Charles Wesley Anderson                                                   

Charles Wesley Anderson is the great grand uncle of James Charles Hoskins. Their common ancestors are Lewis Anderson and Christina Ford.

Charley was in the office of county commissioner and justice of the peace. He was a rancher and freighter. This was my Aunt Virginia's Father. HE MARRIED DOLLIE ELIZABETH BASOM

Wyoming Rancher Back Home for Health Tells of "Hole-in-Wall-Gang

By Hud Robins

Back about the time Horance Greeley advised young men to "go west and grow up with the country" Charles Anderson, then a mere boy living near Oakwood, decided to take the advice literally. He started west with no definite destination and has "grown" from a "cow hand" to a well-to-do ranch owner. He has returned to Vermillion county for a several months visit.

Adventures that are as colorful and dramatic as those depicted by heroes of Western fiction stories are included in his life since he left here in1887. Among his acquaintances are many whose adventures have furnished the materials for the stories of the west themselves.

Mr. Anderson's return was occasioned by physicians who told him that his health would no longer permit him to dwell in high altitudes. He has been recuperating in Lake View hospital, where he has regained his health and intends to see again the scenes of his boyhood and visit with many friends and relatives who still live here before he returns to the west.

Lands in Wyoming

When Mr. Anderson left Oakwood his destination was vague. He headed west, and the first stop was Denver. From there he went to Laramie in Wyoming, the state that has claimed him for a resident ever since. He went to the vicinity of the Big Horn Basin and, after several years of "punching" cattle, bought a ranch of his own.

Considerable has been written about the Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang that operated in the early days of the west. Among the youthful cowpunchers with whom the Vermillion county youth worked were several who were later to be proven to be members of this gang.

Since coming back to his old home, Mr. Anderson has learned about the death of a former leader of the gang, "Butch" Cassidy, who for several years led the robbers on their expeditions and then turned his tail to South America, where he continued to operate.

Knew Cassidy Well

Mr. Anderson knew "Butch" Cassidy well. He had heard that "Butch" had "died with his boots on," but the details of his last stand were never known to Anderson until he read of them in the April issue of the Elk's Magazine while he was a patient at Lake View hospital.

Memories of the days of old, when Wyoming was truly a new country, and which he has grown up with, caused Mr. Anderson to describe something of the life of the Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang.

"Butch"Cassidy was a mighty likeable young fellow." he said. "He confined his robbing to the railroads and big cattle companies and was never known to bother settlers and ranchers of Wyoming and other states where he operated unless they had stepped on his toes.

Describes "Hole-In-Wall"

"He was just a spirited young buck and was a nice enough youngster until he fell in with "Flat Nose" George Curry, who kept a ranch in the Hole-In-The-Wall. This was a basin entirely surrounded by high cliffs and the only entrance was a narrow pass about fifty feet wide."

"Several young fellows who lived there with 'Flat Nose' were stealing cattle and using the Hole-In-The-Wall ranch for a refuge. They could take the stolen cattle there, brand them at leisure and rest between times.

"Some of these others were regular desperadoes. They had no objections to shooting anyone who stood in their way. But "Butch" Cassidy was different. So far as is known , he never killed anyone until he was surrounded by soldiers in Chile where he was killed. Even after he was leader of the gang he never was known to commit murder. He was a crack shot, a good horseman, and always had a sunny smile.

Liked Sight Of Blood

"But this was not true of Harvey Logan the 'killer' of the gang. He seemed to delight in seeing blood flow from the wounds of his victims.

"This gang finally started holding up trains and mine pay rolls and shipments of money from the United States treasury. It was a sum of unsigned currency that finally led the authorities to the bandit gang's trail.

The gang grew until it was reorganized by 'Black Jack Ketchum, who led another gang that infested Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The Wyoming bandits would pull a robbery and then split up. They would all join 'Black Jack's' gang until things quieted down. This allegiance between the two was what what came to be known the 'Robber's Syndicate,' which terrorized the west for more than fifteen years.

   Left: The Sundance Kid

Flee to Argentina

"When the authorities began closing in on the Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang, Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, known as the 'Sundance Kid,' fled this country and went to Argentina. There they set up ranch with their spoils and took up the life of quiet ranchers.

"When a former deputy sheriff of Wyoming spotted them and found that the rewards totaled many thousands of dollars he notified the authorities in the United States. Before they could do anything, however, Cassidy learned of the peril and he and Longabaugh started their old tricks again.

"They instituted a series of train robberies and bank holdups that held the South Americans breathless. They were successful in pulling major holdups for several years."

This much of Cassidy's life was known to Mr. Anderson before he returned to Danville. The closing chapter, however, was revealed in the magazine which he happened to read while at the hospital.

Rob Mine Paymaster

Cassidy and Longabaugh robbed a paymaster at a mine and escaped. They appeared at a small town disguised as prospectors. One of the residents recognized a mule as one that was in the pack train that was held up. He summoned a company of Chilean soldiers and the two Americans were surrounded. They held off the company all afternoon until midnight, although both were wounded.

Two shots were heard about midnight but it was not until dawn , according to the story that the soldiers ventured into the building. There they found that Cassidy had used his last two shells to put a bullet through Longabaugh's head and then end his own life. The gold from the holdup was found intact in the saddle bags of the mules.

Anderson at one time knew practically all the members of the gang. He and his brother Edward Anderson, have operated a ranch in the Big Horn Basin for many years. He does not know whether his health will permit his living there, but he intends to return to Wyoming next fall and try it again. If he finds that it will injure him he intends to sell out his land and cattle and return to Illinois.

Taken from a Danville, Illinois newspaper date unknown

THE WILD BUNCH
Harry Longabaugh, Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan, Butch Cassidy.
Photo Courtesy of Union Pacific Railroad Museum

Below Pictures From Andersonville cabin (Museum)

Above far Right Roy Burrows in Museum (Roy is a descendant of Lyman Anderson, Charles Anderson's brother).

Andersonville:

Hot Springs: Founded in the 1870's on what Indians called Po-pa-da (Owl Creek; named for Anderson brothers from Illinois; having heard of the Big Horn Basin as a garden spot, they came intending to raise beans but started a town instead. It became a hangout for gunmen such as Butch Cassidy, Kid Curry's Hole-In-The-Wall gang. When Thermopolis started across the river, Andersonville was abandoned.

From a small booklet by Mae Urbanek "Wyoming Place Names"

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