Butch and Sundance. Harry Tries Living The Straight Life

in #history6 years ago

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas! This post is part of a series about two of America's most famous outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In yesterday's post Butch got sent to the Slammer so we see what Sundance was up to at this time.

If you remember Sundance, or Harry's story, the last time we saw him was after he took part in a pitiful train robbery and he was high-tailing it out of the area. He ended up in Wyoming, The Little Snake River Valley and work as a ranch hand.

Little Snake River Valley, Wyoming:
DSC07072_preview.jpegsource

He did drop his last name of Longabaugh though, and just went by Harry Alonzo. He was known in the community as a hard working, honest, cowhand who was gifted in working with horses. He was likeable and popular. Sounds like Butch doesn't he?

The only trouble he had was when he got into some kind of argument with his boss and was arrested by the local Sheriff, "Big" Perkins. I'm serious, that's what the records say..the Sheriff's name was Big. lol. Anyway the sheriff handcuffed Harry and if you remember Harry first came to fame by picking the locks of his handcuffs and shackles.

Not handcuffs again!

He just had a real problem with being handcuffed. He didn't escape these handcuffs but he freaked out a little bit and hit the Sheriff Big in the face with them. I think Big had to sit on him awhile to calm him down. But Big released him with no charges for the assault which I thought was pretty big of him. lol...sorry I couldn't resist.

I wonder how he got that name anyway. You reckon when he was born his parents said "whoa that's a BIG one!" and the name stuck?

However, Big DID request information on Harry and that request was picked up by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and they started a file on him. They also sent agents to the area to see if they could find any crimes going on.

A little history on the Pinkertons

A word about these guys because they play a role in Butch and Sundance's lives later on.

The Pinkerton agency had "detective" in their name which made them sound official like they were a law enforcement agency. But really, they were just a bunch of cut throats who were hired out to the highest bidder and usually broke more laws in apprehending someone than the person they were chasing! Including unlawful arrest, torture and murder.

They became famous for solving some train robberies in the 1850's so President Lincoln had them put together a spy network for the union and that morphed into the Secret Service. Their specialties were surveillance and infiltration. Later, local police and the FBI learned their methods and put them into use. They still exist today but just go by the name Pinkerton. They're a private security firm.

Back in the 1800's they were regarded with suspicion and fear because their philosophy was basically "whatever it takes to get the job done." The end justifies the means. So when they started showing up in Harry's region people were a little paranoid and wondering what they were doing and who they were investigating. Here's a vintage photo of three Pinkerton agents:

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source

There were also wanted posters distributed in town about the train robbery that Harry took part in. He didn't run for it, he just kept working and maintained a low profile. Except for that run-in with Big.

I don't what Harry's problem was. It's easy to imagine that as he got older he knew he'd never make much of himself on the wages of a cowboy. Maybe he was tired of the monotonous days, choking dust in the summer, spending months in the winter cooped up in a line shack with little to no companionship. The hard work, the aches and pains. The loneliness.

Or maybe he could just never get the thought of robbing out of his mind. Where he was working at that time was only twelve miles from where he first got into trouble stealing that horse, saddle and six shooter.

And he was only a few hours from Brown's Park where Butch had spent so much time and there were men that he came to know from that area. Men who were ready and willing to rob banks.
o1AJ9qDyyJNSpZWhUgGYc3MngFqoAMxodQF1jJNdfpHTCGove.png

Obviously Harry's gonna try his hand at outlawry again. The question is, will he be more successful than his first two tries, which were pathetic?

Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck

o1AJ9qDyyJNSpZWhUgGYc3MngFqoAN2q1hcq1gKKL81EbE9sk.png

PS- ya know....you might just be a redneck if...
your town's firetruck looks like this:

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pBMyo3B2Sao2EbuHAFTX1CNWMbam25xJGPs4sKmLS6XL7o71wFAUucsafVye3MgguLjwEw2CVywm33PuNruyGbk1kE5eusKhHjkGhmV4pFBxCoLkv6ArefeKCVfVTLuFK5K2oawKZH5PcMbddYgLK7bmpWycdXWBh3TVbq7aZQqHkD26.png

o1AJ9qDyyJNSpZWhUgGYc3MngFqoAN3wfXUQ7yYxKskEYiSjg.png

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Hi @janton!

