We like to think we have a strong sense of our history here in Wyoming. Any time we need convincing of that fact, we check out the Wyoming Historical Society’s calendar of upcoming events. It’s packed!

Now and then we learn of an item that sounds especially interesting—and also ties in nicely with some of our most popular content on WyoHistory.org.

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On Saturday evening Sept. 21, you can catch a showing of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the Broadway Theater in downtown Rock Springs. It’s part of a fundraiser sponsored by the Sweetwater County Museum Foundation. Along with the movie, the evening will feature a catered dinner and remarks from Butch’s great nephew, Bill Bentenson, author of Butch Cassidy, My Uncle and Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years.

Many people reading this will know of the two outlaws’ connections with certain Wyoming places—that Sundance spent a brief stint in jail in Sundance, Wyoming (hence his name), and that Wild Bunch hangouts included the Hole in the Wall country west of Kaycee; Horse Creek, above Dubois, where Butch and a partner ranched briefly in 1890 or so; the country around Thermopolis; the state prison in Laramie where Butch did two years for receiving a stolen horse; and Wilcox and Tipton, where they robbed the Union Pacific. And we’d heard that Butch supposedly got his name from working in a butcher shop in Rock Springs.

But the Sweetwater County Museum adds more local items we’d never heard of. “It is also well known,” the announcement notes, “that Sweetwater County lawyer Douglas Preston represented Butch, Matt Warner, and other members of the Wild Bunch in several legal cases. Some historic accounts tell of Cassidy meeting Preston at Boars Tusk for counsel and to pay legal fees.”

(Another story about Preston the lawyer came across our desk this week from University of Wyoming History Professor Phil Roberts, now emeritus, whose article on early Wyoming law and lawyers will appear soon on WyoHistory.org. Phil tells it like this:

“Lander attorney Douglas Preston may have been Wyoming’s most famous trial lawyer in the early days. In one case, he shed tears as he described to the jury how his client had been so falsely accused of horse theft. The jury, after drying their eyes, acquitted his client. As the prisoner was being released, Preston admonished him not to do it again. ‘You know damn well you stole that horse,’ Preston told him. The client replied, ‘Well, Doug, I always thought I stole that horse, but after hearing your plea to that jury, now I’ve got my doubts about it.’”)

The evening starts at 6:00 PM with a cash bar, dinner, and Betenson's talk, followed by the movie showing. You can buy tickets for just the movie, or for dinner as well. Doors open at 7:15 PM for movie-only participants.  Tickets must be purchased in advance at https://www.broadwayrs.com/2024/09/21/216950/an-evening-with-butch-sundance/ . 

Proceeds will be used to upgrade exhibits in the museum's galleries and at venues across Sweetwater County. (It’s one of our favorite museums in the state.) For more information, call the museum at (307) 872-6435.

Read Butch Cassidy in Wyoming and Bub Meeks and a Wild Bunch Winchester