Elizabeth Bassett

Mary Elizabeth (née Chamberlain) Bassett (1855 or 1858–December 1892), commonly known as Elizabeth and Eliza Bassett, was a Wild West pioneer, cattle rancher, and cattle rustler. Born in Arkansas, and raised by her grandfather in Virginia, Bassett headed west with her husband Herbert Bassett. Unusual for the time, the Bassetts lived and worked according to their specific talents and interests, rather than traditional gender roles. Bassett ran the cattle and sheep ranch and raised thoroughbred horses. Her husband managed the agricultural operations and taught their children. When large cattle companies began to push out small cattle ranchers and homesteaders, Bassett organized other locals to fight back. Her daughters Ann and Josie Bassett became notable in their own right. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were close family friends of the Bassetts and often stayed and worked at the ranch to "cool down" following their illegal escapades. Early life Mary Elizabeth Chamberlain, born around 1858, was the daughter of Hannah Emerson Miller (1840-1861) and Ewell Chamberlain (1825-1864), a Confederate Sergeant during the Civil War who was wounded on May 6, 1864 and died on June 16, 1864, in Lynchburg, Virginia of his wounds, following amputation of his leg. Her grandfather was Judge Crawford Miller. Having lost her parents during the Civil War, Mary Elizabeth lived with her Grandfather Miller on his plantation. Her daughter Ann said of her: Marriage In 1868, Mary Elizabeth Chamberlain married Herbert Bassett, becoming Mary Elizabeth Bassett. Herbert served the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service as a collector in Norfolk, Virginia. After their marriage, the couple moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. They headed west in 1871, having traveled by train to Rock Springs, Wyoming, and then south along the Green River, where they visited Herbert's brother Samuel Clark Bassett, who was a United States government scout along the Overland Trail. In 1877, the Bassett family, which now included daughter Josie and son Sam, moved to the rugged frontier area of Browns Park, known for "cattle rustling and outlaw sheltering". Their daughter Ann was born in 1878. She was the first white child born in Browns Park. Herbert was out of place in an area that required hard labor. He was an intellectual and a musician. Bassett realized that she needed to provide a living for the family and became a cattle rancher and rustler.