that he "married a girl from Texas he had previously known." Sadly, when a copy of this picture got in the hands of the Pinkertons it was used to identify Etta and put on "Wanted" posters.

Not long afterwards, Etta, Sundance, and Butch set off for Argentina where they bought a ranch and tried to go straight. Under a new act, women were allowed to purchase land in Argentina for the first time, and Etta Place was the first woman to buy land there, which is an awesome fact to know. Reportedly, she was very happy on the ranch and kept it very clean and homey according to visiting neighbors.

Unfortunately, the long arm of the law was able to stretch all the way to South America, and the Pinkertons were on to them. This could be because Sundance and Etta made a couple of trips back to the states. They went to visit his family in Pennsylvania and Atlantic City. They managed to fit in travel to such unexpected places as Coney Island and the St. Louis Fair as well as a couple of mysterious trips for medical reasons. All this to-ing and fro-ing attracted the attention of the Pinkerton detectives who were then able to track them back to their ranch.

After that, it was back to bank robberies and life on the run. Etta even took place in one bank heist and it was reported in the newspaper she was a great shot. At this point Etta decided she'd had enough of this life and Sundance accompanied her back to San Francisco where he left her before returning to South America (sob), a six month round trip for him. There is no evidence they ever saw each other again, which breaks my heart because, bank robbers though they were, they did seem to have a solid relationship.

Then in 1909 Butch and Sundance were surrounded in their boarding house by soldiers in a dusty town in Bolivia. After an exchange of fire, the soldiers found both men dead in the house. It appeared the mortally wounded Sundance had been shot between the eyes by Cassidy, who then turned the gun on himself. That was the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (...or was it?*). It's at this point Etta Place walks off the pages of history.

Again, there are as many theories of her end as there are of her origins. She was variously reported as committing suicide, being shot and killed in a domestic dispute in South America, turning up as a school teacher in Colorado, marrying a wealthy South American landowner, and as well as turning up again in Texas and running a brothel of her own under the name Eunice Gray. Not that Eunice, who died in a house fire at an old age, ever claimed to be Etta, but they had similar stories of having to spend time in South America at about the same time. But photographs found of Eunice didn't match Etta.

The most interesting theory is that Etta Place was really Ann Bassett, who we will talk about in detail in the a later post. Ann and her sister Josie lived on a ranch near the hideout Brown's Park and both sisters were girlfriends of Wild Bunch gang members (there was some fluidity of romantic relations within the gang as we will find out later.)

The woman look very much alike. The Pinkerton description of Ann is almost the same given for Etta. In this theory it is noted that whenever Ann disappeared from Brown's Park for a time, Etta showed up with Butch and Sundance somewhere else.

In modern times, Dr. Thomas G. Kyle of a computer research group used existing photos of the two women and enhanced them for comparison. He stated the women were almost certainly the same person. He also found what he thinks is a scar or cowlick in the same spot on their hairlines.

Ann Bassett on the left, Etta on the right.

So, this theory is sounding pretty convincing except at an important point the Superman/Clark Kent act falls apart. Ann Basset was getting married back in the states and subsequently getting herself arrested for cattle rustling at a time the Pinkertons knew Etta was in Argentina.

Plus, Ann, who later wrote her memoirs, never mentioned spending a considerable amount of time in South America, or having had an intimate relationship with the Sundance Kid. And, by the way, there is only one known image of Etta where her face is seen clearly--and photos can be funny things.

Where did Etta go? Who was she? I'm not an historian. I'm just a person sitting at her computer, but if you ask me I think Etta was Ethel Bishop, the prostitute/failed music teacher in Texas. It not a stretch to think that Ethel Bishop like many a bride took (one of ) the last names of her new husband and became Ethel Place. And, her prostitute past isn't something the young lady would want to broadcast. It was noted that the couple visited his family in Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, but there is no mention of them visiting her family, which makes me speculate her past wasn't something she wanted to revisit. I think she took she money from the sale of the ranch and the last bank robbery, which was considerable, changed her name, and kept out of trouble for the rest of her life.

One final possible sighting took place in 1909 when a woman matching Etta's description showed up at the US Vice Consul in Chili and asked if she could have a copy of Longabaugh's death certificate, but it was not available so she left empty-handed. I wonder if she ever got over him?

So, what do you think? Comparing the images above, do you think Etta and Ann were one in the same?

Next up: Laura Bullion

*There were those who say rumors of their death in Bolivia are greatly exaggerated. Some say the two Americans killed that day were not Butch and Sundance. The bodies were not positively identified by Bolivian authorities (remember there was no death certificate when the mystery woman came to claim it). The outlaws may have been happy to see that rumor spread as they could finally escape the law. Rumors of Butch living to an old age under an assumed name persist. Even Josie Bassett, who we will talk about later, claims Butch paid her a visit after the South American incident. In modern times there have been attempts to exhume bodies placed in unmarked graves in the cemetery in Bolivia, armed with DNA from surviving relatives, but to date no matches have been found. So for those of you looking for a happily ever after, I'm throwing that out there. By this time I have read more stories claiming Butch and Sundance went on to live under assumed names than I can count, and some of them have Etta and Sundance going off together. So, your guess is as good as anyone else's. I know what I'm going to choose to believe (wink).

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