The last standing bank robbed by Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, now a museum
833 Washington St, Montpelier, ID 83254
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission fee for the guided museum visit; confirm current pricing with the museum. Typically open Memorial Day through shortly after Labor Day.
Access
Limited Access
Restored 1890s single-story bank building; historic floor preserved
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1891 · Butch Cassidy / Wild Bunch History · Old West Bank Robbery · Early Idaho Banking · Bear Lake County Heritage
The Bank of Montpelier was established in 1891, among the first chartered banks in the state of Idaho, in the southeastern Idaho railroad and ranching town of Montpelier in Bear Lake County. On August 13, 1896, Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, rode into town with two accomplices, Elzy Lay and Bob Meeks. Accounts identify Cassidy and Lay as the men who entered the bank while Meeks held the horses outside.
The robbers forced the teller, identified in contemporary accounts as A. N. McIntosh, to gather the cash, then held him and the bank's customers against the wall. The museum states the gang escaped with $7,142 in gold, silver, and currency; published estimates of the haul range from roughly $5,000 to $15,000. Cassidy was about 30 years old at the time. The robbery is documented by the Intermountain Histories project and marked by a historical marker recorded in the Historical Marker Database.
The building survived where other banks tied to Cassidy's Wild Bunch did not, and it is described by the museum as the last standing bank in the world robbed by Cassidy and his gang. The structure was restored to reflect its 1890s appearance, with original elements and artifacts preserved so visitors can walk the same floor and view the same vault that were present during the robbery. Today it operates as the Butch Cassidy Museum, open seasonally, with an annual reenactment of the robbery staged near the August 13 anniversary.
Sources
Unlike many sites in this region, the Bank of Montpelier's reputation rests on documented history rather than reported hauntings. The pull for visitors is the chance to stand inside a building where a famous crime took place and where the physical setting survives largely intact. The original floor and the bank vault remain, and the restoration was deliberately kept to the 1890s period so that the space reads as it did on the day of the robbery.
The enduring legend is Butch Cassidy himself. By 1896 he had begun assembling the loose confederation of outlaws later known as the Wild Bunch, and the Montpelier job is among the early robberies tied to that group. The town leans into the story with an annual reenactment held near the anniversary of the robbery each August, drawing visitors to watch a staged version of the 1896 holdup on the same downtown street.
For dark-tourism travelers, the appeal is authenticity rather than apparitions: a real crime, a real building, and a verifiable chain of historical record connecting the two.
Notable Entities
Tour the restored 1890s bank where, on August 13, 1896, Butch Cassidy and two accomplices robbed the Bank of Montpelier. The building is preserved to its 1890s appearance; visitors can stand on the original floor and view the bank vault. The museum is seasonal, typically open Memorial Day to shortly after Labor Day, roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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