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well howdy there steem-ua and thank you for the upvote and advice!

Morning janton, it is a "big" theme today I see, haha. Big, the Sheriff was big on getting his job done! The arrest turned out to be a big find too - haha. This has tickled my funny bone.

haha! it IS pretty funny isn't it? I'm glad we have the same sense of humor!

.. and of course, need I mention that big fire truck - really well played, haha.

@janton. I knew Pinkerton security was big in Long Beach, Ca. They’re everywhere! I had no idea they’re ‘that’ big.

Well, I didn't even know they still existed. I thought they were just an Old West problem! Because they were a ruthless bunch, kinda like legitimized hitmen or sometimes assassins, whatever the wealthy wanted done or whatever "problem" they wanted to go away. Of course they also got alot of bad guys too but that was almost like a cover operation so they could keep doing the nasty stuff too.

I bet you didn’t know I just looked up ‘exortationist’ for the first time. Ok, you’re a deliverer of urgent messages—got it! Anti-aging, though? <- do tell. 🤔

Howdy sir dandays! sorry this is so late but I got another late start today but not as late as yesterday because yesterday I was working with the plumber all day fixing our water line and didn't get online until about 3:30pm! latest I'd been since I joined steemit. I've been offline more last week and the weekend than I have since joining but I still accidently won the League, total fluke but that just shows how bad the numbers are now and how little people are engaging. My numbers were the lowest I've had and I still won.

But anyway, so good to hear from you. The word Exhortationist is kind of a joke really because that word doesn't really exist, like I said. But I use the Biblical meaning which has more of a counseling, consoling and most importantly ENCOURAGING connotation to it. I'm an encourager basically.

Even Vocabulary.com describes it thusly: "Use an exhortation any time you really want to encourage someone to do something." That's why I use the Biblical meaning.. more of an encourager than an urgent message.

Yes I'm very iinterested in anti-aging protocols and supplements but haven't have much time to study anything in that area for awhile now. I want to use all the latest technology and the latest supplements for anti-aging. Right now I'm not just because of financial concerns. I think it would be a good topic to post about though.

Although, even if most of the people I talk to are older, I think the majority of steemit users are much younger, I've been told that the majority are in their 20s and 30s! But I don't have hard data on that. That may have changed after the devastating hardfork too. I myself know quite a few youngins that dropped out, we actually lost tens of thousands.

Used to be 65 to 70,000 active users, now we're down to 10,000. Used to be 1000-2000 joining each day, now we average about 180. Plus the low rating of Steem is a little concerning, last i heard it was rated about 50th of the top cryptos. that's not very encouraging.
And on that happy note I'll go see what kind of post to throw out there. Missed yesterday's because of the work outside. Harry goes full tilt into the criminal lifestyle so at least there will be action in today's post! lol.

I get the impression that both Butch and Sundance had so many chances to live a lawful life. They were hardworking, people liked them, and they even had an unexpected sense of honour. It's quite amazing, I think they could still go straight... but I'm thinking it's not in the cards! voted & resteemed :-)

oh thank you sir Keith. Yes! They could have succeeded in anything thing they wanted and they proved that they didn't need to rob in order to do just fine. But that greed thing is an addiction. But they were both raised with strong ethical teachings and they did have that core to them. But it wasn't strong enough to hold them in a straight path.


This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
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Howdy c-squared! Thanks so much for the upvote and for helping so many people! Bless you.

Once Harry got a taste of the easy 💰 it would be difficult to settle down to working long days as a cowboy, just scraping by on the paycheque.
Pinterton’s were ‘big’ in those days.
The name “Big” could be short for ‘Bigelow.” Or the Sheriff was just a big person. 😂

Howdy redheadpei! That's a good point. About Big I mean. Very possible and I was thinking the only explanation was that it was his nickname for being so large. Wish I had a photo of him.
You are so right about the easy money but it just makes no logical sense to me why people want to risk everything in a robbery instead of saving their money up. Cowboys didn't earn much but if they wanted to save up it was easy because they didn't have hardly any expenses.

Hi, @janton!

You just got a 9.14% upvote from SteemPlus!
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Howdy there steem-plus! Thank you for the upvote and for the fine platform.

Oh wow! That's a huge mustache!

hahaha! Now those are some MAJOR mustaches there. I'm slightly jealous!

