A "mysterious" woman--The day Etta Place came to Springville.

by Vince Garcia

The "Mysterious" woman would have looked very much like this illustration of the well-dressed young woman of 1898.

.

It was 10:58 AM, May 28, 1898. Normally a sleepy little town, Springville, Utah, was abuzz with the excitement of a bank robbery an hour earlier and subsequent chase of two robbers who had high-tailed it out of town in a buggy with an impromptu posse of lawmen and citizens hot on their tail.

.

The two robbers, mistakenly thinking Springville would be easy pickings, were hardly out of the city limits before Sheriff George Storrs, town Marshal "Frank" Gammell, and several others were riding them down, soon followed by dozens of citizens.

.

By noon, it was over: One robber was dead, the other captured, and most of the money recovered.

.

While the events of "Gunplay" Maxwell's fiasco at Springville are well-documented, lost to history is that this event may also herald the first recorded sighting of the West's great mystery woman, Etta Place.

.

The woman in this event disembarked from the Rio Grande Western out of Grand Junction just before 11 AM. Looking almost as if she had stepped out of the DeYoung portrait that would be taken three years later, the "well dressed" young lady, "22 or 23 years old," wore "a large quantity of jewelry,"* and was described as "handsome," and "very striking in appearance" in newspaper accounts. She undoubtedly turned heads at the station as she boarded a hack to the opulent Harrison House hotel, just down from the bank on State street.

.

* In her famous photo, Etta wears a wedding ring, engagement ring, another ring on her right hand, a gold necklace, a bracelet, a Tiffany gold watch and chain with a jeweled pin, and there are a pair of gold buckles on her collar.

.

.

.

She would have entered through a side door--a custom for women at the time--undoubtedly impressed by the hotel's hand-carved/hand-painted woodwork and 15-foot ceilings, unusual for such a small town.

.

As she checked in, giving the name of "Mrs. Flora Ackley," she might have noticed a commotion outside or a guest rush through the lobby to go outside, and asked what was going on.

.

Hearing there was a robbery, she began excitedly asking questions.

.

The clerk wouldn't have realized the real reason for her interest, and for the next 90 minutes or so, she probably paced the lobby, waiting for word, hoping the bandits has gotten away.

.

Eventually, someone would have brought news--they'd caught them! One was dead, and the other in custody, down at the bank.

.

Now she panicked.

.

Hiking her skirts to run, and bolting out the front doors of the hotel, she ran a half-block north to the bank, where the whole town was gathering to see the robbers. She first tried to view the dead man, jostling through the crowd in anything but a ladylike manner.

.

She didn't know him.

.

A thick knot of townsfolk now blocked her way, but she wouldn't be stopped, and began to force her way through them.

.

Elbowing, shoving and pulling people out of the way, she fought her way into the bank until she could get a clear look at the thin, mustached man, seated in a chair as he was being interrogated by Sheriff Storrs.

.

He was a stranger as well, and for the first time she breathed a sigh of relief.

.

Satisfied, what the papers would soon call a "mysterious" woman began to leave, making her way back out of the bank.

.

Emerging from the rear of the mob into the street, she probably smoothed out her skirt, brushed off the dust, and turned to head back to the hotel--only to freeze as she locked eyes with two suspicious deputy marshals…

.

.

The prelude to our story begins ten days earlier. Two men arrived at Springville in a wagon from Colorado,¹ one of whom would later be described as "under-sized."² A day later, they would be joined by a third friend, described as a "big fellow," riding in from Castle Valley on a high-wheel bike. What their purpose was in visiting the town, we do not know. Possibly it was to scout for Maxwell's upcoming robbery or his escape route.

.

Exhibiting behavior consistent with the Sundance Kid's lack of judiciousness, the man on the bicycle at some point began shooting his mouth off that the Robbers Roost gang had recently done a raid in Price** to avenge the (supposed) death of Butch Cassidy and Joe Walker.¹

.

Whether or not someone in the group figured out that three strangers with information on the Roosters' activities could arouse suspicion on the part of the town Marshal, the trio left for Eureka shortly after arriving.

.

