Tag: Colorado

Annie and Josie Bassett were the daughters of Herbert and Elizabeth Basset. Herbert was an educated man who had been a teacher and then later served in the Union Army. During the gold rush years, his brother Samuel headed west. Herbert decided to move his family west because of his health. The family ended up settling in Brown’s Hole, Colorado. Brown’s Hole also had close borders to Utah and Wyoming. His wife, Elizabeth, renamed it “Brown’s Park” because of its natural beauty. The family settled down there and built a small cabin, started ranching, and their family grew to four children.

The Basset Family

Herbert tended to be quieter and calmer than his beautiful, wild wife. The Bassett family was very social and welcomed everyone into their home. Strangers, church-going neighbors, travelers, and many times even outlaws hiding from the law. Butch Cassidy was one of those famous outlaws. He was romantically involved with both Anne and Josie Bassett at different times. Members of the Butch Cassidy gang, the Wild Bunch, were welcome visitors.

Elizabeth Bassett, Anne, and Josie’s, mother was a beautiful woman. She could ride rope, shoot, and rustle cattle as well as the men who were devoted to the family. These men would do anything Elizabeth or her daughters asked them to do. Even if it meant breaking the law. Her two daughters took after her. After Elizabeth’s death when she was only 37, the sisters took over running the ranch. By this time, there was a feud starting between the small ranches and the big cattle barons. This feud was particularly between the Bassets and the Two Bars Ranch.

Anne Basset

Anne was involved with several of the outlaws that hung out at the ranch. But then she did become engaged to Matt Rash. Before they were married, though, the owner of the Two Bar Ranch brought in a hired gun. Tom Horn was hired to hunt down cattle rustlers, and Matt Rash was shot and died. After this, things escalated between the two families. Anne would drive many of the Two Bar Ranch cattle over a cliff in revenge. At one point, she stood trial for cattle rustling but was acquitted. Both Anne and her sister were admired and respected. The cowhands they worked with had a great respect for these two women. They admired them for their ability to run a ranch and work right along with the cowboys. Queen Anne, as she was often referred to was well-liked. On the other side the cattle rancher was so disliked that Queen Anne was given a parade in honor of her acquittal.

Josie Basset

While Anne was the more daredevil of the two girls, Josie was more domesticated. However, she could hold her own on the ranch, riding, roping, shooting, and rustling cattle. Josie was married five times. She divorced four of those husbands, and the fifth was rumored that he died of poisoning. Josie was charged with his murder but was acquitted. The fifth husband actually died from alcoholism. In her later years, she was asked if she poisoned her fifth husband. Her answer was a smile, and she just said that some husbands are harder to get rid of. Josie also stood trial for cattle rustling, but she also was acquitted. In her later years, close to forty years old she built a cabin in Cub Creek. During the years Prohibition Laws were in effect, Josie made her own whiskey, wine and brandy. Here at her cabin she lived off the land for the next fifty years. Josie died in May 1964. She had lived long enough to see automobiles, electricity, television and phones and two world wars.

Anne and Josie Bassett were an interesting pair of sisters. They grew up running wild and were friends with known outlaws. They were women who were before their time, women who took control of their own destinies. They were liked and respected for their independent natures. They did what women weren’t supposed to do. They became women legends of the old west.