Same Guys Dancing

[{"type":"text","text":"Jason Aldean -- Hicktown"}]

Mix Collage 19 Jul 2024 04 16 PM 1986

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Thursday Morning Dance Party: Jason Aldean -- Hicktown | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Jason Aldean -- Hicktown

Thursday Morning Dance Party: Jason Aldean -- Hicktown

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

When Wyoming State Archives materials archivist Suzi Taylor first saw an auction listing for what was billed as the original glass plate negative for Butch Cassidy’s Territorial Prison mugshot in a forwarded email from Cowboy State Daily, she stopped everything she was doing and hustled upstairs to double-check the state's collection.

“I was fairly certain we still had it in our collection,” Taylor told Cowboy State Daily. “But I ran upstairs just to be sure. Sure enough, it was in the box, just where it’s supposed to be.”

That had her breathing a sigh of relief as she carefully put this treasured state item back into its acid-free sleeve and closed it back up in a reinforced box. 

The mix-up highlights how questions of provenance can affect high-value Wild West auctions, but it also shows how Wyoming curators quietly document and safeguard key pieces of the state’s Western history behind the scenes. 

offered by RR Auction failed to meet its reserve price and was ultimately not sold during a recent sale, the company told Cowboy State Daily. 

Questions raised about the negative’s provenance — including the fact that Wyoming still holds the original glass plate — are being reviewed before the company decides whether and how to offer the item again.

Taylor, for her part, said the fact the auction house’s glass plate negative isn’t the original doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a fake. 

She said contemporary copies were made from Cassidy’s print mugshot for wider distribution to law enforcement.

That means while not original, it’s still period to the time. 

Since negatives of the time were made of breakable glass, authorities likely didn’t want to handle the original too often. Re-photographing a print was a much safer way to make additional copies for other law enforcement agencies.

Cassidy’s mugshot is one of the most iconic of the few images ever taken of America’s last cowboy outlaw, made famous in the Robert Redford movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Taken during Cassidy’s only significant prison stint, the photo freeze-frames were taken of the young man before the notorious Wild Bunch appeared.

Cassidy never owned up to leading the Wild Bunch, though law enforcement officials of the day said he was — loudly and often.

Historians, meanwhile, have various opinions on that. 

Some suggest there’s good evidence Cassidy would have scoffed at the idea anyone could lead such a loose confederation of misfits and malcontents as the Wild Bunch, while also pointing out he couldn’t possibly have been in as many places as law enforcement was claiming. 

Others have suggested the Wild Bunch was probably Cassidy's way of getting even with Wyoming for the trumped-up horse thief charges that the cowboy outlaw always maintained were fabricated by his enemies.

Cassidy’s younger sister, Lula Betenson, meanwhile, once claimed her brother told her during a secret family reunion that if Wyoming wanted to treat him as an outlaw, then he’d show them what an outlaw really was.

The truth of that will never be known for certain. Instead, there’s this compelling photo that captures the mystery of it all in a glance. 

In it, Cassidy looks less like an outlaw posing for a mugshot and more like a patron posing for a casual portrait on a relaxing Saturday or Sunday afternoon. He wears a dark, structured suit coat and a white shirt buttoned up to his neck.

It’s his enigmatic expression that captures and holds attention, though. He offers the viewer neither smile nor frown, but his eyes seem to know something his lips aren’t about to ever tell.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Rarely Sees Light Of Day"}]

The original glass plate negative used to create Cassidy’s Territorial Prison mugshot is on a short list of treasured artifacts whose condition is frequently monitored at the Wyoming State Archives.

“I had laid my eyes on that one not too long ago, but I had to make sure it was exactly where I’d left it,” Taylor said. “I check it fairly regularly, just to make sure it’s where it’s supposed to be and hasn’t deteriorated.”

Glass is among the most non-reactive substances on the planet. But the chemicals used to create the image itself, which are laid down in a thin emulsion directly on the glass, are much more fragile.

“The image itself and the emulsion can, if the chemicals weren’t properly fixed, start to fade in odd ways,” she said. “So, we want to be able to catch that. And sometimes the emulsion gets really dry and starts flaking off the glass itself, because the image sits right on top of the glass. 

"Over time, it can delaminate and separate, so we want to make sure we are extra careful and catch that before it becomes a problem.”

Taylor frequently spot-checks other mugshots in the Territorial and Wyoming State Penitentiary collections, which include thousands of negatives of outlaws. 

Among the collection are mugshot negatives for other Cassidy contemporaries like Albert “Slick” Nard and Joseph Nutcher. 