** I have been unable to pin down what "raid" the man was referring to, but the Deseret Evening News on May 25 carried an article on George Whitmore--Walker's estranged uncle, an obvious target for retribution--and says he and a posse fought some rustlers, and retrieved some stolen Whitmore horses. No date is given for this event, but it is within the general timeframe of the man's claim, and could be the "raid" spoken of. This report may refer to Joe Walker's death, but if so there are some major inconsistencies, among them Whitmore's claiming he went out alone in search of rustlers and joined a posse in the field when in Walker's case he started out in Price with an organized posse, intent in avenging the mistreatment of his son and a cowhand. Also, no mention was made of Cassidy or Walker being killed, major news which would be expected in any article dealing with that event.

.

They weren't heard from again until "Flora Ackley" was placed in the custody of two deputies after her suspicious activities were noted on the day of the robbery. When questioned, her story was that she had traveled to Springville from Grand Junction to join her husband and two "relatives" who had come down before her.

.

Her husband? He was a big man who would ride into town from Eureka for her on a bicycle.

.

The next evening, an amusing sight was seen in Springville--rather than a large man, an "under-sized" man rode into town on a high-wheel bicycle,² claiming to be her husband, and insisting she be released to him.

.

Under the eyes of the suspicious town Marshal, and undoubtedly after a bit of an interrogation as to how many husbands the woman had, the pair were allowed to leave, departing on the evening train for Eureka, there technically being no charges that could be made against them.

.

But they weren't alone. With them, went the two deputies.

.

And unfortunately, this is where the story ends.

.

.

The cast of characters.

.

.

"Flora Ackley," whose description is intriguingly close to that of Etta Place, is just as big a mystery as Etta. She appears in no Wild Bunch or outlaw lore except for this incident, we know nothing of her background, nor do we know what became of her. She isn't identifiable in any further newspaper accounts, nor do any strong candidates show up in census records. The name may have been an alias. All we do know is that her age may have been arguably right for Etta Place (though a younger age is noted on a document from Dr. Pierce's sanitarium, though we don't know if Etta gave it, was truthful, or whether it was assessed visually),that she was tied to men who themselves appear to have ties to the Robbers Roost gang (as I will show, there is evidence the man who came for her was Harvey Logan himsself), and the repeated references to her beauty, her attire, and her plethora of jewelry could well indicate this is actually a description of Etta Place, the only woman ever associated with the Robbers Roost/Hole in the Wall gang who could easily fit this depiction.

.

She traveled down from Grand Junction (where one Wyoming historian I know claims from Bert Charter family lore that Sundance was also staying with family members in early 1898, though there was no mention of a woman named Etta Place yet). A search of Colorado and Utah records reveal just one person named Ackley who traveled between both states in 1898: a "T. B. Ackley." Census records show a Philadelphia dentist existed named Thomas B. Ackley who had a sister named Flora who lived with him until the 1920s, and spent time in Texas, but she would have been 15 in 1898, too young to pass for 22 or 23 (though many people--excluding myself--think Etta looked around 16-17 in her photo, and 15 would be in the range for a young Etta in 1898), and the woman in this incident claimed the name Ackley was her married name. I stress I do not believe the dentist's sister was this Flora, and the family biographer also doesn't believe his relatives were involved in this incident.

.

The men, two of which were only described only in casual terms of height, seemed to have knowledge of the Robbers Roost's gang and their activities, so there appear to be at least some superficial ties to them and Robbers Roost.

.

It's most reasonable to go with the woman's first claim, that the "big fellow" (Sundance was a tall man) should be considered her "husband" over the second, "under-sized" man who came to get her. This leaves open the question as to whom the second man would have been if Sundance was the first.

.

Harvey Logan, Sundance's partner in crime in this period, makes an obvious candidate as he was a short man compared to other gang members.

.

But could Logan have reasonably been dubbed an "under-sized" man by witnesses at Springville?

.

The answer comes a year later at Wilcox, where Logan--whatever his claimed height--was repeatedly described in terms like: a small man in charge,³ a small man…vulgar in language,⁴ quite small⁵ and as a Small man, almost undersize.⁶

.

One man's "quite small" or "almost undersize" might certainly be someone else's "under-size.".

.

Logan was also dubbed rather small on the wanted poster issued after Belle Fourche.

.

