The Beginnings of An Outlaw
The Notorious Sundance Kid
& His Early Years in Colorado
by Linda Wommack

A monthly history
column
April 2001

About the author

Linda Wommack
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Linda Wommack is a Colorado native, and has enjoyed Colorado History since childhood. A distant relative to Bob Womack, of Cripple Creek gold fame, Linda has written of early Colorado history across the state in publications for the past ten years, and spends much of her time giving speeches and tours throughout Colorado, and also reviews books of historical nature for local and national publications.

Her most recent project, completing three years of research, is her fourth book, Published in the Fall of 1998, with an astonishing reprint in March of 1999, by Caxton Press.

Other books
by Linda Wommack

Colorado History
For Kids

it's 5th printing.

Cripple Creek Tailings
A Centennial Reading, 1891-1991

In 1969, 20th Century Fox released the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. A box office hit and a national movie sensation, the film became the first western in over ten years to sweep the country and the Oscars. With Paul Newman as the lead, Robert Redford played his partner, the Sundance Kid. While Redford became Hollywoods new leading man, the story of The Wild Bunch garnered a new interest in the Outlaw West.

As is often the case with many outlaws of the Old West, happenstance and a few bad choices led one to the life of the infamous outlaw. Such was the case with Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. An innocent young cowboy, Longabaugh found adventure and got more than he bargained for, in the small community of Cortez, Colorado. Following his earliest outlaw deeds in Colorado and a brief incarceration in the jail at Sundance, Wyoming, Longabaugh gave to history one of the most romantic and colorful outlaws of all time: The Sundance Kid.

In 1882, fourteen-year-old Harry Longabaugh moved west with his older cousin, George Longenbaugh (spelled differently) and his family. The family first settled near Durango, where Harry helped his cousin in raising and breeding horses, and became quite knowledgeable in the quality of fine horses and breeding stock. By 1884, the Longenbaugh family moved on west to Cortez, some forty-eight miles, where they settled permanently. Harry moved with them, continuing to help out his cousin, but also gained employment as a horseman with the LC Ranch.

Although the town of Cortez was in its infancy, many families were settling in the area, known for the high grass and abundance of rivers. One such family was the McCartys. The Bill Madden family homesteaded not far from Cortez, and Willard E. Christiansen (alias Matt Warner), also lived in the area. All would soon turn to a life of crime. At the neighboring Carlisle Ranch, straddling the Colorado-Utah border, a young ranch hand was employed by the name of Dan Parker. He was the younger brother of Robert Leroy Parker, (alias Butch Cassidy). It is very likely that Longabaugh met Cassidy in the Cortez, Colorado area. With his access to the horses and his ability to train good horses, it is no doubt that Harry made an impression on the soon-to-be outlaws. An impressionable youth, it is also likely the men made quite an impression on young Longabaugh.

Horse racing, being the popular form of entertainment at the time, attracted a considerable variety of people. Among them were young Bob Parker (who went by the name of George), Matt Warner, and Tom McCarty, a neighbor to the Longenbaugh ranch. Matt Warner had the fastest race horse in the four corners area. Warner's mare, Betty, was kept at the McCarty homestead, near Cortez. Tom McCarty and Matt Warner raced Betty through the countryside. At a racing event in Telluride during the summer of 1888, the pair ran across alias George Cassidy, also involved in horse racing. The trio struck up a pack, racing their horses throughout the four corners area. Although the trio won almost every race, they lost most of their winnings on drinking and gambling. By the end of the season, the three were broke and pondered the idea of a quick way to make money.

Back at their homes in the Cortez area, Tom McCarty was the first to suggest a bank robbery. The seasoned outlaw Matt Warner was quick to agree. It was Butch Cassidy who suggested the Telluride Bank. Butch had lived in Telluride, knew the layout, and evidently the routine of the businessmen. Butch felt the robbery would be an easy one, and with the rich ore from the mines, all three agreed it would be a rich one.

On Monday, June 24, 1889, Tom, Matt, Butch, and a fourth unidentified man, were seen in Telluride. After surveying the town, the group hit the bank during the noon lunch break. Town Marshal Jim Clark had just left town. (It was later revealed that Marshal Clark had been paid off by the robbers to leave town.)

According to eyewitness accounts and newspaper reports, two men entered the bank while two men stayed with the horses. Reports range from ten to thirty thousand dollars taken in the first major bank robbery in Colorado.

As the robbers fled the scene, two eyewitnesses reported the four robbers by name. They were Tom McCarty, Matt Warner, Butch Cassidy, and Harry Longabaugh. The bank robbers were identified and now became wanted outlaws. The Rocky Mountain News reported in their June 27, 1889 issue that following the robbery of the San Miguel Valley Bank of Telluride on Monday last, the four daring cowboys rode...after retrieving their horses from the scene.

While historians differ on the true identity of the fourth robber, most agree that there was indeed a fourth robber, supported by the eyewitness accounts and newspaper reports. Supporting that evidence is the claim by the Longenbaugh family of Cortez. Family history relates that Georges wife, Mary, sheltered and fed the outlaws following the Telluride bank robbery, including Harry Longabaugh, Georges cousin.

Harry Longabaugh had been released from the jail in Wyoming the month previous to the Telluride robbery, and immediately returned to his home with cousin George, near Cortez, Colorado. The McCarty ranch, as well as the Warner homestead, were very near the Longenbaugh ranch. It is very likely that Harry Longabaugh would have been in on the robbery. A man who knew horses, knew the area and layout of the land Telluride being eighty miles from Cortez he would have been the perfect man to aid the outlaws.

Legend, lore, mystery, and history. Harry Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid, entered the life of crime, never to return. As he rode out of Colorado with Butch Cassidy, Harry Longabaugh was no more, and the Sundance Kid became a legend for all time.

Copyright © 2001 Linda Wommack. All rights reserved