Did Butch Cassidy Escape Bolivia To Die In Spokane Washington?

For years there have been those who claim that Robert Leroy Parker, also known as Butch Cassidy, bearing a striking resemblance to the late Paul Newman, was not killed in a shootout in Bolivia in 1908.

The Butch Cassidy Bolivian Death naysayers insist Butch managed to escape the Bolivian Cavalry, changed his name to William T. Phillips, moved to Spokane, where he worked as a machinist, living 29 years past his alleged Bolivian death, to die in 1937.

How Butch and Sundance met their end has always had an element of mystery attached to it. Mystery or myth.

What historians generally agree on is that Robert Leroy Parker was born in Beaver, Utah in 1866. The Parkers were a Mormon family, with 13 kids, of which Butch was the oldest. Butch Cassidy's first bank holdup took place high in the mountains of Colorado, in Telluride. After that Butch holed up with cattle rustlers in Johnson County in Wyoming at a place that came to be known as the Hole in the Wall. Butch moved on before the start of the infamous 1892 Johnson County War between homesteader and cattle barons.

After Butch left Johnson County he was caught by the law, serving a year and a half in the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie. Butch's crime was being in possession of three stolen horses. After Butch got out of prison he spent the next 20 years holding up banks and trains with the Sundance Kid and the Hole in the Wall Gang.

And now a rare books collector claims he has a manuscript with provides fresh evidence that Robert Leroy Parker survived Bolivia and moved to Spokane, where, as William T. Phillips, he penned a 200 page tale titled "Bandit Invincible: The Story of Butch Cassidy." This manuscript is dated as having been written in 1934 and is twice as long as a previous known iteration written by William T. Phillips.

In 1991 what were believed to be the bones of Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid, were exhumed from their resting place in San Vicente, Bolivia. DNA testing proved the bones were not those of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

"Bandit Invincible" claims that the Sundance Kid did die in the shootout with the Bolivian Calvary. Butch somehow managed to escape and make his way to France where he had appearance altering plastic surgery in Paris. Eventually Butch made his way back to America to Wyoming to reunite with his old girlfriend. "Bandit Invincible" does not identify the old girlfriend as Etta Place.

William T. Phillips had no offspring. Phillips was cremated. So, there is no known DNA to test against any known Butch Cassidy DNA.

So, was Spokane, Washington the final hideout for Butch Cassidy? Seems like no one can say for sure, though there are plenty of skeptics, along with plenty who think there is a lot of evidence that William T. Phillips is Butch Cassidy.

My best guess is the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid got it right. Butch and Sundance died in Bolivia. I am often wrong.

Endangered Pygmy Rabbits are Back Breeding in the Columbia Basin

That is not a baby rabbit I am holding in my hands. What it is is a Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit.

The Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits are an endangered species.

Until recently it had been 10 years since Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits reproduced in their native habitat.

This past spring, Pygmy Rabbits bred in the Oregon Zoo were moved back to their native habit, on a wildlife reserve near Ephrata, Washington.

Wildlife managers have confirmed several litters of Pygmy Rabbit babies in the 6 acre wildlife reserve. Baby Pygmy Rabbits are called kits.

Previous efforts to return Pygmy Rabbits to their native habitat have failed. Pygmy Rabbits have a tough time in the wild, existing pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.

And Pygmy Rabbit moms are not Mother Nature's best mothers. After giving birth in a burrow the Pygmy Rabbit mother back fills the burrow, then takes off, returning once a day to uncover the burrow, yanking the kits to the surface, nursing them, then putting the kits back in the burrow, then sealing it up again.

Until this spring's successful breeding in the wild it is believed there were no Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits left in the wild.

I wonder if Pygmy Rabbits make good pets?

USA Today & Rand McNally Decide Walla Walla Washington is the Friendliest Town in America

USA Today and map maker Rand McNally had what they called the "Best of the Road" contest where 5 teams of scouts were sent on road trips totalling 25,000 miles over the course of 3 weeks, looking for friendly people, stunning sights, terrific tastes, patriotism and fun.

After scouring America USA Today and Rand McNally decided Walla Walla, Washington was the friendliest town they visited.

Other towns checked out were places like Rapid City, South Dakota. Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Lafayette, Louisiana. Valdosta, Georgia. Woodward, Oklahoma. Nacogdoches, Texas. Lake Havasu City, Arizona and Mount Airy, North Carolina.

A total of 30 towns were visited.

While Walla Walla was the friendliest, Sandpoint, Idaho was the most scenic. Rapid City was the most patriotic. Lafayette had the best small town food. Glenwood Springs was the town with the most fun.

In the past 10 years Walla Walla has seen a big boom in wineries, with a growing reputation for producing some of the best American wines, turning Walla Walla into a destination for connoisseurs of wine. Several of the Walla Walla Wineries have earned top scores from various wine publications like The Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirits and Wine Spectator.

The Walla Walla Wineries include Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole 41, Leonetti Cellar, Walla Walla Village Winery, Spring Valley Vineyards, Cayuse Vineyards, Reininger Winery, Waterbrook Winery,  Forgeron Cellars, Tamarack Cellars, Walla Walla Vintners, Seven Hills Winery, Pepper Bridge Winery and Amavi Cellars.

Walla Walla is also known for its Walla Walla Sweet Onions. An excerpt from the Walla Walla Sweet Onions website...

"The story of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions began over a century ago on the Island of Corsica, off the west coast of Italy. It was there that a French soldier, Peter Pieri, found a sweet onion seed and brought it to the Walla Walla Valley. This sweet onion developed over generations through the process of carefully hand selecting onions from each year’s crop, ensuring exceptional sweetness, jumbo size, and round shape. Today’s growers realize they’re not just raising sweet onions, but cultivating a tradition."

Walla Walla is also known for being the location of the Washington State Penitentiary. This is the location of Washington's death row, where executions occur, by lethal injection. Or the condemned can choose to be hanged. Since 1921 the Washington State Penitentiary has been Washington's license plate factory, producing around 2,400,000 plates a year.

I am guessing the USA Today Rand McNally visitors focused more on the Walla Walla Wine and Walla Walla Sweet Onions, than the Washington State Penitentiary, when deciding Walla Walla was the friendliest town they visited.

Washington Has Almost Doubled Its Number of Obese Residents in the Past 15 Years

Somewhat surprising obesity news out of Washington today. That being that in the past 15 years Washington has almost doubled its obesity rate.

Washington's obesity rate was 13.9 % of the population in 1995, this increased to 26.4 % of Washingtonians being obese in 2011.

Washington is in an elite class of 10 states which had 90 % increases in obesity rates since 1995.

Washington is now the 28th most obese state, according to the latest data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1995 Washington was tied with California for the 32nd most obese spot.

Washington is now the most obese of the west coast states. Oregon's obesity rate is 25.4 %, California is even skinnier with a 24.8 % obesity rate.

Washington's neighbor to the east, Idaho has a 25.7 % obesity rate.

In 1998 I moved to one of America's most obese states, Texas. Since I arrived in Texas, the state has gotten less obese. I am fairly certain this shrinkage has nothing to do with my arrival in Texas.

I have noticed, when returning for visits to Washington, that many of my acquaintances. And relatives. Have grown fatter.

When I moved to Texas the entity in the photo above likely weighed around 250 pounds. The last time I saw her, in 2008, she had easily doubled, maybe tripled, in size. This entity could be the Poster Child, I mean, Adult, for Washington's obesity problem.

In Washington it is so easy to be active, outdoors, all year long. It is so easy to get fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood.

Washington needs to go on a diet, at once, and get skinnier than Oregon, California, Idaho and Texas.

The 4th of July in Western Washington

The 4th of July will be bursting out all over the Puget Sound region this extended weekend, with the 4th being on Monday.

My favorite 4th of July Parade is the Loggerodeo Parade in Sedro Woolley.

My favorite fireworks at Seattle's Family 4th on Lake Union, viewed from Gas Works Park.

Below is a list of many of the 4th of July events taking place through July 4 in Western Washington....

Aberdeen - Event: 4th of July "Splash" Fireworks Display Place: Morrison River Front Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 a.m. to late evening

Arlington - Event: Arlington Festival & Frontier Days Place: Arlington Boys and Girls Club, 59th Drive NE Date: July 4th Time: 7:00 p.m. to late evening.

Auburn - Event: Emerald Downs Fireworks Spectacular Place: 2300 Emerald Downs Drive Date: July 3rd Time: Noon to late evening

Bainbridge Island - Event: Grand Old Fourth of July Celebration. Place: Winslow Waterfront Park & Down town area Date: July 4th Time: Pancake Breakfast, Street Fair, 7:00 a.m. to late evening

Bellevue - Event: Bellevue Family Fourth Place: Bellevue Downtown Park Date: July 4th Time: 2:00 p.m. to late evening.

Blaine - Event: Old Fashioned 4th of July All day. Fireworks at dusk.

Bothell - Event: Lake Washington at Kenmore's Log Boom Park, off Bothell Way at 60th Pl. NE. Fireworks at 10 p.m.

Carnation -  Event: The Great Carnation 4th of July Celebration Place: Tolt McDonald Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk

Centralia/Chehalis - Event: Summer Festival Borst Park Centralia Place: Fireworks Display at SW Washington Fair Grounds Date: July 4th Time: 7:00 a.m. - late evening

Eastsound - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Indian Island / East sound Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk/9:45 p.m.

Edmonds - Event: An Edmonds Kind of Fourth Place: Civic Stadium, 6th & Bell Date: July 4th Time: 7:30 p.m festivities, fireworks at 10:00 p.m.

Enumclaw - Event: Stars and Stripes 4th of July Celebration Place: King County Fairgrounds, Expo Center Date: July 4th Time: Parade at Noon Downtown, Fireworks at Dusk @ Expo Parking Lot

Everett - Event: Colors of Freedom Festival Place: Legion Park or Harborview Park Date: July 4th, Festivities throughout the day Time: Fireworks at Dusk, Approximately 10:20 p.m.

Everson - Event: Les Schwab/Hawley’s Fireworks Spectacular Place: Deming Speedway Date: July 2nd Time: Fireworks after the Races

Federal Way - Event: Red, White and Blues Festival - Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Celebration Park, 1095 S. 324th Date: July 4th Time: Fireworks Display at 10:15 p.m.

Fort Lewis - Event: Freedom Fest, Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Cowan Stadium Date: July 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. to late evening

Friday Harbor - Event: Picnic, Music, Parade and Fireworks Display Place: San Juan Historical Museum, 405 Price St. Date: July 4 Time: 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Kenmore - Event: Fourth of July Fireworks Place: Lake Washington, Log Boom Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.

Kent - Event: 4th of July Splash, Fireworks Display Place: Lake Meridian Park Date: July 4th Time: noon - late evening fireworks at dusk

Kingston - Event: Kingston Fourth of July Celebration Place: Mike Wallace Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., fireworks at dusk

Kirkland - Event: Celebrate Kirkland Place: Marina Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:15 p.m.

Maple Valley - Event: Fourth of July Celebration Place: Lake Wilderness Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk

Monroe - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Monroe Fairgrounds at the Speedway Date: July 4th Time: Immediately after Races

Mount Vernon - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Edgewater Park Date: July 4th Time: Approximately 10:00 p.m.

Newcastle - Event: Old Fashioned 4th of July Place: Lake Boren Park (13010 SE 84th Way) Date: July 4th Time: Dark

Orcas Island - Event: Eastsound Fireworks Display Place: Eastsound Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: 9:45 p.m.

Port Orchard - Event: Fathoms of Fun Festival Place: View from Port Orchard, Bremerton and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Date: July 4th Time: 10:30

Port Townsend - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Fort Worden State Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.

Poulsbo - Event: Third of July Celebration Place: over Liberty Bay—view from Anderson Parkway and Waterfront Park Date: July 3rd Time: Booths open at 5:00 p.m., fireworks at 10:15 p.m.

Puyallup - Event: City Blast Fireworks Show Place: Puyallup Fair Grand Stands Date: July 4th Time: 9:45 p.m.

Renton - Event: Fabulous Fourth of July Place: Gene Coulton Memorial Beach Park Date: July 4th Time: Events mid morning to 9:30 p.m. fireworks 10:00 p.m.

Sammamish - Event: Fourth on the Plateau Place: Sammamish Commons Park Date: July 4th Time: Approximately 10:00 p.m.

San Juan - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Friday Harbor Date: July 4th Time: After parade at approximately 10:00 p.m.

Seattle - Event: Family 4th at Lake Union Place: Gas Works Park Date: July 4th Time: Noon through late evening. The show will be simulcast on 97.3 KIRO FM and will be televised on KING 5 and streamed on KING5.com. Dennis Bounds, Meeghan Black and Jim Dever will bring you all the festivities - including a live post-fireworks concert by Seattle's own Dusty 45s.

Sekiu - Event: Clallam Bay Sekiu Fun Days Place: Fireworks Off of Olson’s Breakwater in Sekiu Date: July 9th-11th Time: Dusk

Silver Lake - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Silver Shores Resort, 4220 Spirit Lake Hwy Date: July 3rd Time: Dusk

Steilacoom - Event: Steilacoom Old Fashioned 4th of July - Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Lafayette Street, Down Town Date: July 4th Time: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Tacoma - Event: Freedom Fair and Fireworks Extravaganza Place: Rustin Way Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 a.m. till late evening

Tumwater - Event: Tumwater Artesian Festival Place: Tumwater Valley Golf Course Date: July 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. parade, Festival 6:00 p.m., Fireworks at 10:30 p.m.

Whidbey Island - Event: Celebrate America Place: Freeland Park, 140 E. Main St., Freeland Date: July 3rd Time: 4:00-6:00, fireworks at dusk

Yarrow Point - Event: Yarrow Point Community 4th Place: Cozy Cove Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.

Spencer Jack & Your Hometown Fidalgo Drive-In Family Restaurant in Anacortes Washington

That is my great nephew (or is it grand nephew?) Spencer Jack in the picture getting ready to have a root beer float in his dad's restaurant, the Fidalgo Drive-In.

I last saw Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew Jason, in April of 2006 when I was in the Skagit Valley of Washington for Jason's wedding. The wedding reception was held at Jason's previous restaurant, Eaglemont Pavilion, in Mount Vernon.

At some point in time, after 2006, Jason opened the Fidalgo Drive-In in Anacortes. I thought I'd been told Jason's restaurant was called Jason's Grub.

This morning my sister emailed me some pictures. One picture was of Jason's brother, Joey, clam digging on Samish Island and one was of Jason at Bay View State Park, wearing a shirt that said Fidalgo Drive-In on it.

I Googled Fidalgo Drive-In to find Jason has a website for his restaurant. Unfortunately the website does not come up in the #1 position due to it being a flash based website. Those do not index well with the search engines.

Checking out the Fidalgo Drive-In website I see Jason has a lot of tempting seafood. I miss Pacific Northwest seafood. I remember the first time I dropped in on Jason's Eaglemont Pavilion he made me cod and fries. Very good cod.

Several other websites have reviews of Jason's restaurant. Below is what some of the Fidalgo Drive-In diners had to say........

Terry V. said....

Great milkshakes!

Sean B. said....

Holy mother of crab, this place was delicious!

After a long, relaxing weekend in the San Juans, my boyfriend and I were dreading the drive from Anacortes to Tacoma. Thankfully, my filling experience at Fidalgo made the journey a tolerable experience.

I had the crab sandwich, which amounted to a giant lump of buttery crab, wedged between a bun. There may have been some vegetables wedged in there, but who cares? It was loaded with crab! The onion rings were also served in generous portions, and soft-serve ice cream was a-plenty in the root beer floats.

I will definitely make a point of stopping here on my next trip to the San Juans!

Chris C. said....

Cool!  A first review!  A former A&W.  Went on a Saturday at lunch with a party of seven into an almost full restaurant.  Put in a big order and it came rather fast.

The food was good and a more than you would expect from a drive-in/fast food place.  Had a selection of burgers, corn dogs, regular fries, curly fries, tater tots, soup, and root beer floats.   All was good. The root beer floats were huge!  The tater tots were crispy and probably the best I have ever had.  The soup was Ivar's, can't go wrong there.

The menu had quite a selection and enough choices to satisfy any group.  Service was friendly.  Place was clean.

Jordan B. said....

Really good burgers and amazing waffle fries. The French Dip was pretty good, but the burgers are better. Pretty big menu for such a small place. Cheese curds are awesome.

Wikipedia Has An Article About Burlington-Edison High School

I am not much of a fan of Facebook.

But.

This afternoon I came upon something that seemed Facebook share-worthy.

Share-worthy with Facebook Friends who also happen to be people I went to high school with in Washington.

Burlington, Washington, to be precise.

Burlington-Edison High School to be even more precise.

The Share-worthy thing was being surprised to find Wikipedia has an article about Burlington-Edison High School.

I tried to share this on Facebook, via the Facebook share status deal. But, apparently I can not concisely explain anything. Facebook kept telling me I was way above the permitted number of words. I grew tired of trying to whittle down the length.

Then I remembered I have blogs.

So, I decided since Burlington-Edison High School is in Washington, this could go on my Washington Blog where I can be as long-winded as I want with no one able to tell me to quit talking so much.

I tried to find a picture of the old high school, to no avail. Then I remembered one in an annual. I scanned it. So, there is now a picture on the internet of the long-demolished old high school many of us went to school in.

I also saw a picture of myself that I don't remember. It appears we are some sort of totem pole with me at the top. I can tell that right below me is Janice J., below Janice is Beth S., aka Honey Lulu, below Honey is Lori M., aka Carlotta Camano, below Carlotta is a little blond twerp named Jake, who also happens to be my brother.

I'm digressing badly from what I read in the Wikipedia article about B-EHS.

One interesting part of the article is a list of 6 notable B-E graduates.

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that I was not on the list of notables.

Of the six notables, I knew of three. Edward R. Murrow, Mary Mapes and the most notable, number one on the list, Danielle Fisher, youngest daughter of Jerome and Karen Fisher, who happens to be the youngest person to climb to the summit of the tallest mountain on each of the 7 continents.

One of the six notables confused me. "Ezekiel Engle- Best football player to never get a start because of Shearer."

Shearer? Who is Shearer? Then when I read the rest of the article I learned that in recent years a guy, last name of Shearer, has been the B-E football coach. I suspect someone named Ezekiel Engle had himself a little Wikipedia editing fun. The entry may have been deleted by now.

The following paragraph also confused me...

The Tiger football team has won state championships in 1971, 1977 and 1986 led by legendary Glenn Rickert. The Tigers have found recent success in the past decade under coach Bruce Shearer. They have made the state playoffs 6 straight years from 2005 and present, including a state championship run against the Prosser Mustangs in 2007.

It has been a few years, and my memory is not what it used to be. But, I do not remember there being high school football playoffs ending with a champion. I do remember B-E ending up in the top spot in those poll type things they do for football. But, I also remember going to a B-E football game in the Kingdome in the late 80s or early 90s. That had to be some sort of championship/tournament game.

I won't rest until I get to the bottom of this B-EHS football state championships mystery.

I had not heard of the B-EHS Intelligent Design Scandal til reading the Wikipedia article.

Football is almost as big a deal in Burlington as it is in Texas. I learned something new about Burlington football in the below paragraph....

The football game between the Burlington-Edison Tigers and the Mount Vernon Bulldogs, known as the "Battle of the Bridge" is played every year either at Kirkby Field or Bulldog Stadium. The Tigers have won the past 8 meetings from 2003 to present, recently winning the 105th battle at Kirkby Field 20-6.

You do not grow up in Burlington and not know that the annual football game between Mount Vernon and Burlington is a big deal. But, I do not ever remember hearing the game called the "Battle of the Bridge."

I do remember one year, I think it was after I was out of high school. Burlington and Mount Vernon were number 1 and 2 in the football poll, with the winner the state champion, as determined, then, I think, by poll. I remember the game was played in Burlington, with extra bleachers brought in, creating a sort of bowl-like effect.

I am almost 100% certain Burlington won that "Battle of the Bridge" and thus one more state championship.