Legend had it that Butch Cas-
sidy and his gang had pulled this
heist. So, in 1969 when the movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
came out, the town marketing folk
launched Butch Cassidy Days as a
tourist draw. It was an annual event
for a number of years until a sav-
vy historian figured out that Butch
Cassidy couldn’t have robbed the
Winnemucca bank. On September
19, 1900 Butch Cassidy was in Wyo-
ming planning a train heist. Though
it is suspected that members of his
gang were involved. So, when the
town council found this out, they
cancelled Butch Cassidy Days yet
there are still a number of businesses
that pay homage to the story. Busi-
nesses like Butch Cassidy’s Hole in
the Wall Saloon, a popular watering
hole just down the street from the
First National Bank and a few blocks
away from Scott Shady Court Motor
Inn.
Winnemucca grew as gold and
silver were mined in the hills. In
1928, Joe and Ida Scott parceled off a
portion of their acreage and opened
a tourist camp to accommodate both
migrant workers and a new genera-
tion of travellers coming in by motor
carriage. With tents pitched under
the shade of a line of trees Joe had
planted, he named his little business
Scott Shady Camp. Business proved to
TRAVERSE 83
be lucrative. Twenty years later, with
World War II behind them, the Scotts
began construction of additional
permanent structures and renamed it
Scott Shady Court. And in the 50s, the
operation was further expanded with
a swimming pool and more accom-
modations.
After a long ride, tired dusty and
eager for a shower, I pulled into Scott
Shady Court. Louise Scott was there
to greet me. It was her grandfather
that had started Scotty Shady Camp.
Today, Louise and her brother own
and run the establishment. She gave
me a brief history of the property
and posed for a photo in the lobby.
As with many moteliers along my