Sometimes Cassidy

by Art Davidson

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[John S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is alittle hard to follow, I found it to be very interesting and quite enjoyable. For a better understanding of how to put the pieces together, you first need some understanding of the author. Where he and his family had lived, what parts they played, and how they were involved. More importantly, who all they were involved with. You must also understand local lore and possibly heard the tellings of the older generation of the area. Being someone who lives in the very same area as they did, I can see a lot of truth behind the story.

[LAB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fresh out of the military after World War II, Art Davidson wandered the West looking for adventure and mineral wealth. Along the way he discovered an intriguing fellow who called himself Bob Parker. Over the span of several years, Parker told Davidson about all the lies and deceptions woven about Butch Cassidy and claimed that there was more than one Cassidy. He backed up the theory with stories of robberies, swindles, horse breeding, and mining for uranium, all of which he claimed proved his point.

Several years after Parker’s death, Davidson wrote down his memories of those stories and added his own attempts to prove the truth of them. Sometimes Cassidy (Hawkes Publishing, 1994) is the resulting book. By the time the story ends, several men with numerous aliases are offered up as Cassidy, a syndicate of robbers and uranium miners hold the key to the riches of the San Rafael Swell, and even Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla are attached to the tale.

I found the book frustratingly obtuse, filled with conjecture and misdirection, and poorly documented. Equally distracting was the fact that the book binding was bad quality and half the pages kept falling out. One noted Butch Cassidy historian kindly observed that Art Davidson had fallen for one of the West’s best contrived lies. An interesting story, yes, but lacking credibility.