Tom-The-Teacher’s American Western History Blog

  The San Miguel Valley Bank Robbery - Overview On Monday, June 24 th , 1889, between three and five outlaws rode into the small mining town of Telluride, Colorado.  The outlaws may have been neatly dressed in their best cowboy attire.  They may or may not have stopped at a bar across from the San Miguel Valley Bank to case the bank in advance.  Between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m., two, maybe three outlaws entered the bank without masks.  At least one outlaw remained outside the bank to tend the horses. Inside the bank were one, maybe two bank employees.  At least one of the men was Mr. Hyde, the bank teller.  Mr. Hyde may have been pistol-whipped during the robbery. As the outlaws exited the bank, one outlaw missed his stirrups and fell to the ground. Or as he mounted his horse, in the excitement the horse reared, bucking him off.  He quickly remounted and the riders rode off firing their pistols into the ...

I love history, especially American history.  The characters, trials, and tribulations of the past deserve remembering and when appropriate honored or scorned.  Many today speak of hardship – but the hardship of yesteryear was life-threatening in a variety of ways.  Life was short for most. And those Americans and immigrants that ventured into the unknown or stood for what they believed in were amazing.  As an amateur, I spent much of my free time researching characters such as Butch Cassidy, Wyatt Earp, and George Custer. The Civil War, Indian Wars, Johnson County, and the Bozeman Trail have always intrigued me.   I have explored many notable western locations including the Hole-in-the-Wall, Browns Hole, and the Dull knife Battlefield.  Now, after 40 years, I have retired from teaching and can commit more time to my pleasures. My opinion is just that, opinion! My opinion is just that, opinion.  No doubt some is wrong.  Sometimes it is...

The Telluride Bank Robbery On June 24 th, 1889, between three and five men robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado of between $10,000 and $22,000.  Although not identified for at least two years, the planning of the robbery, his reported first, was committed by Butch Cassidy along with, Tom McCarty, Matt Warner, and others. Butch Cassidy would go on to become the “Gentlemen Bandit”.  The supposed generous outlaw that never killed a man. I have argued for the past 20 years that it is unlikely that Butch Cassidy robbed Telluride, just as it is impossible for Butch Cassidy to have robbed the Denver Bank in 1889. Admittedly, I have no smoking gun to prove that Cassidy, Robert Leroy Parker, did not rob the bank in Telluride.  I do have what I think is a compelling argument that Parker was not involved.  Over the next several weeks I will add pieces that lay out my argument.  Please do debate the conclusion until I am done. Please debate the ...