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277
SWARTZ, JOHN
The Wild Bunch. Silver print, 7x8 1/2 inches (17.8x21.6 cm.), with numeric notations on recto and a legend, in a period hand, on mount verso that identifies each of the subjects. Circa 1900
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Notes: from the estate of tom wren, the sheriff of ft. worth, texas.
Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and their associates, a. k. a. "The Wild Bunch," were the last bank and train robbers of the "shoot 'em up" wild west. The gang's notorious adventures and exploits extended the legends associated with western outlaws into the 20th century. From 1895-1902 they operated from Wyoming to Texas; their hideouts included Robber's Roost, in Utah, and Hole-in-the-wall in Wyoming. At its peak, the gang boasted more than twenty members.
Pictured are: sitting, left to right: Harry Longbaugh (alias "Sundance Kid"); Ben Kilpatrick (the "Tall Texan"), and George Leroy Parker (alias "Butch Cassidy"); standing are William Carver and Harvey Logan (a.k.a. "Kid Curry"). The image is illustrated in James Horan's book "The Outlaws, pp. 256-257.
Like the talltales associated with such figures, the origin of this photograph is grounded in legend. Apparently after the Winnemucca, Nevada train robbery on Sept. 19, 1900, the gang met at Fanny Porter's Sporting House where, during a friendly scuffle, some of their felt hats were damaged. According to Horan "They repaired to a hat store" and, seeing some derby hats in the window "decided as a jest to attire themselves in this headgear, which was unusual in the West at the time." As a joke the gang decided to visit the photographic studio of John Swartz, which was located at 740 Main St., Ft. Worth, Texas.
The joke was to boomerang on the riders when the photograph fell into the hands of the Pinkerton Agency, which was trailing them. By 1906 reproductions of this image were widely circulated throughout the country and later, across South America and in Bolivia, where Butch and Sundance were purportedly killed.
with--Tom Wren (standing) and Ralph Purvis (on horseback)in front of a courthouse. Silver print, 6x8 inches, on the original mount, with a printed label on mount verso and a handwritten caption. Circa 1910
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