The Outlaw and the Birthday Girl. A fun story from the life of Brigham Casto 1850-1929 (My father's mother's uncle) by Bob Johnson

Brigham Casto was the Sheriff of Salina, (UT) and served as a United States Marshall with the Union Pacific Railroad.  He is pictured with the men at the driving of the Golden Spike.  He was a veteran of the Black Hawk Indian War.  He was also a member of the posse (although he rode alone) who took off in the snow after Butch Cassidy following the Castle Dale payroll robbery.  Granddaughter Lois remembers a wonderful story about this famous outlaw years later as a nine year old girl living with Grandpa in Salina Canyon.

"We were about to gather for dinner one night at Grandpa's place up Salina Canyon.  He had a stage stop that had been built as part of the old Spanish Trail and there were a number of old Spanish buildings that Grandpa had fixed up as there was a knock at the door.  The man asked if there was any room to stay for the night.  Grandpa told him that the house was full but the stranger was welcome to put his horses in the barn and to come up and share their dinner.  He told him he could bed down in one of the bunk houses.  The man responded that he was too dirty to come into the house but he appreciated being able to get in out of the storm and would be most grateful for a warm meal.

Lois remembers it so well because it was her ninth birthday party that night and after dinner they walked down and gave the stranger a piece of her birthday cake.  When he brought the dishes back up he told her that grandma's vittles were "the best he'd ever tasted."  He also told her that "she sure had a lot of pretty black hair."  He then asked her how she was doing and she said she was sad because her cousins hadn't been able to get through the storm to attend her party.  When he was gone, Grandma looked at Grandpa and said that he had a strange look on his face and she asked what was bothering him.  He asked her if she recognized the stranger.  "That's Butch Cassidy down there," he said, "I'd recognize that crooked eye anywhere."  Of course this was long after he had supposedly died in a gun fight in Bolivia.  The next morning the snow had stopped and they could see the trail where he had headed into the mountains with his two loaded pack horses and his lone riding horse.  There was also a can with a few old coins and a printed note that said, "SOME MONEY FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIRL."