Since they obviously occupied the land but the transaction had not been completed, it was noted that the property was "Not Sold Yet, Place and Ryan are squatters.". In support of this is his alleged involvement in the July 3, 1901, holdup of a Great Northern train near Wagner, Montana. In researching his claims about his mother, there is some evidence that she did once teach school, but also some indications that she was a prostitute. Estimates of her birth year range from 1878 to 1882 or 1883. Eyewitnesses indicated years afterward that Place was one of only five women known to have ever been allowed into the Wild Bunch hideout at Robbers Roost in southern Utah, the other four having been Will Carver's girlfriend Josie Bassett who also was involved with Parker for a time, Josie's sister and Parker's longtime girlfriend Ann Bassett, Elzy Lay's girlfriend Maude Davis, and gang member Laura Bullion. The manager offered resistance [and] was wounded. Theories abound regarding Etta's earlier life. In reality, there are really no facts whatsoever to show beyond a doubt what happened to Place following Longabaugh's death. One claim is that she returned to her life as a school teacher, living the remainder of her life in Denver, Colorado, while another story claims she lived the remainder of her life teaching in Marion, Oregon. 22 Feb. 2023 . Harry Longabaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid, and his paramour, Ethel Etta Place, leaned in closely to listen. A TV movie called The Legend of Butch & Sundance was released in 2006. There are also various claims that she returned to prostitution, living out the remainder of her life in Texas, or New York, or California. The safes were open and two of the brigands emptied them whilst the other two covered the employees. This unfortunate lack of facts only adds to the curiosity about one of the most mysterious figures of the American West, the woman who rode with the Wild Bunch. In a letter to his neighbor and close friend Daniel Gibbon, dated February 29, 1904, Cassidy shows genuine immersion in the everyday routine of ranching. There were dangerous desperados associated with the gangmen like Harvey Logan, alias Kid Curry and George Flatnose Currie, whose names were synonymous in certain parts of the country with robbery, cattle stealing and gun fighting. He rode away in order to escape the possibility of being caught by the Pinkerton men, and the couple never saw one another again. History writer Edward Kirby noted in his book, The Pinkerton Agency files, as well as an article in the, Some historical accounts record that she became the outside man for the gang Butch organized with her husband. Plot summary. The Pinkerton Agency, which had a strong interest in Etta, described her as attractive, speaking with an educated tone. The book purports to tell the "true" story of Etta and Sundance and includes many historical figures such as Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and Eleanor Roosevelt. Add synopsis. Name variations: Emma Place; Eva Place. Matthew Lee , freelance writer, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Etta Place (born c. 1878, date of death unknown) was a companion of the American outlaws Butch Cassidy (real name Robert LeRoy Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Harry Alonzo Longabaugh), both members of the outlaw gang known as the Wild Bunch. The most conclusive evidence is that from 1902 to the summer of 1904 Etta Place was most definitely in South America, whereas in 1903, Ann Bassett was arrested and for a time incarcerated in Utah. The woman making the request was described as being very pretty. Many theories have been advanced over the years as to her true identity. The couple was spotted in Saint Louis, Missouri, at the Worlds Fair in 1904. She was principally the companion of Longabaugh. Robert Harvey Longabaugh (February 21, 1901-December 18, 1972), who claimed years later to be the son of Longabaugh, claimed that Etta Place was actually Hazel Tyrone, a half-sister to his mother, Annie Marie Thayne. The woman with him is said to be his wife and to be from Texas. Gray once told Delbert Willis of the Fort Worth Press, "I've lived in Fort Worth since 1901. Always soulful, her extraordinary voice was showcased to great effect in singles such as, At Last, Dance With Me Henry and Id Rather go Blind. "It shows how daring these men are, and while you are looking for them in the wilderness and mountains they are in the midst of society.". Upon their arrival in Argentina some time in March, Pinkerton records show that Longabaugh went to the London and River Platte Bank and "opened an account with the bank on March 23, 1901, depositing $12,000 in gold notes. As for Etta Place, the remainder of her life is just as unclear. It's known that in 1902 and 1904 Sundance and Etta made return trips to the United States evidence of which was later uncovered by the Pinkertons. "Place, Etta (fl. According to one of the many legends of Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and Etta Place in South America, two men and one woman at the table pulled their chairs into the limited shade offered by the thin limbs of casadensis trees. Lamb, F. Bruce. January 1996, p. 21. Bolivias plateaus were filled with silver, gold, copper and oil. Popular locations for her place of birth include Utah, New York City, Pennsylvania, or Another report indicates she committed suicide in 1924 in Argentina, while yet another report indicates that she died of natural causes in 1966. Since arriving in Bolivia in 1902, the trio had robbed numerous banks, and intercepted one mule train after another carrying gold and paper money. Beautiful, refined, intelligent Etta Place was a triple threat when she met Harry Longabaugh and Robert Leroy Parker, the outlaws known as The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy, respectively, at a San Antonio brothel around 1900. Digging Up Butch and Sundance. After returning to the U.S., Pinkerton agents sent a letter to the Buenos Aires police: It is our firm belief that it is only a question of time until these men commit some desperate robbery in the Argentine Republic. From here, Butch left his companions to return to their ranch, traveling south by water to Rawson, then west by land to Chubut Province. Gray was described as being a beautiful woman, but there are no known photographs of her from that period, and only one quality photograph from the period of Place. Various accounts about the exchange between the bandits and police, from the July 7, 1908, edition of the Washington Post to the December 19, 1971, edition of the San Antonio Light newspapers, reported that the battle ended with the deaths of the outlaws in the spring of 1908. The one instance where she is known to have signed her name, she recorded it as "Mrs. Ethel Place." Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Even her real name is a mystery; Place was the maiden surname of Longabaugh's mother (Annie Place) and she is recorded in various sources as Mrs. Harry Longabaugh or Mrs. Harry A. Etta Place may well have been a woman named Eunice Gray, who for many years operated a bordello in Fort Worth, Texas, and afterwards ran the Waco Hotel there until her death in a fire in January 1962. Wagons without springs pulled by half-wild horses passed by, and the rattle of the wheels over rocks and gravel added to the commotion. James 1960 debut album, At Last! Another account formulated by research done by journalist Jim Dullenty indicates that Etta moved to Marion, Oregon, after news that Sundance had been killed in Bolivia. She is the third of five children to be raised in the area her mother will rename Browns Park. Some historical accounts record that she became the outside man for the gang Butch organized with her husband. This is confirmed by a hospital staff record from Denver, where she received treatment in May 1902, which reports her age as "23 or 24," (therefore again, c.1878), although both records may transpire to be from the same original source, the hospital staff. As had been the case in the United States, many Argentinean crimes were attributed to the trio with little or no reliable evidence. Harry Sundance Kid Longabaugh biographer Ed Kirby believes but she might have been the daughter of Emily Jane Place and related to Longabaughs mother Annie Place. Diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and with terminal leukemia, she died in California on January 20, 2012. Robert Longabaugh claimed throughout his lifetime that his mother, Thayne, had been involved in a relationship with Harry Longabaugh, and further claims that the rumors that Etta Place was once a school teacher are confused with his mother, who was a school teacher when she became romantically involved with Longabaugh/aka the Sundance Kid. However, the dates do not match up when alleging she was Ann Bassett, plus, Bassett was a former girlfriend of Parker's, and there are several documents to prove that Bassett was in fact in Wyoming during much of the time when Place was in South America. Although she was dressed in mens clothing, there seemed to be no question from the witnesses who noticed the woman that it was Etta. There has been some speculation that she was once married to a school teacher, and at least one claim that she abandoned her husband and two children to be with Longabaugh. She is often regarded as a schoolteacher educated in Boston or Buffalo, and sometimes accused of being a prostitute. Researchers have been unable to verify any of his claims. However, Willis concedes that Gray never admitted or even claimed to be Etta Place; he merely made that connection on his own, given the similarities of their age, and the period in which Gray said she went to South America coinciding with Place's time in South America. Its unlikely Etta, Ethel