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A glint came into her eyes. She rose, went directly to a section of her extensive bookcases, chose a book without hesitation and handed it to me on her return.
Picking that book out was more of an accomplishment than it had first seemed, since it did not have the title on the spine. I saw why when I looked at the cover. “Myth and Reality concerning those designated as outlaws in the Wild West, 1889-1912.”
The spine wasn’t nearly thick enough to hold that title. The cover barely had room for that and the name of the author, Esther Ramalarga.
“This looks quite old,” I commented.
“It is the dissertation written by a colleague of mine, a mentor, really. A remarkable woman, who acquired her PhD well beyond an age when most people do, much less women of that period. It is, to my knowledge, the only work on Oscar Virtanen and Pearl Virtanen. You may borrow it.”
Less may and more shall.
I thanked her suitably. “Can you give me a preview?”
“They were a newly married couple when they arrived in the southwestern corner of the state. They are believed to have gone to work on the Bassett ranch there. The Bassetts were an interesting family from the contemporary accounts. It was a changing time in Wyoming, including the cattle industry. There occurred a great deal of conflict between smaller, newer operations such as the Bassetts’ and the large operations trying mightily to hold onto their position and privilege from the open range era by all means at their disposal, including violence. The Johnson County War is well-known as a major range war—”
If not the range war.
“—with large cattle companies bringing in hired guns against small ranchers and farmers, accusing them, with little to no evidence, of rustling. There might well have been rustling and other depredations, however some of these cattlemen did not wait for the justice system to sort out matters, but lynched those they had accused.”
“But the Johnson County War happened on the other side of the Big Horn Mountains, while Oscar and Pearl Virtanen were here, right?”
“Similar, if not quite so spectacular conflicts occurred in many areas. However, I know you most desire to know about the Virtanens.” She mildly disapproved of my narrowing my knowledge-gathering in such a way, but she would humor me. “When they first came to this region, they were not in the vicinity of what is our county now. They were in the southwestern part of the state, where Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah come together. There are conflicting reports of whether they worked for or were neighbors of the Bassetts, who were quite well known in the area, not the least because they had two lovely daughters.
“The Bassetts, whether by design or accident, established connections and friendships with those now known as outlaws, including, notably, Butch Cassidy. Those associations, the frequent visits of such persons, and the making known of the consequences that would occur if human-wrought misfortune befell the Bassetts accorded them a large measure of protection from the large cattle companies in the area who might otherwise have tried to eradicate the Bassetts’ ranch.
“There are accounts that the two Bassett daughters, Ann and Josie, had strong connections with a number of the outlaws,” she said delicately of what sounded like more partner switching among outlaws and a limited group of women — presumably ones trusted to keep outlaw secrets. “How many of those accounts stem from their own later tales is not known. There have even been assertions that Ann, specifically, and Etta Place were one and the same, despite confirmable historic dates contradicting that.”
She drew in a breath.
Fearing a recitation of all historic dates and how they conflicted, I shifted in my chair.
Giving no sign that she’d been thwarted other than a blink of her eyes, she continued, “From a few letters Pearl Virtanen wrote home to her family that have survived and are quoted in full in the dissertation—” She tipped her head toward the book I held. “—we know that her husband and she were given shooting lessons by the Bassetts and unnamed visitors, and that each member of the couple showed an aptitude that drew favorable comment from their instructors. Though neither, apparently, proved as expert at riding horses.
“The next event in their lives, though speculative rather than confirmed, was the robbery of a bank in a town a day’s ride west of the Bassetts’ ranch. Newspaper accounts disagreed on whether the robbers were two men or a man and a boy. It was later associated with the Virtanens, based on witnesses who came forward. Each identified Oscar, while one claimed that Pearl Virtanen was the other perpetrator. By that time the Virtanens had left that area.
“A second robbery attributed to them, well to the east, involved holding up a bank in a railroad town just before it closed, tying up the two employees remaining in the bank, then boarding the train about to depart town. They paid for their tickets to a distant stop, but at some point left their seats, heading toward the baggage compartment. When the robbery was recognized later that night and news telegraphed ahead, they were no longer on the train. Nor did a couple matching their descriptions arrive at any of the stops the train had made. The speculation is that they had changed their appearances, stepped off the train at one of the stops, and disappeared into the town, where they had a prearranged means of departure.”
“Echoing Butch Cassidy’s planning.”
She nodded. “Very shortly after that, the deed for the land here was issued. From the dates, it is possible that proceeds from that bank robbery could have been applied to that purchase, while not providing firm proof.
“The following year, however, Oscar Virtanen was wounded when he and two other men robbed a bank in the southern part of the state. The others escaped south, bolstering the belief that Pearl was not involved, for if she had been, she would have gone north with Oscar, when all reports agreed he was alone. In addition, there were reports that she was in Red Lodge. The posse that headed south lost those robbers, but the one that went north had greater success tracking Oscar. When he was found, he was quite near here.”
“And was muddy, as if he’d been digging,” I said.
“That was the report,” she confirmed. “He died of his injuries by the next night. It is unclear if Pearl saw him before his death. Not long after, she appeared and demanded a death certificate, stating her identity. Perhaps startled by her audacity or perhaps knowing they had insufficient evidence to hold her, they issued the certificate and let her go. The following week, she transferred the deed to the land that became Elk Rock Ranch.”
“She packed up and left? Returned to the Bassetts? Went to work for someone else? Joined another gang? Went back east?”
She raised her palms up in a familiar, but unusual for her, gesture of not knowing.
“There is no further record of her that has been found.” She pointed to the book in my lap. “The diligent efforts to find further evidence of her are detailed in the dissertation. I cannot imagine efforts to trace the woman known as Etta Place have been any less diligent, while having the advantage of certainly being more numerous.”
“But nothing?” Her nod confirmed my words. “So those two — Pearl Virtanen and the woman known as Etta Place — disappeared permanently, but you said some other women disappeared for an extended period. That means they were found later?”
“I was referring to Laura Bullion, whose whereabouts and activities were not known for a span of approximately six years before she arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, where she spent decades until her death. However, it is time to go next door to assist Gisella.”
“Gee’s house? I still have questions—”
