The Bassett Women

<div> <p>In the late nineteenth century Brown's Park a secluded valley astride the Utah-Colorado border was a troubled land of deadly conflict among cattle barons outlaws rustlers and small ranchers. Homesteader Elizabeth Bassett gained a tough reputation of her own and her daughters followed suit going on to become members of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch's inner circle. Ann-who counted Cassidy among her lovers-became known as queen of the cattle rustlers. Both sisters proved themselves shrewd businesswomen as they fended off hostile takeovers of the family ranch. Through the following decades the sisters became the stuff of legend women who embodied the West's fearsome reputation yet whose lived experiences were far more nuanced. Ann became a writer. Josie whose cabin still stands at present-day Dinosaur National Monument applied her pioneer ethics to a mechanized world and became renowned for her resourcefulness steadfastness and audacity.</p> <p>For <i>The Bassett Women</i> Grace McClure tracked down and untangled the legends of Brown's Park one of the way stations of the fabled Outlaw Trail while creating an evenhanded and indelible portrait of the Bassetts. Based on interviews written records newspapers and archives <i>The Bassett Women</i> is one of the few credible accounts of early settlers on Colorado's western slope one of the last strongholds of the Old West.</p> </div>