Intermountain Histories 2026-04-17T19:32:17+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://www.intermountainhistories.org/ Intermountain Histories https://www.intermountainhistories.org <![CDATA[John Jarvie’s Historic Ranch]]> Not all hospitality is returned in kind. In the case of John Jarvie, the outlaws to whom he was so obliging went on to rob and murder both him and his son.

John Jarvie

In 1880 John Jarvie and his wife Nellie Barr moved from Rock Springs, Wyoming to the burgeoning settlement of Brown’s Park. Jarvie set up a general store, post office, and ran a river ferry that crossed the nearby Green River. Jarvie became well known for his sagacity and kindness to all those who lived in the region, even the Wild Bunch outlaws. Such associations did not serve him well in the long run, but his kindness did, and his legacy has continued to today in Uintah and Daggett County. John Jarvie was born in Scotland in 1844. As a young man after being beaten soundly by a mine supervisor, Jarvie elected to immigrate to the United States as a stowaway. He arrived in America in 1870 and settled in Rock Springs, Wyoming.  After several years as a businessman in Rock Springs, working as a Saloon Owner, Jarvie met residency requirements and became a citizen on October 8th, 1875. In 1880 at the age of 36, Jarvie married Nellie Barr, 22, and the couple moved to Brown’s Park, the present location of John Jarvie’s Historic Ranch.  Jarvie opened a general store, moved the local post office to his property, and ran a ferry that crossed the Green River. Jarvie sold to everyone in the region, even notorious outlaws. One location on the historic ranch in particular, a storage cellar, was thought to have housed criminals like Butch Cassidy when they were on the run from the law. One notable event on the Ranch in 1895 termed the “Outlaws’ Thanksgiving Dinner” saw a dinner of gratitude  between several notorious outlaws including Billie Bender, Les Megs, Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay, Isom Dart, and the Sundance Kid. The meeting was jovial and in celebration of Jarvie and other residents in Brown’s Park tolerance of the outlaw’s activities. In light of their warm relationship, it is tragic that Jarvie and one of his sons eventually lost their lives to outlaws. William King and George Hood, hearing false rumors about Jarvie’s great wealth, came to the ranch on July 6th, 1909. Jarvie was alone, his sons having taken jobs on other farms, and his wife having died of Tuberculosis in 1895. Jarvie was known for his generosity and tendency to feed visitors so he set the table for three. The outlaws did not return his kindness. They forced Jarvie to open his store safe and took the contents, a $100 bill and a pearl handled revolver. Jarvie fled the store and was shot in the back and head. The outlaws placed his body on a boat and sent it down the river. Details of the murder slowly tricked out. When reports circulated of two men trying to change a $100 bill in Rock Springs, Jarvie’s son Jimmy pursued the outlaws voraciously. Jimmy was on their trail at an Inn in Idaho when he was pushed from a second-floor balcony and fell to his death. The criminals were never apprehended. Jarvie left a powerful legacy which was seen in the obituary written for him in the Vernal Express. There he was praised as a “the sage of the Uintahs, the Genius of Brown’s Park, and the Wizzard [sic] of the hills and rivers. He was not only a man among men but he was a friend among men… He was as broad and generous and far reaching in his good deeds as the stream which he knew and loved[.]”

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]]> 2024-01-20T08:08:00+00:00 2026-04-17T19:32:17+00:00 https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/770 Samuel Pulsipher, Brigham Young University <![CDATA[Butch Cassidy’s Childhood Home]]> Butch Cassidy worked hard to help provide for his family as a teenager on this homestead. It was the last place he lived with his family before going on to become an infamous outlaw.

Butch Cassidy’s Childhood Home

Robert Leroy Parker’s teenage years transpired on this homestead. Born on Friday, April 13, 1866, he would become known as the infamous Butch Cassidy. Butch’s parents, Maximillian and Annie Parker, moved Butch and his five younger siblings to this homestead when he was thirteen years old. Maxi and Ann had thirteen children total, and Butch started working to help provide for the family at thirteen years old.

In 1879 when the Parker family bought the homestead, there was already a two-room cabin on the property. As the family grew, Maxi added a kitchen on the east side and two bedrooms on the south side, expanding the house to its current size. The Parkers covered the ceiling in white cloth to make it feel less rugged. Each year, they also cleaned the homemade rag carpets and replaced the straw padding underneath them.

Though there was much hard work to be done, the Parkers still made time to have fun together. Butch, or Bob as his siblings called him, loved to take the children on pony rides or invent new games to play. They also shared a love for music, and Butch would often accompany everyone’s singing with his harmonica. There was also a fair amount of mischief. Once, Ann came home and noticed that the chickens were acting funny; reeling and stumbling around the yard. After some investigation, she figured out that the children had stolen some of their neighbor’s wine and filled pans with it for the chickens to drink.

Butch’s religious and family-centered upbringing does not match the typical origin story of an Old West outlaw. His grandparents were Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains in handcart and wagon train companies to follow their faith. But Butch started finding excuses not to go to church at a young age. Then he began to rub shoulders with outlaws like Mike Cassidy when he started working at Jim Marshall’s ranch located twelve miles south of Circleville. Mike took Butch under his wing and taught him about handling horses and guns. Butch looked up to Mike and many believe that Butch took his alias from this outlaw and cattle rustler. When Butch turned eighteen, he decided he didn’t want to scrap out a living in Circleville and wanted to go somewhere to get, “hard, solid gold.” When some thieves stole cattle in the area, Butch signed a false bill of sale and took the blame, riding out of town the day before it became known to the public. He left the homestead on an early April morning in 1884, leaving his mother to hold back his dog while he rode off on his mare Babe and lead his young colt Cornish. He sent money home often for the first few years and is considered one of the most well-liked and respected outlaws of the Old West.

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]]> 2018-06-06T23:59:00+00:00 2026-04-17T19:32:02+00:00 https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/198 Samuel Hauber, Brigham Young University