NARRATIVE: After successfully robbing the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado, Butch Cassidy and his accomplices settled into a quieter life in Star Valley, Wyoming. They turned to cattle rustling and trading horses, many of which came with questionable bills of sale.

Butch and Al Haines, his partner in the horse trading business, faced legal trouble when they were accused of selling three horses stolen from the Grey Bull Cattle Company. Despite a trial, Butch and Al were acquitted due to the prosecution's insufficient evidence. Shortly after, Butch was detained, though never formally charged, for allegedly stealing a five-dollar horse. This time, he was convicted and sentenced to two years of hard labor in Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie.

Despite his imprisonment, Butch maintained his charisma and earned respect from both fellow inmates and guards, becoming a model prisoner. During his time behind bars, Butch's family, mother, and Judge Jesse Knight, who had sentenced him, petitioned Governor William Richards for his pardon.

After Butch served eighteen months of his sentence, Governor Richards visited him in prison and granted him a pardon on January 19, 1896, securing his release as a free man with no further legal entanglements. According to speculation, before pardoning Butch, Governor Richards extracted a promise that Butch would refrain from stealing cattle and horses or robbing banks in Wyoming. However, there was no mention of train robbery in the alleged agreement.

Inspired by Butch's prison description and mug shot, my painting captures his youthful handsomeness and the mischievous glint in his eye. I employed vibrant colors and dynamic energy to depict this colorful outlaw, embodying his spirit as he eagerly looks forward to resuming his life of adventure and crime. (Sources: "Butch Cassidy Legends" by Pat Turner; "The True Story of an American Outlaw: Butch Cassidy" by Charles Leerhsen, Simon & Schuster 2020)