Ann Bassett

Ann Bassett (May 12, 1878 – May 8, 1956), also known as Queen Ann Bassett, was a prominent female rancher of the Old West, and with her sister Josie Bassett, was an associate of outlaws, particularly Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.

Bassett was born to Herb Bassett and Elizabeth Chamberlin Bassett near Browns Park, Colorado in 1878, but grew up in Utah, the second of two daughters. Her sister Josie was born in 1874. Herb Bassett was 20 years senior to his wife Elizabeth Chamberlain Bassett, and the couple moved to Browns Park some time around the earlier part of 1888. Herb Bassett had a profitable cattle ranch that straddled Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. He often did business with notable outlaws of the era such as Butch Cassidy, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, and Black Jack Ketchum, selling them horses and beef for supplies. The park, as Browns Park is known, had been a haven for outlaws long before Butch and the boys started running stolen livestock through there. For decades, stolen horses were trailed through the park to thriving mining communities in Eastern Colorado. Both Ann and Josie Bassett were attractive young women, well taught by their father in the arts of horse riding, roping, and shooting. Both were educated early on in prominent boarding schools, and were intelligent and articulate in their speech, but chose to return to the life of ranching. Many accounts state the sisters always preferred "cowboying" to being a lady.

By the time Ann Bassett was 15, she had become involved romantically with Butch Cassidy. Her sister Josie was involved with Elzy Lay. Outlaws Ben Kilpatrick and Will "News" Carver, who were both later members of the Wild Bunch gang, also dated the sisters. These associations were what first exposed Bassett to outlaws.

In 1896, several wealthy cattle barons in the area made attempts to purchase the Bassett ranch from the Bassetts. When the Bassetts refused, the barons began to rustle their cattle. Ann and her sister Josie, in turn, rustled cattle from them. This led to a feud, and resulted in the cattlemen bringing in hired killer Tom Horn to deal with what the cattlemen deemed to be criminals. Horn eliminated several known rustlers during that time, but took no action against the Bassetts. While he also killed two rustlers in 1900, Isom Dart and Matt Rash (a sandy-haired Texas cowboy), who were known to be associated with the Bassett family, this was unrelated to the Bassett conflict with their neighbors.

By 1896, Josie Bassett was heavily involved in a relationship with Elzy Lay, Cassidy's closest friend. Josie had also become involved with Cassidy shortly after his release from an 18-month prison sentence, during which time Ann was involved with Ben Kilpatrick. When Elzy Lay began a relationship with a woman named Maude Davis, Josie became involved with Will "News" Carver, and Ann returned to her involvement with Cassidy. Through their relationships with the outlaws, and in exchange for their supplying the outlaws with beef and fresh horses from their ranch, the two sisters were in a position to get assistance from Cassidy and his gang in dealing with certain cattlemen who were pressing them to sell.

This association was a deterrent that kept cowboys hired to harass the sisters from doing so, for fear of retribution from the outlaws. Reportedly, Kid Curry, the most feared member of the Wild Bunch gang, once paid a visit to several cowboys known to be employed by the cattlemen, warning them to leave the Bassetts alone. Although the problems with the wealthy cattlemen's association continued well into 1902, by late 1899, the problems were rare, and little pressure was placed on the sisters to sell their ranch. Despite the seemingly constant changes in romantic partners by both the Bassett sisters and the gang members, no animosity was reported to occur as a result of this.

Although both sisters were taking part in the fight against the powerful cattlemen's associations, Ann became better known, with newspapers, as well as friends, dubbing her "Queen" Ann Bassett. In early 1897, Bassett joined Cassidy at Robbers Roost. Elzy Lay, having ended his relationship with Josie Bassett, joined them with his girlfriend and future wife Maude Davis. According to reports of the day, Bassett and Davis were two of only five women ever allowed into the Robbers Roost hideout, the other three being Josie Bassett, the Sundance Kid's girlfriend Etta Place, and Wild Bunch gang member Laura Bullion.

By April, 1897, the two women were sent home so Cassidy and his gang could concentrate on their next robbery. Cassidy continued his romantic involvement with Bassett off and on for another four years, seeing her whenever he was near her ranch. The total length of their relationship was around seven years, but was interrupted often with his being away, and for an 18-month period when he was in prison starting in 1894, during which time she was involved with Ben Kilpatrick.