Searching for Sundance

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Searching for Sundance

Place of death a mystery, but he lived and hid out in S.W. Colorado
This famous photo of the Sundance Kid and the beautiful Etta Place was taken in New York City after he had bought her an expensive diamond watch at Tiffany’s. The watch is pinned to her blouse. Questions remain about whether Sundance died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army, but even less is known about Etta, though on July 29, 1905 the S.S. Seguranca arrived in New York City from Panama and on board was a Mrs. E. Place. Rumors persist that she went on to San Francisco and disappeared after the 1906 earthquake.
The narrow opening to the outlaw cave has just enough space for someone to slide down into it, but once inside three to four men could sleep out of the weather and with little chance of being found.
Bud Poe has worked to conserve hundreds of acres in Trail Canyon west of Cortez and on his private land is an outlaw cave impossible to see unless you are six feet in front of it.
Two pieces of metal, one with a cutout for a stovepipe, lie on the ground near the cave’s entrance but no other artifacts have been found other than the remains of a brush corral close to the canyon’s bottom.
Archie Hanson, developer of Indian Camp Ranch, has a dugout or cellar on his property which may have been an outlaw hangout but it’s been stabilized and no trace of a chimney or stovepipe exists. A source of heat would have been important for a prolonged stay.
There are stories of a Sundance Kid hideout along Alkali Creek which flows south towards McElmo Canyon, but no hideout has been discovered. The creek is quiet and remote even today.
Brush and bushes conceal the cave’s entrance as does a two-foot tall, ten-foot long berm probably constructed to increase security.
Atop the outlaw cave a sandstone ledge provides excellent views up and down the canyon all the way to Sleeping Ute Mountain. Outlaws could easily have posted a sentinel with a Winchester rifle in hand.

Searching for Sundance

This famous photo of the Sundance Kid and the beautiful Etta Place was taken in New York City after he had bought her an expensive diamond watch at Tiffany’s. The watch is pinned to her blouse. Questions remain about whether Sundance died in a shootout with the Bolivian Army, but even less is known about Etta, though on July 29, 1905 the S.S. Seguranca arrived in New York City from Panama and on board was a Mrs. E. Place. Rumors persist that she went on to San Francisco and disappeared after the 1906 earthquake.
The narrow opening to the outlaw cave has just enough space for someone to slide down into it, but once inside three to four men could sleep out of the weather and with little chance of being found.
Bud Poe has worked to conserve hundreds of acres in Trail Canyon west of Cortez and on his private land is an outlaw cave impossible to see unless you are six feet in front of it.
Two pieces of metal, one with a cutout for a stovepipe, lie on the ground near the cave’s entrance but no other artifacts have been found other than the remains of a brush corral close to the canyon’s bottom.
Archie Hanson, developer of Indian Camp Ranch, has a dugout or cellar on his property which may have been an outlaw hangout but it’s been stabilized and no trace of a chimney or stovepipe exists. A source of heat would have been important for a prolonged stay.
There are stories of a Sundance Kid hideout along Alkali Creek which flows south towards McElmo Canyon, but no hideout has been discovered. The creek is quiet and remote even today.
Brush and bushes conceal the cave’s entrance as does a two-foot tall, ten-foot long berm probably constructed to increase security.
Atop the outlaw cave a sandstone ledge provides excellent views up and down the canyon all the way to Sleeping Ute Mountain. Outlaws could easily have posted a sentinel with a Winchester rifle in hand.