Whatever her background, circumstances would lead her to become acquainted with the best-known outlaw gang in the American West. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/place-etta-fl-1896-1905, "Place, Etta (fl. It has been conjectured, often without any real evidence, that she was variously a cousin of Longabaugh's (hence the surname Place), or that she was a cattle rustler named Ann Bassett (d.1956) who knew and operated with the Wild Bunch at the turn of the 20th century. Patterson, Richard. ." February 27, 2023. 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. The three were members of the outlaw gang known as Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. 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. Having spent much of their lives in the United States holding up trains and robbing banks, Butch and the Sundance Kid considered absconding with mining companies payroll shipments to be a natural course of events. The other assailant at once went outside, and they immediately took off in flight on horses that they had already prepared. In 1993, she recorded the tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, and began to incorporate more jazz elements and won for her a first Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance. 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. Butch had a plan to overtake the train and meet back at the caf shortly after the job was done. Because Pinkerton's believed the story was true, historians believed it too. Historical Atlas of the Outlaw West. Leads develop only to dissolve into ambiguity". Add synopsis. ?) Their setup of several isolated camps, stretching from Wyoming to Utah, allowed the men a safe haven which lawmen avoided. With their take from the robbery reported at 12,000 pesos ($137,500 today), an extensive search for the trio was begun. Additionally, sworn sightings occurring simultaneously yet hundreds of miles apart were not uncommon. Plot summary. Encyclopedia.com. Etta James was known for her spectacular voice that had the power to move one to tears, and despite her brilliant career, her latter years were marred with legal battles between her husband and son. Historical documents do show that Etta and Sundance were dedicated to one another and that she was undeniably the Queen of the Wild Bunch.. February 1901: Longabaugh and Place visit New York City, and Tiffany's Jewelers. Gigi Santo Pietro Is a Tattoo Artist - Facts about Vanna 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. Perhaps it was the perception that their situation was hopeless which lured the Wild Bunch back into action. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. David Clayton Rogers plays as Butch, Ryan Browning plays as Sundance, and Rachelle Lefevre plays as Etta Place . She appears to be a refined type." In some respects, stories of Americas Wild West feel like a young country trying to build itself a mythology from scratch. Butch Cassidy: My Brother. On August 9, she was with Longabaugh at the Hotel Europa in Buenos Aires, and on the 15th she sailed with him aboard the steamer SS Chubut to return to their ranch. By the end of that year however they were again back in Argentina; on December 19, Place took part, along with Longabaugh, Parker and an unknown male, in the robbery of the Banco de la Nacion in Villa Mercedes, 400 miles west of Buenos Aires. Pinkerton records note their return: They left New York July 10, 1902, on steamer Honorious. L.G. Before any policemen arrived, the four robbers had re-mounted and disappeared in a cloud of dust. Theories abound regarding Etta's earlier life. until things settled down." Place owned 2500 acres herself becoming the first female landowner in the country which had just changed its laws to allow women to own land. . In 2009, a new novel about Etta Place was released. Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles and had a very tumultuous childhood as she was brought up by foster parents who ill-treated her. The three visited museums, ate fine food and attended the opera. Selcers research suggests she might have been suffering from acute appendicitis and needed emergency surgery. She continued to make the Top 40 R&B charts with singles such as "Losers Weepers and "I Found a Love, but was devastated by the death of Chess founder Leonard Chess. By the age of 5, she was known as a gospel prodigy, gaining fame by singing in her church choir and on the radio. The members of the Blues Foundation, set up in Memphis, Tennessee, awarded her Blues Female Artist of the Year award 14 times and inducted her into the Blues Hall of Fame. Playwright, author, journalist, dandy-aesthete, w, The rising of physical objects, tables, pianos, etc., or of human beings into the air, contrary to the known laws of gravitation and without any visi, Place Versus Response Learning Revisited in the Brain, https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/place-etta-fl-1896-1905. Twenty-eight-year-old Etta smiled happily at her two companions as the conversation strayed from the execution of the job to the large amount they had stolen. At this point, some accounts insist that Place and Longabaugh departed for South America while Cassidy returned to the American West, following his cohorts south in a year or so later. Shortly after the trio arrived in South America, they opened a bank account with $12 thousand in gold notes. Summer, 1904: Place and Longabaugh sail again to New York City, to visit her family. There were no other available documents to show any other connection to Longabaugh or Place, other than his own claims. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Place. WebEtta Place - Longabaugh's Alleged Son Longabaugh's Alleged Son 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. Etta and Sundance made it back to Argentina without interference from any law enforcement agency. Sundance pulled Etta down with him. 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. He visited me years after his reputed death, she shared. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. We hunt them in the mountains and the wilderness and they are in the midst of society.. Presumably, the fourth bandit was one of several possible fellow outlaws rumored to have been in the region. February 27, 2023. Went to South America for a few years . She was well educated and an excellent horsewoman. Al Sharpton and she was entombed at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County, California. In fact, even her real name is a mystery. Genres. In 1961, she released a second studio album, The Second Time Around, covering many genres, and using strings on many of the songs generating two hit singles, Fool That I Am, and , Don't Cry Baby. That is except for the time I had to high-tail it out of town. According to the February 19, 1950, edition of the, Butch Cassidys sister, Lula Parker Betensen, told reporters from the. She wanted to avoid capture, New York law enforcement officials told the press. WebEtta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles and had a very tumultuous childhood as she was brought up by foster parents who ill-treated her. 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. Efforts by both the law and the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which had been hired to assist in their capture, increased the pressure on their outlaw lifestyle. Butch Cassidy: A Biography. With Longabaugh now dead, and Place having no real ties to any overt criminal acts, Pinkerton interests' in her location die down, and her trail goes cold. Add synopsis. Research has also detected that Robert Longabaugh possibly was told by his mother that Etta Place was in reality her half-sister, and that her real name had been Hazel Tyrone. In support of this is his alleged involvement in the July 3, 1901, holdup of a Great Northern train near Wagner, Montana. There has been no evidence to support her having a half-sister named Hazel Tyrone/aka Etta Place. There is no further activity from her, and she disappears from all historical records. After each job, a series of relay horses would quickly deliver the bandits to one of their sanctuaries, most notably Hole-in-the-Wall, Brown's Park, or Robbers' Roost. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1991. WebEtta Place was involved with the Sundance Kid and was a member of the Butch Cassidys Wild Bunch. Popular locations for her place of birth include Utah, New York City, Pennsylvania, or If Longabaugh and Place did visit San Francisco, they had to return to Argentina in order to meet Cassidy to plan and execute the December 1905 holdup of the Banco de la Nacion in Villa Mercedes. 1963: The last person known to have actually met and spent time with Place, female outlaw Josie Bassett, dies. Possible identities for her parents range from an Englishman named Ingerfeld to more fanciful alternatives, such as Emily Jane Place and George Capel, alleged son of Arthur Algernon Capel, 6th earl of Essex. WebAccording to reports of the day, Bassett and Davis were two of only five women ever allowed into the Robbers Roost hideout, the other three being Josie Bassett, the Sundance Kid 's girlfriend Etta Place, and Wild Bunch gang member Laura Bullion . While the life of Place is somewhat mysterious - the only known facts being those that occurred while she was with Longabaugh - Bassett's life is well documented. Again, those claims have no supporting evidence, and are merely rumor. 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! WebEtta Place ( b. c. 1878, d. She received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the St. Paul Baptist Church Echoes of Eden choir, in south central Los Angeles. For more than a day, Butch, Sundance and Etta fought being overtaken by authorities. They are credited with a number of major robberies and were increasingly becoming a frustration to the authorities. A gun suddenly fired, and a bullet almost took off Butchs head. March 1903 marked the beginning of the end for the trio in their comfortable exile. According to historians, on February 20, 1901, the husband and wife and Cassidy boarded the SS Herminius at New Yorks Pier 32 under the aliases Mr. and Mrs. Harry Place and James Ryan. Parker Betenson, Lula. Bolivian soldiers claim they found Sundance lying next to Etta. Ethel Etta Place, Western Woman of Mystery. According to legend, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh) infamous Utah outlaws noted throughout the Theories abound regarding Etta's earlier life. Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 1985. History Blazer, May 1995. 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. Dueting with Harvey Fuqua, she recorded her first hit singles, If I Can't Have You, and, Spoonful. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Redford, Robert. They robbed an English bank in the town of Patagonia, then rode into Chile where they committed a number of other daring robberies. All of those traits have been used to describe Place, but also could be used to describe any number of other women from the period, so in themselves they only show similarities rather than actual proof. Worland, WY: High Plains, 1993. He rode away in order to escape the possibility of being caught by the Pinkerton men, and the couple never saw one another again. Bolivias plateaus were filled with silver, gold, copper and oil. Because Pinkerton's believed the story was true, historians believed it too. The majority of the experts agree that Butch and Sundance probably met Etta at a bordello around 1900. January 1962: A fire destroys the Waco Hotel operated and owned by Eunice Gray, located at 110 E. 15th Street in Fort Worth, and Eunice Gray dies in the fire. According to the Pinkerton Agency file, Sundance periodically accompanied her. Richard M. Abrams If there are reported to you any bank or train hold up robberies or any other similar crimes, you will find that they were undoubtedly committed by these men. Michael Rutter, an author who has written extensively on the life of Etta Place, speculates that she might have been romantically involved with Butch before entering into a relationship with the Sundance Kid. She made her final television appearance performing "At Last" on Dancing with the Stars. An article in the December 26, 1917, San Antonio Light reported that Etta Place died on December 15, 1917. The real Etta Place, according to Pinkerton's (per author James D. Horan) claimed Cassidy and Sundance met Place at Fannie Porter's brothel in San Antonio, Texas. 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. Published in 1918 Pinkerton flyers describe some of their activities: This is to advise all offices that the above named [Harry Longabaugh] was in New York City February 1, 1901, at which time he lived with a woman he called his wife, at the boarding house of Mrs. Taylor, 234 East 12th St. Butch was regaling the pair with stories of the South American riches yet to be had by those willing to take them. In 1906 he and Cassidy returned to outlawry, robbing banks, trains, and mining interests in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. The men sported new aliases; Butch took the name James (later Santiago) Ryan, while Sundance took Etta's last name, making him Harry (later Enrique) A. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Many of the details of Place's life have been lost to time. Her self-titled album in 1973 was notable for its rock and funk styles, produced by the renowned rock producer Gabriel Mekler and nominated for a Grammy but did not do well commercially. Digging Up Butch and Sundance. Rodeo cowboy Etta Place, shown here in a photo taken in either Mexico or Texas with a womens group called Las Soldaderas, was a friend and outlaw companion of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Documents salvaged from the fire indicate she was 77 years of age. 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. Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1969. Diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and with terminal leukemia, she died in California on January 20, 2012. Law enforcement was lax in the region, and the bandits again got away. In 1901 she was going by the name Ethel and Etta is Spanish for Ethel. It shows how daring these people are, he wrote his brother in 1905. 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. NE: University of Nebraska, 1998. 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. Plot summary. According to the September 18, 1920, edition of the, With the exception of the Pinkerton Agency files, there is little concrete information about Etta. 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 semi-wealthy, and many speculate that she was Etta Place. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Patterson, Richard. Because Pinkerton's believed the story was true, historians believed it too. We do not know the nature of the ailment he was being treated for." According to the February 19, 1950, edition of the American Weekly, Butch told the Buenos Aires bank president that he and his friends were afraid of thieves. Add synopsis. Life on the ranch in Cholila proved to be too mundane for Butch, Etta and Sundance. Butch Cassidy and a girlfriend, Etta Place, and in 1901 drifted to New York City and then South America, where they set up ranching in Chubut province, Argentina. She was said to have spoken in an educated manner, and she indicated that she was originally from the East Coast, although she never revealed an exact location. Place was believed to have been born around 1878, which should have made her 84 years of age by 1962. Butch purchased a Tiffany lapel watch for Etta, and she and Sundance posed for their now famous photograph at De Young's Studio, 857 Broadway at 17th St. Nearly a year and a half later, the Pinkerton Agency would receive a copy of the photograph. The Pinkerton Agency had received word the pair were in the area and began tracking them. She then, on February 20, sailed with him and Parker (who was now posing as one James Ryan, her fictional brother), aboard the British ship Herminius for Buenos Aires in Argentina. 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. Apart were not uncommon the end for the trio was begun 12 thousand gold. Light reported that Etta Place was involved with the Stars and with terminal leukemia, recorded. 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