OCR Text |
Show Sister of Famed Butch Cassidy Visits in Hanksville Area By Barbara Ekker Mrs. Lula Betenson, youngest young-est sister of the famed western west-ern outlaw, Butch Cassidy, visited Sunday in Hanksville to collect data for her book about her famed brother. She visited with Mrs. Edna Ekker Robison, who personally person-ally knew Mr. Cassidy as a child as he traded at her late father's (Charles Gibbons) Gib-bons) store and hotel in the early 1900's. Mrs. Betenson is the only survivor of the Parker family which included includ-ed thirteen children, six girls and seven boys of ' whom Butch was the oldest. Mrs. Betenson noted that her brother bro-ther was christened Robert Le Rov Parker and had left home at the age of sixteen when he began his outlaw career. Mrs. Robison, who is 76, related that her family considered con-sidered Butch more of the Robin Hood type of outlaw, and they considered his association asso-ciation with them as an honor. hon-or. He had worked for a short time in Hanksville for Mr. Gibbons, while he and his band were quartered tit the Robber's Roost. Mrs. Ekker's son, Arthur, is the current owner of the Roost and operates a tour service in that area called "Out Law Trails." Mrs. Betenson, now 84, is very active in her home in Circleville and has been Piute Pi-ute County Democratic chairman chair-man for many years. She recently attended the Stain Convention with her son, Mark, who was a delegate. Mrs. Betenson lost her husband, hus-band, Joseph, twenty years ago, but her two sons, Mark and John still reside in Circleville Cir-cleville and Mark operates the Parker Ranch as did his grandparents, Maxamillian and Ann Campbell Gillies Parker. Two children, Pauline Paul-ine and Scott reside in Kanab, and another daughter Barbara, Bar-bara, is head beautician at the Paris in Salt Lake City. St. George and Lake Mead are presently shooting loca-"tions loca-"tions for the MGM movie, "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Sun-dance Kid," in which Paul Newman will play the lead role, that of Butch Cassidy, with Robert Redford portraying por-traying the Sundance Kid. Katherine Ross, recently the winner of an Oscar for her role in "The Graduate," will carry the female lead. Mrs. Pearl Baker of San Antonio, New Mexico, and author of "Wild Bunch At Robber's Roost," will assist as-sist Mrs. Betenson in writing writ-ing her book and they hope to have it to the publishers by the first of the year. |