ButchCassity

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Utah's most notorious cowboy outlaw, Robert Leroy Parker, (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch." He grew up in Circle Valley just a mile south of Circleville, although he was born considerably further to the west, across the Tushar Mountains, in the town of Beaver, Utah. His family's small cabin, on the outskirts of town, is still standing on the land they homesteaded. It can be seen on the west side of the road almost exactly one mile to the south of Circleville on what is now US Highway 89.

Maximillian Parker Birth: Jun. 8, 1844, Death: Jul. 26, 1938
Spouse: Annie Campbell Gillies Parker (1847 - 1905)*
Children:
Robert LeRoy Parker (1866 - 1937)*
Daniel Sinclair Parker (1867 - 1942)*
Jean Ann Parker Penaluna (1871 - 1960)*
William Moroni Parker (1874 - 1952)*
Ebenezer Maxmillan Parker (1879 - 1957)*
Blanche Alice Parker Stark (1881 - 1967)*
Lula Christene Parker Betenson (1884 - 1980)*
Mark D Parker (1886 - 1932)*
Nina Grace Parker Ecklund (1889 - 1923)*
Leona Hartley Parker Wiley (1893 - 1937)*
Joseph R Parker (1894 - 1962)*

Research into the land records indicates that Max Parker, Butch’s father did not even settle on the land where the cabin stands until somewhere between August and October of 1885, over a year after Butch left home in June 1884.
Other records indicate that the family lived first in Beaver, Utah, where Butch was born, then moved to some property Northwest of Circleville in 1879. When Max Parker lost this land the family lived for a while on the James Marshall ranch, twelve miles South of Circleville. When Max was unsuccessful in buying that ranch in 1884 he later settled in 1885 on the property later known as the Parker Ranch and where many people think Butch lived.
Since Butch left home in June of 1884, he never lived in what later became known as the Parker Ranch.

The cabin that my Great great grandfather, Charles Van Vleet, built in Circleville many, many years ago after coming from Illinois in a wagon is located just south of Circleville. This cabin, though built by my great great grandpa, has a very historic significance for the Old West. When the wagon train was coming in to the Circle Valley they came across a Pony Express rider named Maximillian or Maxy Parker. Maxy helped guide the wagon train to a safer place that they were. The Indian did attack, though. The only one killed in the fight was little 2 year old Charles Victor, son of Charles and Rachel Black Van Vleet. They buried this little boy in the valley where the attack took place. And then the wagon train went on into Circleville about 4 miles away. Later on, Grandpa Charles and Grandma Rachel bought the land where little Charles is buried. John James, another man from the wagon train, bought the land right next to the Van Vleet's. Winter was coming on pretty quick. John James and Gardner Potter, who had saved Mary Ann Van Vleet's Life during the raid, helped to build the cabin. Then they all lived in the cabin that first winter. Also Grandma Rachel Black Van Vleet had a baby underneath the table in the cabin that winter. In the spring John James left and did not return to Circleville for 8 years. Gardner Potter and Mary Ann Van Vleet were married that spring also. The Parker's and the Van Vleet's became extremely good friends, even to the point that they would stay in each others homes many times over the years. Eventually, Maxy and Charles wanted to trade each other homes.


Robert grew up on their ranch near Circleville, Utah, 346 km (215 mi) south of Salt Lake City. He left home during his early teens. While working at a dairy farm, he formed a close relationship with his mentor, a cowboy and cattle rustler who called himself Mike Cassidy (an alias for John Tolliver "J. T." McClammy). Parker subsequently worked at several ranches, in addition to a brief stint as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming, when he acquired the nickname "Butch", to which he soon appended the surname Cassidy in honor of his old friend.


Lula Parker Betenson born in 1884, sister of "Butch" Cassidy, grew up in Circleville and was the deputy postmistress. She died aged 96 in 1980. Betenson's 1975 book Butch Cassidy, My Brother, co-authored with Dora Flack, recounts her memory that Cassidy visited Circleville in 1924, adding to the controversy over whether he had died previously in South America. This visit by Cassidy to Circleville is also reported by author W. C. Jameson in Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave.

Carrie Allen, born in Circleville in 1889, was a spinster and a school teacher. She wrote a history of Circleville. She died in 1983 in Circleville.