Butch Cassidy's Cabin

Heading north on RP 71 through PN Los Alerces we drive through a fantastic landscape. We are somewhat tired of hiking and the weather is not so good (yes, we are a bit spoiled as we were very lucky so far ;-) so we decide to skip this park more or less. In particular since we could not visit El Abuelo, the oldest Alerce tree with approximately 2500 (!) years of age. Really amazing how old those trees can get. They estimate the oldest ones to reach about 4000 years. However, we can only do this trip to El Abuelo with an organized tour and the next one is scheduled for a week later. Instead, we continue north enjoying the colors of autumn along the road.

 

One interesting story we find in our guide book for this area is the one of Butch Cassidy. Most likely you have heard of him as his story is the theme of many movies. Here the link to Wikipedia if you want to read a bit more.

 

What we didn’t know is that when he grew tired of being on the run he, his partner the Sundance Kid and the latter’s girlfriend Etta Place bought a farm here in the region. Apparently they even tried to live a respectable life for a while. Their cabin is located near the Rio Blanco close to the small town of Cholila. The three lived here between 1901 and 1907 until the Pinkerton Detective Agency had traced them again.

 

After spending some time searching the cabin based on the description in our guidebook we finally find it. It says: “Jump the fence and head parallel to RP 71... after 200m you’ll see a cluster of three buildings”. Which of course we do and indeed find the cabin which apparently has been restored a few years ago. The rooms are empty apart from Butch’s favorite TV chair ;-)

It’s more the myth around these people that is fascinating us than the cabin itself. But they have chosen a very beautiful spot for their intended retirement. While it didn’t seem to have worked out with the retirement the location with the white peaks of the Andes visible in the distance and surrounded by trees is something that even today you don’t find everywhere. Even criminals enjoy this fantastic landscape. Good choice! :-)

copyright © 2022 by michael zink + karin schmidt

blog admin

privacy

imprint

contact us