The Mysterious Disappearance of Etta Place

Katharine Ross as Etta Place with Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid/ Douglas Kirkland, CORBIS
The way most people remember Etta Place: Katharine Ross with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid/ Douglas Kirkland, CORBIS
Everybody loves a good vanishing act. Literally hundreds of mysterious disappearances lurk in American history. What happened to Amelia Earhart, the famous female aviator of the 1930s? Or to Judge Joseph Force Crater, who disappeared in the summer of 1930?  Or to Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters chief who went to meet a union official and was never seen again? One thing wee can safely assume is that these were involuntary disappearances. Earhart’s plane went down somewhere in the Pacific on a round-the-globe flight. Crater had some unsavory companions and was last seen carrying a great deal of money. (Though Crater’s young mistress, Sally Lou Ritz, did disappear within weeks of Crater and, like him, has never been seen since.) And Hoffa, well, Hoffa had a lot of enemies.

But the story of Etta Place is rather more mysterious because it would appear that she chose to disappear, not long after the reported deaths of her lover, Harry Longabaugh and his friend, Robert Leroy Parker, better known to posterity as the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy.

The mysterious Etta Place, aka
The mysterious Etta Place, AKA Mrs. Sundance on some wanted posters
What makes her story doubly mysterious is that we know neither her real name or from whence she came. Katherine Ross did a wonderful job fixing her image in the public consciousness in the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, elevating her to near iconic status, but all that did was birth a generation of Etta Place fans.

I would never claim to be a true Etta Place aficionado; I happened on the conundrum she poses quite by accident.  In fact, I was a little surprised that the world had simply swallowed Etta up. But I quickly learned that except for about 12 years at the most, Etta Place didn’t exist.

The majority of the experts agree that Butch and Sundance probably met Etta at a bordello around 1900.  The Pinkerton Agency, which had a strong interest in Etta, described her as attractive, speaking with an educated tone.  Estimates of her birth year range from 1878 to 1882 or 1883.  Rumors suggest that she was a cousin of Longabaugh’s since Longabaugh’s mother was a Place.  Speculation is that she and Sundance had met sometime around 1900. 

The last recorded appearance by Etta was in summer of 1909 in San Francisco, the year after Butch and Sundance were reportedly killed in a gun battle with Argentinian soldiers.  Indeed, there are those researchers who say that Etta died in South America as well.  But a woman of Etta’s description attempted to secure documents declaring Sundance dead. She was unsuccessful, and  the woman known as Etta Place rode off into the sunset. 

Acquaintances, what few there were, called Etta beautiful and said that she spoke with a refined accent.  Without ever saying anything explicit, she indicated that she hailed from the East Coast. Pinkerton Detective Agency reports supported this as well. Only a handful of people knew her well enough as Etta Place to offer descriptions—Annie Bassett, Josie Bassett, and Laura Bullion among them. This trio of young ladies were the girlfriends of various members of the Wild Bunch, the outlaw gang of which Butch and Sundance were a big part.

Was Annie Bassett actually Etta Place?
Annie Basset—was she the real Etta Place?
For years, Annie Bassett has been rumored to have been Etta Place, and recent photographic analysis claims that Annie and Etta were the same woman.  But too many documented elements of Annie’s life conflict with the documented elements of Etta’s life. During two separate periods, when Etta is known to have been in South America with Butch and Sundance, Annie Bassett was either under arrest, on trial, in jail or getting married in the US. Difficult to do if you’re in South America.  Odds are that Etta or Ethel Place was not her actual name.  The maiden name of Sundance’s mother was Place. Other claims, none substantiated, make her a music or school teacher. All that’s known for certain is that she spoke with a refined (possibly British) accent and claimed to have come from the northeast.

Intrigued by the mystery of Etta Place, I decided to see what I could add to the story.

I’m a firm believer in Occam’s Razor—in short, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Near unanimous consensus among researchers is that Butch and Sundance met Etta at Fannie Porter’s brothel in San Antonio sometime in 1900.

The United States census is a marvelous thing. Beginning with 1790, it has been taken every ten years. And, since I had a city (San Antonio) and a head of household (Fannie Porter), I thought it would be beneficial to look at the 1900 census of Bexar County, since that’s the nexus year, the year they all came together.  Lo and behold, there was Fannie Porter, running a “boarding house.” Euphemisms are great things.

The Wild Bunch
Left to right: The Sundance Kid, News Carver, The Tall Texan, Kid Curry, Butch Cassidy
Fannie, herself little more than a girl in 1900, claimed to be of British extraction. The birthdates did not help all that much. Of the five girls in Fannie’s “boarding house,” all were born in or around 1878-80.  One girl in the household intrigued me beyond the others.  Twenty-two year old Madaline [sic] Wilson appears in the census immediately beneath Madam Fannie. Like Fannie, she is listed as of English birth, immigrating to the United States in 1884 when she was six. Now here’s where the conjecture has to come in.  It is quite possible that she had changed her name, but does that dictate that she would have changed her date of birth, country of origin, and date of immigration?  And a British accent, tempered by  16 years in America, might be described as “refined.”

And, Madaline Wilson disappears after the 1900 census, when Etta was in her period of historical significance as the historians would say. Now, none of this proves anything, but it is worth noting, and adds yet another possible suspect to the continuing hunt for Etta Place.

At one point a woman named Eunice Gray, who appeared in Ft. Worth, Texas, running a brothel in the mid 20th century, was a candidate for “Etta Place.”  Eunice once told a friend that she had been in Ft. Worth since 1901 except for a trip to South America.  And records were produced later that showed that Eunice had been in South America at roughly the same time as Etta Place.  Eunice died in a fire in 1962.  But researchers have recovered photos of Eunice that, when compared with known photos of Etta, prove definitively that Eunice was not Etta Place.

Perhaps Madaline Wilson is a stretch, but Etta Place did exist.  And Madaline Wilson, the young prostitute from Fannie Porter’s is an intriguing possibility.


When Tony Hays isn’t traveling the world, teaching students, and adopting puppies, he takes time out to write the Arthurian Mystery series from Tor/Forge.
 

Comments

  1. Terrie Farley Moran

    Intriguing. There are so many historical figures that we believe we know well, but actually we know very little about them. As you indicate, we often don’t know even a real name.

  2. Doc Gonzales

    Have reason to believe I know who this woman was! If you know an author who would like to ghost write the story for me in collusion with me and a share of the monies ~ no hoaxers this is on the level and keep it real! NO SWINDLERS or BUNCO ARTISTS ~

  3. susan j. sager

    I have always found this woman, Ms. Etta Place (Ethel?) intriguing. She existed and than she disappeared not to be seen or heard of again by those that would have known her here in The States. Maybe on purpose?

    After all, she was the friend / girlfriend (wife?) of notorious bank robbers, doubtful that she would want newspaper people or The Pinkertons to know where she was.

    She was able to start fresh in South America; not surprizing that she could do the same once she came back to The States. And just maybe there was not contact ever again with old friends or family. A fresh start in a new State.

  4. Doc

    I repeat: There were several facts not widely known, except to me, which if followed by strenuous research could well substantiate my suspicions regarding the heretofore unknown ID of this woman! But, only serious researchers with integrity and true grit should contact me! I have already done considerable traveling to secure proof. The trail has been guarded carefully for these many years. Another person close to me attempted to follow-up on this as well and I think he knew! There were items she had which if located could probably cinche and finalize the truth of my suspicions. Those items disappeared after her demise! One of which would prove her ID! It has to do with the photo taken with Sundance!

    • Donna

      Doc,
      If you are still out there..would you please contact me in regards to your posts. I have done some extensive research on Ethel/Etta Place. Your posts are good teasers.

      • Stan

        Let me know if you publish any details about Etta.

    • Stan

      Any luck finding new details of Etta Place?

    • Anna L. Morris

      Hi, Doc. 2019 is a long time after your original comment. I think I know what you mean. I am a journalist who once thought to write about what I see. I am also an artist and have thought to reproduce what I see. I also keep my eyes open for what I think I see. I probably have no direct connection to any of this but I do live in the west, in Idaho. If it matters, I am related to early California land grant families. I would enjoy hearing from you. I hope if you reply, the system will let me know. I’ll check back. Best wishes. Anna Morris

  5. GP

    Fascinating stuff – the stuff of great imaginings and – well, myths and legends, perhaps. It just seem as if she would have nothing to lose, at the end of her life, by revealing some certain things. Maybe – just maybe – there’s something out there that is yet to be discovered, just waiting and lurking in the pages of obscure historical notes. Someday – if we’re lucky.

  6. Dawn Fama

    How do you know for certain she was not murdered by the two men and buried near their homestead in Argentina? Wasn’t it Sundance that shot an officer sent to their home to put them under arrest. They may have had to reveal their past to her and she may have posed a threat to them.

  7. JB

    If you want to know who Etta Place was google “Cora Stanton” or Empire of the Wheel.

  8. Adell Sharp

    This comment is for Doc.The last post I found from you was in March 2013. I too, know who Etta Place was. I grew up in the same county
    where she was born and raised. There were people in the community
    that, at the time, knew she was with Sundance and Butch. I have two
    pictures of her, one when she was about 15 yrs. old. and other things
    and stories. Perhaps we can help each other. You sound like her
    nephew. I hope that you are still researching her and I would like
    to talk with you. Please contact me through my e-mail. If you would
    like to talk, I think we could meet in person.
    I know where and about the old mansion where her belongings and
    pictures were stored after her death.
    Hope that you are well and will contact me.

  9. Lisa Portas

    My fathers Gramma, Elzeta Place is the sister to Etta Place. my Great aunt has countless pictures and documents but will not release anything because of a fallout within the family.
    We are waiting for her passing to find out more.

  10. Lisa Portas

    My fathers Gramma, Elzeta Place is the sister to Etta Place. my Great aunt has countless pictures and documents but will not release anything because of a fallout within the family.
    We are waiting for her passing to find out more.

    • KAG

      She must be 120 yrs old by now????

  11. Carolyn Byrd

    Did anyone (credible) ever contact you to write your book? I’d love to buy/read it

  12. Daniel Buck

    Three different commenters, Doc Gonzales, Adell Sharp, & Lisa Portas say they have the skinny on the elusive Ms. Place. Are they speaking of three different women or the same one? Would Doc Gonzales, Adell Sharp or Lisa Portas care to provide any additional information?

    • zodiac

      They’re probably the same person using 3 different screen names.

  13. Dr. Steve Lacy

    All of you pretend historians /writers you are all wrong Etta (never Ethel) died July 19, 1963 Leeds, Utah. Details on her and what finally happened to Butch and Sundance. They didn’t die in South America as some pretend writers and Historians have written about. In the new book “Last of The Bandit Riders Revisited Again,” by Dr. Steve Lacy, Matt Warner and Joyce Warner. Dr. Lacy has been doing research longer on the Robbers Roost Gang for 58 years longer than anyone dead or alive.

  14. Richard

    Hi. I live in Patagonia. Few years ago I phoned up the hospital where Etta was admitted, (about abortion?) asking for clear solid data. The person who answered the phone said they had no records. ???

    • Zodiac

      These places generally don’t keep records that are 100+ years old. They may have been archived somewhere, but more than likely destroyed long ago.

      • Jon Hagadorn

        I host an audio podcast called 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries and I have been researching the double mystery of Butch & Sundance (did they survive Bolivia?} and Etta Place (who was she, what happened to her) for a three part show which starts Feb 17th 2019 (Sunday). I usually like to propose answers for the mysteries I take on (Earhart, Lost Colony, etc) but this one has been tough. All kinds of exhumations have been done to determine the fate of Butch and Sundance which varying results. I will be interviewing Butch’s grand nephew Bill Betenson this week for his take, and he’s been pretty involved in the search. Someone someday will break it wide open on Etta Place identity with a chance find. Anyone having real info on her has had no reason to keep it secret, therefore I don’t believe it exists. I do believe she was one of Fannie’s girls. Possibly Madeline Wilson. the question to me is what happened to all that money? Butch’s take alone had to have been over 1 million. Etta tried to get a death certificate in 1909 (probably Sundance, because maybe she could claim she had been his wife) but they hadn’t made one-there was never any positive ID made– she no doubt needed that to collect on insurance or his estate or bank account-if he had one. Anyway- lots of twists and turns to this story, I think Butch and Sundance were not in that gunfight- that they lived their lives in quiet back in the states. Etta probably came out of it with money, remarried, and lived a quiet life as well.

        • County Liner

          Was poking around on the topic after listening to C2C AM, last night. Subject was the same topic. Checking out your podcast now

        • Shelley Epstein

          Any one have any photos of the wells Fargo money bags how they may have looked or what was printed on them when he robbed the Idaho bank hi I live here in Montpelier on what would have been the land he rode across to get away this property is full of suprises

      • KAG

        Even if they had them they wont give out medical information. I cant even find out how my friend back east died unless I find someone who attended her funeral.

  15. Bill Cooper

    Just returned from a trip to Vernal, UT. Those in the Historical section of the County Library has tons of records on Sun Dance and Butch. Their take is Etta was Ann Bassett( I am not convinced) moreover Robert and Harry did not die in Bolivia.

  16. Brad Hartliep

    “Etta Place”‘s maiden name was NOT Place – Place was Harry’s Mother’s maiden name and “Etta Place” was travelling as MRS Etta Place, mot MISS Etta Place – therefore she can’t be a “Place” – unless of course she was Harry’s Sexually Promiscuous Screwing Cousin .. What is more intriguing, and possibly a clue to follow, is the fact that Butch was travelling as “Etta”‘s “brother” “James Ryan” .. maybe Etta’s real last name is RYAN .. the fact that Harry and Etta returned from SA and visited Fort Worth suggests that maybe she was from that area .. she likely was whoring it up down at Fannie Porter’s Bordello in San Antonio, possibly under the name Madaline Wilson, when they met, but Harry visiting Fort Worth, twice, suggests maybe Etta had a more permanent home there, possibly with family from back east or Britain .. I would try and trace down any women named RYAN, possibly with a brother named James, who fits the age and physical description of “Etta Place”, and who might have been in either San Antone or Fort Worth during the same time ..

  17. James l Lynch

    Why would anyone say that Place was not her name, she said it was, and since no other name is known for sure, then Place is her only known name. Ocamm’s

    • Daniel Buck

      Jim, The most reasonable & simplest explanation for the last name she used is that she was traveling as the companion of Sundance, who was using the alias Place (his mother’s maiden name). The first name she used, as I think you know, was actually Ethel. Etta was a newspaper typo, so she became famous as Etta. Thus all we can conclude, Occam’s Razor style, is that her first name was probably Ethel and her last name is unknown. It’s is possible, of course, that Sundance took his alias from Ethel’s actual last name, but that would be a stretch. Occam’s Razor is designed to avoid stretching. Dan

  18. Shelley Epstein

    Any one have any photos of the wells Fargo money bags how they may have looked or what was printed on them when he robbed the Idaho bank hi I live here in Montpelier on what would have been the land he rode across to get away this property is full of suprises

  19. Libby Esther Berman

    The Parker family were English,from Lancashire. “Etta Place” was his cousin,which makes Madaline Wilson the most likely person of the right age to fit for Etta’s real name. I have never seen a photograph of her,though. I don’t suppose prostitutes had their photos frequently taken. Especially if you didn’t want to embarrass your family.

    • KAG

      To get your photograph taken was expensive back then. If you get your picture taken its not like today where it goes viral. Chances are only one copy is made and you have it. The photographer may keep the negative but unless its for blackmail what would he use it for? Not to sell to the newspaper.

      • KAG

        Unless of course they were famous thieves but at the time all of that was unknown about her.

  20. William Dave Martin

    I am 84, born and raised in Fort Worth. In the summer of my freshman year at UT Arlington I scoured the pawn shops in the Hells Half Acre of Downtown Ft Worth looking for antique guns to buy. I was familiar with the old Majestic Theater as my brother and I were sent by our Gilbert & Sullivan fan parents there to see The Mikado & HMS Pinafore. The theater was no longer in operation in the late 50s.

    I have been reading and researching Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Etta Place/Eunice Gray. I recall during one of my afternoon trips to that seedy area I walked East on 11th or 12th on the block ending in Commerce intending to turn North and visit the Majestic. I was on the South side of the street walking East. To my right was a long beige brick wall with a single door mid way of the block.

    This is vivid in my memory and I am trying to find photos or maps to verify my recollections. Two women were walking in front of me and a woman approached from Commerce reached the door opened it and went in. The two women in front of me turned around and one said “you know who that was? That was Etta Place!”

    At the time I didnt know Etta Place from Logans Goat but the uniqueness of the incident stuck. I would like to find a map of the area or pictures. I have been looking for a picture of the Waco Hotel she owned on 15th thinking that might be the area I was in, and verify the woman being identified. Etta Place Would have been in her 70s.

    • Trevor Newland

      That would be very fascinating to hear more about, William. Did you ever manage to find a photo?

    • KAG

      Have you tried Google maps. You can start at a place you know you were and try to find it that way. Unfortunately its no longer the 70s or 80s and everything has changed so much. I hope you find it though.

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  23. Jack Roth

    I’m a documentary filmmaker doing research on Etta Place, and I would love to speak to anyone who has VALID and VERIFIABLE information regarding the life and death of Etta/Ethel. My goal is to produce a documentary about Etta that would include interviews with researchers, historians and descendants. I believe the truth is still out there somewhere, maybe in a dusty old attic in Denver or antique shop in San Antonio.

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