The identity of the third man in the trio would be a matter of speculation, though "Flatnose" Currie would be an obvious choice by default.

.

.

The Currie gang in Utah?

.

.

If Charter family lore is inaccurate, the Pinkerton claim was that Sundance was working at the Kelsey ranch in the Little Snake river valley at the beginning of 1898.

.

The Pinkertons then had him heading down into Brown's Park in Spring, meeting up with Harvey Logan and "Flatnose" Currie. Reunited, the trio then supposedly headed north into Wyoming for a succession of robberies, culminating with the Big Piney robbery in August.

.

However, the Belle Fourche robbers/Currie gang was actually believed by some to be in Utah. Sundance and Logan, together with Bill Moore and Joe Walker, were alleged to have robbed a prospector of gold dust--and even his hat!--in early April on the Uncompahgre Indian reservation.⁷ (Both "Jones brothers" were actually accused of running in a border gang with Joe Walker and several others around this time.⁸)

..

But a much stronger claim of Logan's actual presence in Utah--and specifically at Springville--came from W. S. Seavey, head of the Thiel detective agency in Denver. While being interviewed and showing off a photo of Belle Fourche robber "Tom Jones" (Harvey Logan) to a Salt Lake reporter in 1899, Seavey indicated that Jones had received money from the Springville robbery in 1898, which would jibe with Logan actually being one of the participants!⁹

.

It's true that $600 was never found, and Seavey erroneously claimed that "Jones" got much more than that, but the key point is that he was apparently in possession of some sort of information*** leading him to believe that this South Dakota bank robber had direct involvement with an 1898 Utah bank robbery for which the main participants had been killed or caught from the outset.

.

*** Unfortunately, the agency records are lost or unavailable, and we have no idea what the basis was for his belief. As he had a photograph of Logan, it's possible it was shown around Springville and Logan was recognized from this very incident, but that is only conjecture. Sheriff Storrs received a photo of "Tom Jones" and the Belle Fourche robbers in October, 1898, which may have been sent to him by the Thiel agency for all we know. One account² actually indicated Storrs was the one who placed "Flora" under surveillance, but I discount that because he left Springville with Maxwell the same night he was captured (the 28th), and he was in Provo on the 30th. There is no specific record of his return the next day, leaving me to presume it was really Marshal Gammell who had the two deputy marshals (not sheriffs) follow her out on the train. If, however, Storrs did return on the 29th as the article implies (only a distance of 6 miles), he would have met the "under-sized" man, and the photo of Logan in October might have jogged his memory. Word could then have gotten back to Seavey in Denver, accounting for his later comments about "Tom Jones."

.

There is no question that Maxwell did not work with only a single partner, but had confederates waiting with relay horses nearby. Two men were camped with horses just minutes away from where he and his partner were caught, at Maple Creek canyon,¹⁰ who fled when the shooting started.

.

Maxwell himself admitted that he expected at least one man to meet him and his partner with horses at the mouth of Hobble Creek canyon.¹¹ There may have been a fatal miscommunication between the two groups.

.

Charles Kelly wrote that Maxwell claimed he was expecting support from allies at Provo who were late in arriving (possibly the men in our story). He seemed to tie these men to Utah outlaw Pete Nielson (Pete Logan), whose name was inscribed on the dead partner's (William Pearson) guns, and claimed they all rode out from Robbers Roost to rent a carriage and do the robbery.

.

Local speculation was that there were up to five more men involved with Maxwell,¹² but none was ever caught.

.

Could "Flatnose" Currie have been the third man in the trio we're dealing with, and one of Maxwell's support team? And is there any evidence he was in Utah at the time of the robbery?

.

After his death in April of 1900, photos of him were shown around Price, and a number of businessmen came forward to claim they recognized the outlaw from "some two years ago,"¹³ which would indeed place him in Utah in 1898. If we go with the Pinkerton belief that the gang was in Brown's park, altering their view only with the gang heading for Utah rather than Wyoming, this should situate him there between Spring and early July, just prior to the Humboldt train robbery in Nevada, which many--but not all--historians believe the Currie gang committed. This is in the timeframe of the Springville robbery, and with that we now have at least some attestation for all three members of the gang's actually being in Utah:

.

