The Butch Cassidy Series
American Narratives In Fine Art Show 2024
Exhibition & Sale Sponsored By Glenn Beck
Escape From Telluride
48”x36”
Larry C. Winborg/Butch Cassidy Series
On The Morning of March 30, 1889 Bob Parker, also known as Butch Cassidy, along with Tom McCarty, Matt Warner, and a fourth man to hold their horses, planned the Telluride Bank Robbery while working on local ranches near Telluride. One ranch owner they worked for was Harry Adsit. When the gang was ready to rob the bank, they told Adsit that Bob needed to go back to Utah to help his family. Adsit liked Bob and didn't want him to leave, so he gave him a parting gift of any horse on the ranch, in hopes he would come back and work for him. Bob chose a dapple-brown thoroughbred gelding, the horse he used in the robbery.
They dressed as if going to a dance, not a bank robbery, wearing fancy shirts, ten-gallon hats, high-heeled boots, red bandanas, chaps, and horses decked out with silver-studded saddles and bridles. One curious thing Bob insisted on doing after robbing the bank was to leap onto his horse from the back, a real circus act. He did this successfully but lost his hat in the process.
The bank teller was told to stay in the bank but didn't. Matt Warner fired at his feet to scare him back into the bank. This spooked the fourth man's horse, and he a was almost bucked off. They rode off firing their guns in the air to terrorize the local citizens. "This city crowd is just like a bunch of babies," said McCarty. They got out of town clean but ran smack dab into their old boss, Adsit, he was surprised and shouted out
"hello cowboys, what's the big hurry?" of course, they just rode past.
Jim Clark, the actual sheriff, conveniently was out of town the day of the robbery. They left his cut from the robbery in a hollow log outside of town. A little later, the acting sheriff, James A Beattie, who had been sworn in a day or two before, came in pursuit and asked Adsit if four riders had been by. Adsit said they had but didn't tell him that he knew who they were. The temporary sheriff didn't feel up to the chase so he deputized Adsit and charged him with the task of tracking down the gang.
Mr. Adsit was not interested in catching his friends and he really didn't have much of a chance because they had fresh horses waiting at several points along the escape route. They got away with $22,350.00 from the Telluride job, but they were now known as real bad guys with bounties on their heads, dead or alive, hunted for the rest of their lives.
So, the story begins...good-natured, charismatic, and generous Butch Cassidy emerges as an American folk hero and one hell of a bank robber.
Reference for my painting and my paraphrased statement is the book titled, The True Story of an American Outlaw Butch Cassidy by Charles Leerhsen.
Hold My Horses
24'“x30”
Larry C. Winborg/Butch Cassidy Series
Butch and his gang carefully planned their robberies with great attention to detail, ensuring a quick getaway. They devised a brilliant plan, using fresh relay horses at various points along the escape route.
In the Telluride robbery, they had gang members holding fresh mounts about a mile from the bank robbery, with increasing distances as they got further from the pursuing posse. A good horse can run forty miles per hour or even a little faster, but only for about one mile. The first exchange took place in less than ten minutes after the heist. It took about forty-five minutes to form a posse, so by the time they began the chase, Butch and his Wild Bunch were at least ten miles ahead of them. This way, the robbers could get eighty or ninety miles ahead of the posse in a day or so.
Bonnie and Clyde's getaway car was a 1934 stolen Ford Deluxe V8 with eighty-five horsepower.
Butch and the boys had one horsepower, but they were very efficient in its use.
My major source of information for the series of paintings is the book "The True Story of an American Outlaw BUTCH CASSIDY" by Charles Leerhsen.
Red Rock Refuge
40”x30”
Larry C. Winborg/Butch Cassidy Series
By the time Butch and his fellow partners in crime reached the red rocks of Southern Utah the posse was usually left in the dust. If they were still hot on their trail, they were hesitant to follow into the high walled red rock canyons leading to Robbers Roost because they lacked knowledge of the terrain and were concerned about an ambush from the Wild Bunch.
Butch was now in his old stomping grounds, this is where he grew up. Butch had many friends where ever he went and especially here. He was considered to be a man of his word by almost everyone that knew him and so the law was not able to get help from the locals. It's kind of crazy but I think he was considered to be an honest bank robber. Actually, he never robbed individuals - he robbed banks, trains, and mining companies. These were entities that he considered to be taking advantage of most people. Butch gave a lot of the money he stole to people that needed help, sort of a Cowboy Robin Hood.
So back safe in red rock country, he and his gang were "home free" and able to plan their next heist.
My main source of information for this series is the book "The True Story of an American Outlaw BUTCH CASSIDY" by Charles Leerhesn.
Pardon Me
18”x24”
by Larry C. Winborg/Butch Cassidy Series
After successfully robbing the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, CO, Butch Cassidy and his accomplices settled into a quieter life in Star Valley, WY. They turned to cattle rustling and trading horses, many of which came with questionable bills of sale.
Butch and Al Haines, his partner in the horse trading business, faced legal trouble when they were accused of selling three horses stolen from the Grey Bull Cattle Company. Despite a trial, Butch and Al were acquitted due to the prosecution's insufficient evidence. Shortly after, Butch was detained (though never formally charged) for allegedly stealing a five-dollar horse. This time, he was convicted and sentenced to two years of hard labor in Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie.
Despite his imprisonment, Butch maintained his charisma and earned respect from both fellow inmates and guards, becoming a model prisoner. During his time behind bars, Butch's family, including his mother, and Judge Jesse Knight, who had sentenced him, petitioned Governor William Richards for his pardon.
After serving 18 months of his sentence, Governor Richards visited Butch in prison and granted him a pardon on January 19, 1896, securing his release as a free man with no further legal entanglements.
According to speculation, before pardoning Butch, Governor Richards extracted a promise that Butch would refrain from stealing cattle and horses or robbing banks in Wyoming. However, there was no mention of train robbery in the alleged agreement.
Inspired by Butch's prison description and mug shot, my painting captures his youthful handsomeness and the mischievous glint in his eye.
I employed vibrant colors and dynamic energy to depict this colorful outlaw, embodying his spirit as he eagerly looks forward to resuming his life of adventure and crime.
My primary sources for this series of paintings are "The True Story of an American Outlaw Butch Cassidy" by Charles Leerhsen and "Butch Cassidy Legends" by Paul Turner.