Ann M (Bassett) Willis (abt. 1878 - 1956)

Born about 12 May 1878 in Moffat County, Colorado, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Hyrum Henry Barnard — married 13 Apr 1904 (to Apr 1910) in Craig, Routt, Colorado

Died 8 May 1956 at about age 77 in Leeds, Washington, Utah, United States

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Biography

Ann (Bassett) Willis is Notable.

Ann (Bassett) Willis was involved in the "Wild, Wild West," part of the westward expansion of the United States. Join the Wild Wild West Project.

Ann (Bassett) Willis was a Coloradan.

"Ann Bassett was also known as Queen Ann Bassett,she was a female rancher and cattle rustler of the Wild West, she and her sister Josie Bassett, were associates of outlaws, mainly Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. Ann is also thought to have been Etta Place, girlfriend of the Sundance Kidd.

Ann Bassett was born near Browns Park, Colorado, her parents were Herbert Bassett and Elizabeth Bassett nee Crawford (Chamberlain, as per death cert). Herb Bassett owned a cattle ranch. In 1880 they had moved to Sweetwater, Wyoming and again they moved in 1885, Herb moved the family to the Brown's Park farm, just 97 miles south. This is where she learned to ride before she was 8 and rope. Herb did business with outlaws such as Butch Cassidy, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, and Black Jack Ketchum, selling them horses and beef for supplies. Both Ann and Josie Bassett were attractive young women, they were taught horse riding, roping, and shooting by their father. Both were educated at boarding schools, Ann and Josie always preferred life on their fathers cattle ranch rather than being ladies.

Ann Bassett had become romantically involved with Butch Cassidy by the time she was 15 years old. Her sister Josie was involved with Elzy Lay. Ann and Josie had also been involved with Outlaws Ben Kilpatrick and Will Carver, who were both later members of the Wild Bunch gang.

In 1896 several wealthy cattle barons wanted to buy the Bassett ranch. Herb Bassett refused to sell, so the cattle barons started to rustle their cattle. Ann and Josie,then rustled their cattle. A feud started between the Bassett family and the cattle men, the cattlemen hired a killer Tom Horn to deal with the Bassetts.Tom Horn did kill several known rustlers during that time but none of the Basset family.

Josie Bassett was involved with Elzy Lay by 1896, he was Butch Cassidy's closest friend. Josie had also became involved with Butch Cassidy after his release from jail, at this time Ann was involved with Ben Kilpatrick. Josie became involved with Will News Carver when Elzy Lay began a relationship with another woman , and Ann became involved with Butch Cassidy again.

Being with these outlaws kept the hired cowboys away from the Bassett family, they were afraid of the outlaws . ^[1]Both sisters were taking part in the fight against the powerful cattlemen's associations, but it was Ann that became well known, she was called Queen Ann Bassett by the newspapers and and also their friends.Ann Bassett joined Butch Cassidy at Robbers Roost.^[2] According to reports Ann Bassett and Maude Davis future wife of Elzy Lay 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.

Ann Bassett – Etta Place

Ann Bassett has often been ^[3]thought to of been ^[4]Etta Place, the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid, who had disappeared from all public records in 1909 not long after Sundance died . According to rumours Ann Bassett led a double life, dating Robert Leroy Parker ,Butch Cassidy as Ann Bassett, and dating Harry Longabaugh the Sundance Kid as Etta Place. This would mean that she was involved with both outlaws at the same time. ^[5]Etta traveled to Argentina with Sundance and Butch Cassidy, where the three bought a ranch.Etta Place returned to the US for good in 1906, and Sundance and Butch Cassidy are thought to have died in a shoot out in Bolivia in 1908, although the remains were never positively identified.Dr. Thomas G. Kyle of the Computer Research Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory, who had previously performed many such comparisons for government intelligence agencies, conducted a series of tests on photographs of Etta Place and Ann Bassett. Their features matched and both had the same scar or cowlick at the top of their forehead. He concluded that there could be no reasonable doubt they were the same person.Ann and Etta could be mistaken for one another,both are pretty, with similar facial features,they had the same hair color, and the same build.

Butch Cassidy and Ann Bassett would continue their romantic involvement for another four years,except for eighteen months when he was in prison , during that time she was seeing Ben Kilpatrick,all up Ann and Butch Cassidy were together for 7 years. Ann Bassett married Henry Bernard a rancher in 1903 . Not long after she was married , Ann was arrested for cattle rustling. She stood trial, but was acquitted and released. Ann and Henry's marriage lasted six years, before they were divorced.

In 1928 Ann Bassett remarried Frank Willis a cattleman. They owned and ran a ranch together,Frank Willis reportedly loved Ann dearly,before she died Ann requested that she be cremated, and that her remains be spread across her hometown in northern Utah. It is said that Willis grieved over her death, and was unable to spread Ann's ashes, keeping them in his car for the rest of his life. When he died in 1963, friends and family buried her ashes in an undisclosed area in Browns Park.

1880 Green River, Sweetwater, Wyoming

Age 47---Marital Status Married

Occupation Laborer

Birth Year (Estimated) 1833

Birthplace New York, United States

Father's Birthplace New York, ---Mother's Birthplace New York, United States

Sheet Letter A--Sheet Number 258--Person Number 0--Volume 1

A H Bassett Self M 47 New York, United States

Eliza Bassett Wife F 23 Arkansas, United States

Josie Bassett Daughter F 6 Arkansas, United States

Samuel Bassett Son M 4 Arkansas, United States

Annie Bassett Daughter F 2 Utah, United States

Citing this Record

1885 Routt, Colorado,

Age 52

Birth Year (Estimated) 1833

Schedule Type Population

Amos H Bassett M 52 N Y

Eliza Bassett Wife F 30 Va.

Josie Bassett Daughter F 13 Ark

Saml C Bassett Son M 10 (ditto mark ")

Annie Bassett Daughter F 8 (ditto mark ")

Citing this Record

1900 Rock Creek, Egeria, Steamboat Springs, Elk River, Routt, Colorado

Age 67

Marital Status Widowed

Birth Date Jul 1833

Birthplace New York

Father's Birthplace New York---Mother's Birthplace New York

Amos N Bassett Head M 67 New York

Anna M Bassett Daughter Single 22 Utah

Citing this Record

NOTE Anna M born "Utah" some say "Colorado".

It is April 1904 when Anna decides to marry a man 20 years her senior and maybe halt the bloody range-war.

Marriages

1) "Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006,"

Spouse: Hyrum "Hi" Henry Bernard.

Name H H Bernard

Event Date 13 Apr 1904

Event Place Craig, Routt, Colorado, United States

Spouse's Name Anna Bassett

Citing this Record

Shortly after the marriage, she was arrested for cattle rustling. She stood trial, but was acquitted and released. The marriage lasted seven years, ending in divorce, with Bernard helping Bassett and her sister Josie in maintaining their ranch.

1910 Precinct 10 Brown's Park, Routt, Colorado

Enumerated: 10th April 1910

Age 31

Marital Status Married

Years Married: 7

Children: 0

Birth Year (Estimated) 1879

Birthplace Utah

Father's Birthplace New York ---Mother's Birthplace Arkansas

Sheet Letter B---Sheet Number 2

H H Bernard Head M 51 Texas Stockman --Stock Range

Anna M Bernard Wife F 31 Utah Herder- Stock Range

Citing this Record

Ann stays married to Hi and helps "herd" and run the ranch for at least 7 years. They do not have any children.

1920 Precinct 10, Brown's Park, Moffat, Colorado

Name: Anne B Barnard

Age 40

Marital Status Divorced

Can Read Yes---Can Write Yes

Own or Rent Rent

Birth Year (Estimated) 1880

Birthplace Colorado

Father's Birthplace New York---Mother's Birthplace Virginia

Sheet Letter A---Sheet Number 3

Next door to her is:

Bassett, George C age:38/Wife Alma/ daughter, Georgia

on the other side of Ann is:

Willis, Frank M age:36 Tennessee

Citing this Record

2) Spouse: Frank Willis (1883 - 1963

Date: after the 1920 census was taken

Place:

Source: Newspaper Announcement of the death of her husband. (attached)

1930 Huntington Beach, Orange, California

Francis M Willis Head M 47 Tennessee

Ann B Willis Wife F 51 Colorado

1940 Anaheim Judicial Township, Orange, California [1]

Ann Willis is living with Frank M. Willis

Death

Obituary

Steamboat Pilot, May 31, 1956 [2]

"Prominent Figure In Pioneer Life Dies at Utah Home"

"Mrs. Ann Bassett Willis, for many years known as Queen Ann, died recently at her home In Leeds, Utah, where she had lived for the past years.

She was born at the Bassett ranch In Brown's Park and was a prominent figure In the stirring pioneer days of Routt County. Ann Bassett was born May 12, 1878, at the Brown's Park Ranch of her parents, who were among the earliest settlers In Routt County and among the first to raise cattle. Brown's Park, in her childhood days, was the rendevouz of some of the most noted outlaw gangs In the west. She grew up In some of the most colorful days of the West and her story of those stirring times never has been completely told. In the early 1900s she married HI Bernard, foreman of the famous Haley 2-Bar outfit.

In 1923 she was married to Frank Willis who at the time owned a cattle ranch but later became a mining engineer.

She is survived by her husband, one sister,

1. Josephine Morris of Jensen, Utah.

Her three brothers ,

1. Sam,
2. Ed and
3. George Bassett

preceded her In death.

She was cremated and her ashes will be scattered over Brown's Park."