Harvey Logan: Weak eyewitness identification in a robbery, and direct linking of him to the Springville robbery itself by the Thiel Detective Agency.

.

"Flatnose" Currie: Identification of him by multiple eyewitnesses placing him in Utah in the same general timeframe as the Springville robbery.

.

Sundance Kid: Weak eyewitness identification in a robbery.

.

.

The Wolton robbery.

.

.

The biggest argument against the Currie gang's presence at Springville is the otherwise insignificant robbery of a post office/general store in Wolton, Wy., at the same time as the Springville robbery, which is the first thing the gang is traditionally accused of after leaving Brown's Park.

.

In this event, three men--using a generally similar modus operandi to the later Big Piney robbery****--stole goods, cash and horses from the Wolton post office. Suspiciously, the robbery wasn't reported for 18 hours, and the men escaped. The job was attributed by Postmaster Waterbury of Denver to the Currie gang, meaning "Flatnose" and the "Dixon bros./Roberts bros." (traditionally, Logan and Sundance).

.

But this is only theory and tradition with little actual fact to rely on, and in checking with other Wild Bunch historians, there is by no means a solid consensus that the Currie gang even committed this or the Big Piney robberies. Mark Smokov and I have looked high and low to find an actual description of the Wolton robbers, but aside from a general assertion that the later Big Piney robbers "fit the description" of the Wolton robbers, we find nothing but an apparent presumption that it must have been the ubiquitous Currie gang, who seemed to get blamed for most every robbery in the state of Wyoming.

.

So far as the actual Wolton and Big Piney robberies went, several people were accused apart from the true Currie gang: Dave Putty and Bud Nolan were actually charged (though not convicted), and identified as the "Roberts bros." by Joe Bush who supposedly had seen said brothers.¹⁴ Earlier than that, a bad check writer named Charles Coffman was implicated and sought in September.¹⁵

.

**** There are contradictory reports about Big Piney. Some state that, as supposedly in the case at Wolton, two men entered, selected goods, then a third man entered and the robbery began. But another report holds that the third man stayed outside, holding five to nine horses as the pair inside drew guns, which would make more sense than coming in and leaving that many horses tied up when a quick escape was optimal.

.

While there is no description of the Wolton robbers, by the time of the Big Piney robbery in August a description of the brothers was finally provided in one account, according with the half-breed Dixons: Small and dark and are between twenty-four to twenty-seven years old.¹⁶ Postal authorities also seemed to state in a November dispatch that they considered Currie to be riding with "George and Tom Dickson," comprising the "Roberts Brothers."¹⁷ However, both Nolan and Putty were supposedly identified by postmaster Budd as the men who robbed him,¹⁸ yet authorities later admitted they were not the Roberts brothers.

.

A better description of the Big Piney robbers from the Salt Lake Herald tags one robber, generally corresponding to Sundance as about five feet nine or ten inches in height; about 26 years old [Sundance was over 30]; light complexion, inclined to be florid [reddish]; light hair and eyes; weight about 150 pounds; had a nickel plated revolver with a bone or pearl handle. Another of the men is about five feet six inches tall; dark complexion; dark or black moustache; dark eyes. [Fits Logan.] Robber No. 3 is about five feet eight inches tall. [Generally fits "Flatnose," and the lack of more detail could be attributed to his remaining out with the horses as the alternate account holds.] They took from the store stogy boots, cowboy spurs and overalls, blue flannel shirts, camel's hair underwear, brown gauntlet gloves, pocket knives, a Menea bridle, with chain and bit. The robbers had with them five to nine horses, four brown and one gray, all shod but one. One of them has a nail off the middle finger of his hand.

.

Despite generally fitting the description, evidence that Sundance may not have been involved with either of these robberies could be implied by the subsequent shootout in late October in the Bear Paw mountains between the gang and a posse, and the ongoing chase that continued until the gang made it into Canada. Some think he was headed to New Mexico by then, others that he was working at the Beeler ranch by fall. Donna Ernst appears to exclude him from the Big Piney robbery since she omits mention of it in his biography, presumably because it's an unreasonably tight window of opportunity for him to do the robbery, chase, shootout and still get to work at the Beeler ranch by fall, and if he is excluded, Logan could be excluded, and others become at least two of the culprits. (I have checked with other researchers on this robbery, and some of them exclude the Currie gang from it altogether, though Smokov does not, and includes Sundance in it.)