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Howdy there trufflepig, thank you so much for the upvote!

The fireman must be rednecks, lol.

Nevertheless, I cant believe that Pinkerton agency still exist. I have to pay attention when I am watching my shows if they come up somewhere. Maybe they already did, but I didn't know it spot them. And than the BIG Sheriff, lol. You are really funny Janton making comments about him!

Nevertheless, we all know Harry will not keep low profile for long and comes up with some mischief, soon. Can't wait, because all these tough guys staring to annoy me with their macho law man attitude!!!

haha! howdy tonight Miss Lena! Way too many police officers are bullies and like to order people around and shove them around like they're tough and have to prove how powerful they are. We've seen some bad ones. So far the ones we've met in Texas are pretty nice and helpful though.

someone commented and said that Pinkertons were everywhere in California, really big there. I think they're more of an agency that hires out security guards but I'm not sure, I guess it's something else I need to research. But if steemit lasts and the price of steem goes up and we actually start making money then I'll hire an assistant to do research for me.

Then I'll know that I've arrived and I'll be ALL THAT! lol.

I knew an old man that claimed to be a Pinkerton.... He was a character!

howdy sugarcreek! oh really? Well he probably was, I bet he had some stories, that's very interesting!

I don't know if he really was or not. He had an old badge he kept in his pocket. Treated me with kindness, a kind man with a secret side.

howdy again sugarcreek! wow a kind man with a secret side. Well he probably was one then!

Good stuff.
Im sure these guys could have been decent enough....you see it a lot these days where people with all the attributes to make a decent go at life legitimately go off the track because its just a little easier. Although, I also see they are more motivated doing things wrong than doing it the right way....weird

haha! howdy sir towjam! Yes sir I know what you mean. They'll spend 7 days a week working at schemes to rob someone but won't put any effort into a real job that is an honest living, so true!

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howdy there steemitboard! thanks for these great stats, I like the numbers.

That would be sweet seeing that firetruck rolling through town!!!

haha! howdy sir simms50! yeah I can see that down South in case they need to get through on a muddy road or through a swamp or something! lol.

Vote! And killer job!

Howdy sir ganjafarmer and thanks for the kind words!

Those three Pinkerton's don't look to have much of sense of humour do they @janton Maybe it's the downward slope of those massive moustaches??? One look at them and you'd think Harry would quickly pull up his socks. But why would he punch a guy called 'Big' in the face with his handcuffs? I think that Big's parents called him that because he was actually very small when he was born and they didn't want him getting a complex as he grew up. 😀

haha! howdy again trudeehunter! I think I asked you what you used to do for a living and you said you were a nurse right? But you always remind me of a psychologist. As far as the handcuffs, wow he really had a problem with handcuffs and I think he went a little crazy there. He was totally free in his lifestyle and I think he went crazy like a caged animal for a second.

As far as his name, that's a very distinct possibility! Because that's what people do don't they?

Oh, and the Pinkertons...yes they were known for being vicious and nasty so that was a good representative photo.

A psychologist? Wow......that's interesting. I have enjoyed some variety with work over the years and loved working from home as a make up artist. I got very busy with that and was rewarded with a company car and three overseas trips for my efforts. That was a lot of fun.

I can well imagine people having panic attacks when having to wear handcuffs. It would mean a huge loss of control and perhaps make one feel quite claustrophobic.

Howdy today trudeehunter! A make up artist? I thought you were a nurse. You mean with a company like Avon or Mary Kay?

Handcuffs are brutal, Mrs. J puts hers on me sometimes to demonstrate tactics that they learn for controlling resisting inmates and they suck! lol. It's a terrible feeling so I know what Harry felt like. Have you ever been handcuffed?

Haha......I've worn a few hats during my working life but the company I worked for is Nutrimetrics. Love their products!

Now, on the subject of handcuffs! Mrs.J has her own pair? Hmmmmmmm! Interesting. Does she work for the constabulary or did Santa get her a pair for Christmas? I'm thinking that perhaps you got her to handcuff you in order to re-live those occasions when Harry was similarly restrained, in order to write with 'conviction' (pardon the pun) about the subject, like all dedicated journalists do. 😁

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Howdy there moyse, thanks for reading and commenting!