The Cassidy Posse (35 page)

“Well, that’s great you can get back every year and see everyone,” said Butch. “What happened to your other sister? She was a pretty gal.”

“Maureen? She married Eldon Jacobs and they live in Lander. He runs the feed store.”

“Good. Lander is a nice town. I spent some time there,” said Butch. “Ole Hank Bedeker was the Marshal there. He would let us stay around if we gave up our guns.” Butch shot Harry a sidelong glance that suggested he join in.

“Yep, ah, yes,” said Harry, sitting up attentively in his chair. “Lander is a real nice town.”

Their polite conversation was interrupted by a noise on the front steps. It was the sound of a key being turned in the lock of the heavy wooden front door.

“Oh, that must be Mike,” she said excitedly. “He’ll be so glad to see you.”

Young Ian came to life at the sound of his father’s entrance and raced around the table towards the door. Mike McGhan limped into the room with his son riding on his foot. He looked surprised at his company. Mary got up quickly and came around the table to take his hand.

“Mike, you remember Butch Cassidy from Wyoming. We were just catching up on old times. This is his friend Harry Alonzo. I don’t know if you know him.”

“Harry Alonzo,” said Mike checking out his fancy monogrammed shirt. “Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, alias The Sundance Kid.”

At the mention of this name, Mary became noticeably ill at ease. Both outlaws had started to rise to shake his hand, but Mike motioned for them to sit down.

“Well, anyhow,” she continued, “they were in town and stopped by for a visit.”

“Oh, a social call,” said Mike, taking off his perspiration drenched suit coat and placing it on the back of a dining room chair. Mary placed a lemonade in front of him.

“They also wanted to ask you some legal advice,” she added nervously.

Mike removed his shoulder holster holding his .38 service revolver and placed it on the table next to him as he sat down. Butch winced at this unfriendly gesture. It was not going as amicably as he had hoped.

“I suppose you have to be mighty careful where you put one of those things around the house with children running around,” said Butch, motioning towards the gun.

Mike nodded affirmatively. Mary sensed the conversation turning serious and made up an excuse for her and Ian to leave the room.

“You don’t have one of those telephones in the house, do ya?” Sundance asked her suspiciously.

“No, no we don’t,” she said somewhat flustered.

“Dun’t worry Sundance, I’m not gonna turn yuh in,” Mike assured him. “What sorta legal advice could I give you gentlemen?”

Butch looked at Harry reassuredly and then leaned forward with his most sincere look on his face.

“Well, Mike, the truth of it is Harry and me are getting’ a little tired of South America. We was thinkin’ we would like to move back to the states, but there’s no use kiddin’ you, we got a few legal problems.”

The edges of Mike’s mouth wanted to curl up in a smile at this unique assessment, but he sensed what was coming so he had to be firm.

“A few legal problems. Yer wanted outlaws. I’m surprised you came tuh Chicago. This is duh Pinkerton headquarters. They been given you two special attention since the Tipton job.”

“Oh, hell, Mike, that was a couple years ago,” said Butch. “And we didn’t get any money ta speak of. A few dollars in the express car. They can’t be still riled about that.”

“A few dollars is the version the Union Pacific put out,” said Mike. “A messenger that was in duh car, a fella named Woodcock, let it slip yuh got away with $50,000. You also used so much dynamite, they had tuh scrap that express car.”

“You shoulda seen all the crap they put on that safe,” Sundance said defensively.

Butch motioned for him to back off and smiled pleasantly. He moved his hands back and forth as if wiping the slate on the last conversation. “Let’s forget what happened out there and what not. We ain’t never broke the law in Illinois, and we were wonderin’ if maybe, with your pull, we could stay around Chicago here. I mean as legit businessmen. We wouldn’t so much as steal a chicken.”

“Last year a lawman named Joe LeFors stopped by my office,” said Mike, leaning back in his chair. “He came tuh see me cause he heard a rumor you two had been with me when I captured Sean Daugherty. I told him how you helped out, and it didn’t mean spit tuh him. He’s uh real hard-nosed guy, and he’s determined tuh get you two.”

“Well, Joe LeFors ain’t spit in Illinois,” said Butch, raising his voice. “We helped this state out riskin’ our necks tuh bring in one of its fugitives. That deal got you promoted to Chief of Detectives. Seems the least you could do would be to let us stay around if we aren’t doin’ anybody no harm.”

“So that’s it,” sighed Mike. “Yuh figure I owe yuh something. Now I do recall you took on leading that posse tuh beat uh horse stealin’ rap. Yuh swore you were gonna go straight after that.”

“Well, I mighta went straight except they snookered me on that deal. The whole thing was a set up from the get go. Douglas got me off the first charge all right, as promised, but before I could draw a breath, they had me charged with stealin’ a second horse. I could see right off I was going ta jail before they ran outah horses. The judge was decent about it, I suppose. He give me two years in the Wyoming State Prison. He coulda give me ten.”

“The laws got a lot ov ways tuh get yuh and they always do,” said Mike reflectively.

“Let’s get outah here,” said Sundance irritably. “I told ya this wouldn’t get us anyplace. We got to get back to South America before some Pinkerton spots us.”

He got up to leave but Mike motioned for him to sit back down.

“You guys got tuh stay fer dinner,” Mike said firmly.

“Why would you want us eatin’ with your family?” asked Sundance.

“It would offend Mary’s sense of Western hospitality if yuh didn’t stay,” said Mike smiling. “Besides, I dun’t want yuh going out my front door til after dark. I’m a married man now. I got tuh be more careful with my job.”

Sundance looked at Butch, and he nodded affirmatively. Put that way, it seemed to make sense. They spent an hour or so reminiscing about the irony of the posse made up of outlaws that had been assembled ten years ago to bring in a man who turned out to be innocent.

The smell of a platter full of fried chicken stopped the conversation and they all dug in. Mary brought mounds of mashed potatoes and bowls full of peas and corn. Ian refused to eat any of his vegetables, and Butch cheered him for his decision.

“Are you really cowboys?” asked Ian after he had warmed up to his two guests.

“You bet, little pardner,” replied Butch.

“Then where are your cowboy hats? Uncle Jack has a cowboy hat.”

Butch winked and said, “We’re sorta in disguise.”

“What ever happened to Elzy?” Mary inquired as she balanced her two-year-old daughter on her lap. “He was such a polite and cheerful man.”

“Married, shot and jailed - in that order,” said Butch.

“He’s in jail?” she asked, surprised.

“He’s in Santa Fe serving a life sentence for killing a sheriff,” said Sundance.

“I don’t think Elzy killed him,” said Butch. “There was a bunch of them throwing lead around and Elzy caught some of it. That made him pretty easy to capture. We told him not to hook up with Sam Ketchum’s outfit. The man don’t plan ahead. “

“Sam’s as useless as a milk bucket sittin’ under a bull,” concluded Sundance.

Butch saw the eyes of six-year-old Ian grow wide with excitement at the talk of outlaws and the wild west.

“Now if I was runnin’ that outfit,” said Butch, “there would have been fresh mounts stationed along the getaway route. That posse would have never caught us.”

“Bang. Bang,” shouted Ian as he pulled out two make-believe guns and began firing at Butch. Butch hunkered down and acted like he was dodging the bullets.

“Butch, it’s dark out,” said Sundance, slightly embarrassed at his antics. “We’re wearin’ out our welcome here.”

They rose and went to the foyer with the entire McGhan family trailing behind them. Butch and Sundance put their suit coats and hats back on and shook hands with Mike. They smiled and waved gratefully as they descended the porch steps. Mike did not know what they were grateful for since he had not given them one answer they wanted to hear. They were two relics of a by-gone era slowly walking down his sidewalk and out of the light.

“Do you guys need any money?” Mike asked, suddenly wanting to do something for them.

“Nah, we’re fine,” shouted back Sundance. “We’re owed some money. We’re gonna pick it up before we leave town.”

On July 3, 1902, the Rock Island, Omaha and Denver Express was robbed near Dupont, Illinois, a small town on the outskirts of Chicago. Charles Nessler was attempting to hitch a free ride home in the front of the baggage car when he was surprised by two men in masks who told him they were there to rob the train. The masked men forced him to take part in the robbery by having him climb over the tender car and tell the engineer to put on the brakes. When the train had come to a stop, the outlaws threatened to blow up the express car with dynamite unless the messengers opened it. One of the messengers slipped while opening the door and was shot in the leg when one of the train robbers thought he was trying to escape.

The express car carried two safes. The outlaws opened the smaller one and removed several hundred dollars in cash. They were about to blow open the larger safe when curious passengers began flocking to the front of the train. The two decided to flee in a wagon they had left waiting by the tracks. Authorities believed it to be the work of professionals.

A local farmer, the engineer and Charles Nessler identified the outlaws from police photographs as George Parker and Harry Longbaugh, alias Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. On July 6, the Chicago Tribune published a detailed account of the daring robbery.