| 04/10/01 08:30 |
| CONTACT: MONTE BONA (435) 462-2502 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BUTCH CASSIDY: HISTORY VS. HOLLYWOOD How much of what we know about Butch Cassidy is fact and how much is fiction, driven by Hollywood movies and legends? That question will be explored at an April 18 lecture at the Piute Court House in Junction. It is part of a lecture series highlighting “The Famous and Infamous” of Utah’s U.S. Highway 89. Speaker Paul Turner will look at the life of Butch Cassidy, who was born Robert LeRoy Parker in Beaver and grew up in a log cabin near Circleville. Turner, a storyteller, will talk about the history and legend of Butch Cassidy. A second lecture on Butch Cassidy will be held in June in Wayne County, exploring the connection between Cassidy and Robber’s Roost In addition, at the April 18 lecture there will be a secondary discussion on Utahan Hyrum BeBee and whether he was The Sundance Kid. All of the lectures in the series, which will be held throughout cities and towns along the Heritage Highway U.S. 89, are free and open to the public and are funded in part by the Utah Council for the Humanities. They are also being filmed and will later be included in a documentary that will air on PBS and be distributed to the media during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Other upcoming talks include: — April 23: “Famous and Infamous Along Highway 89 as depicted by Hollywood,” Jim D’Arc, Kanab. — April 25: “John D. Lee,” featuring Weber State University Professor Gene Sessions, Panguich High School. |
The unique landscape features a geological wonderland that has been the backdrop for feature films including; “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,” and “Jeremiah Johnson.” While traveling through the picturesque scenery, you might recognize a scene or two. Included in the heritage area is the birthplace of Utah outlaws, Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner. Matt was a lifelong friend and a gang member alongside of Butch. Many movies were filmed in the scenic Under the Rim District of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area.
In the later part of the 1800s the Mormon pioneers began their great relocation to the west. They trekked 1,400 miles from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake. This mass-Exodus brought about colonization in Utah, Nevada, the southwest corner of Wyoming, the southeast corner of Idaho, southeast Oregon, and a large portion of southern and eastern California.