or Place is her real name. HER STORY CONTINUES - TO Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, To Pancho Villa and His Rebel BanditsShe Was a Lot of WomanTo a Lot of Men! Its unlikely Etta, Ethel or Place is her real name. When Dimaio departed Buenos Aires empty-handed in May 1903, he assembled and distributed WANTED posters describing Butch, Sundance, and Etta. With the exception of Butch, Sundance and Etta, who traveled to Pennsylvania and New York together, gang members confined themselves to the West. Author Richard F. Selcer spent over ten years researching Hells Half Acre, the area in Fort Worth where Eunice Gray's brothel was located, but he was unable to prove beyond any doubt that Gray and Place were in fact the same person. WebIn Sundance Kid. He even claimed that he was a pallbearer at Butch Cassidy/aka Parker's funeral years after Parker was alleged to have been killed in Bolivia, and that Cassidy was buried in Spokane, Washington. Even the Wild Bunch themselves were rumored to have become her guardians after the death of her father. Presumably, the fourth bandit was one of several possible fellow outlaws rumored to have been in the region. It traveled a little-known route outside of San Vicente. She was well educated and an excellent horsewoman. The majority of the experts agree that Butch and Sundance probably met Etta at a bordello around 1900. Willa Cather There has been no evidence to support her having a half-sister named Hazel Tyrone/aka Etta Place. Under a new law of 1884, they were granted 15,000 acres (61 km) of adjacent land to develop, 2,500 of which belonged to Place herself, who has the distinction of being the first woman in Argentina to acquire land under the new act, as land ownership had hitherto been almost the exclusive preserve of men. It shows how daring these people are, he wrote his brother in 1905. Place had long been tired of life on the run and deeply lamented the loss of their ranch. Another series of bullets smacked into the walls above the three. After eluding their pursuers, the outlaws eventually returned to their ranch near Cholila. Again, the Wild Bunch fled to Chile, at which point the documentation of their activities gallops off into dozens of conflicting accounts. Both Ann and her sister Josie Bassett no doubt knew Place, as the three women were often alleged to have been at the Robbers Roost hideout at the same times. Place, shortly after he is photographed in the famous Fort Worth Five photo. The claim that she met the gang while working as a prostitute is the most likely scenario. Once again Pinkerton detectives discover she is homesick, but again cannot discover the identity of her family. Both Bassett and Place were attractive women, with similar facial features, body frame, and hair color, and both were born in 1878. There have been various claims, in addition to those already mentioned, about her life after Longabaugh died . His point had been proven many times in the six years the outlaws had been in South America. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Author and researcher Larry Pointer, who up until the late 1970s spent more time researching and chasing leads to Etta Place than any other researcher, wrote that it, "is one of the most intriguing riddles in western history. Legendary figures like Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Belle Starr and the Apache Kid had their exploits built up far out of proportion to the actuality. Because Pinkerton's believed the story was true, historians believed it too. HER STORY CONTINUES - TO Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, To Pancho Villa and His Rebel BanditsShe Was a Lot of WomanTo a Lot of Men! The assistant manager was forced to put "all of the bank's money into a white canvas sack," after which one of the bandits "took under his arm a small tin box that contained approximately 483 pounds sterling." She is the third of five children to be raised in the area her mother will rename Browns Park. April 2, 1902: Longabaugh and Place register at Mrs. Thompson's Boarding House in New York City, and visit members of his family in Atlantic City, New Jersey, then visit Coney Island. They are credited with a number of major robberies and were increasingly becoming a frustration to the authorities. Estimates of her birth year range from 1878 to 1882 or 1883. She appears to be a refined type." With the exception of the Pinkerton Agency files, there is little concrete information about Etta. There is no mention of Annie Thayne in any reports about the gang from the day, and Pinkerton detectives, who have historically been the best source for the movements of gang members, have nothing indicating a relationship with any woman other than Etta Place after 1899. There is still considerable debate over when her relationship with Longabaugh ended. Place, Purser, Mrs. Harry A. 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