.

If I try to prove the opposite case--that is, prove Sundance robbed the post office at Wolton--I find no direct evidence for it. I can only presume he robbed the post office at Big Piney and work back from that, claiming that proves he must have robbed the post office at Wolton, three months earlier.

.

.

The busiest gang in the West.

.

.

As noted, the Currie gang was accused of just about everything, especially by Postmaster Waterbury. They were accused of robbing the Casper post office,¹⁹ and the post offices at Powderville (where the postmaster was shot and one of the robbers who was "part Indian" boldly called himself "Kid Fearless")²⁰ and Granger. They were also accused of robbing the Opal post office,²¹ a stage coach and mail stage,²² and the attempted robbery of the post office at Atlantic City, Wy.²³ Add to this, the Elko robbery (though I agree with Donna Ernst that they had no part in it) and the Humboldt robbery, which they probably did commit.

.

So in all this, could the incident in Springville have involved characters apart from the Currie gang with a beautiful woman who coincidentally may have been as attractive as Etta Place? And could the Currie gang instead have done the Wolton robbery as traditionally believed? Since we cannot conclusively prove the identities of the people at either Wolton or Springville, absolutely.

.

There are thus two versions of the gang's itinerary to choose from, and apparent evidence to support either contention…

.

Traditional itinerary:

.

Sundance leaves the Kelsey ranch for Brown's Park in Spring, linking up with "Flatnose" and Logan, then heads to Wyoming in order to pull off robberies there, according to the Pinkertons.

.

Up to Wolton, Wy., for the general store/post office robbery on May 30 according to Postmaster Waterbury of Denver.

.

Then all the way back down to Humboldt, Nv., for a train robbery on July 14.

.

Then all the way back up to Big Piney, Wy., on August 27 for a general store/post office robbery, and long term chase into late October/early November.

.

Revisionist itinerary:

.

Sundance, lying low at Grand Junction, leaves there for Brown's Park in the Spring, linking up with Logan, then heads down into Utah (with or without "Flatnose"). Perhaps hearing Butch was dead, they hook up with Maxwell--whom Mike Bell points out they may have been acquainted with from his horse-stealing days in Wyoming and Nebraska--and agree to support a robbery for a grubstake. Sundance, in some relationship with Etta Place (using the name "Flora Ackley"), telegraphs her back in Grand Junction to join him in Springville.

.

In late May, abandoning Provo as a target, Maxwell instead hits Springville and botches his escape just as Etta is coming into town. The gang sends in Harvey Logan--involved with the robbery, according to the Thiel agency--to pick her up after she panics and is placed in custody for her suspicious behavior. The gang next regroups in Eureka, and "Flora"/Etta splits off, possibly to New Mexico or Texas

.

The gang heads northwest into Nevada for the Humboldt robbery on July 14.

.

The gang then heads all the way up to Wyoming for Big Piney or other mischief by August 27 if Sundance doesn't split off and eventually head to New Mexico or the Beeler ranch.

.

.

What was "Flora's" part? If she was Etta, could Sundance have known her in 1898?

.

.

Whatever "Flora Ackley's" part was, she was taken by surprise. Maxwell's initial plan was to rob the bank in Provo a few days earlier, something "Flora" probably couldn't have known. Deciding Springville would make an easier target, he shifted his attention there, but even at that robbed it six hours ahead of schedule because he was afraid the owner of the buggy he had rented and not returned would alert authorities, again something "Flora" would have no idea of.

.

As to "Flora," there was nothing subtle about her appearance. She came into town, dressed to the nines, and there can only be two possible reasons for it: Either as a disguise, or because that's how she liked to look.

.

If as a disguise, either she was there to pass herself off as a wealthy young woman--perhaps to do some sort of scouting of the bank and town--or else she was going to be used to hand off the money from the robbery at Price, a woman of that sort of appearance not arousing suspicion if found carrying a lot of cash.

.

If instead that was her normal mode of appearance, it says a lot about her. She was clearly "High Maintenance," and didn't fit with the three gentlemen she was with at all, who with their humble modes of conveyance would have resembled miners or cowboys that from outward appearances wouldn't seem to have the means to keep an attractive young woman like that in expensive clothes and jewelry.

.

If the latter case, this could give some insight into Butch's eventual "Heart of a whore" comment about Etta Place.

.

As to whether Sundance could have known Etta in 1898, we have no certain idea when or where he met her, so we have no way of knowing.

.

In a possibly related incident, Nicholas Curtis, searching Salt Lake marriage records, found that after this event an alleged Kansas couple with a woman named Flora married a man named Ackley in Salt Lake. One of the two witnesses had the same last name as the Justice of the Peace; the other bore the name of a local tailor. Neither seems to be either of the two "relatives" from the Springville trio, causing one to wonder where they got to if this is the same couple. Coincidentally, Sundance was believed to have split off from Logan and Flatnose for a time to visit a cousin in Nevada, so if he was the "Ackley" getting married, the other two members of his gang may have headed into Nevada ahead of him, and this could be why they were not present.

.

As in the case with Springville, Census records are no help with this "Flora" either; in fact, no women by her name are recorded as having been born in Kansas during the year she claimed to have been born. A search of other records does show a number of Kansas women bearing the same name, married and unmarried; and a host of men with the same name of the man. But assuming for convenience this is the same couple, we are left with the same mystery:

.

No explanation as to why an alleged couple from Kansas would have been staying in Colorado, then split up and come down to Utah, with the man coming down by wagon and the woman by train.

What ties they would have to Utah in the first place.

How the men involved would know about the activities of the Robbers Roosters.

Why they would plan to meet up in the sleepy town of Springville, of all places--where a bank robbery coincidentally was going to take place--rather than major cities like Salt Lake or even Provo, the stop just before Springville.

Why the woman, with no evidence, would immediately conclude her "husband" was part of that bank robbery.

Why she would identify two different men as husbands.

Why she and her husband disappear, not to be heard from again.

Why they do not appear in the 1900 census just two years later, and in fact never seem to appear on record again.

.

Now if the marriage certificate is accurate, obviously the man could not have been Sundance. But naturally we must question how truthful an outlaw would be with his information on legal documents before a Justice of the Peace! Flora's information is basically valueless since census records do not verify it, and we don't know Etta Place's real name and background, thus she could have been from anywhere, born under any name. In the end, both names could have been real or been aliases

.

Interestingly, as we go forward to 1904, right at the start of the World's Fair we know Sundance and Etta attended, a "Mrs. T. B. Ackley" checked into a hotel in the Port of Los Angeles. If it was Etta and Sundance, arriving from South America on the West Coast and again using the Ackley alias from 1898 related to "T. B. Ackley," known to have traveled between Colorado and Utah in 1898, it appears she and Sundance intended to make the opening day of the World's Fair but would miss it by a few days.

.

There is one more possibility that must be considered: If the story about Etta Place being at Robbers Roost in 1896-1897 is true, she may still have been in some sort of relationship with Butch Cassidy, in which case the cast of characters in this event would change completely if Butch, rather than Sundance, had some involvement with this episode. Of course, we might wonder if Butch would even consider working with Maxwell on anything. However, in the case of the prospector whom the Currie gang was accused of robbing, when one of the robbers forced him to change hats, a letter was found in the sweatband indicating that Butch Cassidy was riding with some gang members including Maxwell.²⁴

.

So who really was "Flora (Florence?) Ackley"? Was she the wife of an older, wealthy man in Colorado who left a loveless marriage for the excitement of life on the run with an exciting young outlaw--only to walk into a robbery and arrest? Was she the wife of a cowboy or miner who spent every cent he had to keep her in style, and may have turned to robbery to keep the money coming in? Was she simply a suspicious-behaving Kansas farm girl who married a Kansas man? Was she the eventual "Etta Place" Sundance could have met in Grand Junction, who may have come into the relationship with some money of her own--a handy thing for a busted-broke outlaw on the run?

.

I believe it was the latter, but we will probably never know for sure.

.

Finally, as an interesting coincidence, one legend about Etta Place is that she had a daughter after Sundance abandoned her--whom she named Florence!

.

As always, she remains a tantalizing mystery.

.

.

hit counter