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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Longabaugh was accused of threatening to kill Swisher for the murder of Hanby and a warrant was filed for his arrest.
The arrest did not happen. Longabaugh left Salt Creek and returned to his life of crime as the Sundance Kid, eventually joining up with Butch Cassidy and others in the Hole-in-the-Wall gang.
His story continued even as Hanby’s came to an abrupt end.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
