Robbers Roost

Robbers Roost was a popular outlaw hideout for over 30 years. It is located along the Outlaw Trail in southeastern Utah. At this natural fortress fresh horses were reserved and large quantities of weapons were cached. Butch Cassidy considered it an ideal hideout due to the many lookout points. The original Wild Bunch corral remains in Robbers Roost, in addition to a stone chimney, caves, and several carvings. Due to the difficult terrain, maze of canyons, and extreme heat, the Roost was never successfully penetrated by authorities. Sandwiched between the Colorado River, Green River, and Dirty Devil River is a savage stretch of land crisscrossed with steep-walled canyons and hidden ravines. For over 30-years this inhospitable terrain served as a hideout for outlaws of every sort. Robbers Roost was a stronghold of the Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy's motley band of bank robbers, train stickup men, and horse and cattle rustlers. The area received its colorful name and reputation in the 1870s when Cap Brown ran stolen horses through the area. Robbers Roost afforded hundreds of hiding spots and was difficult to penetrate. A Circleville, Utah, native and grandson of a Mormon handcart pioneer named Robert Leroy Parker, better known by his alias Butch Cassidy, began using the Roost in the 1880's to hide cattle that he rustled. Another frequent resident of the Roost was Matt Warner, born Willard E. Christiansen to the fifth wife of a Mormon bishop in Ephraim, Utah. Warner served a cattle-rustling apprenticeship before joining the McCarthy gang along with Cassidy. The future Wild Bunch used Robbers Roost after a Colorado bank robbery in 1889. Members of the Wild Bunch used it again in April 1897 after they held up the Pleasant Valley Coal Company payroll. The authorities, despite some sporadic attempts and many boastful claims, never successfully penetrated Robbers Roost. Over the years the refuge gained a reputation as being impregnable and stories about its defenses contributed to its legend. C. L. "Gunplay" Maxwell, a small-time bandit and wanna be member of the Wild Bunch, wrote Utah Governor Heber M. Wells from prison that the Roost was defended by a well-armed, 200-man gang with an intricate system of fortifications, tunnels, land mines, and a vast storehouse of supplies and ammunition. This letter fueled the reputation of the Roost. Few lawmen cared to enter such supposedly dangerous ground. The Roost was largely abandoned as an outlaw hangout after 1902 when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid departed for South America. During prohibition the Robbers Roost area saw one last surge of illegal activity. A number of unlawful whiskey stills were erected at springs in the clandestine canyons. Moonshine was often the only way to earn cash during the depression years. Several of the canyons in the Roost still contain evidence of the illegal stills.

A turn-of-the-century photograph of the "Wild Bunch". From left: Henry Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid; William Carver, alias News Carver; Ben Kilpatrick, alias the Tall Texan; Harvey Logan, alias Kid Curry; and Robert LeRoy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy.