I Personally Liked The One On...Butch Cassidy And Robbers Roost!
My Grandfather was part of the "Wild Bunch" the part that wagoned in supplies and horses for them.
I did a family write up on his adventures...we even have one of the Wild Bunch's baby boy as an adopted family member.
It was very interesting to have seen the location of this hide out, where my Grandfather would have played his banjo for the women and guests he ferried there.
The Hole in the Wall was the second hideout for Butch and his Gang farther North.
Grandpa had one of the best horses and wagon around and he made a profitable living off the spoils of the Wild Bunch!
The Outlaw Story of Grampa…Lew Taylor…His Life…With Butch Cassidy, and the Wild Bunch!
This story is from family memories, stories, and research, into what may have been a part of Grandpa Lew’s upbringing.
Lew Taylor was not born a Taylor; his given name was Lars Peter Sorensen.
It was said that his family emigrated from Denmark with the aid of the Mormon’s
Perpetual Emigrating Fund.
The director of this Mormon organization which help poor European families move to Utah, was
Franklin Dewey Richards
The town Franklin, Idaho (named after Franklin Richards) was the town earliest Mormon family’s arrived at in then North East Utah, by the Mormon Trail or later by train.
Franklin was an important depot town for the Wild Bunch to supply their Hole in the Wall, Gang’s Sanctuary.
The Sorensen family while living in Levan, Utah, may have succumbed to what Utah called their Typhoid Mary. During the latter part of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century, these epidemics ravished Utah Settlers.
Lew was given over to the Taylor family to raise, and eventually moved South with them, to their family ranch at Salina, Utah.
It was there with his older brother Frank Taylor where they raised the fastest and highest endurance horses in the County.
It was the reputation of these horses that caught the attention of the Wild Bunch Gang, as they required cached top-quality horses that could ride for hours at high speeds without tiring.
These and their spare horses were capable of out running the Law, after Bank Robberies.
Frank was more the horse breaker while Lew chose the musical career.
Frank became good friends with the gang member Matt Warner whose job was to procure horses for the gang and transport them to their Hold Out, Robber’s Roost.
Robbers Roost…” was an
outlaw hideout in southeastern
Utah used mostly by
Butch Cassidy and his
Wild Bunch gang in the closing years of the
Old West.
The hideout was considered ideal because of the rough terrain. It was easily defended, difficult to navigate into without detection, and excellent when the gang needed a month or longer to rest and lie low following a
robbery. It was while hiding out at Robbers Roost that
Elzy Lay and Butch Cassidy first formed the Wild Bunch gang. Gang members developed contacts inside Utah that gave them easy access to supplies of fresh horses and beef.”
I believe, it was these trips into Robbers Roost with Matt Warner and Frank, that Lew developed his talent for entertainment. Lew with his Banjo, Mandolin, Harmonica and Guitar would entertain Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Matt Warner and other wanted men and women at their Dance Hall, with his songs and dance.
Matt Warner was known as a sort of Gentlemen Bandit as he never resorted to gun play and was a married man with a daughter.
When Matt Warner was captured by the Law and sentenced to Prison Life, his wife Ruth died giving birth to his son Rex.
Unable to raise Rex, Matt gave his son to his good friend Frank Taylor to adopt.
Today, Rex Taylor, the once son of one of the most feared outlaw gangs in history, is now part of the Taylor’s lineage!
It was “Strange” how the timing of Grampa and Grandma (Ockey) Taylors’ arrival to Cardston, coincided with the breakup of the Wild Bunch Gang.
It is “Curious” how he managed to buy and build their properties at Beaver and then at Lee’s Creek.
It was said that Grandpa always paid for purchases with coin.
To this day, I wonder about that old Oak Tree growing by itself in the back yard of their house, covered around by tall grass, the one we as children were never supposed to go near!
