Utah to restore famed outlaw’s cabin

CIRCLEVILLE, Utah - Utah state officials are going to spend $138,000 to restore a decaying wood cabin in Piute County that has become a tourist spot because it’s believed to be the boyhood home of outlaw Butch Cassidy.

The Utah Legislature has authorized $138,000 to disassemble the decrepit cabin outside Circleville and put it back together piece by restored piece, KSLTV reported.

“It’s slowly degrading,” said Piute County Commissioner Darin Bushman. “It’s not on a real foundation and it’s slowly tilting and leaning and listing. And we just, we really wanted to preserve the cabin.”

The state is also working to build a parking lot big enough for 20 cars and four buses.

“We took some counts,” Bushman said. “We were getting between 60 and 90 cars a day stopping here, out on the highway.”

The cabin is currently owned by Afton Morgan, but many believe it is where Cassidy grew up.

Cassidy, whose real name was Robert Leroy Parker, was born in Beaver in 1866 and the Parker family did live in the Circleville cabin.

It is unknown if Cassidy lived there with his family of if he had already left to live the life of an outlaw.

“There’s a lot of rumors of that,” Morgan said. “But to the best of our knowledge, Butch came here when he was just a young boy. I’ve heard all the way from 8 to 12 years old.”