Utah Death Certificates

Name Ann Bassett Willis

Event Date 08 May 1956

Event Place Leed, Washington, Utah, United States

Age 76

Race Caucasian

Birth Date 12 May 1879

Birthplace: Willow Creek, Dagget Co., Utah

Father's Name Herbert Bassett

Mother's Name Elizabeth Chamberlain

Informant: Francis Marion Willis (husband)

Cremated at: S. L. Memorial Mauseleum

Certificate Type Certificate

Citing this Record

Siblings

1. Josephine Bassett (1874 - 1964
2. Elbert aka: Edward Bassett died Nov 19 1925 (Suicide)
3. Samuel
4. George

See also

• Wild Wild West
• Cowboys and Cowgirls

Research Notes

See Ann Bassett Research Notes for notes and suggestions related to this profile.

Global Connection

Furthest Connection is William Bassett Sr. born England 1600 but we do not have PARENTS......Died before 12 May 1667 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony

Sources

1. ↑ Kirby, Dee. The Bassett sisters - wild women of the Wild West, Castle Rock News-Press (Castle Rock, Colorado), March 12, 2010.
2. ↑ Google Books - The Cowgirl Way -Hats Off to America's Women of the West By Holly George-Warren
3. ↑

   This page is gonehistorytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/pioneers_and_cowboys/justwhowastheoutlawqueenettaplace.html Utah History to go - Just Who Was The Outlaw Queen Etta Place?

4. ↑ Mental Floss - The Mystery of Ann Bassett and Etta Place
5. ↑ Digging up Btch and Sundance - pdf Etta Place a most wanted woman

This is currently available History to go.Utah.gov. [3] Taylor-25258 00:14, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

• Bmetzmeir - Ann Bassett
• Superbeefy.com - Why Was Queen Ann Bassett Called the "Queen of the Cattle Rustlers?
• Amber and Chaos - A Personal Interview With Josie Bassett
• Wikipedia: Ann_Bassett
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWM2-44X : 14 September 2017), A H Bassett, Green River, Sweetwater, Wyoming, United States; citing enumeration district ED 7, sheet 258A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1454; FHL microfilm 1,255,454.
• "Colorado State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8WK-FGG : 1 April 2016), Amos H Bassett, 1885; citing NARA microfilm publication M158 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 498,509.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQMV-64Y : accessed 25 November 2017), Amos N Bassett, Rock Creek, Egeria, Steamboat Springs, Elk River, Sidney Precincts, Routt, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 147, sheet 2A, family 39, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,129.
• "Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KN3T-RX3 : 31 July 2017), H H Bernard and Anna Bassett, 13 Apr 1904, Craig, Routt, Colorado, United States; citing no. , State Archives, Denver; FHL microfilm 1,690,053.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK4V-YDZ : accessed 26 November 2017), Anna M Bernard in household of H H Bernard, Precinct 10, Routt, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 137, sheet 2B, family 10, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 125; FHL microfilm 1,374,138.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXL3-352 : accessed 26 November 2017), Anne B Barnard, Precinct 10, Moffat, Colorado, United States; citing ED 111, sheet 3A, line 3, family 3, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 167; FHL microfilm 1,820,167.
• "Steamboat Pilot", May 31, 1956 queen+ann+bassett-------0-# Ann's Death Notice
• Colorado Historic Newspaper 3 photos of Ann Bassett
• Hall of Fame [4] Which she did not MAKE IT.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #7919122 Maintained by: Find A Grave---Originally Created by: John "J-Cat" Griffith---Record added: Sep 28, 2003
• "Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZPR-N2C : 11 September 2015), Elizabeth Chamberlain in entry for Ann Bassett Willis, 1956.
• Kirby, Dee. The Bassett sisters - wild women of the Wild West, Castle Rock News-Press (Castle Rock, Colorado), March 12, 2010.

Books & Publications

• WILY WOMEN OF THE WEST by Grace E Ray [5]
• Where the Old West Stayed Young

Authored by Steamboat Springs own John Rolfe Burroughs" [6]

• Last Frontier

V.S Fitzpatrick's Series in the Steamboat Pilot" listed below Mirror Publications [7]

• Steamboat Pilot, "Queen Ann of Brown's Park", Mirror Publications, the Colorado Magazine, in the periodical of the Colorado Historical Society. [8] Part 2: [9] Part 3; [10]
• Steamboat Pilot, May 11, 1961:

"Many Suggested for Hall of Fame"

"Cowboy Hall of Fame to be erected in Oklahoma City"

Listed last: "Ann Bassett Willis"

• Special issue for The Cattlemen's Association 100th Anniversary [11]
• The Outlaw Trail: A History of Butch Cassidy and His Wild Bunch, by Charles Kelly. Devin Adair Co., New York, 1959 (revised from 1938 private edition), 374 pp.

A dramatic history of George Leßoy Parker (1866-1909)

"It includes lively descriptions of his companions and escapades, including a 1943 interview with Queen Ann Bassett."

Available at The Bud Werner Memorial Library Papoose Ellen Groesbeck. The Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs,