Options available for Wild Bunch

One of the common sights at the annual Cowboy Rendezvous PRCA Rodeo, this year scheduled for June 23 and 24, is the Wild Bunch.

The original Wild Bunch members were the last of the old-time outlaws, a colorful group of bandits who spent time in and around Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin throughout the 1890s. Since Hot Springs County’s first known rodeo was held near the Big Spring in 1895, it’s very possible these desperados attended one of the early performances.

In the early 1900s, the rodeo became very popular and in the 40s and 50s the Thermopolis rodeo was one of the biggest in the United States. A major contributor to the rodeo’s success was the efforts of a “booster club” whose members travelled all over the west promoting their local event through participation in parades and festivals.

Today, the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous is still a “living legacy.” The Wild Bunch is a group of rodeo fans dedicated not only to the success of our annual rodeo but to seeing it restored to the grandeur of former years.

Their commitment to this rodeo provides a foundation of financial support. The public is invited to join the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous Wild Bunch. Membership options include:

The “Butch Cassidy” — Butch Cassidy aka Robert Leroy Parker, was born in Beaver, Utah, on April 13, 1866. He became a cowboy while in his teens and met outlaw Mike Cassidy, adopting Cassidy’s name after joining him in rustling cattle.

The “Sundance Kid” — Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid, was born in Mont Claire, Pennsylvania in 1867. In 1887, Longabaugh stole a gun, horse and saddle from a ranch in Sundance, Wyoming. While fleeing, he was captured and convicted, earning him the name of Sundance Kid.

The “Kid Curry” — Harvey Alexander Logan, born in Richland Township, Tama County, Iowa in 1867, was orphaned by his mother and befriended a man named “Flat Nose” George Curry, from whom he took his new last name. Kid Curry was known to be one of the “wildest” of the Wild Bunch.

More information and membership applications can be downloaded online at http://www.thermopoliscowboyrendezvous.com/wildbunch.

People are encouraged to review membership levels and choose the one which best reflects their commitment.

Contributions can be made by returning completed membership forms with appropriate funds to the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous PRCA Rodeo Committee, Attn: Wild Bunch, P. O. Box 206, Thermopolis, WY 82443.

Please make membership checks payable to “Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous Rodeo.” Return membership form and fees to: Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous Rodeo, P. O. Box 206, Thermopolis, WY 82443