Long Description:This little plaque is located in Telluride on the Mahr Building.
This was the site of the original San Miguel Valley Bank in
Telluride, which Butch Cassidy and
three others robbed on June 24, 1889. The old bank burned and was
replaced by the Mahr Building in 1892. The San Miguel Valley Bank
was located at the corner of Pine and Main Street. [excerpted from
Wikipedia]
Matt Warner claims the idea to rob the San Miguel Valley Bank in
Telluride, Colorado his idea. He states when he approached Butch
Cassidy and his brother-in-law Tom McCarty that Butch jumped at the
idea, while Tom was hesitant, but eventually gave in.
McCarty, Warner and Cassidy rode into Telluride on the afternoon
of June 24, 1889. In preparation for the robbery, Warner says they
dressed to the nines wearing, “silver-studded bridles, spurs,
saddles and artillery, five-gallon hats, red bandanas, flashy
shirts, chaps and high-heeled cowboy boots.” While his description
sounds more Village People than outlaw, the disguises served them
well. As far as the townsfolk were concerned, the outlaws were just
some cowboys out for a day on the town.
The outlaws reached the bank just after 12 pm. According to the
bank teller on duty, a man came into the bank to cash a check. As
the teller bent over to verify the check, the man grabbed him by
the neck and told him to be quiet. The man then called out to the
men waiting outside, yelling, “Come on boys, it’s all right.” He
was joined by his partners and preceded to rob the place. Warner
recalls it slightly differently, stating McCarty waited outside
with the horses while Cassidy and Warner went inside to pull the
job.
Warner says he placed his gun under the teller’s nose, while
Cassidy ransacked the bank. Once he finished rounding up the money,
said to be approximately $20,000, the duo (for reasons completely
unknown and, in fact, completely insane) led the teller outside
with his hands up, thereby alerting the whole town to the robbery
in progress. While the town watched, the outlaws mounted their
horses and rode out of town firing a few shots as a deterrent to
any would-be heroes.
Once out of town three outlaws raced as fast as they could
towards the Mancos Mountains, unfortunately crossing paths with
Harry Adsit in the process. Cassidy and Warner had recently worked
for Mr. Adsit on his ranch, and they had no doubt he could identify
them to authorities. Sure enough, when a pursuing posse also came
across Adist, he informed them who they were and which way they
were heading. Warner counts this fateful encounter as the point of
no return in their outlaws careers.
“Just that little incident made all the difference in the world
to us the rest of our lives. It give ‘em a clue so they could trace
us for thousands of miles and for years. Right at that point is
where we broke with our half-outlaw past, burned our bridges behind
us, and no way to live except by robbing and stealing.”
It is believed that a fourth man, rumored to be Bert Madden,
Bert Charter, the Sundance Kid, or Dan Parker, assisted the outlaws
by setting up the relay horses used in the getaway. Sheriff James
A. Beattie arrested Bert’s half-brother, Bill Madden, as he was
dropping off a horse to an unknown man, assumed to be Bert. He was
later released due to lack of evidence.
While Bill Madden was cleared of any wrongdoing, Telluride Town
Marshall, Jim Clark, is said to have confessed to Gunnison County
Sheriff to playing a role in the crime. Clark is said to have
received $2200.00 of the stolen money as payment for being out of
town during the robbery. Clark later wound up with one of the
horses used in the robbery. Members of the Wild Bunch would try
this same tactic some years later with less than spectacular
results. [from Butch and
Sundance.