All of the glass plate negatives are kept in acid-free sleeves inside a rigid box with additional support. That ensures the glass plate won’t accidentally break. 

Cassidy’s negative, in particular, is rarely handled. 

“We have a digital surrogate that we use instead of taking the negative out,” she said. “The less it’s handled, the less likely it is to break.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Helps Tell Territorial Prison’s Story"}]

Another place where Cassidy’s mugshot appears is the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, where Superintendent Jessica Lira has made it a prominent part of the museum’s exhibits.

“We have a big portrait of his mugshot, his intake photo, right when you walk into the building,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “The exhibit talks about his life and how, even though he only spent 18 months and was let out early for good behavior, it was after that he starts blowing up trains and blowing up safes around Wyoming and Colorado.”

Cassidy, Lira said, is the most famous outlaw the territorial prison ever held, and his face is an instant hook into the larger story of crime and punishment on the frontier.

Lira uses high-quality prints and digital reproductions for her exhibits, keeping the originals at the Wyoming State Archives to protect them. That’s how the state balances public access with preservation.

Lira uses the mugshots to tell stories about real people, as well as to illustrate changing ideas about law enforcement in the West.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"How Experts Know"}]

There are several telling details that immediately distinguish Cassidy’s original Territorial Prison mugshot negative from the mugshot negative offered in RR Auction’s Western Americana sale of the Jochen Zeitz collection. 

“The (prison) photograph of Cassidy was taken in May 1895 by Laramie photographer Louis Heyn,” historian and Cassidy expert Mike Bell has told Cowboy State Daily. “The original shows a wider view of Cassidy, including part of his leg in striped pants. 

"The picture was then cropped to show the head and torso version, which is well-known and widely circulated.”

Bell, too, believes it is possible the auction house’s glass plate negative is a contemporary copy of the original photograph. Lots of police departments did have copies of Cassidy’s mugshot at the time.

“For example, Sheriff Louis Grant Davis of Sweetwater County got a copy,” Bell said. “He showed it to E.L. Carpenter, the manager of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company, which was held up by two men in 1897.”

Carpenter told Davis at the time that he recognized the photo of Cassidy as being one of the two men who had held him up.

Butch Cassidy negative main illustration 6 7 26

<title>Wyoming Archives Has Butch Cassidy Negative, Despite ‘Original’ Offered At Auction | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Despite an East Coast auction house advertising a glass plate negative of Butch Cassidy’s mugshot as a one-of-a-kind, the original is housed in the Wyoming State Archives. “I was certain we had it in our collection,” archivist Suzy Taylor said.

Wyoming Archives Has Butch Cassidy Negative, Despite ‘Original’ Offered At Auction

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on the infamous "Rawlins Rodeo Murders." Part one 

 and focused on the disappearances of four young girls that remain unsolved 52 years later.

In the early 1970s, the small, rugged city of Rawlins, Wyoming, was in the dawn of an energy boom.

The summer of 1974 arrived like any other, but then between July and August, 

Two of then — 10-year-old Jaylene Banker and 19-year-old Christine “Christy” Gross — were eventually found dead.

The other two teens, 19-year-old Carlene Brown and 15-year-old Deborah Meyer, were never found at all.

All their murders and disappearances remain unsolved, and more than 50 years later law enforcement has yet to publicly named any suspects or persons of interest.

Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken, who wasn’t born at the time the murders took place, admits that his knowledge is limited on the cases. He took over as sheriff four years ago and inherited these among other cold cases.

He said the files are securely stowed in an offsite storage facility that he plans to retrieve.

other cash-strapped agencies throughout the state

 with large jurisdictions and limited staff, is “slowly but surely” working to digitize older case files in accordance with state statute passed in 2024.

It requires agencies to report cold cases dating back to January 1972 to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s 

[{"type":"text","text":"To date, only Banker appears in the database."}]

This work is being done around their current workload, Bakken said, but it doesn’t mean that they’re forgotten, he said.

Retired homicide detective and Powell-based cold case investigator Janet Franson likewise believes there’s still work to be done.

She’s been looking into these cases for 25 years, specifically trying to locate the remains of the missing girls.

“I know people would say it’s so old,” Franson told Cowboy State Daily. “But two girls are still missing and need to be found.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Possible Suspects?"}]

The first two teens vanished on July 4, 1974, which was a big year for Rawlins.

Fireworks were returning to the town’s Fourth of July celebration after being absent for several years, according to local reporting at the time.

Two friends, 19-year-olds Carlene Brown and Christine “Christy” Gross, attended the Little Britches Rodeo, a local favorite annual event. Gross had been visiting from Bowdle, South Dakota.

