Heroes, Outlaws or Both 

By: Kassie Robbins

The Old West, in particular the eastern country of the three closely bordered states Wyoming, Colorado and Utah have a huge place in my heart. I grew up visiting these regions as a young impressionable girl. 

My mother was born and raised in the small rural town of Vernal, UT. This little town is where the love of white water river rafting on the Green River, hiking the canyons, and exploring Dinosaur National Monument came into my life. This was our second home at times of our lives as my father often traveled out of the country months at a time.  

My mother would bring us here to stay with our Grandmother, Alta Winward. Grandma Alta would unleash her love for the early history of the Uintah Basin with wonderful stories about the region and its colorful characters. 

She spent much of the time educating and sharing stories focused on the sisters, Josie and Anna Basset, as well as Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. I have traversed a lot of  this rugged country of those western Heroes/Outlaws since I was a little messy haired tomboy wanting to climb every rock and swim in the Green River every chance I got. 

I personally looked up to the outlaws of that time and they are Heroes in my book. They lived in the rough country and survived off the land. These two sisters were born to Herb and Elizabeth Bassett. Josie was four years old when they relocated to Brown’s Hole from Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Anna was born four years later on May 12, 1878.  

Brown’s Hole now referred to as Brown’s Park was rugged and remote outlaw rough country.  

These girls grew up taking care of things around the Bassett Ranch. They learned how to handle horses, rope and wrangle cattle, and shooting to name a few. One day in 1886, they decided to go to a local nearby horse and cattle rustler, Charlie Crouse’s ranch. Charlie was holding horse races and the girls were curious about horse racing. Their young minds wanted to watch the horses and learn more. Both of these young ladies grew up to be very competent horse and cattle ranchers.  

12-year old Josie and 8-year old Ann were captivated for the first time by George Leroy Parker, later referred to with his alias as Butch Cassidy. He gallantly rode Charlie’s gelding in a race.  Though the girls were impressed with the gelding, the fetching blonde-haired young man caught their tween eyes.  

Josie recalled,

“I thought he was the most dashing and handsome man I had ever seen.  I was such a young thing, and giddy as most teenagers are.  I looked upon Butch as my knight in shining armor. He was more interested in his horse than he was of me, and I remember being very put out by that.  I went home after being snubbed by him and stamped my foot on the floor in frustration.”

Over time Butch Cassidy was often offered sheltered, resupplied as well as worked off and on at the Bassett Ranch. This country was great for hiding out since he and the Wild Bunch could easily evade the law crossing state lines.  Butch and Josie had a short-lived romance but between his wild ways always coming and going, her going to Catholic School in Salt Lake, it ended. Josie’s father denied that Butch was ever in such rubbish as robbing banks because he was a kind and hard worker.  

These folks are the heart of the west full of love and life and adventure. There was struggle but these were full of grit and they continued to wrestle the tough life of living in the rugged country of Brown’s park. Undeniably there is so much rich history to be had about them.

These historical heroes left an impression on me as a young girl and some of these trails of which they walked are some of my favorite memories with my Grandma.  

You can explore the vast history of this amazing area by enjoying a float down the Green River with Dinosaur River Expeditions.

These are the books I used:

Colorado’s Cattle Queen – Linda Womack

Growing Up with The Wild Bunch – Linda Womack

The Bassett Women – Grace McClure

Josie Basset– Jensen’s Remarkable Woman Rancher — Uintah County Heritage Museum

The Outlaw Trail Journal —Winter Pages from the Past 2020