Public DomainEtta Place and Harry Longabaugh, aka the Sundance Kid, in 1901.She appeared beside some of the Wild Wests most infamous outlaws, fled the United States for South America, and vanished so completely that historians still wonder who she really was. More than a century later, Etta Place remains one of the greatest mysteries of the American frontier.Place was elegant, beautiful, and skilled with a gun. She was close with outlaws, particularly Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance Kid of the Wild Bunch gang, to whom she may have been married.But her real name is debated to this day. And no one knows what happened to Place, as she vanished from the historical record sometime after 1909. This is everything we know about Etta Place, the mysterious outlaw companion of the Sundance Kid. The Mysterious Woman Who Rode With The Wild BunchVery little is known for certain about Etta Places early life. Most historians believe she was born around 1878, though even that remains uncertain. Some theories claimed she came from Texas, while others suggested she was born in Pennsylvania, New York, or elsewhere in the West.Even the name Etta Place name may have been fake. The surname Place likely came from Harry Longabaughs mother, whose maiden name was Place. The Sundance Kid himself occasionally used the alias Harry Place, leading many historians to believe Etta adopted the name while traveling with him. And, indeed, Pinkerton detectives in the 1990s referred to Place by several different names, including Ethel, Rita, Eva, and Betty Price.Public DomainThe Wild Bunch gang. Front row, left to right: Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance Kid; Ben Kilpatrick, the Tall Texan; Robert Leroy Parker, Butch Cassidy. Back row: Will Carver and Harvey Logan, Kid Curry. They didnt know her name, but the detectives described Place as having classic good looks, brown hair, and a refined appearance. She reportedly handled firearms well, rode horses skillfully, and moved comfortably through both outlaw camps and high society with ease. Because of this, Pinkerton detectives suspected she was originally from Texas. (Longabaugh too described Place in a letter as a Texas lady.)And while many details of her life remain unknown, it is clear that Etta Place was part of the Wild Bunch, the notorious Wild West gang led by Butch Cassidy. Etta Place Became Linked To Butch Cassidy And SundanceBy the late 1890s, the Wild Bunch had become one of the most notorious outlaw gangs in the American West. The gang, which included several outlaws including the Sundance Kid, robbed banks, trains, and payroll shipments across several states while repeatedly escaping law enforcement. And at some point, the Sundance Kid crossed paths with Etta Place. Historians believe the two met around 1899. One long-standing rumor claims Cassidy rescued Etta from a Texas brothel when she was still a teenager. Others believed she may have worked as a schoolteacher before joining the outlaws. Neither story has ever been proven. But its believed that once she met the gang, Place assisted the Wild Bunch by handling getaway horses and helping to scope out potential targets. Public DomainSome believe that Butch Cassidy, pictured here in an 1894 mugshot, rescued Etta Place from a brothel in Texas.By the turn of the century, however, the Wild Bunch gang was increasingly pursued by Pinkerton Detectives. Despite the risk, Etta Place and the Sundance Kid made an appointment to have their picture taken together in February 1901 at Joseph B. De Youngs photo studio in New York City. In the photo, the couple appear respectable a far cry from notorious outlaws. Indeed, after obtaining the photograph, Pinkerton detective William Pinkerton reportedly complained to his brother: It shows how daring these men are, and while you are looking for them in the wilderness and mountains, they are in the middle of society.But Place and Longabaugh understood the risks. Shortly after their picture was taken, Etta Place, Harry Longabaugh, and Butch Cassidy left the United States. Sailing under false names, they made their way to South America. The Outlaws Who Escaped To South AmericaIn February 1901, the trio boarded the Herminius in New York City and sailed to Argentina. Sundance and Place posed as Mr. and Mrs. Harry Place and may have indeed been married by this point while Cassidy traveled separately under the alias James Ryan.The group hoped South America would offer a fresh start far away from Pinkerton detectives and growing pressure from American law enforcement. For a time, the plan appeared to work.The outlaws purchased a ranch in Patagonia and attempted to live quietly as cattle ranchers. They were even able to escape detection and travel back and forth from Argentina and the United States. Place and Longabaugh purportedly traveled back to the United States in 1902 so Place could seek treatment for an unknown illness, and Salt Lake Magazine reports that Place and Longabaugh may have even attended the 1904 Worlds Fair. Rowanda/Wikimedia CommonsButch Cassidys ranch in Argentina. However, reports soon linked Cassidy and Sundance to robberies in Argentina and Bolivia. Pinkerton detectives continued tracking the fugitives internationally, while rumors spread that the gang remained active despite their attempts to disappear.Then, Etta Place did disappear. Etta Place Vanished From HistoryThe final years of Places life remain as mysterious as her origins. Some historians believe she permanently separated from Sundance Kid around 1906. Two years after that, the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy were reportedly killed during a shootout with Bolivian soldiers though speculation about their deaths continues to this day.But Place had quietly slipped out of the historic record.In 1909, a woman matching her description reportedly visited a U.S. diplomat in Chile seeking a death certificate for Sundance Kid. The woman was never positively identified, and she never returned to pick up the certificate. But from here, Places trail goes cold. Some rumors claimed she moved to Paraguay and married a wealthy man, or that she returned to Texas or New York under another identity. One theory suggested she became Fort Worth brothel owner Eunice Gray, though later researchers rejected the idea after comparing photographs.According to various rumors, Place died during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, committed suicide in Argentina during the 1920s, or spent her later years quietly working as a schoolteacher in Colorado or Oregon. Some even believe that the Sundance Kid escaped death in Bolivia, and that he and Place lived out the rest of their days together in peace. None of those claims have ever been proven, however.In fact, some historians believe that Etta Place was actually Ann Bassett, a cattle rustler who had close ties to Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.The Theory That Etta Place Was Ann BassettAt first glance, the theory that Etta Place was actually Ann Bassett seems convincing. Both women were born around 1878. Both were described as intelligent, attractive, skilled with horses, and independent for the era. Denver Public LibrarySome historians have suggested that Etta Place was actually Wild Bunch associate Ann Bassett, though conflicting timelines have cast doubt on the theory.Pinkerton records also describe Place as closely matched Bassetts physical appearance. And as the Utah Historical Society, Dr. Thomas G. Kyle of Los Alamos National Laboratory made a surprising discovery when he conducted computer-based photo comparisons between Place and Bassett: he found that the women shared nearly identical facial structures. They even shared the same unusual scar or cowlick near the top of their foreheads.Kyle thus concluded that Etta Place and Ann Bassett were one in the same. But not everyone agreed with these findings. For one, Bassett was married to another man in 1903. For another, she was arrested that same year, during a period when Place was believed to be in South America. However, like with many things about Etta Place, historians remain divided on the topic. One Of The Wild Wests Greatest MysteriesCampanile Productions, Inc.Katharine Ross portrayed Etta Place in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Unlike most famous figures from the Wild West, Etta Place left behind very little evidence of her existence. There are only a handful of confirmed photographs of her. None of her letters seem to have survived, and even basic details like her birthplace, family, and real name remain uncertain.While Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid remain icons of the Wild West, Etta Place remains far harder to pin down. Even the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid offered only a sanitized interpretation of her life, portraying her as a quiet school teacher rather than a woman who escaped a brothel to join a gang of outlaws. Today, we dont know her real name or her fate. Etta Place managed to evade both the Pinkerton detectives who sought to track her down, and the historians of today whove sought to decipher the facts of her life. After reading about Etta Place, the mysterious companion of the Sundance Kid, learn about Laura Bullion, the Thorny Rose of the Wild Bunch. Then, look through these stunning colorized photos of the Wild West.The post The Mysterious Story Of Etta Place, The Romantic Companion Of The Sundance Kid appeared first on All That's Interesting.