Details surrounding their disappearances are vague, but former Carbon County Deputy Sheriff Jeff Faycosh reported that their van was found parked at the fairgrounds, according to a November 1983 Casper-Star Tribune story.

Gross’s remains were found nine years later near Sinclair, a small town of around 350 residents located about 6 miles from Rawlins along Interstate 80.

At the time, Faycosh said his office had turned up a “few new leads” from the crime scene and indicated that a suspect had been identified after looking at “all possible suspects,” according to local media reports.

He further stated that his office was in the process of attempting to locate the suspect, who he declined to name.

[{"type":"text","text":"Faycosh also said that he hadn’t given up hope of finding Brown."}]

“You spend nine years sweating a case like this and you think you are at a dead end. Then you get a new lead,” he told a Rawlins 

Times reporter in a November 1983 article.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Likely Not Bundy"}]

It’s not clear what “suspect” Faycosh was referring to or if any suspects have ever been publicly named.

Many in the community, including Brown’s longtime friend Mary Kay Albrechtson, believe that 

Theodore “Ted” Bundy may be responsible for the murders.

However, former Carbon County Sheriff Chuck Ogburn dispelled that speculation, telling reporters that his office had looked into Bundy, but he’d been incarcerated in Colorado when Gross and Brown vanished.

That timeline, however, appears to be off, according to 

 that say Bundy was not arrested in Utah until August 1975, when he was taken into custody for kidnapping and assaulting a teenager in that state.

He faced additional murder charges in Colorado and was moved to an Aspen jail in January 1977.

Bundy later escaped from the jail in June 1977 from a second-story window while using the jailhouse law library but was captured five days later.

Authorities believe Bundy’s killing spree began in 1974, as he confessed before his 1989 execution to the murders of more than 30 women and young girls.

In July 1974, however, it’s likely that Bundy was still in Washington state, where he abducted and killed Janice Ott and Denise Naslund from Lake Sammamish on July 14, 1974.

Bundy may have been in the Rawlins area, however, when Meyer and Banker disappeared in August — the same month he relocated to Salt Lake City to begin law school and continue his prolific killing spree.

He’s thought to have killed at least eight young women during his time in Utah. His latest victim there was 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime, 

which the Utah County Sheriff’s Office solved in April after 52 years

This discovery also allowed authorities for the first time to upload Bundy’s full DNA profile with more murders expected to be linked to the notorious serial killer.

He’s known to have killed victims in at least seven states — including Utah, Idaho and Colorado — but so far, Bundy has not been tied to any murders in Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tracking A Suspected Murderer"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A more likely suspect for some is Royal Russell Long, said Janet Franson."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“I’d put my money on this guy,” Franson said."}]

Franson, a retired Lakeland, Florida, homicide detective now living in Powell, has been studying Long’s connections to the Rawlins murders since 2001.

After retiring from the Lakeland Police Department, Franson continued investigating cold cases.

She worked as a volunteer cold case investigator for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and later for the Human Identification Lab at the University of North Texas.

It was this work that sent her to Wyoming and other states to investigate cases and procure DNA from victims’ families for identification.

Long’s name popped up a lot in her investigation into Brown’s disappearance.

He was a long-haul trucker known to carry equipment to carnivals and fairs. In 1984, Long was arrested for kidnapping and raping two teen girls.

The girls had been hitchhiking when they were abducted by Long, who tied them up at gunpoint and took them to his home in Evansville, Wyoming.

The 15-year-old was able to escape and call for help, but Long fled with 12-year-old Sharon Baldeagle.

Long was eventually caught in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Baldeagle was not with him, however, and remains missing to this day.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Predilection For Pairs"}]

Long has never been charged with murder. He pleaded guilty to the two counts of kidnapping and received two life sentences, according to legal documents.

He was also charged with the kidnapping and murder of two 13-year-old girls whom he’d abducted from the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in September 1981.

Despite having several witnesses that recognized Long as well as hairs of one of the girls in the trunk of his car, authorities were unable to make the charges stick.

Long died in a Wyoming prison of a heart attack in 1993, taking his secrets to his grave.

Though never charged, Long is suspected of multiple rapes and murders across many states, Franson said.

She firmly believes that not only did he murder Baldeagle and dispose of her body, but he’s also responsible for the deaths of all four Rawlins victims.

Franson notes the similarities of the abductions and Long’s predilection for taking victims in pairs, which is rare, she said.

Though there’s no record of address that Cowboy State Daily could locate, Franson was told by a local she interviewed years ago that Long had been staying in Rawlins at the time of the murders at a residence within blocks of the fairgrounds.

Long, who is originally from Indiana, has a long rap sheet dating back to the early 1950s when he was still in his late teens.

This includes a charge for assault with a deadly weapon in Reading, California, in 1952, and also escaping from jail, forged checks and burglary, among other charges, according to a criminal record shared with Cowboy State Daily.

Franson believes Long escalated to murder, and that the Wyoming incarceration was preceded by a trail of victims.

Long was considered a suspect but not the “only viable” one, said Ryan Cox, commander and head of cold cases for the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).

He did not share information about additional suspects or whether there is any DNA or any evidence still on file. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Finding Brown’s Family"}]

With justice for the “Rawlins Rodeo Murder” victims is likely not possible at this point, Franson thinks the next best thing is finding the remains of Brown and Meyer.

Meyer’s DNA is in the national database, so she can be identified should her remains be found.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Brown, however, is a different story."}]

She and her brother Rick Brown were adopted by Carl Brown and Catherine T. Gutsch, who split up when the kids were teens.

[{"type":"text","text":"Carl remained in Rawlins while Gutsch moved to Colorado."}]

Both Brown’s adopted parents and brother are now deceased, so Franson has taken it upon herself to attempt to track down Brown’s biological parents or family to procure a DNA sample from them.

[{"type":"text","text":"She’s been trying for years in vain to track this information down."}]

A spark of hope came this spring when Sheriff Bakken was able to get Brown’s birth certificate from the Colorado Department of Vital Services. However, the birth certificate contained the names of her adopted, not biological, parents.

Franson said she’d never seen that before nor did the genealogists with whom she consulted on Brown’s case.

Now, it’s back to the drawing board with Bakken in the process of seeing if he can attain an amended or earlier birth record.

Anyone who might know Brown’s biological family or have information about her birth is asked to contact Sheriff Bakken at the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.

For now, both Bakken and Franson will continue to try to piece together the mystery while keeping the girls’ names alive.

Rawlins Rodeo Murders Old Welcome to Rawlins sign Jimmy Emerson via Flickr 6 7 26

<title>Rawlins Rodeo Murders, Part 2: Did Ted Bundy Kill Four Wyoming Girls 52 Years Ago? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the second of a two-part series on the infamous "Rawlins Rodeo Murders" of 1974, many in the community believe serial killer Ted Bundy was responsible for the deaths of the four girls. Others pin the blame on long haul trucker Russell Royal Long.

Rawlins Rodeo Murders, Part 2: Did Ted Bundy Kill Four Wyoming Girls 52 Years Ago?

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Harry Longabaugh, who would become the infamous Western outlaw dubbed the Sundance Kid, earned his nickname while in jail at Sundance, Wyoming. 

While serving his 18-month sentence, he also met fellow outlaw Buck Hanby in a chance meeting that kept Longabaugh in a life of crime, said Lucas Keeler, Newcastle historian and author of “The Outlaws of Red Butte.” 

Keeler said that Hanby and his gang saw in the Sundance Kid potential for ranching, and perhaps even horse rustling. 

They gave him a place to live after Longabaugh was released from jail. Unfortunately for Hanby, their partnership would not last long. 

Longabaugh left his home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in 1882 when he was just 14 years old, intrigued by the stories of adventure he had read about the West. 

He had plans to become a rancher and moved to Durango, Colorado, to help a distant relative break horses.  

“Longabaugh’s pursuits were ultimately short-lived,” Keeler said. “His desire for adventure and cowboy work motivated him to travel across the West, taking on ranch jobs along the way.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Kid"}]

By the time Longabaugh was about 17, he had his first brush with the law. 

He was working on the Cheyenne River in Wyoming for the Suffolk Cattle Co. in spring 1886 wrangling horses and was considered a good hand despite losing his temper when a cook called him “Longboy.” 

His co-worker, Sam W. Mather, said that all ended when the Lusk sheriff arrested Longabaugh for robbing an old man of $80.

Longabaugh escaped from the sheriff, but was subsequently fired from the ranch.

He found employment at the N Bar N Ranch in Montana and was making an honest living when the devasting winter of 1886-87 killed between 20,000 and 40,000 of the cattle belonging to the ranch. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Longabaugh, by then 19, lost his job. "}]

Keeler said accounts from both Longabaugh and witnesses say that Longabaugh was seeking another job on the range when he stole a horse, saddle and revolver while riding along Cow Creek, north of Sundance. 

Unfortunately for Longabaugh, the theft had been seen and after a prolonged manhunt, he was caught in Miles City.  

Crook County Sheriff Jim Ryan extradited Longabaugh to Sundance to stand trial for the Cow Creek thefts. 

When on a train near Duluth, Minnesota, on a long route to Sundance, Ryan left Harry handcuffed, shackled, and secured to his seat while he went to the train’s water closet (bathroom). 

Longabaugh picked the lock on the shackles and leapt off the moving train. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He had escaped, but only for a time. "}]

He brought attention to himself because he continued to steal and was eventually recaptured in Montana. 

After successfully returning to Sundance to stand trial, he was eventually sentenced to serve his time in the Crook County jail despite his claims of innocence. 

He also had officially earned the nickname the Kid. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Von Rippon Gang"}]

The Kid had tried numerous times to break out of jail when in September 1888, new inmates were brought to Sundance; the Von Rippon gang from southern Crook County (present day Weston County) that included Frank Miller, William Brown, Jim Fisher, Arthur Von Rippon and Buck Hanby. 

According to Keeler, Von Rippon and Hanby likely recognized Harry’s charisma and willingness to break the law when necessary. 

Although details of any conversations remain unknown, it is probable that at this time Von Rippon extended an invitation to Longabaugh to come to Salt Creek once he was released from jail.

 The men had a dugout near Red Butte up Salt Creek from Tubb Town, near the present-day location of Newcastle.

The following week, Von Rippon and Frank Miller were exonerated on horse rustling charges and allowed to return to Salt Creek, but Hanby, Fisher, and Brown were taken to Nebraska to stand trial on horse theft charges.

Longabaugh was forced to serve his entire 18-month sentence and when released, temporarily tried to make a honest living in Deadwood before he headed to the homestead of his new friends. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Honest Work "}]

Keeler said that when Harry Longabaugh, now known as the Kid, was finally released from jail and finding no success in Deadwood, he was warmly received by Hanby and Von Rippon at Salt Creek.  

Keeler said this gave Longabaugh the chance to resume cowboying and horse breaking. Rustling was also on the rise in the area and Keeler said it is possible that Sundance was helping with that as well, though this was never proven. 

Outlaw Buck Hanby's past was also checkered with crime. 

Born Robert Minor, Hanby was a mere alias for Minor. Wanted on murder charges in Kansas, and horse rustling charges in Nebraska, Hanby had lived a life of eluding the law, and escaping from jail cells.

Following his September arrest in Sundance, Hanby escaped from jail in Benkelman, Nebraska, and returned to Crook County and the ranch on Salt Creek. 

His freedom was short lived, and an arrest warrant was once again issued for him. 

Crook County Undersheriff E.B. Armstrong left Sundance on a Sunday and headed to the YT Ranch, roughly 10 miles northwest of present-day Newcastle to arrest Hanby at Salt Creek. 

Deputy Jim Swisher joined him there at the ranch and they waited for Hanby and the others to return to the Von Rippon ranch from a trip they had reportedly taken to Tubb Town.

“We rode up to the dugout and as we neared the entrance the door was opened by Von Rippon carrying some dirty clothes out of the dugout,” Armstrong said. “When he saw us he tried to back into the room but I crowded past him into the room with Mr. Swisher close behind.”

Inside the dugout, Harry Longabaugh and another man named Charlie Pearson were taking a bath and picking off body lice from themselves. Hanby was sitting near the fireplace.

“As soon as Buck saw us he arose and walked quickly toward the table where his gun and scabbard lay,” Armstrong claimed. “Just as he got his hand on the gun Jim Swisher said 'hands up ,Buck,' but as he raised his gun to shoot, Mr. Swisher shot him. He fell to the floor dead.” 

Armstrong described Longabaugh and Pearson as “two other long-haired disciples, hideous in appearance, but under the long hair they were good looking young chaps.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The men were ordered out of the dugout."}]

Keeler said that the autopsy does not collaborate the story told by Armstrong, and that it results in more questions asked, than answered. 

“The bullet entered through Hanby's back,” Keeler said. “He definitely had his back turned towards Swisher, but whether or not he was reaching for a gun or just putting on his shirt is the million-dollar question.”

After the shooting, Longabaugh was called as a witness and Keeler said that the Sundance Kid was convinced that it was an unlawful shooting. 

Regardless, the coroner's jury found Jim Swisher innocent of murder.

The outcome was not a happy one for the neighbors in nearby Cambria and friends to Hanby who laid him to rest in a proper coffin and burial near his dugout. 

Harry Longabaugh became the legendary outlaw the Sundance Kid after a series of thefts and escapes landed him in the jail in Sundance, Wyoming. While serving his 18-month sentence, he met other notorious outlaws and gained his infamous nickname.

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