Theoretically, “Bandit Heaven” is about three bandit havens — Robbers Roost, Brown’s Hole and Hole in the Wall — in Wyoming and Utah. Canyons with only one way in, easily guarded by a few men from perches high above any approaches, they provided refuge for criminals on the run.
Review: ‘Bandit Heaven’ brings wild, wild West back to life
Nonfiction: All the old John Wayne movies come to life in this fascinating tale of the last gasp of the wild, wild West.
For the Minnesota Star Tribune
October 31, 2024 at 12:45PM
According to author Tom Clavin, these three were the most important in a series of hideouts along what was known as the Outlaw Trail, which stretched from Canada to Mexico.
The book is less about the sanctuaries, though, than the men who frequented them in the late 19th century. It was a lawless time — on both sides. Yes, there was Kid Curry, who, like Johnny Cash (in song), would shoot a man just to watch him die.
But there were also sheriffs who didn’t wait for trials to gun down miscreants and vigilantes like the mob wearing masks that “burst into the calaboose” to grab and hang George “Big Nose” Parrott.
Author Clavin brings that era alive with stories about those complicated folks. Consider Tom Horn, who wrote in “Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter, Written by Himself”: “Killing Men is my specialty. I look at it as a business proposition, and I think I have a corner on the market.”
Horn was a cavalry scout, a peace officer and a Pinkerton operative. Interestingly, he wrote his memoir while in jail, waiting to be hanged for killing a teenager.
Or Tom McCarty, who uttered a line that would find its way into hundreds of Hollywood westerns: “They’ll never take me alive.”
Or Joe Walker, who agreed to a “time out” during a gun battle with a wounded deputy sheriff. Brought the deputy some water and then left.
Or Butch Cassidy, who raised money for A friend’s legal defense fund by robbing a bank.
Cassidy, incidentally, almost went straight. After the famous Wilcox train robbery, Union Pacific officials nearly reached an agreement to sign him on as a railroad marshall. But a violent storm kept officials from a meeting that would have finalized all.
“Bandit Heaven” is also about the end of an era. By the first decade of the 20th Century, the West grew less wild. Law enforcement became better organized. Communications improved, so it became possible to alert surrounding communities about fleeing robbers. People moved west, leaving fewer places to hide. Gunmen died. Civilization intruded.
The book is chockablock full of history and well-told tales that make it a fun read. There also was one, I’m certain, unintended consequence. The entire time I read, I couldn’t help thinking of the time when I was a cowboy and I shot bad guys with my pointer and middle fingers (after cocking my thumb).
You know, before civilization intruded.
Curt Schleier is a critic in New Jersey.
Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West
By: Tom Clavin.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press. 287 pages. $30.
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