What I've found is that if you're a stickler for historical accuracy, you're bound to be frustrated by documentaries like these that purport to be the one true and definitive version of a character's life. Most of what appears in this episode parallels similar efforts from series like 1998's 'Gunfighters of the West' and 2015's 'Legends and Lies'.
Going a step further, if you enjoyed 1969's "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid", there's enough here to confirm what appeared in that popular film, although as told here, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka Sundance, wasn't part of the Hole in the Wall Gang yet when the Union Pacific Railroad was robbed near Wilcox, Wyoming in 1899. The Sundance Kid essentially replaced Butch Cassidy's long time friend and partner William Ellsworth Lay, better known as Elzy, when the man was arrested following one of the gang's robberies.
This episode recounts in quick detail events in the life of Robert Leroy Parker from when he was a boy in 1881 and how he came to despise moneyed interests that took advantage of farmers and ranchers like his own father. Taking the name of a horse rustler and thief named Mike Cassidy, Butch decided to take up a life of crime with a twist. He was always an amiable sort who laughed a lot, and had a way of befriending ranchers on planned escape routes following his robberies. In turn, friends he made along the way were only too willing to steer authorities in the wrong direction if they ever came calling.
For those who carry a wistful remembrance of the theatrical film in which Butch and Sundance appeared to go out in a blaze of glory, this documentary offers yet another alternative. Historical records that came to light after the 1969 movie suggest that the romantic Hollywood ending is not what really happened. Recalling the vow made by both men early in their careers, it's now considered that the men committed suicide to avoid capture. Sundance was found with a bullet between the eyes, and Butch with a gunshot to the temple.
Interestingly, one of the historians offering his view in this episode is in fact a descendant of the Parker family, and he holds to a theory that at least Butch Cassidy made it out of Bolivia alive after escaping authorities there. He believes to be true that Robert Leroy Parker turned up at the Parker ranch in Circleville, Utah as late as 1925, thereby casting doubt on the suicide theory. My guess is that if one is fully invested in the history of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, you'll go with whatever version of events you prefer best, another way of saying we'll never really know for sure.
Going a step further, if you enjoyed 1969's "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid", there's enough here to confirm what appeared in that popular film, although as told here, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka Sundance, wasn't part of the Hole in the Wall Gang yet when the Union Pacific Railroad was robbed near Wilcox, Wyoming in 1899. The Sundance Kid essentially replaced Butch Cassidy's long time friend and partner William Ellsworth Lay, better known as Elzy, when the man was arrested following one of the gang's robberies.
This episode recounts in quick detail events in the life of Robert Leroy Parker from when he was a boy in 1881 and how he came to despise moneyed interests that took advantage of farmers and ranchers like his own father. Taking the name of a horse rustler and thief named Mike Cassidy, Butch decided to take up a life of crime with a twist. He was always an amiable sort who laughed a lot, and had a way of befriending ranchers on planned escape routes following his robberies. In turn, friends he made along the way were only too willing to steer authorities in the wrong direction if they ever came calling.
For those who carry a wistful remembrance of the theatrical film in which Butch and Sundance appeared to go out in a blaze of glory, this documentary offers yet another alternative. Historical records that came to light after the 1969 movie suggest that the romantic Hollywood ending is not what really happened. Recalling the vow made by both men early in their careers, it's now considered that the men committed suicide to avoid capture. Sundance was found with a bullet between the eyes, and Butch with a gunshot to the temple.
Interestingly, one of the historians offering his view in this episode is in fact a descendant of the Parker family, and he holds to a theory that at least Butch Cassidy made it out of Bolivia alive after escaping authorities there. He believes to be true that Robert Leroy Parker turned up at the Parker ranch in Circleville, Utah as late as 1925, thereby casting doubt on the suicide theory. My guess is that if one is fully invested in the history of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, you'll go with whatever version of events you prefer best, another way of saying we'll never really know for sure.
