Hole-in-the-Wall Gang

Hole-in-the-Wall Gang

Founding location	Hole-in-the-Wall, Big Horn Mountains, Johnson County, Wyoming
Years active	1880s-1890s
Territory	Northern Wyoming
Ethnicity	European-American
Membership (est.)	9
Criminal activities	Horse and cattle theft, stagecoach and highway robbery, store and bank robbery

The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang was a gang in the American Wild West, which took its name from the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in Johnson County, Wyoming, where several outlaw gangs had their hideouts.

Description

The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang was not simply one large organized gang of outlaws but rather was made up of several separate gangs, all operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass, using it as their base of operations. The gangs formed a coalition, each planning and carrying out its own robberies with very little interaction with the other gangs. At times, members of one gang would ride along with other gangs, but usually each gang operated separately, meeting up only when they were each at the hideout at the same time.

Geographically, the hideout had all the advantages needed for a gang attempting to evade the authorities. It was easily defended and impossible for lawmen to access without detection by the outlaws concealed there. It contained an infrastructure, with each gang supplying its own food and livestock, as well as its own horses. A corral, livery stable, and numerous cabins were constructed, one or two for each gang. Anyone operating out of there adhered to certain rules of the camp, to include a certain way in handling disputes with other gang members, and never stealing from another gang's supplies. There was no leader with each gang adhering to its own chain of command. The hideout was also used for shelter and a place for the outlaws to lay up during the harsh Wyoming winters.

Members of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang included such infamous criminals as Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch which consisted of Butch Cassidy (aka Robert Leroy Parker), the Sundance Kid (aka Harry A. Longabaugh), Elzy Lay, Tall Texan, 'News' Carver, Camilla 'Deaf Charlie' Hanks, Laura Bullion, George "Flat Nose" Curry, Harvey 'Kid Curry' Logan, Bob Meeks, Kid Curry's brother Lonny Curry, Bob Smith, Al Smith, Bob Taylor, Tom O'Day, 'Laughing' Sam Carey, Black Jack Ketchum, and the Roberts Brothers, along with several lesser known outlaw gangs of the Old West. Jesse James was also mentioned to have visited the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout.

Several posses trailed outlaws to the location, and there were several shootouts as posses attempted to enter, all resulting in the posses being repulsed, and being forced to withdraw. No lawmen ever successfully entered it to capture outlaws during its more than fifty years of active existence, nor were any lawmen attempting to infiltrate it by use of undercover techniques successful.

The encampment operated with a steady stream of outlaw gangs rotating in and out, from the late 1860s to the early 20th century. However, by 1910, very few outlaws used the hideout, and it eventually faded into history. One of the cabins used by Butch Cassidy still exists today, and it was moved to Cody, Wyoming, where it is on public display.

In popular culture

The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang has been featured in various works, including:

• Western fiction films:
  • The Three Outlaws (1956), starring Neville Brand as Butch Cassidy and Alan Hale Jr as the Sundance Kid, and depicting the duo's exploits (with Wild Bunch member William "News" Carver as the third outlaw of the title)
  • Cat Ballou (1965), western comedy starring Jane Fonda (as the Cat[herine] of the title) and Lee Marvin, in a gang who rob a train, providing adequate motivation for an expedition against not only them but everyone at Hole-in-the-Wall, forcing the remnant of aged outlaws there to eject her from the refuge
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, film dramatization of the historical outlaws
• "The Good, the Bad, and the Tigger", animated parody (in the series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) of the historical and dramatized gangs, with outlaws "Pooh" and "Tigger" being referred to as the "Hole in the Head Gang".

Bibliography

• Eckhardt, C. F. (1999). Tales of Badmen, Bad Women, and Bad Places: Four Centuries of Texas. Texas Tech University Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-89672-420-4. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
• Gulick, Bill (1999). Manhunt: The Pursuit of Harry Tracy. Caxton Press. p. 171. ISBN 0-87004-392-7. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
• Horan, James D.; Jim Dullenty (1997). Desperate Men: The James Gang and the Wild Bunch. U of Nebraska Press. p. 215. ISBN 0-8032-7307-X. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
• Kelly, Charles; Anne Meadows; Dan Buck (1996). The Outlaw Trail: A History of Butch Cassidy and His Wild Bunch. U of Nebraska Press. p. 129. ISBN 0-8032-7778-4. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
• Patterson, Richard M. (1998). Butch Cassidy: A Biography. U of Nebraska Press. p. 146. ISBN 0-8032-8756-9. Retrieved 2008-03-23.