Volume 17 , Issue 38

Butch Cassidy, Thought To Have Been In St. Louis (1901)

It was in The St. Louis Republic, St. Louis, Missouri, dated Thursday, November 7, 1901, that we found this mention of Butch Cassidy on the front page: Stolen Bank Notes Representing $7,000 In Satchel of Bandits Woman Companion."

St. Louis police were fast weaving a web about the suspected Montana Train robber arrested Tuesday night. Admissions from Woman already point to guilt of pair. Complete confession may be secured leading to arrest of others and recovery of more plunder. Butch Cassidy, the third member of the gang, thought to have been in St. Louis.

Found on Newspapers.com

In "John Arnold," the prisoner arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of being implicated in the robbery of the Great Northern express at Wagner, Montana, July 3, Chief of Police Kiely and Chief of Detectives Desmond were confident they had Harvey Logan, alias Harry Longuebaugh, alias Harry Alonzo. The prisoner answered exactly the photograph and description of Logan, sent broadcast immediately after the robbery, for whose arrest a reward of $5,000 had ben offered.

Laura Bullion, a companion and possible confederate of Logan, was arrested the morning before this article at the Laclede Hotel, just as she was on the point of taking her departure. She had been living there since the Friday before, when she arrived there with a male companion, said by the police to be Logan, who registered the couple as "J. W. Rose and wife, Vicksburg, Miss." "Mrs. Rose" at first made a show of indignation when arrested, but later consented to accompany the officers tot he Four Courts. Her baggage, consisting of a trunk and a satchel, was also taken there.

Chief of Police Kiely took "MRs. Rose" in hand early that morning for examination, and Chief of Detectives Desmond took Logan into his "sweat box." The two Chiefs spent the entire day and evening endeavoring to elect a confession or, at least, some damaging admissions from the prisoners, but with very unsatisfactory results until alate hour the night before when the woman made admissions, which, the Chief, believes, would materially assist them in rounding up the remaining members of the gang and recovering much of the stolen money.

When "Mrs. Rose's" trunk was searched in the Chief's office, nothing of an incrimination nature was found. It contained masculine and feminine apparel, toilet articles, bric-a-brac and odds-and-ends. A pocket dictionary which she said belonged to Logan, contained something which interested the police. On the inside of the cover was pasted a newspaper clipping containing an account of the capture of Sam Kethcum, an account of the capture of Sam Ketchum, a train robber, in Wyoming on July 19, 1900. Ketchum had a broken arm, shattered by a ball, and died a month later. On the fly leaf, in pencil was the following memorandum: "45,500, 31,000. H. in W: Wyoming," followed by a series of initials. Chief Desmond believed this memorandum referred to the booty obtained in the Great Northern express robbery, and that H. in W. Wyoming" meant that a portion of the spoils was hid in some Wyoming town. Mrs. Rose's satchel contained $7,000 of the stolen banknotes, in denominations of $10 and $20. The notes were unsigned. On her person was found $600 of the same notes, to all of which had been forged the name "J. W. Smith" as president of the bank on which they were issued.

Logan was one of the most uncommunicative prisoners Chief Desmond had ever handled. He was a 6 feet tall, weight 200 pounds, and possessed a powerful frame and the active, alert bearing of an athlete. He was a good looking chap, though dark, sullen face and his wicked eye, when in surly mood, rob his features of much of their attraction. All together, he was a fair type of what was known as a "dangerous man."

Logan persisted in declaring that his name was John Arnold, even when confronted with his photograph, taken from the Bertillon bureau, containing a record of scars and blemishes which tallied with those found on his body. He refused to tell anything of his past history, or to give an account of his whereabouts since last July. When asked where he obtained the $483 found upon him, he said he had won it in a gambling game in a town in Mississippi. Later, when confronted with the unsigned banknotes found in the woman's satchel, he acknowledged they were his, but denied having given them to the woman. He said the satchel found with her belonged to him. He said he had known the woman a couple of months, having picked her up in Hot Springs. One of the most important features which developed in that examination of the prisoners and their recent movements was that fact, which was almost clearly established, that George Parker, alias Butch cased, another of the train robbers, was in the city as late as that Tuesday night,a nd presumably in communication with Logan and the woman. Two of the operatives of a local private detective agency declared that they were confident they saw Butch Cassidy on the downtown streets within less than a week,a nd one of the chief operatives of the Untied States Secret Service declared that he saw Cassidy Tuesday night and shadowed him for more than an hour, in and out of the downtown saloons and cafes.

it was said that Cassidy and Logan wore the same disguise. While making the rounds of the downtown saloons they learned that a stranger had visited many of them, and was spending money freely and changing bills frequently. Within the course of an hour the detective found his man. The suspect tallied accurately with the description given by Barnett as to his clothing and jewelry, but he was a blonde, with light hair and light, short stubby mustache, whereas Barnett's customer had black hair and black mustache. Later, the detective learned that the clothing worn by his suspect was the exact counterpart in cut, texture and quality as that worn by Logan, and both affected the same style of rings, tie pin and watch chain. The story of the capture read like a story book. The capture was one of the most important made in that city in many years and reflects credit on the men immediately engaged in it. To Detective Al Guion must be awarded the greatest meed of praise, since it was largely due to his keenness that the quarry was located and to his coolness, judgment and presence of mind that the capture was a cloudless one. Had it not been for his quick with the members of the police department would, as detective Brady dryly remarked later, "be now buying floral emblems for some of Desomond's sleuths."
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