American Experience Season 25 Episode 9

Ep 9. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid: American Experience

  • February 11, 2014

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid: American Experience is a fascinating episode that delves into the lives of two of America's most infamous outlaws. The show explores the daring heists, narrow escapes, and eventual demise of Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, who were part of the Wild Bunch gang that terrorized the American West in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The show starts by introducing viewers to Butch Cassidy, who was born Robert Parker in 1865 in Utah. As a young man, Cassidy took to robbing stagecoaches and trains with a group of bandits that included his childhood friend, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka The Sundance Kid. The two soon became notorious for their daring heists, which earned them a reputation as the most wanted men in the West.

The show takes viewers on a journey through the lives of these two infamous outlaws, chronicling their rise to infamy and their daring escapes from the law. It explores the multiple bank and train robberies that made them famous, as well as their exploits in South America, where they fled after a wave of Pinkerton agents were sent to capture them.

The show is filled with fascinating anecdotes and interviews with historians, biographers, and descendants of the outlaws themselves. It explores the mythology that has surrounded Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, including the iconic scene in which the two jump off a cliff into a river to escape the Bolivian army.

The show also explores the romanticism that has long surrounded the Wild West and its outlaws, and the enduring legacy that Cassidy and The Sundance Kid have left behind. It asks the question of why these two men, who were responsible for so much violence and mayhem in their time, have become folk heroes and cultural icons.

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid: American Experience is a riveting episode that offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of two of America's most notorious outlaws. Whether you're a fan of the Wild West, true crime, or just a great story, this episode is sure to captivate and entertain.

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Description
  • First Aired
    February 11, 2014
  • Language
    English