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When Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay left Upper Pasture, they
still had to meet with Joe Walker who’s only task during the robbery was to cut
the telegraph wires. That meeting could
have taken place anywhere along the way from Upper Pasture to Castle Gate.
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The bandits needed a casual pace to Castle Gate. Their horses had to be rested for the getaway
after the robbery. That meant plenty of
water, fee, and time. There were several
hideouts they could have used along the way and several routes they could have
chosen. The route we selected is
currently open to 4x4s. It passes
through a ghost town and two of my favorite hideouts. If you decide to take the entire journey, be
prepared to cross 230 miles of desert without passing a single town. That’s 230 miles of unpaved roads ranging
from easy graded dirt to serious rock crawling.
Of course there are several points along the journey where you can take
a detour of ten to thirty miles and find civilization complete with hot showers
and vehicle parts, but the outlaws would have avoided such places. They could not take the risk that someone
would recognize them and warn Castle Gate that the Wild Bunch was in the area.
The ghost town along the way is located at Temple
Mountain. At the time Cassidy and Lay
were headed for Castle Gate, the town did not yet exist. It came to life during the Uranium boom of
the 1950s. There is still one building
and few foundations marking the town’s location. At one time, numerous buildings housed dozens
of miners who worked the rich Uranium veins inside the Mountain. Exploring the open mines is not
recommended. High radiation and bad air
can make them hazardous enough even if they don’t fall in on you.
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