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Old Adventures in South America

Started by Recusant, December 30, 2021, 07:42:07 PM

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Recusant

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid will always be known through the film, regardless of its accuracy. Here is a longish read (think New Yorker article) that gives an account of their lives in South America after they escaped there in the early years of the 20th century. Apparently it contains new research, including mention of a pair of outlaws in a book by Hiram Bingham, the archaeologist who "found" Machu Picchu (having been guided there by local people). The author of the article implies that the nameless mule drivers Bingham met on his first journey south were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

"The Secret Story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's Last Tango" | The Daily Beast


From left to right, standing: William Carver, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan.
Seated: Harry "Sundance Kid" Langbaugh, Ben "The Tall Texan" Kilpatrick,
Robert LeRoy "Butch Cassidy" Parker

QuoteEverything comes to an end, even a tango party in Argentina. It was a perfect combination, that night in early 1904: a warm spring evening, a house full of the great, and a yard full of the good.

The great: That would be the new governor, Dr. Julio Lezama, accompanied by the chief of police, military surveyors, and various political functionaries. And the good: That would be the 80 or so people standing on the grass, almost the entire population of this remote valley in the Andes. Among the guests were families, local laborers, and misfits from many nations. Some were broke South American cowboys; others immigrants from Italy, England, Wales, and America. Some were indigent; others, like the hosts of the party, seemed to have it all: money, land, houses, and cattle.

The music was provided by the governor himself. He was a man of many accomplishments—a doctor, politician, and guitarist who could pick out most any regional favorite. Tonight it was the Brazilian samba, plus a new style that was just emerging in Argentina, the melancholy tango.

Somewhere in the party, mingling with ease and leading the festivities—because this was their house, their life—were three people, each with a $10,000 bounty on their head. Back home they were criminals, efficient and daring experts in the art of separating powerful people from their money. Here, under new names, they were upstanding citizens, free from the past.

[Continues . . .]
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Ecurb Noselrub

What??!! Hollywood got it wrong??  I can't believe it.

I smell a sequel to correct the mistake. Should star Kevin Costner and Sam Elliot.