The Butch Cassidy Museum in Montpelier, Idaho: A Small Town Treasure with a Wild West Story

 Small towns often hide the most interesting stories, and Montpelier, Idaho is no exception. Tucked into this quiet southeastern Idaho town is a little museum with a big connection to the Wild West — the Butch Cassidy Museum.

But if you’re planning a visit, be prepared for a bit of an adventure… even before you walk through the door.

The Museum That Keeps You Guessing

For us, visiting the museum turned into a three-year mission. Every time we tried to stop by, it seemed closed. When it said it might be open… it wasn’t. Operating hours weren’t posted clearly on the building or online, so visiting often felt like a guessing game.

Ironically, the year we finally made it inside happened when I was working at the KOA campground in Montpelier. On one of my days off, we decided to try again — and this time we got lucky. The door was open.

Sometimes travel is just about being in the right place at the right moment.

Museum… or Store?

Once inside, we quickly realized something interesting about the place.

Yes, it’s a museum — but it’s also very much a store. Nearly everything inside seemed to be for sale, especially the famous Montpelier bricks. The displays were charming and the artifacts interesting, but you definitely get the feeling that you’re walking through a shop that happens to have history sprinkled throughout.

So here’s a tip:
Bring cash.

Because odds are, you won’t walk out without buying something.

A Caretaker Who Brings History to Life

What really made the visit memorable was the caretaker. He was enthusiastic, friendly, and clearly loved telling the story of the building and its past.

Through his storytelling, the history felt less like something written in books and more like something that actually happened right where we were standing. Hearing stories from the Old West always leaves you wondering about the parts of history we’ll never fully know — especially from a time when technology and record-keeping were limited.

Those gaps in the story somehow make it even more fascinating.

Who Was Butch Cassidy?

Many people know the name, but not the full story.

Butch Cassidy, born Robert LeRoy Parker in 1866, was one of the most famous outlaws of the American Old West.

A few quick facts:

• Born: Beaver, Utah Territory
• Parents: Mormon pioneers
• Nickname Origin: He once worked as a butcher, which likely inspired the name “Butch.”
• Cassidy: Taken from his mentor, cattle rustler Mike Cassidy.

Despite being an outlaw, Cassidy earned a reputation as a “gentleman bandit.” Unlike many criminals of the time, he was known for avoiding violence and rarely killing anyone, which oddly made him somewhat admired by everyday people.

The Montpelier Bank Robbery

The museum building itself has a direct connection to Cassidy’s story.

On August 13, 1896, shortly after being released from prison, Butch Cassidy and several partners robbed the Bank of Montpelier, escaping with over $7,000 — a huge amount of money at the time.

Today, that same building is preserved as the Butch Cassidy Museum.

It holds a unique distinction:
It’s the only standing bank that Butch Cassidy is known to have robbed.

The Wild Bunch

After the Montpelier robbery, Cassidy formed his infamous outlaw gang known as The Wild Bunch.

Members included:

• The Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh)
• Elzy Lay

Together they carried out a string of train and bank robberies across Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, becoming legends of the American frontier.

A Museum with an Uncertain Future

Unfortunately, rumors around town say the museum may now be closed and up for sale.

That’s a real shame.

Small attractions like this can be incredibly important to towns like Montpelier. During the winter months especially, tourism slows down and communities rely on unique destinations to bring visitors through.

Places like this help keep local history alive — and give travelers a reason to stop and explore.

One More Hidden Gem in Town

If you do find yourself in Montpelier, there’s another place worth visiting: the local library.

It may sound like an unusual travel recommendation, but the library puts a lot of thought into its themes and displays, making it a surprisingly fun stop while exploring the town.

Sometimes the best parts of travel aren’t the big attractions — they’re the unexpected little discoveries along the way.

BUTCH CASSIDY RICH PEOPLE ART

Final Thoughts

The Butch Cassidy Museum might be small, quirky, and a little unpredictable with its hours, but that’s part of its charm.

If you manage to catch it open, you’ll step into a piece of Wild West history — one that still sparks curiosity more than a century later.

And who knows… you might walk out with a brick and a story. Me Gone RVing Adventures caved and got a shot glass - lol

What we found on a random road in Wyoming

 What we found on a random road in Wyoming.

What we love most about our RV Full-Timing life is that we get to explore. We just pick a road and go for it. On this day it was no different, except for the fact that we are workamp now for the summer season. So we only get 2 days off. That just means we have to go back LOL. 

Our plan was to head to Wyoming and check out the businesses there to see if it would be wiser to start shopping there for our food/gas/supplies in general. We took the backway, (neither of us having ever been this way) to see the backcountry. 

We found stuff. A Ghost Town,  Kilns and just beautiful landscapes EVERYWHERE. 

The ghost town is called Piedmont. It was a timber and railroad town. The town was alive around 1867 and had some famous (and not in a good way) travelers. Butch Cassidy used Piedmont as a meeting place with all of his criminal soulmates for the big bank robbery in Montpelier, Idaho. There is a guess at what they stole - in the range of $10,000 which for that time was a lot. Although I think today $10,000 is a lot but then I don't have that lol. The Union Pacific fell victim to many criminal acts because of the like of Butch Cassidy and cronies. 

There are still some property still there with reminders of what it was like back in the day. It was neat to sit on the side of the road dreaming about, what it was like back in that time. No doubt life was hard but man their office view is breaktaken.

Oh course so much lumber was taken. 

There are still farms in the area.

The houses are starting to fall down even more so - when I did the research of the area, what a difference just a couple of years of hard weather on these old houses. It is private property so use your best judgement and leave it as you found it. 

Moses Bryne was the first in Piedmont but changed the name to Piedmont because it means in Italian 
"Foot of the Mountain"

Those clouds were just magical

I hope a bride was carried over the threshold 

Oh the secrets that this empty house holds

And just further down the road we find our next find. Piedmont Charcoal Kilns. Neither of us have ever seen such a thing in our lives, (now you can understand our love for our life because not only seeing but learning things almost on a daily basis). 

The kilns are remnants of charcoal making. And you could smell them. These were built by the first family of Piedmont Mose Byrne in 1869 just two years after settling in the new town. I'm not sure how long these were producing charcoal, because in 1971 the area was registered with the National  Register of Historic Places. 100,000 bushels a month down to a physical reminder of what was once. 

There were 4 but as time goes by they will eventually all tumble down

These are huge up close.

Amazing at what the inside looks like - right?

This was taken from inside.

There was so much more that we had seen on this day, but you're just going to need to go and see the area for yourself. It would be fun to compare notes. Do bring a sacked lunch because there are picnic tables there next to the interpretive panels. They really made the whole area visitor friendly.

I hope you enjoyed our adventure day of where we just picked a random road and went for it!! You just never know what you will see. The video below is a blast from the past. Get ready to chuckle... We live on the wild side of life. 

We took a Belly Dancing Class - it was so hard but it was so much fun. We had people make fun of us because it was beneath them. But you know what. Life is about having fun and it's our fun. 

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